ECU Tune gone wrong!!
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 173
Likes: 6
C63 AMG
ECU Tune gone wrong!!
I purchased a 2009 C63 a couple of months ago and have been following the mbworld forum for a little while now. This is my first post and I regret that it has to be in a negative context but I hope to save someone else from the $$ and the headaches that I have just been through. Let me also say, that I realize that there followers and fan boys of certain tuners and I will not argue back and forth over this thread with anyone. I will simply present the facts of my experience and you can decide if this information is helpful in any future decisions you make modifying your vehicle.
Based on the large power gains available, I knew that my first mod would be an ECU tune. To give you a little background, I am not new to modifying cars and/or computers for that matter. At a minimum, I have done ECU tunes to almost every car I have owned since the late 1980’s. Actually, most vehicles stored the ECU tuning on E-Proms back then. Additionally, I have 17 years experience as an Industrial automation systems engineer dealing with Controllers and Electronics very similar to automotive ECU’s. Being new to the C63, I joined this forum and did quite a bit of reading. I quickly noticed that were many tuners to choose from and based on the ¼ Mile times posted here on the forum I narrowed down my choice to Modern Horsepower (MHP). Turns out for me, MHP was the wrong choice! Read on, if your interested in my story.
After a couple of discussions with Andy of (MHP) I carefully removed and thoroughly packaged my ECU. My ECU had no less than 5 full wraps of bubble wrap around it and was securely packaged in a fairly large box. The Fedex guy watched me pack it and even made me keep adding bubble wrap. This thing was packed extremly well. Overkill, to say the least. I then shipped it off to MHP. The next Day, I received an email from MHP a.k.a Andrew Cluck stating the following “Just wanted to give you a heads up. ECU arrived, we unpacked and prepared to open and heard a rattle inside the ECU. Not sure if it was like this when you shipped or if FedEx played floor hockey with the box last night”. My first thought was how the hell was this thing damaged in shipping, it was so thoroughly wrapped that you could have literally have thrown it out of the 2nd floor window of an office building. I asked (MHP) Andy if there was any damage to the outside of the ECU case itself. He responded that there was “no” damage at all to the outside of the ecu. The damage was to something internal on the circuit board “looks like some kind of resistor” he said. Now I’m really suspicious… So, he heard a rattle and went ahead and opened it anyway? (Common sense say’s these ECU’s are capable of handling quite a bit of shock and vibration? The ECU is mounted just above and behind the front wheel. Think about that next time you hit a huge pothole or for that matter get into an accident with the vehicle… Does crap fall off the circuit Board in those situations? I don’t think so… Secondly, after having to buy a new ECU, I had a clear look a how Mercedes ships a new ECU? They sent my new ECU in a box barely bigger than the ECU itself and it had a couple of pieces of thin carboard wrapped around it. Believe me, if these things were as fragile as MHP claims, Mercedes would not be shipping them with so little protection…..) Aggrivated, and suspicious, I then asked Andy to provide both pictures of the shipping Box and the damage to the ECU which he did. After looking at the picture of the damaged component on the board I had a pretty strong feeling that this damage was done by MHP while opening the ECU. I sent the pictures to a few other tuners and some ECU repair shops and they all, without a doubt confirmed my thoughts. Most, laughed when I told them this damage was supposedly done in shipping and there was no damage to the ECU case itself. I was also told that these ECU are glued/bonded together pretty well from the factory and take a bit of caution, patience, and finesse to separate the cover from the body. More than likely, whatever MHP (Andy) was using to pry the case halves apart slipped into the inside and knocked the component off of the circuit board. After seeing the pictures, I then called MHP again and asked Andy directly if he accidentally damaged the ECU when opening it. Andy denied that he or MHP damaged the ECU. He then told me that he could not write to the ECU and that he would be sending it back to me broken….. Really?? Are you kidding me? Break a customers ECU, deny it, send it back and wash your hands of the situation.. Wow, that’s customer service!! (There were many more phone conversations and text messages over this matter. Some were heated.)
The next day, I receive an ECU back in the mail. I open the shipping box and begin to undo the screws of the cover of the ECU to inspect the damage myself. As I am undoing the screws, and before I can get the ECU open my phone rings. It’s Andy with MHP, “I sent you the wrong ECU back, it’s not yours” he states. Wow, really! How do you know that you broke mine and not someone elses then? Andy states that I need to send it back immediately because he gave me another customers ECU instead of mine. Luckily for me, I had taken a picture of my ECU when I pulled it out of the vehichle. I purposely did this to make sure that I got my ECU back and not someone else’s. I quickly confirm with the picture that this is the same ECU that I sent to MHP. I explain to Andy that the tag on this ECU matches the one in the photo that I took before sending it to MHP. He then say’s “I must have swapped the cover with someone else’s ECU”. Wow, MHP really has their shi* together. Mysteriously broken circuit board of ECU with no outer case damage, swapped ECU covers, posting under multiple user names online and a host of other shady information… Later on that evening, I tell Andy that I’m not sending this ECU back because the cover and all of the numbers on the label match the photo of the ECU I sent to MHP. After the fact, I also opened the cover and verified that the ECU I had in hand was indeed the ECU with the broken circuitry on the board. Additionally, I have since verified that this ECU was in fact my original ECU since my VIN was still in this ECU. I have no idea what Andy did with that other customers ECU, maybe he swapped covers with yet a third person.. All I know is that the ECU that came back t me was broken and had my VIN in it. Much more conversation went on with Andy and I over this matter and it has not been remedied by MHP. I have asked MHP to cover the cost of the new ECU, the TOW and charge for the local dealer to marry the new ECU that I had to purchase to my car. MHP continues to deny any wrongdoing but the evidence and shady stories from Andy speak for themselves. Hope you didn’t think I forgot you ANDY!! It’s been around a month, I gave you ample opportunity to make this right! Damaged in Shipping?????
C’mon Andy….. Really!!!!!
Buyers Beware!
Based on the large power gains available, I knew that my first mod would be an ECU tune. To give you a little background, I am not new to modifying cars and/or computers for that matter. At a minimum, I have done ECU tunes to almost every car I have owned since the late 1980’s. Actually, most vehicles stored the ECU tuning on E-Proms back then. Additionally, I have 17 years experience as an Industrial automation systems engineer dealing with Controllers and Electronics very similar to automotive ECU’s. Being new to the C63, I joined this forum and did quite a bit of reading. I quickly noticed that were many tuners to choose from and based on the ¼ Mile times posted here on the forum I narrowed down my choice to Modern Horsepower (MHP). Turns out for me, MHP was the wrong choice! Read on, if your interested in my story.
After a couple of discussions with Andy of (MHP) I carefully removed and thoroughly packaged my ECU. My ECU had no less than 5 full wraps of bubble wrap around it and was securely packaged in a fairly large box. The Fedex guy watched me pack it and even made me keep adding bubble wrap. This thing was packed extremly well. Overkill, to say the least. I then shipped it off to MHP. The next Day, I received an email from MHP a.k.a Andrew Cluck stating the following “Just wanted to give you a heads up. ECU arrived, we unpacked and prepared to open and heard a rattle inside the ECU. Not sure if it was like this when you shipped or if FedEx played floor hockey with the box last night”. My first thought was how the hell was this thing damaged in shipping, it was so thoroughly wrapped that you could have literally have thrown it out of the 2nd floor window of an office building. I asked (MHP) Andy if there was any damage to the outside of the ECU case itself. He responded that there was “no” damage at all to the outside of the ecu. The damage was to something internal on the circuit board “looks like some kind of resistor” he said. Now I’m really suspicious… So, he heard a rattle and went ahead and opened it anyway? (Common sense say’s these ECU’s are capable of handling quite a bit of shock and vibration? The ECU is mounted just above and behind the front wheel. Think about that next time you hit a huge pothole or for that matter get into an accident with the vehicle… Does crap fall off the circuit Board in those situations? I don’t think so… Secondly, after having to buy a new ECU, I had a clear look a how Mercedes ships a new ECU? They sent my new ECU in a box barely bigger than the ECU itself and it had a couple of pieces of thin carboard wrapped around it. Believe me, if these things were as fragile as MHP claims, Mercedes would not be shipping them with so little protection…..) Aggrivated, and suspicious, I then asked Andy to provide both pictures of the shipping Box and the damage to the ECU which he did. After looking at the picture of the damaged component on the board I had a pretty strong feeling that this damage was done by MHP while opening the ECU. I sent the pictures to a few other tuners and some ECU repair shops and they all, without a doubt confirmed my thoughts. Most, laughed when I told them this damage was supposedly done in shipping and there was no damage to the ECU case itself. I was also told that these ECU are glued/bonded together pretty well from the factory and take a bit of caution, patience, and finesse to separate the cover from the body. More than likely, whatever MHP (Andy) was using to pry the case halves apart slipped into the inside and knocked the component off of the circuit board. After seeing the pictures, I then called MHP again and asked Andy directly if he accidentally damaged the ECU when opening it. Andy denied that he or MHP damaged the ECU. He then told me that he could not write to the ECU and that he would be sending it back to me broken….. Really?? Are you kidding me? Break a customers ECU, deny it, send it back and wash your hands of the situation.. Wow, that’s customer service!! (There were many more phone conversations and text messages over this matter. Some were heated.)
The next day, I receive an ECU back in the mail. I open the shipping box and begin to undo the screws of the cover of the ECU to inspect the damage myself. As I am undoing the screws, and before I can get the ECU open my phone rings. It’s Andy with MHP, “I sent you the wrong ECU back, it’s not yours” he states. Wow, really! How do you know that you broke mine and not someone elses then? Andy states that I need to send it back immediately because he gave me another customers ECU instead of mine. Luckily for me, I had taken a picture of my ECU when I pulled it out of the vehichle. I purposely did this to make sure that I got my ECU back and not someone else’s. I quickly confirm with the picture that this is the same ECU that I sent to MHP. I explain to Andy that the tag on this ECU matches the one in the photo that I took before sending it to MHP. He then say’s “I must have swapped the cover with someone else’s ECU”. Wow, MHP really has their shi* together. Mysteriously broken circuit board of ECU with no outer case damage, swapped ECU covers, posting under multiple user names online and a host of other shady information… Later on that evening, I tell Andy that I’m not sending this ECU back because the cover and all of the numbers on the label match the photo of the ECU I sent to MHP. After the fact, I also opened the cover and verified that the ECU I had in hand was indeed the ECU with the broken circuitry on the board. Additionally, I have since verified that this ECU was in fact my original ECU since my VIN was still in this ECU. I have no idea what Andy did with that other customers ECU, maybe he swapped covers with yet a third person.. All I know is that the ECU that came back t me was broken and had my VIN in it. Much more conversation went on with Andy and I over this matter and it has not been remedied by MHP. I have asked MHP to cover the cost of the new ECU, the TOW and charge for the local dealer to marry the new ECU that I had to purchase to my car. MHP continues to deny any wrongdoing but the evidence and shady stories from Andy speak for themselves. Hope you didn’t think I forgot you ANDY!! It’s been around a month, I gave you ample opportunity to make this right! Damaged in Shipping?????
C’mon Andy….. Really!!!!!Buyers Beware!
Last edited by immelman; May 8, 2012 at 03:38 PM.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 173
Likes: 6
C63 AMG
Pic of Circuit Board
Pic of Circuit Board. Damaged component is just under one being pointed to with tool. You know, the one that looks like it got broken off from a tool hitting it.
Last edited by immelman; May 8, 2012 at 03:58 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 3,317
Likes: 3
From: Northport N.Y.
2013 f250 6.7 diesel
I purchased a 2009 C63 a couple of months ago and have been following the mbworld forum for a little while now. This is my first post and I regret that it has to be in a negative context but I hope to save someone else from the $$ and the headaches that I have just been through. Let me also say, that I realize that there followers and fan boys of certain tuners and I will not argue back and forth over this thread with anyone. I will simply present the facts of my experience and you can decide if this information is helpful in any future decisions you make modifying your vehicle.
Based on the large power gains available, I knew that my first mod would be an ECU tune. To give you a little background, I am not new to modifying cars and/or computers for that matter. At a minimum, I have done ECU tunes to almost every car I have owned since the late 1980’s. Actually, most vehicles stored the ECU tuning on E-Proms back then. Additionally, I have 17 years experience as an Industrial automation systems engineer dealing with Controllers and Electronics very similar to automotive ECU’s. Being new to the C63, I joined this forum and did quite a bit of reading. I quickly noticed that were many tuners to choose from and based on the ¼ Mile times posted here on the forum I narrowed down my choice to Modern Horsepower (MHP). Turns out for me, MHP was the wrong choice! Read on, if your interested in my story.
After a couple of discussions with Andy of (MHP) I carefully removed and thoroughly packaged my ECU. My ECU had no less than 5 full wraps of bubble wrap around it and was securely packaged in a fairly large box. The Fedex guy watched me pack it and even made me keep adding bubble wrap. This thing was packed extremly well. Overkill, to say the least. I then shipped it off to MHP. The next Day, I received an email from MHP a.k.a Andrew Cluck stating the following “Just wanted to give you a heads up. ECU arrived, we unpacked and prepared to open and heard a rattle inside the ECU. Not sure if it was like this when you shipped or if FedEx played floor hockey with the box last night”. My first thought was how the hell was this thing damaged in shipping, it was so thoroughly wrapped that you could have literally have thrown it out of the 2nd floor window of an office building. I asked (MHP) Andy if there was any damage to the outside of the ECU case itself. He responded that there was “no” damage at all to the outside of the ecu. The damage was to something internal on the circuit board “looks like some kind of resistor” he said. Now I’m really suspicious… So, he heard a rattle and went ahead and opened it anyway? (Common sense say’s these ECU’s are capable of handling quite a bit of shock and vibration? The ECU is mounted just above and behind the front wheel. Think about that next time you hit a huge pothole or for that matter get into an accident with the vehicle… Does crap fall off the circuit Board in those situations? I don’t think so… Secondly, after having to buy a new ECU, I had a clear look a how Mercedes ships a new ECU? They sent my new ECU in a box barely bigger than the ECU itself and it had a couple of pieces of thin carboard wrapped around it. Believe me, if these things were as fragile as MHP claims, Mercedes would not be shipping them with so little protection…..) Aggrivated, and suspicious, I then asked Andy to provide both pictures of the shipping Box and the damage to the ECU which he did. After looking at the picture of the damaged component on the board I had a pretty strong feeling that this damage was done by MHP while opening the ECU. I sent the pictures to a few other tuners and some ECU repair shops and they all, without a doubt confirmed my thoughts. Most, laughed when I told them this damage was supposedly done in shipping and there was no damage to the ECU case itself. I was also told that these ECU are glued/bonded together pretty well from the factory and take a bit of caution, patience, and finesse to separate the cover from the body. More than likely, whatever MHP (Andy) was using to pry the case halves apart slipped into the inside and knocked the component off of the circuit board. After seeing the pictures, I then called MHP again and asked Andy directly if he accidentally damaged the ECU when opening it. Andy denied that he or MHP damaged the ECU. He then told me that he could not write to the ECU and that he would be sending it back to me broken….. Really?? Are you kidding me? Break a customers ECU, deny it, send it back and wash your hands of the situation.. Wow, that’s customer service!! (There were many more phone conversations and text messages over this matter. Some were heated.)
The next day, I receive an ECU back in the mail. I open the shipping box and begin to undo the screws of the cover of the ECU to inspect the damage myself. As I am undoing the screws, and before I can get the ECU open my phone rings. It’s Andy with MHP, “I sent you the wrong ECU back, it’s not yours” he states. Wow, really! How do you know that you broke mine and not someone elses then? Andy states that I need to send it back immediately because he gave me another customers ECU instead of mine. Luckily for me, I had taken a picture of my ECU when I pulled it out of the vehichle. I purposely did this to make sure that I got my ECU back and not someone else’s. I quickly confirm with the picture that this is the same ECU that I sent to MHP. I explain to Andy that the tag on this ECU matches the one in the photo that I took before sending it to MHP. He then say’s “I must have swapped the cover with someone else’s ECU”. Wow, MHP really has their shi* together. Mysteriously broken circuit board of ECU with no outer case damage, swapped ECU covers, posting under multiple user names online and a host of other shady information… Later on that evening, I tell Andy that I’m not sending this ECU back because the cover and all of the numbers on the label match the photo of the ECU I sent to MHP. After the fact, I also opened the cover and verified that the ECU I had in hand was indeed the ECU with the broken circuitry on the board. Additionally, I have since verified that this ECU was in fact my original ECU since my VIN was still in this ECU. I have no idea what Andy did with that other customers ECU, maybe he swapped covers with yet a third person.. All I know is that the ECU that came back t me was broken and had my VIN in it. Much more conversation went on with Andy and I over this matter and it has not been remedied by MHP. I have asked MHP to cover the cost of the new ECU, the TOW and charge for the local dealer to marry the new ECU that I had to purchase to my car. MHP continues to deny any wrongdoing but the evidence and shady stories from Andy speak for themselves. Hope you didn’t think I forgot you ANDY!! It’s been around a month, I gave you ample opportunity to make this right! Damaged in Shipping????? C’mon Andy….. Really!!!!!
Buyers Beware!
Based on the large power gains available, I knew that my first mod would be an ECU tune. To give you a little background, I am not new to modifying cars and/or computers for that matter. At a minimum, I have done ECU tunes to almost every car I have owned since the late 1980’s. Actually, most vehicles stored the ECU tuning on E-Proms back then. Additionally, I have 17 years experience as an Industrial automation systems engineer dealing with Controllers and Electronics very similar to automotive ECU’s. Being new to the C63, I joined this forum and did quite a bit of reading. I quickly noticed that were many tuners to choose from and based on the ¼ Mile times posted here on the forum I narrowed down my choice to Modern Horsepower (MHP). Turns out for me, MHP was the wrong choice! Read on, if your interested in my story.
After a couple of discussions with Andy of (MHP) I carefully removed and thoroughly packaged my ECU. My ECU had no less than 5 full wraps of bubble wrap around it and was securely packaged in a fairly large box. The Fedex guy watched me pack it and even made me keep adding bubble wrap. This thing was packed extremly well. Overkill, to say the least. I then shipped it off to MHP. The next Day, I received an email from MHP a.k.a Andrew Cluck stating the following “Just wanted to give you a heads up. ECU arrived, we unpacked and prepared to open and heard a rattle inside the ECU. Not sure if it was like this when you shipped or if FedEx played floor hockey with the box last night”. My first thought was how the hell was this thing damaged in shipping, it was so thoroughly wrapped that you could have literally have thrown it out of the 2nd floor window of an office building. I asked (MHP) Andy if there was any damage to the outside of the ECU case itself. He responded that there was “no” damage at all to the outside of the ecu. The damage was to something internal on the circuit board “looks like some kind of resistor” he said. Now I’m really suspicious… So, he heard a rattle and went ahead and opened it anyway? (Common sense say’s these ECU’s are capable of handling quite a bit of shock and vibration? The ECU is mounted just above and behind the front wheel. Think about that next time you hit a huge pothole or for that matter get into an accident with the vehicle… Does crap fall off the circuit Board in those situations? I don’t think so… Secondly, after having to buy a new ECU, I had a clear look a how Mercedes ships a new ECU? They sent my new ECU in a box barely bigger than the ECU itself and it had a couple of pieces of thin carboard wrapped around it. Believe me, if these things were as fragile as MHP claims, Mercedes would not be shipping them with so little protection…..) Aggrivated, and suspicious, I then asked Andy to provide both pictures of the shipping Box and the damage to the ECU which he did. After looking at the picture of the damaged component on the board I had a pretty strong feeling that this damage was done by MHP while opening the ECU. I sent the pictures to a few other tuners and some ECU repair shops and they all, without a doubt confirmed my thoughts. Most, laughed when I told them this damage was supposedly done in shipping and there was no damage to the ECU case itself. I was also told that these ECU are glued/bonded together pretty well from the factory and take a bit of caution, patience, and finesse to separate the cover from the body. More than likely, whatever MHP (Andy) was using to pry the case halves apart slipped into the inside and knocked the component off of the circuit board. After seeing the pictures, I then called MHP again and asked Andy directly if he accidentally damaged the ECU when opening it. Andy denied that he or MHP damaged the ECU. He then told me that he could not write to the ECU and that he would be sending it back to me broken….. Really?? Are you kidding me? Break a customers ECU, deny it, send it back and wash your hands of the situation.. Wow, that’s customer service!! (There were many more phone conversations and text messages over this matter. Some were heated.)
The next day, I receive an ECU back in the mail. I open the shipping box and begin to undo the screws of the cover of the ECU to inspect the damage myself. As I am undoing the screws, and before I can get the ECU open my phone rings. It’s Andy with MHP, “I sent you the wrong ECU back, it’s not yours” he states. Wow, really! How do you know that you broke mine and not someone elses then? Andy states that I need to send it back immediately because he gave me another customers ECU instead of mine. Luckily for me, I had taken a picture of my ECU when I pulled it out of the vehichle. I purposely did this to make sure that I got my ECU back and not someone else’s. I quickly confirm with the picture that this is the same ECU that I sent to MHP. I explain to Andy that the tag on this ECU matches the one in the photo that I took before sending it to MHP. He then say’s “I must have swapped the cover with someone else’s ECU”. Wow, MHP really has their shi* together. Mysteriously broken circuit board of ECU with no outer case damage, swapped ECU covers, posting under multiple user names online and a host of other shady information… Later on that evening, I tell Andy that I’m not sending this ECU back because the cover and all of the numbers on the label match the photo of the ECU I sent to MHP. After the fact, I also opened the cover and verified that the ECU I had in hand was indeed the ECU with the broken circuitry on the board. Additionally, I have since verified that this ECU was in fact my original ECU since my VIN was still in this ECU. I have no idea what Andy did with that other customers ECU, maybe he swapped covers with yet a third person.. All I know is that the ECU that came back t me was broken and had my VIN in it. Much more conversation went on with Andy and I over this matter and it has not been remedied by MHP. I have asked MHP to cover the cost of the new ECU, the TOW and charge for the local dealer to marry the new ECU that I had to purchase to my car. MHP continues to deny any wrongdoing but the evidence and shady stories from Andy speak for themselves. Hope you didn’t think I forgot you ANDY!! It’s been around a month, I gave you ample opportunity to make this right! Damaged in Shipping?????
C’mon Andy….. Really!!!!!Buyers Beware!
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,318
Likes: 171
From: Silicon Valley, CA
C63 AMG, P30
Wow that sucks! Hopefully you get all of this figured out. Try to file a claim like others have said, but from the sounds of how you packaged the ecu, it doesn't seem like the shipper has done anything wrong. Especially since the box was in good shape...
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,087
Likes: 6
360 Modena TT
I purchased a 2009 C63 a couple of months ago and have been following the mbworld forum for a little while now. This is my first post and I regret that it has to be in a negative context but I hope to save someone else from the $$ and the headaches that I have just been through. Let me also say, that I realize that there followers and fan boys of certain tuners and I will not argue back and forth over this thread with anyone. I will simply present the facts of my experience and you can decide if this information is helpful in any future decisions you make modifying your vehicle.
Based on the large power gains available, I knew that my first mod would be an ECU tune. To give you a little background, I am not new to modifying cars and/or computers for that matter. At a minimum, I have done ECU tunes to almost every car I have owned since the late 1980’s. Actually, most vehicles stored the ECU tuning on E-Proms back then. Additionally, I have 17 years experience as an Industrial automation systems engineer dealing with Controllers and Electronics very similar to automotive ECU’s. Being new to the C63, I joined this forum and did quite a bit of reading. I quickly noticed that were many tuners to choose from and based on the ¼ Mile times posted here on the forum I narrowed down my choice to Modern Horsepower (MHP). Turns out for me, MHP was the wrong choice! Read on, if your interested in my story.
After a couple of discussions with Andy of (MHP) I carefully removed and thoroughly packaged my ECU. My ECU had no less than 5 full wraps of bubble wrap around it and was securely packaged in a fairly large box. The Fedex guy watched me pack it and even made me keep adding bubble wrap. This thing was packed extremly well. Overkill, to say the least. I then shipped it off to MHP. The next Day, I received an email from MHP a.k.a Andrew Cluck stating the following “Just wanted to give you a heads up. ECU arrived, we unpacked and prepared to open and heard a rattle inside the ECU. Not sure if it was like this when you shipped or if FedEx played floor hockey with the box last night”. My first thought was how the hell was this thing damaged in shipping, it was so thoroughly wrapped that you could have literally have thrown it out of the 2nd floor window of an office building. I asked (MHP) Andy if there was any damage to the outside of the ECU case itself. He responded that there was “no” damage at all to the outside of the ecu. The damage was to something internal on the circuit board “looks like some kind of resistor” he said. Now I’m really suspicious… So, he heard a rattle and went ahead and opened it anyway? (Common sense say’s these ECU’s are capable of handling quite a bit of shock and vibration? The ECU is mounted just above and behind the front wheel. Think about that next time you hit a huge pothole or for that matter get into an accident with the vehicle… Does crap fall off the circuit Board in those situations? I don’t think so… Secondly, after having to buy a new ECU, I had a clear look a how Mercedes ships a new ECU? They sent my new ECU in a box barely bigger than the ECU itself and it had a couple of pieces of thin carboard wrapped around it. Believe me, if these things were as fragile as MHP claims, Mercedes would not be shipping them with so little protection…..) Aggrivated, and suspicious, I then asked Andy to provide both pictures of the shipping Box and the damage to the ECU which he did. After looking at the picture of the damaged component on the board I had a pretty strong feeling that this damage was done by MHP while opening the ECU. I sent the pictures to a few other tuners and some ECU repair shops and they all, without a doubt confirmed my thoughts. Most, laughed when I told them this damage was supposedly done in shipping and there was no damage to the ECU case itself. I was also told that these ECU are glued/bonded together pretty well from the factory and take a bit of caution, patience, and finesse to separate the cover from the body. More than likely, whatever MHP (Andy) was using to pry the case halves apart slipped into the inside and knocked the component off of the circuit board. After seeing the pictures, I then called MHP again and asked Andy directly if he accidentally damaged the ECU when opening it. Andy denied that he or MHP damaged the ECU. He then told me that he could not write to the ECU and that he would be sending it back to me broken….. Really?? Are you kidding me? Break a customers ECU, deny it, send it back and wash your hands of the situation.. Wow, that’s customer service!! (There were many more phone conversations and text messages over this matter. Some were heated.)
The next day, I receive an ECU back in the mail. I open the shipping box and begin to undo the screws of the cover of the ECU to inspect the damage myself. As I am undoing the screws, and before I can get the ECU open my phone rings. It’s Andy with MHP, “I sent you the wrong ECU back, it’s not yours” he states. Wow, really! How do you know that you broke mine and not someone elses then? Andy states that I need to send it back immediately because he gave me another customers ECU instead of mine. Luckily for me, I had taken a picture of my ECU when I pulled it out of the vehichle. I purposely did this to make sure that I got my ECU back and not someone else’s. I quickly confirm with the picture that this is the same ECU that I sent to MHP. I explain to Andy that the tag on this ECU matches the one in the photo that I took before sending it to MHP. He then say’s “I must have swapped the cover with someone else’s ECU”. Wow, MHP really has their shi* together. Mysteriously broken circuit board of ECU with no outer case damage, swapped ECU covers, posting under multiple user names online and a host of other shady information… Later on that evening, I tell Andy that I’m not sending this ECU back because the cover and all of the numbers on the label match the photo of the ECU I sent to MHP. After the fact, I also opened the cover and verified that the ECU I had in hand was indeed the ECU with the broken circuitry on the board. Additionally, I have since verified that this ECU was in fact my original ECU since my VIN was still in this ECU. I have no idea what Andy did with that other customers ECU, maybe he swapped covers with yet a third person.. All I know is that the ECU that came back t me was broken and had my VIN in it. Much more conversation went on with Andy and I over this matter and it has not been remedied by MHP. I have asked MHP to cover the cost of the new ECU, the TOW and charge for the local dealer to marry the new ECU that I had to purchase to my car. MHP continues to deny any wrongdoing but the evidence and shady stories from Andy speak for themselves. Hope you didn’t think I forgot you ANDY!! It’s been around a month, I gave you ample opportunity to make this right! Damaged in Shipping????? C’mon Andy….. Really!!!!!
Buyers Beware!
Based on the large power gains available, I knew that my first mod would be an ECU tune. To give you a little background, I am not new to modifying cars and/or computers for that matter. At a minimum, I have done ECU tunes to almost every car I have owned since the late 1980’s. Actually, most vehicles stored the ECU tuning on E-Proms back then. Additionally, I have 17 years experience as an Industrial automation systems engineer dealing with Controllers and Electronics very similar to automotive ECU’s. Being new to the C63, I joined this forum and did quite a bit of reading. I quickly noticed that were many tuners to choose from and based on the ¼ Mile times posted here on the forum I narrowed down my choice to Modern Horsepower (MHP). Turns out for me, MHP was the wrong choice! Read on, if your interested in my story.
After a couple of discussions with Andy of (MHP) I carefully removed and thoroughly packaged my ECU. My ECU had no less than 5 full wraps of bubble wrap around it and was securely packaged in a fairly large box. The Fedex guy watched me pack it and even made me keep adding bubble wrap. This thing was packed extremly well. Overkill, to say the least. I then shipped it off to MHP. The next Day, I received an email from MHP a.k.a Andrew Cluck stating the following “Just wanted to give you a heads up. ECU arrived, we unpacked and prepared to open and heard a rattle inside the ECU. Not sure if it was like this when you shipped or if FedEx played floor hockey with the box last night”. My first thought was how the hell was this thing damaged in shipping, it was so thoroughly wrapped that you could have literally have thrown it out of the 2nd floor window of an office building. I asked (MHP) Andy if there was any damage to the outside of the ECU case itself. He responded that there was “no” damage at all to the outside of the ecu. The damage was to something internal on the circuit board “looks like some kind of resistor” he said. Now I’m really suspicious… So, he heard a rattle and went ahead and opened it anyway? (Common sense say’s these ECU’s are capable of handling quite a bit of shock and vibration? The ECU is mounted just above and behind the front wheel. Think about that next time you hit a huge pothole or for that matter get into an accident with the vehicle… Does crap fall off the circuit Board in those situations? I don’t think so… Secondly, after having to buy a new ECU, I had a clear look a how Mercedes ships a new ECU? They sent my new ECU in a box barely bigger than the ECU itself and it had a couple of pieces of thin carboard wrapped around it. Believe me, if these things were as fragile as MHP claims, Mercedes would not be shipping them with so little protection…..) Aggrivated, and suspicious, I then asked Andy to provide both pictures of the shipping Box and the damage to the ECU which he did. After looking at the picture of the damaged component on the board I had a pretty strong feeling that this damage was done by MHP while opening the ECU. I sent the pictures to a few other tuners and some ECU repair shops and they all, without a doubt confirmed my thoughts. Most, laughed when I told them this damage was supposedly done in shipping and there was no damage to the ECU case itself. I was also told that these ECU are glued/bonded together pretty well from the factory and take a bit of caution, patience, and finesse to separate the cover from the body. More than likely, whatever MHP (Andy) was using to pry the case halves apart slipped into the inside and knocked the component off of the circuit board. After seeing the pictures, I then called MHP again and asked Andy directly if he accidentally damaged the ECU when opening it. Andy denied that he or MHP damaged the ECU. He then told me that he could not write to the ECU and that he would be sending it back to me broken….. Really?? Are you kidding me? Break a customers ECU, deny it, send it back and wash your hands of the situation.. Wow, that’s customer service!! (There were many more phone conversations and text messages over this matter. Some were heated.)
The next day, I receive an ECU back in the mail. I open the shipping box and begin to undo the screws of the cover of the ECU to inspect the damage myself. As I am undoing the screws, and before I can get the ECU open my phone rings. It’s Andy with MHP, “I sent you the wrong ECU back, it’s not yours” he states. Wow, really! How do you know that you broke mine and not someone elses then? Andy states that I need to send it back immediately because he gave me another customers ECU instead of mine. Luckily for me, I had taken a picture of my ECU when I pulled it out of the vehichle. I purposely did this to make sure that I got my ECU back and not someone else’s. I quickly confirm with the picture that this is the same ECU that I sent to MHP. I explain to Andy that the tag on this ECU matches the one in the photo that I took before sending it to MHP. He then say’s “I must have swapped the cover with someone else’s ECU”. Wow, MHP really has their shi* together. Mysteriously broken circuit board of ECU with no outer case damage, swapped ECU covers, posting under multiple user names online and a host of other shady information… Later on that evening, I tell Andy that I’m not sending this ECU back because the cover and all of the numbers on the label match the photo of the ECU I sent to MHP. After the fact, I also opened the cover and verified that the ECU I had in hand was indeed the ECU with the broken circuitry on the board. Additionally, I have since verified that this ECU was in fact my original ECU since my VIN was still in this ECU. I have no idea what Andy did with that other customers ECU, maybe he swapped covers with yet a third person.. All I know is that the ECU that came back t me was broken and had my VIN in it. Much more conversation went on with Andy and I over this matter and it has not been remedied by MHP. I have asked MHP to cover the cost of the new ECU, the TOW and charge for the local dealer to marry the new ECU that I had to purchase to my car. MHP continues to deny any wrongdoing but the evidence and shady stories from Andy speak for themselves. Hope you didn’t think I forgot you ANDY!! It’s been around a month, I gave you ample opportunity to make this right! Damaged in Shipping?????
C’mon Andy….. Really!!!!!Buyers Beware!
Trending Topics
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 512
Likes: 1
From: Los Angeles
2009 C63 AMG
Just from my past experience, given there's NO damage on the package, it's very hard to prove to the UPS inspector that it's their fault causing the internal damage.
MB World Stories
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
Manual Mercedes? 6 Times Sindelfingen Let Drivers Have All The Fun
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Verdad Gallardo
8 Classic Boxy Mercedes Designs That Have Aged Like Fine Wine
Verdad Gallardo
Flawlessly Restored Mercedes 190E Evo II Heads to Auction
Verdad Gallardo
Electric Mercedes C-Class Unveiled: 11 Things You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes EQS Gets A Major Update: Everything You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
5 Underrated Mercedes-Benz Models That Don't Get the Love They Deserve
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes 300D Has Pushed Well Past 1 Million Miles and It Ain't Stopping
Verdad Gallardo
10 Most Reliable Mercedes-Benz Models You Can Buy Used
Verdad Gallardo
Banned
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,838
Likes: 69
From: Los Angeles
'16 C63-S
Super Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 566
Likes: 0
AMG
Anyway , you knew about Andy "shady" operations but still shipped the ECU to him ?
Can we see other pictures ? Before/After ECU box ?
Last edited by Kaiba; May 8, 2012 at 04:17 PM.
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 512
Likes: 1
From: Los Angeles
2009 C63 AMG
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 4,455
Likes: 31
From: Ny
Anything W/4Wheels
Ohhh wow Andy at it again.
Don't worrie u not the 1st or last that had a problem.
I'll post a pic of what my Ecu looked like after opening.
If it wasent for couple baller on the forum that keep this guy going an repping his products he would be out of business longtime ago.
Don't worrie u not the 1st or last that had a problem.
I'll post a pic of what my Ecu looked like after opening.
If it wasent for couple baller on the forum that keep this guy going an repping his products he would be out of business longtime ago.
Super Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 793
Likes: 1
From: Doha, Qatar
2011 SLS AMG, 2009 SL63 AMG, 2008 C63 AMG(SOLD)
I said it before and I'll say it again AND I WILL KEEP SAYING IT TO EVERYONE. BEWARE AND STAY AWAY FROM THAT WOTHLESS DOUCHEBAG. He has damaged many ECUs in the past. I don't understand why you guys keep investing your hard earned cash to that liar.
We have shipped ECUs many times without insuring them and had no problems and never were damaged. your scumbag friend is an artist of lying and denying when **** hits the fan. 
I just hope your car doesn't blow up
I just hope your car doesn't blow up
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,087
Likes: 6
360 Modena TT
Ohhh wow Andy at it again.
Don't worrie u not the 1st or last that had a problem.
I'll post a pic of what my Ecu looked like after opening.
If it wasent for couple baller on the forum that keep this guy going an repping his products he would be out of business longtime ago.
Don't worrie u not the 1st or last that had a problem.
I'll post a pic of what my Ecu looked like after opening.
If it wasent for couple baller on the forum that keep this guy going an repping his products he would be out of business longtime ago.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 4,455
Likes: 31
From: Ny
Anything W/4Wheels
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 4,026
Likes: 7
From: Walnut Creek, CA
Vivid Racing '09 C63 AMG
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,087
Likes: 6
360 Modena TT
I said it before and I'll say it again AND I WILL KEEP SAYING IT TO EVERYONE. BEWARE AND STAY AWAY FROM THAT WOTHLESS DOUCHEBAG. He has damaged many ECUs in the past. I don't understand why you guys keep investing your hard earned cash to that liar.
We have shipped ECUs many times without insuring them and had no problems and never were damaged. your scumbag friend is an artist of lying and denying when **** hits the fan.
I just hope your car doesn't blow up
We have shipped ECUs many times without insuring them and had no problems and never were damaged. your scumbag friend is an artist of lying and denying when **** hits the fan.
I just hope your car doesn't blow up
Super Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 793
Likes: 1
From: Doha, Qatar
2011 SLS AMG, 2009 SL63 AMG, 2008 C63 AMG(SOLD)
EPOXY damages the ECU internals eventually and removing it improperly could cause a permanent damage to the ECU.
One thing is absolutely not right,ANDY WAS NOT TELLING HIS CUSTOMERS ABOUT THIS EPOXY BEING SPRAYED ON THEIR ECUs.
WHAT A CHEAP ***
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 4,455
Likes: 31
From: Ny
Anything W/4Wheels
And for a updated flash to charge $1200 bc it's a new tuner.
U guys all know it's just some don't want to believe how Andy really is.
His just a salesman and bs artist. Besides that he don't make no part or tune any cars.
All his work is done by someone else
Last edited by mthis; May 8, 2012 at 04:42 PM.
Super Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 793
Likes: 1
From: Doha, Qatar
2011 SLS AMG, 2009 SL63 AMG, 2008 C63 AMG(SOLD)
He should also pay them commission for advertising his lousy products and covering up his lousy ongoing BS
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,087
Likes: 6
360 Modena TT
come on....why is anyone deserving of commission from him . most people that represent his items , do so because his items have worked pretty damn good for them . i guess PP gives you and your brother commission for advertising their stuff as far as covering up his bs....how the hell can anyone do that ?
Super Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 793
Likes: 1
From: Doha, Qatar
2011 SLS AMG, 2009 SL63 AMG, 2008 C63 AMG(SOLD)
come on....why is anyone deserving of commission from him . most people that represent his items , do so because his items have worked pretty damn good for them . i guess PP gives you and your brother commission for advertising their stuff as far as covering up his bs....how the hell can anyone do that ?
when did we ever advertise PP-Performance products? PP-Performancce don't need us to advertise their work. They have multiple workshops around the world. Unlike your friend, Andy, who conducts his business from his grandmother's basement
By the way,
why didn't you let Andy tune your weistec supercharger?
Is it because you knew that he would turn it into a super frier
Last edited by Rock; May 8, 2012 at 05:29 PM.
