I'm buying a GT S for my wife. It has extended warr and tune will be lost on her. In order to keep extended warranty I'm thinking of trading out
the hot ECU for stock. Any thoughts for me?
TIA

 

Assuming you're saying it's already tuned, I can't imagine that is possible. Only way that I know of to make that type of switcheroo work is if the ECU was cloned prior to the tune.

 

Yes, car I'm looking at has the tune. I'm no mechanic but I thought I could lift the cpu out and switch for stock. Should be plenty of guys that would make use of the hotter HP. Am I delusional?

 

The only way that I know of to use another ECU in your car, is to get a MB dealership to sell you one and program it, which from what I've heard is impossible without a very good reason. The only workaround that I've found through my research is to buy a second hand ECU and clone it to your ECU, and I only know of one company actually willing to do that.

 

Thanks Orcbolg. This clears up the matter for me. If the target car has ext warr then it is basically worthless since dealers will not honor it due to hot CPU. So bottom line I should give no value to the fact that the car
has extended warranty. Has value only bec of tune which is worthless to my wife.

 

Yes, I agree here. Any modern ECU I know of is integral to the controller area network and tracks mileage along with other things. If the ECU is just mechanically swapped with another one, security should lock it out. When ECUs fail, the replacement needs to be paired so certain data matches the one just removed. Often BC it involves the security function, factories tend to hold tight to this programming. A tuner might be able to do it, but likely a dealer/factory function.

I personally wouldn't buy a car that has an altered ECU. The only exception to that would be if I knew who tuned it and knew the tune wasn't password protected (the worst possible situation); but better yet, I would have the tuner reverse the tune back to the factory tune. Then the question becomes, what other alterations are there that the tune supported? Do those now have to be reversed as well?

The other issue, some states (and the list is continually getting longer) will not issue an emissions certificate with any emissions modifications and modified ECUs are now getting picked up by some testing. Finally, the tuned ECU will have the same issues if someone tries to simply swap it into their stock car. Most of the time, beside the pairing, the make/model/MY have to be almost exact, or in very close proximity otherwise the ECU wouldn't function

I tune mostly on the American side. The first golden rule I learned (years ago) - Step one - make a copy of the factory tune and preserve it!. If anything goes wrong with the custom tune - restore the factory tune. The very big mistake here is if you didn't save the factory tune, trying to clone a "library" factory tune is often fatal and results in a bricked ECU. And, never never never cut/paste someone else's custom tune. Any good tuner/tune house knows this one, so whoever tuned the ECU, if they're reputable, has the factory tune saved.

Sorry for the ramble.

 

Thanks Acta for the excellent post. I wondered why this well equipped car was so much less than other GT S's out there. I am correct in assuming if I roll into a dealer they smirk and send me on my way without servicing the car..correct? I could get her the
plain GT NON S and she would be happy but the reason I want the S is the exhaust sound. Unless the base GT has performance exhaust it is much less aggressive than the S, right? I want the burbble since I get to listen to it when she starts up and drives
off.
Oh and I appreciated your ramble....

 

Dealers are "iffy" and some might work with the car on warranty stuff (as long as it doesn't involve the modified ECU or what it might affect/control), others won't. At least one member here found when he tried to trade in his car with modified exhaust (cats deleted) the dealer refused the car BC of that. This is getting more and more common as the EPA continues to crank down on modifications and states continue to up their games on emissions testing. So basically it's a dice roll.

I know in my state, I can pretty much tune the heck out of a car and do cat deletes and other heavy mods and get through Emissions in AZ BC all they do is plug in and test for IMs and P-codes, all of which I can control right in the tune data. But, try that in CA and I wouldn't even make it in the front door of the testing station.

 

BTW - regards emissions modifications (of all kinds), the EPA has just received a very large set of vicious teeth and is aggressively pursuing any business (eventually even individuals) making any mods or defeats to any emissions devices on a car as it came equipped from the factory, AND this INCLUDES for off road use, which was traditionally the "out". Here is a good read article I keep in my "tune" files...hahaa...

What EPA Crackdown On Defeat Devices Means For Cos. (crowell.com)

 

Good article thanks again. No wonder I've never chipped one of my AMG's. Do you or anyone else know if there is much difference between the base GT and GT S exhaust note and volume?

 

I don't know, frankly. I have a GT and my exhaust will "gurgle" and pop a bit with the exhaust gates opened. Don't know if on the GTS it's tuned in more than the GT.

It's a sound I personally don't care for so if I have exhaust opened I will tend not to hold high revs and decelerate. In high exhaust note, MB just modifies the DFCO (deceleration, fuel cutoff) to keep fueling. Then when you switch to a quiet exhaust they fully implement DFCO. I can duplicate it in a tune, just not a sound I personally like.

