The Modification We Have ALL Been Waiting For !
 

Please bare with me this is a long story .

I have loved her for ever . Sometimes I have been unfaithful , others have come and gone . She would stay at home , sad, unloved , un cherished while I partied with younger or older harlots . Yet she always stayed loyal and true , never even looking at another . We even separated for a while , but I couldn't stay away , I got her back . Every time I take her out though I am reminded of her stunning good looks , fantastic , loving , generous personality . So kind , so perfect so eager to please yet with a wicked naughty side . She deserves a special treat as my one true love , so I set out to get her the perfect gift .

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...g?t=1242087370

I approached AMG performance studio and HWA in Affalterbach regarding the CLK Black serious ;) several months ago . I told them how much I loved the car , how fun it was , how easy to slide , how good on track yet good enough for regular use .

In short almost the perfect car .

I say almost because I have never really been completely convinced by the gearbox on track ( its perfect on the road ) . I think its fine in 99.9 per cent of situations and in many ways suits the big hearted nature of the car but in some instances ( in the wet at spa coming in to pouhon for example ) downshifts would slightly unbalance the car due to the lack of rev matching on downshifting ( or throttle blipping ) .

I wanted to see if any of them were bold enough to attempt to fix this issue for me . I made it clear that there were so many Black Serious owners that would almost kill to have this modification . Even for fun , imagine the noise of that mighty engine blip blip blipping down the box .

Now I know this has been covered on this forum before but forgive me I didnt want to just post this on the end of an old thread .

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p..._6658JPG-1.jpg

Amg went away and came back with a no of sorts , citing cost , complication etc etc ( and the imminent arrival of the C coupe Black ) .

HWA were more interested but basically told me that they were now forbidden / unwilling to work on road cars .

I was heartbroken , until that is a friend with serious contacts at HWA got information from someone inside HWA about a tuner that I later found out is where many HWA and AMG engineers take their PERSONAL cars for modification .

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...g?t=1302773172

I spoke to these guys in depth , sent a very detailed e mail outlining my goals and basically told them not to let finance get in the way of a result ( I know not the smartest thing to say to a tuner ) . I left it at that .

I then got an e mail saying in September most the engineers used for " special projects " were away and could I please be patient for a while . Ho hum thought I .

September came and went ...

I thought that perhaps things were not going to move forward and began to forget about it , slightly annoyed that they hadn't even told me the project was not possible .

Then , very recently they contacted me .

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...m/ADV_1346.jpg

Gentlemen apparently they have cracked it . With what is a mixture of mechanical and software modification . They sent a very reasonable quote and are awaiting the car at their premises .

This will transform the car for me and will overnight make obsolete the upcoming C Coupe black series ( at least to me ) .Finally the Mighty Black Serious will have the gearbox and software ( described as blipping perfectly on downshifts and very slightly faster shifting ) it has always deserved .

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/p...MG_6794JPG.jpg

Sod the performance IMAGINE THE NOISE !!!!

My car will be shipped to Germany as soon as it comes back from the bodyshop ( Im having some stone chips and stuff removed ) where it will stay for 3 to 4 weeks and return as the very Bloody Serious !

I will keep you all posted but I am very confident we have cracked it !

p.s unlike the performance studio they will work on any clk black ;)

Cliffs Notes version....you're getting matched rev downshifts? AWESOME! Keep us posted.

Have they cracked the entire TCU? Please PM me details.

please keep us updated!

Sounds mighty interesting!

Subscribed.

Throttle matching downshift blips are awesome! My Ferrari Challenge Stradale does this with a noise that is insane, and really makes the driving experience much better than paddle shift cars without this feature. Anxious to hear the outcome of the update!!

Oh sweet Jesus, I am almost sexually aroused.
This is a must have,
Great stuff!!

Will this tuner be able to do this install on overseas cars using third party workshop? I can't spend $10,000 sending my car to Germany on top of the mod cost

MCT transmission?

Drooling at the possibility!

