Pickles

This question has been asked before, and to be quite honest, & with respect, I don't think the exhaust note has much to do with it.
P31 is not just about performance....if performance is all you're after, then just go to a tuner, you'll get better than P31 performance, & ya'll save some dollars.
In Aus, P31 gives you SLS engine internals, better brakes, different steering wheel, C/F rear spoiler, & 19" m/spoke wheels.
We bought P31 because this car was going to mean a lot to us, we were going to have it for a long time, so we wanted the best "factory" engine in the car.....hang the expense!. Also ordered the LSD for the same reason...it was a "factory" performance option...so we had to have it.
I wouldn't be good enough to extend a C63 to anything like its full capacity, but because the car's a "keeper", I feel good about optioning our car the way we have.
For sure, there's plenty of tuned cars that'd demolish our car......but we like it the way we ordered it......and I reckon you've gotta make the same decision (what is best for you).....but like I said, if it's just speed etc, don't bother...ya can just get it tuned.
Cheers, Pickles.

gthal

Bad advice. This is not necessarily true. Many dealers will turn a blind eye until you have a serious issue and then all of a sudden your tune, headers, etc are being blamed an you are having a huge fight. If little things go, sure, a good dealer won't care about some mods but something major happens and I wouldn't be taking this advice as gospel. Blow an engine and see what happens if they know you are/were tuned... MB will be investigating and if they find out (or if the dealer knows), you will have an issue.

jordanaf

Sorry, not trying to give bad advice. This has been my experience; I have had many issues throughout the life of my 2008. My dealer never balked at my mods and have even gone so far as to tout my 63 about the dealership. I had many employees, in different branches(maint., sales, upper management, etc.) that were in love with my car, knew what I had done, and repair/fixed any warranty issues.

As per MB of Austin, as long as the mods do not increase load of stress on the vehicle and destroy's the integrity, the modifications done will not affect the warranty. Maybe they are more lenient, or they just enjoy me and my vehicle, but they will not void my warranty.

That being said, I did contact the dealership about the implication of a voided warranty before any mod. Basically, I got the okay from my service manager every time I did a mod, be it suspension, headers, pulley, or otherwise.

I am sorry if you guys are not getting the same treatment. Try addressing the dealership before your next mod. You never know what will happen.

But if this is not the same experience across the board, sorry. I am NOT trying to give bad advice. Guess I'm lucky!!!!!

Patrick B

Legally, the manufacturer / dealership is not allowed to deny warranty claims UNLESS they can prove that the modification was directly responsible for the failure in question.

So having a suspension swap, for example, would mean they would struggle to claim that your engine failure happened as a result.

That being said, in Canada, various manufacturers have started to claim that vehicles which were being used in a manner in which they weren't intended (ie, drag raced, or taken to track days on a road-course) would result in denial of warranty. BMW did this several times with the E46 M3 (S54 engine) and the M-Z3 (S54 engine and the rear differential). Nissan has also done this with the GT-R (in Canada, at least).

Porsche and Chevy (with the Corvette, anyway) have both taken the opposite approach, in that they will honour any warranty work even if something breaks at the race-track. Their stance has been to say "We designed it to do that, so we expect it to be used like that".

I don't know where Mercedes fits into the picture on this, so I can't comment on that specifically.

Anyhow, all of this aside, I chose to go the Development Pack route for the same reason. I'd rather not have to worry about whether Mercedes will honour the warranty on the car or not....it's their stuff, so their warranty applies, no questions asked, and no fighting involved.

In Canada, it's also a relatively good value, in that it includes the LSD. And after building a couple of race motors for BMWs in the past, $6K is pretty cheap for forged internals when you consider what the labour would be to install them, tune the engine, etc.

I'm going to say one thing that is undoubtedly highly controversial. If spending an additional $75 per month is a big deal to you....perhaps leasing a new Mercedes (particularly an AMG) isn't the wisest financial decision?



Patrick

gthal

I'm not suggesting everyone would necessarily have a problem with warranty issues. My "bad advice" comment was really just that even if the risk is reasonably low, there is risk and people should be aware of it. I also understand that the manufacturer needs to be able to demonstrate the mod contributed to the issue. The reality is, however, that if there was a major issue and MB decided to suggest that a tune, for example, caused the problem, it would be a huge fight regardless. Most people would not be prepared to go to court to fight it. So, this is a case of even if the manufacturer "should" allow the warranty claim, it can be VERY painful if they decide not to rightly or wrongly.

Some mods are way less risky (suspension, exhaust) and some are riskier (tunes, etc). You could have your engine tuned, have a failure and either MB doesn't find the tune or the dealer turns a blind eye. The risk is it causes an issue. As long as people are aware of the risk, big or small, it isn't a problem. Everyone also needs to remember that it is not the dealer who approves warranty claims but MB. If your engine failed and MB decided to investigate (which they likely would), your relationship with the dealer may or may not help you. If MB finds out or is told about the tune, as an example, MB would deny the warranty claim and the dealer would be able to do nothing. Anyway, the risk of something significant going wrong and the warranty claimed denied might not be particularly significant but anyone who mods should be aware of the risk.

SonnyakaPig

The P31 is louder, has fuller tone, and has more burble than non-P31 cars. And I'm talking about coasting to a light... not sure why that is.

gthal

I haven't personally been able to tell the difference. They sound identical to me

SonnyakaPig

How much time have you spent in a non-P31 car? For me it was 20,000 miles. Not trying to be rude.

gthal

Not a lot... I have been in 2 different non-P31s for a couple of drives. You are right, maybe I don't have enough experience in both to comment in a meaningful way. Let me rephrase... in my fairly limited experience, I didn't notice a difference

SonnyakaPig

That's cool. This topic is pretty subjective anyway, considering the non-P31 has such a great sounding exhaust to begin with.

Higgs Boson

deceleration burble has to do with the tune. it is a small amount of fuel igniting outside the combustion chamber. modern fuel injected cars, mb or Chevy or whatever, shut off fuel flow during decel events and if the spark timing is low enough not to completely burn the remaining fuel it gets pumped into the exhaust and ignites.

I tune gm products all the time and most want this noise tuned out for a smooth decel sound. it is interesting the benzheads like it so much and associate it with muscle and performance, even though it only happens when decelerating (lol).