pcpedroariel

C63 are famous for their limp modes, and unfortunately it is been kinda of an issue here in Brazil. Twice travelling with the car it got into limp mode, as temperatures lately are hitting 40degrees celsius, which is 104 degrees fahrenheit. I took it to the dealer and an MBenz engineer, came along and told me all the history of the issues with C63s LCI in Brazil.

C63 LCI, would overheat at any time the throttle went down, due to the high temperatures here in the country, for this reason Brazilian C63s, received the cooling system of the Black Series, with its ECU, and some other parts, including the P31, P30 (still sold here), and stock package. On the other hand on the process, some C63s did not manage to adapt with so much changes, and failed to work properly. My new one was one of this cars. Mercedes Benz recognized the issue, and got my car back, and got me a C63. The previous owner did not have any of these issues, as he lived South of Brazil an area, with much lower temperatures.

Another funny thing is the solution, also brought in HorsePower additionals. Brazilian non performance package and P30 are hitting 490HP dyno,
and P31 are hitting 501HP. The 507 edition, won't have this kit, as they already come with larger intercoolers.

PS: Limp mode in the road was pathetic. I was with my foot stampede down, and the car would not move at all. It would not go over 120km/h/75mph. I got overtaken by much slower cars

abcut973

Oi Pedro, tudo bem? Feliz Natal, Feliz Ano Novo !!

What do you mean by LCI?
Usually C63 get limp mode during hard track sessions. I'm really surprised to see these cars doing it on street road. Although Brazil has hot temperatures during summer there are other locations in the world where temperatures are even hotter (Middle East) and I haven't seen a complaint of limp mode during street driving.
So will you go with the BS cooling system upgrade?
Either way drive safely

zibby43

LCI stands for Life Cycle Impulse (or Improvement).

It's the official nomenclature used by car manufacturers to denote a "face-lifted" model.

So 2012 was the LCI year for the C63.

Hope that helps!

pfl

Welcome to the over heating club... It's extremely frustrating. Here in US, after a few months with a case open with MBUSA, they pretty much told me this is a known issue and if I wanted a track car, I should have bought a C63 Black Series. They really DID tell me this. They said C63 was not meant for track use. I just gave up.

2012C63AMG

Where I live when its 110-115 most of the summer with lows of 100 at night… Never had an overheating issue. Check your fluid levels or have the dealer run for codes. Most of the summer my cars oil temp is 235-240F during normal driving.

zibby43

We had a few days in September where the ambient temperature easily reached 98 degrees Fahrenheit (a muggy, humid 98). Whenever I flogged the car in this heat, the oil temperature would initially reach about 234 degrees Fahrenheit. However, this is where the oil temperature topped out. Once the oil cooler kicked in the temperature quickly dropped into the 212-222 range.

Regardless of outside ambient temperature, the average oil temperature that I encounter is anywhere between 212-222 degrees (and I experience this temperature range regardless of whether I'm thrashing the car or just cruising).

dcho

wasn't there a software fix that raised the limp mode temperature threshold for the transmission?

texasoz

Probably due to the insanely ridiculous traffic in SP? 1 hr to go 2 miles?

pcpedroariel

I agree it is pathetic. I was seriously thinking of taking the car on Interlagos track, as it would perform fantastically, on the other hand after the incident, my C 63 will never go to the track. The most ridiculous was MB response. Instead of helping me solve the issue, they give me a 0miles C63 2012, with less features than my original (no Performance package or LSD), I get pissed complain, instead of handing me a C63 like my old, no no, they give me a ****ing Quaife LSD, with free installation. Well, I am getting a Audi RS5 pretty soon, anyway, as a guy traded his RS5 for my Jetta. I will give the Jetta and pay + $85,000. Pretty sweet deal for Brazilian standards. Lets see if the RS5 will have the same issues.........

pcpedroariel

Thanks man, Feliz Ano Novo para você também.

My car already had the BS cooling system and ECU. The issue was the car did not adapt to it well. I have a friend who by my influence bought a C 63 2013 Coupe with same optional features, as well. He has gotten the same issue. He is so pissed, that he went into court against Mercedes. Mercedes got him a new C 63 Sedan , and he kept the old car, and he is selling it.

To make matters worse Brazil is just as warm as the middles east, but there it is more windy than here, besides Brazilian roads, and streets asphalt radiate the heat to the car much more. My Jetta TSi, which comes standard with a pretty big intercooler, with a floor it often enough, if does get to high temperatures.

pcpedroariel

NOPE! Mercedes did not offer a proper solution yet. Believe it or not, this issue is such a pain, that I can't stand it anymore.

pcpedroariel

The problem is not the outside temperature, it is the road and street, as Brazilian asphalt radiates the heat much more than the others directly to the car.

My car runs at 245F at normal driving. But if I floor it just a bit, automatically it hits 275F, which is the max of the scale, and boom limp mode strikes.

