Ryan Bell

They're saying 540hp and 705lbs/ft.

Just curious: 1) if the transmission can handle that much torque, 2) what kind of 1/4 mile times and trap speeds are to be expected, and 3) what the power feels like in that car.

I know it's a relatively recent release (the Renntech tune), but I just thought I'd ask.

Thanks for any replies.

blegthbloo

I was going to pull the trigger on that after the service I'm taking it in for tomorrow... I talked with John Bologna from Renntech HQ and he said the M278 customers he's had so far have had no problems with the tune. I asked about the transmission upgrade they offer, and he said if you're racing it or have high miles is the only reason his customers have sprung for the upgrade. Then, when the transmission does start to wear down (supposedly after many, many thousands of miles), then that would be a good time to rebuild the transmission with their upgraded components.

So answers to your questions:
1) Yes, with the obvious decrease in longevity, but that is apparently proven to be negligible in the long term
2) Don't know, probably depends on a lot of factors
3) They say you can drive it like stock, and it doesn't lose any of the daily driver characteristics that the car has from the factory... but a noticeable increase in throttle response and you probably get up to 155+ very quickly.

When I find out on that last one, I'll report back lol

LeyenT

Also very interested to know your results.
Please keep us posted!

FL-2012E550

I will almost guarantee that you will run into motor mount issues and squash the transmission mount if you hard launch it. My 4 Matic did both those things on the stock tune after a couple of dozen hard launches.

cocobeex

What ?? even on stock tune ??

And what are the symptoms if Motor and Tranny mount have issues like yours ??

FL-2012E550

Drive shaft vibration. You will feel it instantly because the car feels as if it doesn't want to move smoothly. You can lift the car and see the motor mounts have flattened and the trans mount will very visibly warped. Leave the traction assist on.

cocobeex

Hard Launch ? You mean, one foot on the brake all the way, one foot floors the gas pedal, then release the brake ?


did you get all these issue fixed under warranty ??

And you are the first one brought these issue up.
I wonder if there are other people having issues like yours.

After How long did yours start to have problems like these ??

I have been pushing my car very hard most the time and its tuned.
but Mine drives fine so far. (Fingers crossed)

blegthbloo

Also would like more details on that...

In other news, ECU is on its way to RennTech as we speak lol

Tonycpa

Per RENNtech's website their new tune produces 540HP/705TQ at the crank and 465RWHP/606AWTQ at the wheels for an E550 Biturbo.

I upgraded to their new tune and had my AWD E550 Biturbo dynoe'd at Vinny Ten Racing in November of this year and can confirm RENNtech's numbers are conservative as my car made 490WHP/633WTQ at the wheels (although my car has a custom exhaust as detailed in my sig). This is up from RENNtech's original tune which produced 476WHP/539WTQ as measured on VTR's AWD dyno last November. With last year's tune, the car ran 12.2 in the 1/4 mile at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ on November 15, 2015.

The car feels unbelievably faster than last year. I used to have a 10 sec Vette built by the Vette Doctors and this MB is very quick (nevermind it's a 4dr. luxury sedan). Also, I raced a 10 second Vette that was supercharged by East Coast Supercharging (one of the best tuners on the East Coast) last year at Englishtown (which isn't shown in the video below) and I was way ahead of him at the 1/8 mile but of course they make more RWHP and so he passed me by the end of the 1/4 mile.

I love my car. Funny story one day while driving to MB Smithtown for an oil change a BMW M6 pulls up next to me at a stop light. He had dealer plates and I could see the salesman nod to him he could run. That was probably the mistake that cost him the sale It wasn't even close. I slowed down at the next block where you turn to go to all the dealerships and he was right behind me as I pulled into MB. I'm sure he went back to BMW which is two lots down on the right, handed the salesman the keys and drove straight to MB. HAHA! This was before the retune.

Below is the dynosheet after RENNtech retune November 2016...


Below is the dynosheet from Vinny Ten Racing after the RENNtech tune in November 2015...

Tonycpa

No issues with mine either and I launch at every light I see

The first thing I do when I get in is put the car in sport mode and the second thing I do is turn off the traction control (ESP)

PS: I never power brake on the street but I did for every launch at the track last year.

Tonycpa

3) You can absolutely drive it like stock. Confirmed on the last one.

blegthbloo

Airmousam

Tony, love that car!!

Tonycpa

^^^
Thank a lot.

TS, I just raced a new S63 AMG from a red light and I easily beat him from the dig all the way to 130 mph (which is when he hit the brakes).

I had several cars on him the entire race and it wasn't close at the 1/4 mile mark.

Car and Driver says the 2015 S63 AMG does 0-60 mph in 3.7 sec. and the 1/4 mile in 12.0 @ 120 mph

Motor Trend says the 2015 S63 AMG does 0-60 mph in 3.6 sec. and the 1/4 mile in 12.0 @ 117 mph

Source:
http://www.caranddriver.com/mercedes-benz/s63-s65-amg
https://www.0-60specs.com/mercedes-b...mg-0-60-times/

I hope everyone is having a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Diesel #2

That exhaust sounds like a hot rod, nice mean rumble i like it. Dope care Tonycpa, 12.2 on the 1/4 mile is unbelievable but you have the proof. Im willing to bet you can shave another few tenths of a second off by running low profile tires and light weight rotary forged wheels as apposed to the heavy AMGs.

