Mr. J

And I have plenty of well informed opinions about specific individuals and companies within the food & bev and pharmaceutical manufacturing spaces. And if we were chatting over beers I might share them with you. But I certainly wouldn't share my professional opinions about individuals and enterprises over a public forum.

This may be one more topic that we'll just have to agree to disagree on.

sean1.8t

Why keep relevant information and fact private? Don't you see the benefit of sharing such things with the world as opposed to keeping it to yourself?

No doubt.

Biggreenogg

What he said.

rlevy

Thank you for the answers and on going dialogue. It helps a lot. I think I will definitely go the route of ECU tuning. Further question, it seems that Renntech is a name that has been around and associated with MB for a long time. Are there any reasons to pay up (between a 50% and 100% premium) for their tune versus others? Does their long term association with MB translate into any demonstrable differences? What questions does one want to ask to differentiate between the ECU reprogramming of different shops?

Thanks in advance,

Remy

Biggreenogg

Also evaluating RENNTECH tune for my C43 sedan. A Mercedes dealer about two hours from my house sells and installs the ECU tune. Problem is they want about $1,000 above list for the service. Not sure how negotiable that is because I haven't asked. They do provide a loaner for three days.
Talked with RENNTECH and they said that if I bring my car in they will do the ECU update in about an hour. Will probably go there because it is a good excuse for a road trip.
Not sure about the price premium you quoted, since it seems that ECU tunes for these cars/engines are clustered around $2,000 except OE.

getmercd

I looked into Renntech before I went with AMR and they severely more expensive for a lower power gain than my current tune. Also, I would double check that time frame because I do not think these ECU's can be programmed in an hour.

cldriver

So any before/after ET's from the track?

Biggreenogg

Sorry about the time frame. It was while I wait.
BTW Do you know if AMR will reflash if ECU gets programmed back to stock?

Tried chat with AMR but they are overwhelmed so ...
Apparently your post has caused a traffic jam

getmercd

Yes they told me that if I got programmed to stock, they would reprogram free of charge and I wouldn't be surprised lol they are killing the 43 platform!

DVision44

Actually after removing the ECU it only takes an hour to an hour and a half to do the programming. Due to my ECU having the newest firmware AMR had to flash mine like 3 times while i waited.

WRG222

Anyone know of a reputable tuner in Florida ? I'm in the Miami area and don't mind driving a couple hundred miles for the right shop.

Biggreenogg

RENNTECH is in Stuart.

sean1.8t

Neither OE-Tuning or AMR are in Florida, but this is of little consequence as overnight shipping is dirt cheap

getmercd

I would recommend just shipping your ECU to AMR. They have the highest power tune on the market and turn around time is quick. As far as I know they also pay to return overnight ECUs (at least they did that for me). Not sure if that still applies or not, but worth the upgrade in my opinion!

Biggreenogg

Might want to wait until Monday to see what their May Madness sale prices are.

Biggreenogg

Chatted with AMR yesterday and confirmed that should your tune get overwritten by maintenance they will reprogram it for free as getmercd said. You need to pay the shipping. They also said that ECUs are reprogrammed and shipped the same day they are received. So a three business day downtime.

WRG222

Thanks for all the great info guys and gals. My initial impression was that for these prices these tuners were dyno tuning the cars rather than a simple reflash.. That's how it was in my STI days many many moons ago.. a reflash was a couple of hundred bucks back then. fck I sound old

keninblaine

With the protections that some manufacturers like Porsche are now employing, it may be possible for MBZ to determine if an ECU has been tampered with, even if modified and then restored to factory settings. Is this the case with the latest C43 models? The power gains are impressive, but I'm always nervous about warranty implications. Curious if there is any documentation of cases where a warranty has been voided due to a tune.

c4004matic

Id forget it. 43 engines are already "tuned". Further tuning might affect reliability, drivability and fuel economy adversely. The 400 engine on the other hand, tunes nicely which is what the 43 is!

RichardCranium3

It's happened on other manufacturers platforms, specifically Audi. With that said, a warranty being voided because of a tune is a broad misnomer. MB would only deny attempted warranty claim repairs related to a failure because of the tune (engine internals et al). Suspension, a failed window switch, faulty weld in the exhaust, etc should* still be covered under warranty.

*I say should because YMMV dealer to dealer...there's always curmudgeons out there.

RichardCranium3

You started with no and ended with yes

c4004matic

No! The point was that the 43 is an oem tuned 400. You can get a different tune from a non-amg tuner with a higher boost, however, it will probably cause problems.

rlevy

OK, So then why does the same engine produce 396hp in the E43 and 362hp in the C43 and GLC 43? Does that not suggest that Mercedes itself believes the engine is capable of handling more? I am not trying to be difficult but better understand.

sean1.8t

I believe the E43 has slightly larger turbos...

But regardless, these motors are built to withstand 2x factory output. They are tuned to where they are because that is what the segment call for. You can't have a C43 with 450hp because that is where the 63 is. And so on and so on.

I beg to differ

I rip on this car @450hp daily and the car feels like it came like this from the factory. An extra 30% output isn't an issue for the most part. These cars (and all cars) are over engineered.

c4004matic

You can work them to 500hp+, so what? The driveability will be horrible, the fuel economy will be nill and the engine will be scrap in 20k miles. Whats the point?