AlexZTuned

Do you know if this is a Dinantronics Sport or the Dinantronics Elite unit? The Elite is the one that plugs directly into the ECU (like performmaster) and the Sport is a lower-end version that doesn't carry the same kind of warranty Dinan is known for.

DinanCars

For the C63 and AMG's in general it will only be ELITE variants offered.

vaelin

Is that Nate..?

AlexZTuned

Great to hear

Install will be quite a bit more involved than a regular piggyback then since you need to access the ECU to pull the harnesses?

subzero05

if its an ELITE unit then im sure it will be considerably more involved install wise than the sport unit

DinanCars

Shhhhh, I go by my alter ego of Dinan-man here. =)

More involved yes. Excessively so, no. Once we get the real harness and box on one of the test cars and evaluate true install time I can report it back. I wouldn't anticipate it being any more then 1.5 hours though for a first time installer. Probably significantly shorter for those that have done it before. Install time is more a function of how picky you are on cable routing and cleanliness of the engine bay then anything else.

DarkProphet

The real question, When can I buy it???

DinanCars

Theres still a decent amount of back-end legwork to be done on the hardware side. Not to mention putting the test cars through their paces for a bit to make sure there aren't any inconsistencies that need to be tweaked in the tune itself. Any date I give you would be a complete guess and me blindly throwing a dart at a wall I'm afraid. The next question of pricing has not been discussed internally either so that question doesn't need to be asked yet either. =)

A lot of the MB stuff seems to be getting fast tracked though so I don't foresee it to be a terribly long wait.

MattyMacro

If you guys need a high altitude car for testing...... In Colorado, daily this thing and frequent mountain cruises, so always between 5-12k elevation.

vaelin

So.. about that suspension work..

AlexZTuned

That's not bad at all. I was worried it might be similar in difficulty to pulling the ECU out. Really looking forward to this!

Any plans to partner with MB dealers to offer through dealerships, similar to BMW?

subzero05

I would only assume that to be their intention. Atleast with those dealers who are "aftermarket friendly" to start with. just a guess thou

AlexZTuned

That would be ideal. I contacted a local MB dealer here (AMG Performance Center) who is also a RENNtech dealer, and they said the warranty on the ECU from Mercedes is void immediately once they modify it with the flash tune

DinanCars

We are not removing the ECU or physically modifying it / prying into it. While a flash is ideal with the warranty involved its a non-starter as as soon as that ECU is modified any and all warranty is void. With Dinan's factory matching warranty that would mean ALL warranty claims (whether related to the Dinan mod or not) would then be directed to Dinan. Not a very smart business decision hence being forced to some degree to the piggyback approach, albeit an advanced piggyback.

The goal is to get MB dealerships involved but it will be a slow go just like it was initially with BMW. Formula is proven, just takes a bit of time to spread out amongst the network is all.

skim7x

Hmm... first of all, you should really identify yourself (ie credentials, title, do you indeed work for Dinan, etc) with a handle like that. If you actually work for Dinan, where have you been this entire thread?

Second, I'm pretty skeptical of what you just wrote regarding warranty. It doesn't make any sense to void the warranty on the driver's side mirror just because you swapped out the ECU... or the rear licence plate LED, or the mechanical latch on the passenger side door, or the carbon fiber center console trim, etc. Why would those warranty claims be sent to Dinan just because the ECU was removed? Furthermore, Dinan flashes BMW ECU's, why is this any different?

DinanCars

Yes, I work for Dinan but we are not a sponsor on this forum so I only chime in when necessary as to not anger the forum moderators. While I am not terribly familiar with this particular board most forums do not look kindly on vendors creating threads and taking over boards without paying to be a sponsor. Perhaps at some point that will occur but the Dinan MB program is still in its infancy. Until that point we will probably do more lurking than posting.

The following statements is how its treated in BMW land so we assume other manufacturers behave the same as none of them are exactly open to tuners.