Tonycpa

^^^That was before the retune. Now I'm in the 11's.

Thanks for the suggestion on the wheels/tires.

Ryan Bell

Wow thanks for all the info. Certainly appreciate it. I'm looking at getting into a ~40k miles 2012 or 2013 E550 4Matic (possibly), but just wanted to get feedback on the most desirable mod on the market for that car. Sounds pretty awesome. If it takes the car into the 11s, it's a total no-brainer "for sure" upgrade.

Abrown3mtg

These threads make me sad about my N/A 5.5 ... (Although I love it!).

blegthbloo

I get the ECU back tomorrow, so I'll post back here with initial thoughts if I ever get out of the car again lol

Also, for anyone wanting to do this (and who don't live in FL and can get it done same-day), ask what the tuner's schedule looks like for the week so you can plan when to send it in and have the least amount of down time. Seems like common sense, but I've had to wait a week because I didn't think to ask (and I shipped mine on a holiday weekend... rookie mistake lol)

BlownS4

blegthbloo I can't wait to hear what you think. I've been so on the fence on which to go with. However, Renntech seems to make more power than everything out there at the moment, even with downpipes.

J.M.G.

When torque braking my 2012 euro spec E550 4matic, torque management is enabled to relief load from the drivetrain. I know that several tuners do delete this...but I do suspect that this is a good idea.

The W7X700-Transmission, used in our cars is rated to 700Nm (514 ft lb) for Mercedes durability standards. This Transmission is used in a few M157 (63 BiTurbo) applications as well - GLE 63 / GLS 63. However: In these cases, the M157 torque is also limited from factory to protect the transmission.

So Mercedes says: The transmission CANNOT handle the torque. A tuner says, it can.

BlownS4

is there a possibility US Spec is running a different transmission? Isn't the GLE63/GLS63 rated over 514ft lb of torque? if I recall the GLE and GLS non S 63 runs 516ft lb of torque isn't that over what they say it CANNOT take? yes it's only 2 lbs of torque but why say that it's rated for one number then put it in cars that make more torque than what it is rated for and on top of that almost all Mercedes AMG models and bi turbo models will dyno much higher than what is advertised.

BlownS4

Please tell me you have a video of your 11 second run or a time slip. I'm very interested in what your miles per hour was a the end of your run. Also want to see your 60ft. If Renntake is making 63 power levels then I know what I'm getting for xmas.

J.M.G.

No! Us Spec use the same transmission hardware. I do know, that US spec cars use a different engine software (speed limiter).

The GLS / GLE M157 are limited to 760Nm (559 ft lb) while all other applications (S63 / SL63) run the M157 @ 900Nm (662 ft lb). This is definitly due to the transmission! The S-Class uses the W7X1000 / W7C1000 transmission, that is able to take up to 1.000 Nm (735 ft lb). The SL-Class uses the K7B1000, which is basically the same Transmission like in the S-Class, however with a wet clutch instead of a torque converter.

Dyno results should be taken with care, as modern drive trains do have a lot less drivetrain losses than thought by american tuners. In Germany, companies measure those drivetrain losses and they are pretty small on dynos, which measure with a hugh mass / brake (such as superflow / dynojet).

blegthbloo

So I got the ECU back yesterday (waiting for it made for a very long day lol) and took it for a spin... a lot of spin, because it's raining here. As soon as I turned it on, I could tell that the exhaust note seemed louder, perhaps more aggressive, even. But once it warmed up (and I didn't see any error codes), the loudness went away and it sounded like stock again (I removed my mufflers and have the UPD cold air intake kit, btw). The turbos are louder than they were before, but when you're cruising you can't really hear anything over the wind noise (if your windows are open a crack).

It does still drive like stock, but the throttle is noticeably more responsive. Manual shifts appear to be more immediate, but still with a mild (as expected) automatic transmission lag. From a dig, it pulls just as good as it always has, but since it's wet (raining today too) I can't really comment on how much different/better it is, yet. From a highway cruising pace, however (60mph), even in E mode, if you floor it, you'll be seeing triple digits before you can blink (and you won't want to blink, if there's any kind of traffic)... and it still drives just as smooth as ever. I'm on my winter wheels now, with ContiProContact all-season tires, so I'll be interested to see how it moves with my sticky summer tires in the spring.

Story time: I was cruising down the highway going home, trying to keep a "civilized" pace of 75mph (like the rest of traffic), and I saw this guy in my rearview weaving between cars. He had to have been doing 85-90+... so I took off cruise control, switched to S, waited... then punched it as soon as he got in line with my rear bumper. By the time he got to my front bumper, we were going the same speed. I blink again and he's 2 car lengths behind me. The downshift(s) were almost immediate (slightly quicker than stock) and the torque was right behind it... it's fast.

Is it worth it? Depends if you think with your wallet or the stupid grin on your face when you get on the throttle. Other tuners will do the same thing for less money and similar results. But my butt-dyno so far doesn't care!

Initial thoughts: