Yup but the company Jerry bought it from, prepaid Renntech to
get a discount to resell. I used to work in wholesale and when
I read Jerry's comment it made alot of sense to me, they either
wanted to move that item or their investment back.

 

I had a similar experience with Powerchip. First of all, I don't think they are as knowledgable with Mercedes as RennTech and Kleemann are. Second, I think their numbers are a little too agressive/inflated in general. After my first tune (C32 Evo Stage 2), the car was not producing the correct gains at all. So first they claimed I had some kind of European setting. Then they said it was not the ECU, then they re-flashed the ECU with a different map (supposedly a more aggressive one), but it only made a difference of 7 hp. Eventually the issue was resolved, but they just didn't seem to have a handle on things.

Here is how I look at it: Powerchip actually develops tuning for many car manufacturers: they first develop a tune for a specific model, then they close that file and move on to a different manufacturer. Therefore, they have to spread their research and development efforts across many car companies, which means each car company/model gets a smaller piece of the pie. RennTech and Kleemann on the other hand, are more specialized for Mercedes. So, it makes sense that they have to spend a lot more money and time to develop their products. As a result, your specific car/model gets a LOT more research and development time before a product is produced for it...

Not at all, the only reason Jerry got the special pricing was because he already had RennTech Stage 1 on his car. Anybody can get that same pricing TODAY if they already have RennTech Stage 1 and want additional custom tuning for their cars.

Sorry for the long post, but I really recommend you go with RennTech or Kleemann; both companies offer EXCEPTIONAL customer support.

 

Ok just an update. Powerchip didn't call back. I called them again to see if they could help with the reflash. They do not have an inventory of mapping information for the vehicle, so they need the car in order to do any remapping. That is not an option for me since they are on the west coast.

I asked about what I wanted last time, which was removing the check engine codes for no primary cats. That should be very easy for an ECU tuner. Kleeman offers it a basic option. I spoke with the powerchip engineer and he said that they can't do that. He also said that he doesn't think that removing the primary cats would cause a CE light, and that they would need the car to investigate further.

StealthAuto offered to help me with my situation, but once it came down to actually offering a reflash, they said they can't help since I didn't purchase from them.

Also, StealthAuto has presented himself as an independent party promoting Powerchip. It turns out that they are in the same building. SteathAuto has indicated that Powerchip would do a reflash for additional mods. https://mbworld.org/forums/showpost....0&postcount=23 They won't.

I wonder how many of these others that are stepping forward to swear by Powerchip's service are actually employees.

So once again, my opinion is back to where it was several weeks ago. Powerchip's software is fine if you don't plan on doing additional mods. If you do, powerchip isn't the vendor for you. If you are local, they are an option, but I'm not sure what the cost would be. Someone above mentioned that it was $3000 for their E55, but I don't know if that is accurate.

Their service sucks.

EDIT: like I suspected, illrukus187 is a powerchip promoting troll. Check out all of his posts, they are all about bashing other ECU tuners and promoting Powerchip.

 

jgsx,

Did you first contact Evosport about this? I had to contact Evosport first to have them arrange for a reflash of the software. It was a "partnership" between Evo and Powerchip, so you have to go through Evo first if you have the Evo powerpackages instead of just the software direct from Powerchip. And I am not an employee of powerchip nor affiliated with them in any way. I am just a happy customer of Evosport's products. My experience with Powerchip is what I have descriped earlier, without a hitch at least for my application. Maybe the custom tuning part was just lip service since I was there in person, but I would never know. Because of your post, I might just have to reserve a dyno session to see if the software is really there.... it better be...

 

Lol I guess everyone forgot about the SpeedInnovation performance software upgrades? Might as well throw that in with other alternatives.

 

I am in no way suggesting that the software is poor or fake. The stage2 software works great with stage2 because evosport was involved in the mapping.

I ended up not needing to reflash the stage2 software because the dealer figured out the problem before they tried flashing the ecu. I already said that I tried emailing both powerchip and evo about this.

What I have been talking about is reflashing with updated maps for new configurations, not the same s2 map. Powerchip isn't good at this. SteathAuto (who turned out to be in the same building as Powerchip, possibly a powerchip employee) hinted that they include that with their package, but they don't. They also have no ability to do it remotely. They are not Mercedes experts like Kleeman and Renntech. Also, Powerchip has been on here using several screen names to hype up their own product. According to one of their trolls, a custom tune for an E55 was $3000.

 

Powerchip reflashes customers all the time. Your independant issue is not the norm and you admitted such. True?

