sleeperZ96BT

Hello!


This weekend I pick up my new to me CPO 2013 E550. It's been a guilty pleasure of mine to get one of these and I am finally pulling the trigger.


It's a black/black with 40k miles serviced at the dealer where we bought my wife's 2014 GLK 350 new. It's a great time to buy a CPO because they come with 2 services included and you can get a nice 3 year loan rate. That and it was from a dealer I know and was the cheapest CPO 2013 in the country (at least in terms of posted price). It has the following options:


PO2 - premium 2 package
U80 - 115V outlet
104 - deck spoiler
230 - parktronic
287 - split folding rear seats
413 - pano roof
432 massaging drivers seat (this makes me LOL)
993 - lane tracking package


They are tossing in locking lugs, all season mats, and a touch up paint kit. And installing a remote start at cost. My plan is to extend the warranty 2 years (I have 2 of 4 quotes back).


My questions are all around modifications. See, I am a gearhead and I can't leave well enough alone. I have a 1997 Camaro SS with a forged 396 and a 1996 Impala SS getting a 6 speed. I have done quite a bit of researching and am a little surprised at the limited options and cost of things. Here's the 3 buckets of mods I am looking at:


1) Air intake - it really looks like there aren't any (or else no one posts about them). I saw some type of airbox spacer but nothing intake wise. Maybe the OEM is just that well designed? The cars turbo sound was non-existent when I drove it and I do enjoy hearing them spool up (I have had several turbo cars in my past lives). It appears that doesn't really exist here.


2) Exhaust - I see downpipes and catbacks, but they are crushingly expensive. I was shocked that a catback is $3k. Is there nothing that is a reasonable cost that helps improve the sound of these v8's? I saw people cutting out their resonators and adding AMG mufflers, but the resonators seemed to do little and used AMG mufflers looked to be like a grand. I know the turbos help silence it but I also know they don't have to be so quiet


3) Tunes - ok these are big bucks too but you seem to get a lot of extra performance out of them. There's quite a few out there and in my research honestly no one seemed to have a bad thing to say about any tune. Is there one that is better than the others? Does MB check for tunes like Audi does as part of their service intervals and put your warranty at risk if a modification is detected? Do any of the tuners ACTUALLY warranty their tune against damaging the drivetrain and follow through if something happens?


Thanks for any help for this newbie - I love the performance stock and how sleeper-ish it is but I know the mod bug will bite at some point.


Brian

thefisch

First off congrats and need to post some pics.

Second, it sounds like you did your research on here about your questions. The best bang for the buck (or smiles for miles) is the tune so I'd start there. Exhaust is too costly IMO for gains and what's the point of owning a sleeper if everyone hears you coming. Air intake thread you mention is the only one I've seen. Again - little gains with that anyway.

Now waiting for the comments on tune and warranty...

sleeperZ96BT

Thanks - I will once I pick it up


One tuner seemed to offer 2yrs/20k miles (euro charged maybe?) and another seemed to state that dealers install their tunes. Could have been renntech. Either way I've yet to see a thread that shows a tune blowing up their E550 but it would be good to know that it won't screw up the next 3.5 years of warranty coverage on me or that they won't flag my car as naughty like Audi does.

Johnny Rad

Congrats on a well-equipped biturbo E550. Post-up some pics or it didn't happen!

IMHO, it's quite possible your '13 will enjoy better than average collectibility down the road. It's the the final year of the W212 pre-facelift sedan with the standing star in the USA. While the M278 appeared for just one more year 2014 in the USA, it was in the facelifted W212 sedan. Both the pre-facelift and facelifted sedans are lookers, many here are passionate about one over the other. I think there's upside - but, it'll be way down the road.

Flamesuit on: I'm thinking E500E, which wasn't an AMG but had significant performance chops. While that car had a Porsche pedigree which the E550 obviously doesn't, I still think it's a fair enough comparison.

ruflife1

I just picked up the same except with the designo interior. Tune is the best bang for the buck IMO. Just have to pick the right one which seems to be a toss up between vendors. I am going to wait until I'm closer to the end of the warranty to send off the ECU just incase it is detectable.

Deezbluballz

http://speedriven.wpengine.com/merce...urbo-4-7-w212/
I have their tune,downpipes,exhaust and intercooler pump.