I think it would be good to test drive each as sounds like these are so much personal taste.

 

Thanks for my needy hand holding today

 

You don’t have to use a dealer to fix the car on an extended warranty, you can go anywhere. Why not just contact the tuning company and have them reverse the stock chart back onto the ECU?

BTW The sport exhaust is exactly the same on GT and GTS.

 

De Nada....

 

I'm trying to find out if it is extended via MB or aftermarket. Until you said something I thought it must be MB but now that you said something I wonder...
Good idea about the turning the tune backward.

 

Couple things- In the US, under the Magnuson Moss warranty act, they would need to show that the aftermarket modification is the cause of the warranty defect. So it won’t void your whole warranty just because it’s tuned. If they can show that what is defective is caused by the tune, then they could deny your claim for that particular repair- not cancel the entire warranty.

Second, if the car comes with a handheld device/mygenius then you have a stock file on it already. If it doesn’t, send us a message at sales@eurochargedboston and we can help you get it back to stock.

 

Also try to contact Eurocharged. They might have a copy of the original in their database. If they do then with a simple handheld device it can be reverted.

 

Well fast forward one day. I purchased the car. Turns out the local MB dealer has no problem working on the car under after market warranty. Also IT TURNS OUT THERE IS A RECALL ON CPU's on at least the 2016 GTS. Anyone out there
know what it is for? If I put the new CPU in I'll be running stock. Of course if I drive the car occasionally I may get quickly hooked on the increase in HP. Wife wont know difference.

 

Congrats on the purchase!

I've answered this same in your other thread started about the recall which is an ECU reflash, not an ECU replacement. I cannot account for necessarily everything MB is doing in this reflash, but taken on its face, they will be reflashing the cold startup idle and airflow tables. They look something like this and the reflash will delete and replace data in certain cells for whatever MB needed to satisfy EPA and other air quality gov't groups:

 

I’ve heard this reflash is bad for exhaust and performance…

 

Yeah, there is a whole thread on it here that I gave rhart6 in his other thread.
New Emissions Recall? Campaign #2020070001 - MBWorld.org Forums

I commented here and in the other thread, that there is no telling what other changes MB might have done in this campaign. On it's face, the recall was driven by the EPA and there was a single issue identified. However, rather than roll the ECU rev in several campaigns, MB could have been capturing other changes and are making them all at once. In this thread attached, several members worried/concerned (with good reasons) about having tunes of various kinds and what adverse impacts a flash like this could have.

Based on the aftermarket tune and what hack SW was used to get in the ECU, a reflash could get ugly. The factory has to assume the ECU is stock with their "protected intellectual property" in tact.

 

Acta Non is becoming my personal baby sitter. I need to figure out how to carry him around in my latest AMG car. If there is a possibility that the flash is only for idle and emissions I'll leave it alone unless the car (which I don't lay my hands on til next week) has a problem in that area or unless there is a problem with the Eurocharger tune. Someone suggested it took away some of the exhaust burbles which unlike my baby sitter I like.

 

Hahaaa...You're funny...Make sure you post up some pics of this baby when you get it!

 

I'll send pix later. Here is what sold me on the car:

For your consideration i have a 2016 Mercedes AMG GT S up for sale.
Original MSRP $159,125
4.0L Bi - Turbo v8 engine 508hp / 479 lb ft
7speed DCT
Mileage 42,XXX K
~Warranty till 2023
~prepaid service till 2023
~New tires 01/2021 with road hazard warranty (does not expire)
~PPF on front half of car (a-pillars forward: bumper, fenders, hood
~ 5year Ceramic Pro ceramic coating on rear half of car
~ Eurocharged ECU tune making 585whp / 635 wlbft
(its been my goal while enjoying this car to ensure that both myself and the next owner will both be able to fully enjoy this vehicle with a piece of mind that its covered fully. There will be no additional cost to own this vehicle, just enjoy the ride. )

This example is HEAVILY optioned with 95% of available packages, This car was a German factory delivery and with this spec you can tell no expense was spared.
(this is higher spec then "Edition one")
Notable options:
p71 - Dynamic Plus Package
318 - exclusive interior package (designo red interior over black)
811 - Burmeister sound system
416 - panoramic roof
773 - carbon exterior package $5300!!!
ALL AVAILIBLE CARBON OPTIONS (i have not in person seen someone with more)
I HAVE ATTACHED BUILD SHEET TO COMPARE WITH OTHER AVAILBLE MACHINES

 

42 k. ? For your consideration?

Are they not All german? BS