Dinan flashes on the BMW front are OBD2 flashes and are not invasive. There is no physical modification, ever. The current generation of flash tunes for nearly all Euro cars in contrast are all bench flash tunes (at least as far as I am aware due to more advanced encryption) where the ECU/DME has to be physically removed from the car and then PHYSICALLY modified (whether that be simply just prying open the case to access to a diode or soldering something or what have you it doesnt really matter). Once there is physical traces of an end user messing with the "brain" of the computer the manufacturer can wash there hands of anything tied to that ECU While it is true I may have exaggerated a bit on the "everything" is not covered under warranty if a bench flash occurs it still holds true that the manufacturer CAN deny a warranty claim if it can be tied to the ECU in any way. Obviously a mechanical door latch or any number of those types of things would not apply. Ultimately it comes down to how a dealer presents it to the warranty party as they can hide the fact it was tuned to some degree on smaller claims but on a big ticket item (engine or tranny as an example) you can be rest assured that a factory representative will take interest and at that point the dealership would have no control no matter how good of terms you may have with your SA.

For those that will immediately reference Magnusson Moss--- it protects consumers up to an extent. While it is true the manufacturer cant deny a claim on a spring related component due to a tune considering they are not inter-related as an example you can be certain a correlation can be made to an ECU on the cars of this generation that are so heavily computer related should one of those electronic systems have an issue. Who's to say that when the ECU was opened the party involved didnt damage the ECU in the process, or modify something that caused the issue. In the case of a major warranty claim the manufacturer will immediately go down that road. Again, I am not trying to be a harbinger of warranty doom as a mod friendly dealer can skirt a lot of things but to say it isnt real is foolhardy. Manufacturers want to make money and warranty claims fly in the face of that. Dealerships make most of their money on warranty claims so its an interesting dichotomy with a lot of push and pull.

Simply put it would be market suicide to offer a factory matching warranty on a bench flash tune (unless you offered it for some ungodly sum of money to cover the potential claims). Way too much downside and liability involved (whether it be founded or not). The fact of the matter is we are the only aftermarket tuner that deals with this in any great detail as we are the only one that will mirror the factory warranty should the manufacturer deny a claim due to one of our parts. Keep in mind during that factory new car warranty period, unlike other warranties in the tuning sphere, we cover not only our parts but any OE parts affected by our parts as well as the labor involved.

skim7x

great explanation, I appreciate the response. Looking forward to what you guys can do.

Personally, I much prefer flash tune, but it's out of the cards for me because 1) warranty 2) inconvenience of having to reflash if software is overwritten / updated at the dealership

For those reasons, you guys have a customer in Fort Worth if the numbers are right.

vaelin

The numbers are beautiful. I've been getting into my car with eager anticipation all week.

My OBDII Bluetooth scanner with the Torque app clocked a 3.4s 0-60. Have been running the car harder to get up to high temps, and haven't had any issues thus far.

subzero05

so the dealer who installs renntech readily admits putting in their flash will void the warranty in MB eyes ? Yet they are selling and installing it ? Wonder what renntech would have to say ?! Sounds more like Dinan is the best option

AlexZTuned

Yes, that was the first thing I was just told by the RENNtech rep at the dealership. I was pretty bummed out.

I've done a ton of research on all of the ECU and piggyback tunes and what I've concluded is that there is not a single reliable piggyback for this car that is available is the US. An ECU flash would be my preference, but not at the expense of voiding the warranty on a brand new car. So piggyback or bust... and Dinan seems to be one of the only options - and definitely the only tune that will back your factory warranty (several companies overseas do this, but they will not sell to the US or offer that type of warranty).

michaelpsmith

Any news on numbers / performance after a couple weeks / any error codes / dyno measurements / etc.

Excited to hear more details and feedback.

auditoamg

Same here....
I'm very interested in learning more, in the absence of an OBD tune.

Come on - 411 a brother up!!!!

vaelin

Very very very soon..

subzero05

ah, inquiring minds want to know. sounds like a great option/solution

DinanCars

Sorry guys. We have asked Vaelin to withhold dyno information until we have had a chance to install/dyno the production boards and verify everything. Electronics can be fickle and the last thing we want to do is create expectations that are not met. We love creating interest as much as the next company but we still want it to be as close to the finished product as possible.