Then this intake set:
http://ultimatepd.com/2011-2015-merc...boost-kit.html

A pleasure to drive. Customer service is great, Jo answered any and all of my questions. I just wanted to go with one company and be done. It worked out great.

Deezbluballz

OP, I feel your pain. As I'm a Mustang guy and just got rid of my built 93 Cobra. Nothing for these Merc's is cheap!

sleeperZ96BT

I read stories on here about the Renntech tune being installed at dealers - does that imply that dealers are cool to do it or that MB is cool and won't void your warranty because of it?


I still have my LTX cars - couldn't part with them, haha.

Deezbluballz

I'd ask the dealership on that one.

ruflife1

I looked at a car for sale with the Renntech upgrades and the owner stated that the dealership did the upgrade and it was covered by Mercedes. Upon checking it seems that some dealers are authorized distributors and cover the upgrade but it is still unclear if this is a specified per dealer thing or if any dealer still honors it. Since the car was 300+ miles away and so was the installing dealer, I passed on the car. ( He was also asking a hefty premium for the Renntech 530 hp upgrade on a low option car ) Cost wise the Renntech upgrade is 2x as much as other tuners that I've seen. If it would be covered under any CPO or warranties would probably be worth it.

sleeperZ96BT

I emailed Renntech direct and asked them directly if it would void my warranty. We shall see.


Also, anyone know the part number for the AMG exhaust for my year car? I want to see what my local dealer can do price wise and it appears it can be installed by a competent exhaust shop with limited fanfare.


Brian

nicobaires

I would ask Mercedes instead of Renntech, but then again, I think it's totally up to the dealer who will warranty the work

sleeperZ96BT

I worry that any non-Renntech MB dealer, and my guess is my dealer has no clue, would say hell no (i.e. it would void your warranty). They don't even do remote starters anymore because MB Corporate told them they couldn't as it would void warranty's. My guess is the answer will be 'yes if it is a Renntech dealer' but we shall see what it says. Folks seem to have really good luck with these tunes on the E550's (like MB totally sandbagged the potential of this drivetrain, not just the posted numbers) but I would like the peace of mind to know what happens *IF* there is an issue. Renntech's site leads you down the path of it will get taken care of BUT they don't say it in such crystal clear language to give any real kind of assurance.

nicobaires

Exactly, read the fine print, my previous experience and this was with VW, everyone said no problem. Then something went wrong and everyone backed away and said, "Sorry, not covered under warranty because you modified your vehicle" and yes there are people that say, well, the part that you modified had nothing to do with what broke, etc etc.

In the end you are left alone to battle the big car companies, not worth the hassle.

If you are going to modify, go in it knowing that if something goes wrong, it's coming out of your pocket.

sleeperZ96BT

Renntech confirmed that the tune was undetectable unless someone reads the computer and sees the modifications to the tables (and knows what they are looking at), unlike Audi, which just outright flags the change and then you are toast. So the risk of detection is much lower on the MB. They also, in theory, could notice the small hole created in the computers case as a tip off point I guess.


They also confirmed that this (obviously) would not conform to MB's warranty and that their experience is that some dealers care, and some don't if there is an issue. But, there is no actual protection through Renntech if MB does not honor the warranty because the tune was detected.


So, it's definitely a risk/reward scenario I guess. Do you think your dealer will a) detect it (unlikely) and b) be cool with it if they do, not probable. I suppose one could reflash it before bringing it in if something broke and hope they don't see the little hole.


My take - I'm going to drive it for a bit and see how much I like it as is. It felt fast as hell during the test drive - more than enough juice for the street stock and a total sleeper.


Renntech got back to me fast, answered all my questions about the tune (I asked what specific tables were modified, did they modify the transmission settings, etc.) and didn't sugar coat the warranty stuff. They did say the tune from MB was ultra conservative (detuned) and that their tune was still pretty conservative which was why there are so few (if any) issues reported about their tune.


Hope that helps,
Brian

PeterUbers

"They also confirmed that this (obviously) would not conform to MB's warranty and that their experience is that some dealers care, and some don't if there is an issue. But, there is no actual protection through Renntech if MB does not honor the warranty because the tune was detected."

This is not obvious to most people. This is the most important paragraph; I just never understand why so many online huff and puff about how the tune is 100% safe and won't do anything to your warranty

Gotta pay to play ... Risk/reward is right