Another issue I forgot to mention, is Brazilian gas has many differences and the C 63 did not adapt well to do that.

pcpedroariel

Nice, here I floor the car, it automatically increases the temperature so drastically. Mine average temp is 245F.

pcpedroariel

Yep that helps a lot as well. As to get to no road, 1 hour traffic awaits you. Although limp mode only comes on the road when I floor the car, but before nope, although it most certainly helps.


Brazilian famous complain, this guy was the first to have the issue:
It even appeared in magazines and so on

I would like to communicate to all who intend to buy a Mercedes whatsoever , that have the most expensive Mercedes there ( C63 AMG ) zero mileage, almost half a million actual paid for it and I'm 5 months with this car almost 4 months it stood on the dealer, the car considered the safety car in formula 1 only has status , with a highly problematic engine and transmission , engine and endless firmware updates, but none of them solved the issue. The car just overheats at any time, under any circunstances. It is pathetic.

Dear , if one of the tops of cars Mercedes has all these problems imagine the lower the Mercedez plus take to send parts for replacement and testing to try to solve the problem , he just can not with her so competent team of engineers to solve a problem I'm pretty sure it was his knowledge before you even put on the production line .

In short , do not advise them to buy the Mercedes brand vehicles nor Chrysler .

I'm available to those who intend to buy a vehicle from this brand and it has been in doubt now have documents that prove the inefficiency of Mercedez in dealing with these problems , feel free to contact me .

My dream is to get my money back and never set foot in a Mercedes again , as God is just and faithful .

2012C63AMG

We have everything from asphalt to concrete to advanced rubberized asphalt. In fact our city has many research papers written about the heat absorption during the day and its impact on temperatures increasing. At night if you drive out of the city the temps will drop to 70F but in the city it will be 100F at midnight because of the absorption and release of heat by asphalt/cements.

Real surface temps are easily 180F + my car will read 130F to 140F outside temps. Where I live it averages 100F or more for 90+ days of the year, yes averages 90+ days of 100F heat.

The issue is it sounds like people are engine breaking rather than using their brakes plenty of people here track the car and have no issues and then there are others who do 2-3 laps and their car is done. I have hit limp mode 0 times, during the summer I even tried to put it in limp mode (drove off to an empty road did 4-5 0-100-0 runs over and over and even used the transmission as a brake but couldn't, I would need a race track)

pcpedroariel

In Brazil it is even warmer, 100F strikes practically all year except July and August, and already 7am, temperatures are near 100F. I am not sure, but it is a reocurring issue in Brazil, and many people had it, not just me, so I don't believe it is any different use I have made to the car, or anyone else here. And another thing Limp Mode here, is not like what you get in the US. You accelerate the car, get into Limp Mode for a minute, then it gets back to normal, and then Limp Mode again, it sucks. Only once, I got into a Limp Mode that driving took about 30minutes to come back to normal

pfl

I have brought up this issue with high levels of AMG as I know some in Germany and if there is any fixes, I'll make sure to report here.

pcpedroariel

Ok, please if there is any solution post ASAP, as this issue is a pain. It has been fixed but I am worried it will bite back again.

jrcart

There must be a solution out there, the C63's used in the AMG Driving Academy don't have any overheating problems which tells me they programed the ECU's to have a higher shut down temp before going into self preservation limp mode..

pcpedroariel

True, but the Mercedes *******s here in Brazil, rather do the whole cooling system of the C63, other than just apply this easy solution.......

pfl

The AMG Driving Academy does not hot lap the C63s for 4-5 laps... heck not even 1-2 laps. Usually attendees are either following a pace car at moderate speeds (not WOT most the time) or they do 1 or 2 hot laps before coming in for next driver.

jrcart

At Road America in the Advanced class last April we did more than one or two laps at a time and Road America is 4 miles about 2 mins 30 secs. per lap. We were out there for at least 15 minutes stints and although not running at 100% full speed I ran fast enough to warp a set of rotors and boil some brake fluid.

pcpedroariel

LOL

Awesome! Mercedes events in Brazil are so,so. I have attended only once, to see the new A45 AMG. Other than that...

pcpedroariel

In Brazil we do 2 laps of analysing the track, and 1 beating the **** out of the car.

I tested the A45 AMG, and later on did a lap with my C63 LOL. Such a difference although this is

van_rider

I spoke to a lead instructor at an AMG ADA, who also happens to have become an acquaintance of mine, and he told me the C63 LCI's used during the track events have had modifications done by factory to address heating issues. He showed me the changes himself, I can see there was a larger oil cooler and the oil fan comes on at lower temps. The cars are also paced during hot laps that there isn't as much dirty air. There are several other factors. Most of the problem is that the heat extraction isn't there when compared to the BS (hence the hood vents).