Why does AMG force us to figure this stuff out on our own when they have all the answers and resources available? Do they not realize what a good marketing tool a handful of us entthusiests worldwide are to them??? Do they realize the look on people faces when I show up with my modded BS at a Porsche Club event and it mops up just about every P car at the event and there are dozens of people surronding the car and asking questions about it from the moment I arive to the moment I leave. Do they know the looks I get when I show up at a drag strip dominated by american muscle cars and suprise the heck out of EVERYONE in attendance at the track that day when I run a 10 second 1/4 mile? Do they know the suprise on peoples faces when they see Keiths/Dads63's car run 185 plus at a standing mile event such as the Top Gun Run or Texas Mile??? Do they care??? I know for a fact me and my car have sold AMG's....why can't they return the favor. I'm not asking for sponsorship, I'm not asking for money or handouts, hell, I will pay a premium for stuff if they would just be a little more open with us and offer some special "motorsports" stuff. Even BMW is offering this stuff now. 3 years ago a group of us got together and begged AMG to retrofit our BS's with matched rev downshifts, we offered to pay for it but it never happened. What does it take to get their attention??? AMG, if you're listening, there are a handful of us "pioneers" out here buying your product, modding your product, racing/tracking your product and pushing your product to extremes on our own dime....throw us a bone once in a while, could ya?

Here's a perfect example, I am trying to purchase a new 2013 C63 BS, I already have a commitment from a MAJOR magazine and a very popular automotive TV show that want to do a cover story and feature on my modded C63 Black Series but I can even get answers from MB as to what color I can order. Hey AMG, throw me a bone here, I'm handing you millions of dollars in free marketing but I can't even get an answer on if I can order one in Alubeam Silver? Am I missing something here?

Sorry if I hijacked your thread slightly but it sounds like you have jumped through some of the same hoops.

Throttle blipping = BLack Series nirvana.

Holy Multiquote Batman !
Right , they are being a bit cagey with the information ( perhaps understandably ) all i have been able to get out of them is that there is " a small mechanical " modification involved as well as software .
all their work is TUV and all engine work is covered by a 2 year warranty so I am expecting great things .
Ill name them once they ok me to do so ( I think that when I get the car back ) .

i will fear not

i am so excited i can barely sleep .

ill add news as and when i get it !

indeed

it is fantastic news , i must say .

I will send send them an e mail and ask this FYI the gearbox mod is 5900 EU not including vat .

no its the same gearbox

me too

Dont worry , thread not hijacked at all . My understanding is rightly or wrongly AMG do not like their cars modified ( in fact even HWA are " forbidden " to work on road cars now !) . As bizzare as this may sound .
On my recent trip to Affalterbach I finally saw just how small an operation AMG actually are . They make porsche look like Ford !
I know that my issues with the black could not be solved by them for ( among other things ) actual time and staff restraints .
Even the fabled " Performance Studio " is very limited in what they can do . I gave them an open cheque and all they could really offer me was some cosmetic and trim modifications .

As for the C Coupe black , I completely share your pain . I have had a letter of intent for over a year with AMG and am almost in the same predicament , in this case it genuinely is the case that the product is too new and they genuinely dont know the answer .

However we seem to get info a little earlier than Stateside so if there is anything I can help the members here with It would be my pleasure to ask .
If i get an answer is another matter altogether !
As for Alubeam , my sls is alubeam and its gorgeous but takes a great deal of looking after and can look almost golden / bronze in some light . I am not sure i would order a car in this colour again !
Take care .

Heaven !

What kind of lap times did the 68 Mustang in your photo number 5 put down? Is that a resto-mod with coil-overs and such or is it sporting 1960's OE running gear?

Im not sure , I was at spa with the CGT and Black Series . It was only a trackday . The car in question was a historic racer of some sorts . It was so lovely to listen too but I didnt ask about times Im afraid .
Was VERY tail happy though and had a few issues if I remember rightly .
Im pretty sure this Vid was taken from that day ( its me and a friend playing around a bit towards the end of a session ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3v4axoBqoI

would be so cool to get lots of Black's there pity you are all so far away :(

thanks much for your perseverance! Will be waiting for the updates

...and warranty invalidation, no doubt.

Most warranties will have expired given car is made in 08. I have supercharged mine so I couldn't care less about warranty.

With exetnded warrantys in the states, I think you can go out as far as 2014 with coverage from MB NA. You've already gone "all in" so to speak, so I agree that for you, it's not an issue. Enjoy.

Throttle blipping would be totally worth busting your warranty ! I have been waiting a long time for this to be made technically possible.
I just hope it really pans out.

I must admit to feeling the same way , I may as well have it mildly tuned and sod the warranty completely ;) :y

Ditto!

WTDoom - this is great news, looking forward to the results...

Ill keep you posted ,btw i have e mailed them asking about working on USA cars and the logistics involved .

ill let you know asap :y

Can't wait to hear more info, especially about US cars. thanks for putting in the work!

that is awsome news, hope this can be done in the US, like a group buy or something..