Hello, as the title says, I am looking to hard wire a data logging system to monitor the car so a ECM pinout will be needed . After all these years, I'm looking to see if there is anything that can be tweaked or improved for optimal performance. Also, it's a way to make sure I'm not flirting with danger with spirited driving on a cold day. I did make a small effort to find something on my own, but wasn't successful or confident in my findings. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

I'd try contacting the guys over at victory road performance. Though not on their website, they actually still do custom work on the m275 platform. They also work with speedriven, or at least what is left of them. They sell standalone ECU systems for the m113k / m156 platforms on their website, a lot of the behind the works stuff came from speedriven. Seeing as they're the company that was able to get these engines on to run standalone on a syvecs s12 ecu, they'll likely be able to provide all that information to you.

 

Personally I'm going to wait a couple more years for companies like VRP and speedriven to develop standalone ecu packages for our v12tt cars. With how these vehicles are depreciating, the tuning market will definitely be there unlike its lack thereof a decade ago.

 

I reached out to VRP a couple weeks back asking about the offerings they have for the m275 engine. Here is a picture of what is offered as a stage 4 power package.


Notice the invoice date is from just over a year ago, so pretty recent.

 

Thanks for your suggestion, it seems you are trying to help, however I'll reach out to some of the techs on the forums through PM. There are guys that have been helpful in the past, I don't expect them to review the forums all that often.

There are a few things to understand. This platform is dated and the interest to further the performance has diminished. I have had my car for 11 years now. I've built off of what has been proven to work and read between the lines on what I felt were sales gimics with hefty prices and little results. I've made my own mods work with proven success at the track.

Read old posts from 2008 and on. When I got my car, Speedriven was in their prime and the V12TT AMGs were $50-90K cars. Spending $5-$15k was easier to guys who could afford cars these prices and there were a lot of unfulfilled promises. I understand there has been advances in tech and stand alones being used in recent years, but now you have a smaller audience on tighter budgets. Remember these are not mass produced packages, production numbers are low to begin with, and aftermarket is even smaller. Its harder to convince someone to spend $15k on a 15 yr old $20K car. Most of the performance parts for the V12TTs become 1 off setups. It wouldn't surprise me if half of the older cars have been totaled out by now. As a result most tuners have moved on to the newer bi-turbo cars long ago.

There is nothing I see from VRP that impresses me. The guy came on the forums to beg everyone for information on parts only to try and re-brand it as his own. He is not offering anything that wasn't available or done before. The prices are a joke. You can source everything on that numberless, nameless, unpaid invoice for much less. Do yourself a favor and read old posts to educate yourself. You will see, there are limitations not everything will yield as expected. If you are finishing up school enjoy the car for what it is. Besides the cost of the mods, replacing broken parts is inevitable. Be prepared and you'll add mods over time with little to no regrets.

 

I wasn't necessarily saying I'm 100% sold on them, just that they'll likely have the information your looking for, and most likely to respond compared to forum member who aren't active anymore. I'm gonna disagree with the popularity in the aftermarket for these cars. While the performance packages were never mass produced, the more important factor is the runtime for the m275 engine being in production for almost 20 years. You can easily find a car with the non AMG m275 on the used market nowadays in fair condition. These engines are also structurally sound and simple in desgin. Unlike the 65 AMG cars, the 600 trim models probably won't appreciate anymore, and they'll settle in around the 10-15k price range. All it takes is a solid tuning option available on the market for these cars to become popular again in the car community. Look at how the Nissan S chassis has more than doubled in value due to the drift tax. Also, as a biomedical engineering major, I'm forbidden to use any scientific articles older than 3 years for anything I work on that isn't strictly background information LOL.

In all seriousness though, I'd imagine after this long, if no one else has figured out how to log/monitor all the data your looking for, than it's probably time to start looking at more sophisticated technology. I think the major benefit to a standalone system is the added failsafes, on the fly tune adjustments, and full tuner authority over traction control and the transmission.

 

There is datalogging available, I'll stick to a Zetronix for now.

Despite the 20 year run of the M275, its production numbers combined on all models probably don't compare to the number of LS motors built in a single year. I think it will be hard to expect much growing interest since most people prefer the latest and greatest with Mercedes. Making it a small audience. Speedriven tried very hard for many years with innovative design, dedication and devotion to the the platform. Some efforts successful others experimental and a waste of time and money for both them and the consumer. If anything, they will continue with it as a specialty market. Based on production numbers, I thought in due time the CL65 would be similar to a 850CSI. Those cars went up, BMWs have brand loyality. Benz not so much, guys like us are the odd *****.

Tuning is only a small portion, even if stand alones can manage uninterrupted power delivery, the drive train cannot handle it with a sticky tire. I have broken lots of parts, from tranny internals, to rear diff to axles. Most higher hp cars aren't trying to move such a heavy car. As a result I think people stick to lighter platforms for quickness. I guess time will tell, I still enjoy my car for what it is. Maybe we will have to check back in a few years.

Until then, enjoy school. Everyone thinks its fun and games. Biomedical Engineering? Are you sure you have a personality? Don't forget half of what you learn will be proven invalid in a few years and methods will change. We don't know what half it is so you have to learn it all for now.

 

​​​​​​Not sure what you mean by the personality thing but okay. Also I hate that argument. After all, it is those with stem backgrounds that prove previous methods invalid. It's not like we sit idling after graduation (well some might lol). Life as a scientist is always about learning / discovering new things. And the core foundations of physics, math, and biology aren't gonna be changing anytime soon. But that's a discussion for another day. I hope you find the information your looking for.

 

All good I'll PM you for clarity. Thanks