Additionally, Evosport, Performance Products, and numerous other retailers opt to sell and work directly with Powerchip for a reason. I think that reason speaks for itself.

 

That's if you want pirated software in your vehicle

 

Jgsx modified his car above and beyond what most Mercedes customers find safe then attempted to directly contact Powerchip and demand a free reflash when he purchased the software directly from Evosport and had no prior contact with Powerchip. Look at it this way, a customer (Jgsx) calls in and demands a free reflash but none of his info can be found in Powerchip's computer due to the purchase being made through Evosport. Without any notes or information on a customer or his/her tune, there's really no way to reflash the vehicle because the original tune that was written cannot be located. Now, on the other hand, if Jgsx contacted EVOSPORT and asked about a reflash they could then contact Powerchip and lookup the customer (jqsx) under a purchase order number.

I hope the above info makes sense.

 

If it's so pirated, how did they come up with new BMW M5 software that made 22whp on a dynojet? Did SI come back to you to say hi?

Start thinking twice about who you're calling a pirate, because sometimes it looks the other way. Sheesh.

 

Cams and no cats are considered unsafe?

Absolute lies. I requested it several times. I never asked for it for free. I offered to pay. You simply were not able to provide the service. Your manipulation of the truth continues.

EDIT: No, what you're saying does not make sense. You're saying the reason you were not able to help me is because you couldn't find me in your computer? I told you exactly what map I was running.

 

Right, my case is not the norm for powerchip. I think that most people get that software and just leave their cars alone. Like I stated earlier, if that is all you want to do, it is fine. If you want anything beyond that, powerchip is a very poor choice for Mercedes tuning.

The reason why the vendors deal with you is because there isn't a better option for THEM. Consumers have the option of Kleeman and Renntech.

I don't feel like my powerchip software was a total waste. It worked great when I had my stage2 mods on. Now that I put in cams, powerchip is completely useless to me.

Stop trying to manipulate the truth and just admit that your company has its limits (and they are pretty low). There is nothing wrong with that. You've already been caught trolling this forum under different screen names.

 

that's what I'm about to say. They wouldn't say that if Evosport market it as their stage 3 setup.

btw, doesn't Evosport sent the ECU to Powerchip to get it flashed anyway? so how can that information not stored with Powerchip, but with Evosport? I'm confused. Does this mean Evosport has their own guy who can do the tuning or maybe it was lost at SteathAuto along the way?

 

Humm...

I bought my Renntech kit from a dealer that sold it on Ebay. I contact Renntech directly for all of my issues and I have never once been questioned, nor I have talked to the dealer since my purchase. I have sent my ECU back 4 times now for free reflashes since my custom flash purchase. I have been very demanding and I'm sure I'm not their favorite client, but they have always been cordial to me.

So, if the dealer that sold him his software went out of business, would he be SOL?

BTW - Renntech uses the VIN number for ECU tracking, not the customer.

 

Surely not, because that's pirate-like.

World's End - May 25th. =).

 

dude...I gotta watch that...love Pirates and this one has chow young-fat!!!

 

You are correct again! I think that the pricing is fair considering the amount of time I have spent on the phone with Renntech. Everyone shouldn't expect retunes for free if you purchased a power package....and Joe does not. I have talked to him numerous times before these posts and he mentioned that he would have to pay for the reflash. Now, he might have tried to get it for free by asking, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right?

The dealer that I bought my kit from is technically still in business, but he does not want to do this type of work anymore for these cars. His auction on Ebay ended with no winner, so I emailed him and he let it go really cheap. I drove the car for almost 6 months before dropping $995 for a custom flash. Again, not a bad price for the amount of time I have spent asking Jeff @ Renntech questions. I have given Renntech way less money than the "big boys" have, but I get the same support and treatment.

My advice would be to go with Kleemann. I love Renntech and all, but your shop is a Kleeman distributor and Kleeman has previous experience with cams. Not to mention that your cams might be the same as theirs.

I'm sure you won't be patient and wait for me to get my issues worked out so you can use my map....might be better, might not.

Either way, we are paving the way for new mods for a great car and our research / experience will be documented here for everyone to see.

 

Here's whats going on here - so apparently they're all obtaining software from each other. Difference? One smiles a lot more, apparently.

Enjoy the movie guys, I want to hit up the premier.

 

much needed humor

 

hahah

 

mustache reminds me of someone...

 

This thread is so .

 

Maybe but it is entertaining

 

powerchip has great customer service, maybe the best. their product on the other hand blows

 

+1 for Renntech

If anybody knows Mercedes...It's Renntech.