MBWorld.org Forums - Tunes................................

Quote:

Originally Posted by BACnMercedes (Post 7663771)

Tunes!
Ok, I’ve got some questions about tuning your car. I’ll ask it here because in the AMG’s threads it would probably be hopeless and the only answer I would get would be, “because it makes it faster.” JK. I like those threads too, but it gets a little serious and over my head often in there.
First I get some of the draw as to why people would want to do a tune. It’s the same as someone tinting their windows, adding different accessories, or anything else, they want to make their car more individual or better than their neighbor’s. But here are the questions.
1. Does doing a tune do anything to the warranty of the car? It is better to wait till the car is out of warranty?
2. How easy is it to do most of these software tunes or bolt on tunes? Do I have to take the car somewhere? Do I just take some part off and ship it to them to get a new and better part back? Can someone like me with my limited car tuning abilities perform this?
3. If these tunes are so easy (ex: software upgrades), why don’t most manufactures already supply, support, or do them?
4. How hard on the engine, chassis, and other components are these tunes? Can the car handle it or is it just wearing it down faster? This leads to the next question.
5. Resale value. I understand you probably will not get your money back out it, but does having the tune help or hurt the resale potential? Would you want to buy it? I probably wouldn’t since I know the car has obviously been driven harder.
I am just curious about peoples experience, opinions, thoughts, and to possible learn more on here.
Thanks!

HI there, great title! I clicked this thread and was hoping for some song suggestions, but then I got pleasantly surprised.

Ok, I’ve got some questions about tuning your car. I’ll ask it here because in the AMG’s threads it would probably be hopeless and the only answer I would get would be, “because it makes it faster.” JK. I like those threads too, but it gets a little serious and over my head often in there.

You are right and I share the same exact opinion from personal experience. I am into car modifications and I own a E300. But the performance modifications discussions are very rare in the E300 forum section, however in the AMG section it is all that is being discussed, however according to again my experience you need 500+HP to be able to qualify to post a comment on there. Meanwhile here I was told that users rather to talk about how refined the cars are. I lol’ed.

First I get some of the draw as to why people would want to do a tune. It’s the same as someone tinting their windows, adding different accessories, or anything else, they want to make their car more individual or better than their neighbor’s. But here are the questions.

That’s right! I also share your exact opinions on this. You do it because it’s available and you want to. Why is there an AMG version of our car available? Because people want speed. Why was there a first street race when the 2nd Model T was produced?

1. Does doing a tune do anything to the warranty of the car?

Of course warranty will be voided. Whatever it is pending on your car. But its not like your entire warranty is voided and the dealer will never service your car. If your engine is tuned, and your windows don’t roll down, navigation stops working, or your seats squeak all these will be fixed and will be covered under your existing warranty. Because none of that is directly related to your ECU modification.

Now if your engine starts making a noises or you experience oil consumption then, your warranty service will most likely be denied, since that is directly impacted by your own aftermarket modification.

It is better to wait till the car is out of warranty?

Why would you deny yourself this? This makes me think of an old saying, not enjoying your car is like not having relations with your significant other. Are you just saving them for the next person?

Depends on who you ask 99.999% of replies that you will get after mine is YES wait.

Becuase the W213 is a wonderful car from the factory as Mr. Mercedes intended it to be. So leave it alone!

Did I say its great?!

However my reply is why wait???? 3 months into my great and refined E300 ownership I was strapped to a dyno get more HP’s. And I'm looking for more.

2. How easy is it to do most of these software tunes or bolt on tunes? Do I have to take the car somewhere? Do I just take some part off and ship it to them to get a new and better part back?

There are a different tuner options some reflash your ECU and it’s irreversible until the tuner removes the tune/brings the car back to stock. For this you can remove your ECU from the car yourself and ship it out to a MB tuner. Or if you have a tuner in your local area you simply visit their shop and they do that for you.

A piggyback option which you can switch the maps from stock to tuned on the fly typically with the OBD II port, and you get a portable dongle to keep and use.

Keep in mind any tune that is performed is stored in the ECU memory. A lot of people say they prefer the piggyback option since they can put the car to stock in a few minutes reflash and go in for an oil change at the dealer, and the dealer will never know. That was true years ago, today cars keep a tracker on how many times you reflash your car. The dealer will not check this when you bring in your car for service on an unrelated service request. They simply don’t care, and it is actually a lengthy and costly even to the dealer process. However, you should know that if they want to read your ECU for any reason and spend time and $$ to get info from your ECU simply to see if there was any modifications because there is an expensive warranty claim they will know. (I know from experience)

Can someone like me with my limited car tuning abilities perform this?

Yes, removing the ECU if you go that route is easy. You can research the googles for instructions. I am planning on posting a how to tutorial eventually as well. Or just drop it off at a tuning shop, or the piggyback is just as simple as syncing your smartphone to your PC.

3. If these tunes are so easy (ex: software upgrades), why don’t most manufactures already supply, support, or do them?

Some manufacturers do this. GM is one I know does it for sure. And for example does offer manufacturer tunes. That add HP and you still keep your existing warranty etc. You can visit any GM dealer and get this tune in your car. And also these tunes may be considered by some car owners as too moderate. Because the owners always want more POWER! And manufactures know the limitations of the car and would tune it conservatively.

It all depends on the manufacturer. And for this one I don’t have a factual answer, however I an only offer my assumption as it keeps the market go round. Manufactures of these aftermarket modifications would be out of business, not really but you can assume their market would shrink.

As well as car manufactures want you to break your car. It brings them business, by you doing something wrong or even a tuner damaging a customers car. I haven’t come across any of these unfortunate horror stories in the AMG side here. But you can look up the most popular forums our there for the tuner cars and you will see multiple threads on this. IE Mitsubishi, Subaru, Chevy.

4. How hard on the engine, chassis, and other components are these tunes? Can the car handle it or is it just wearing it down faster? This leads to the next question.

The car can handle it, but you are trusting the tuner/tuning company to do a good job and not max out your vehicles capabilities. This is where the dyno tune is the best you get to see the sweet spot for making most HP and the fuel ratios and timing etc with every modification done.

5. Resale value. I understand you probably will not get your money back out it, but does having the tune help or hurt the resale potential?

Your car modifications make your car lose value. Period. Someone selling a 50k car with 5k rims will typically never get 55k for it. Expect that any money you put into aftermarket modifications will be for you to enjoy and its not an investment.

Would you want to buy it?

Depends on who you ask. There is always a market. Someone will want exactly what you have. Just remember that they are expecting to buy it now at a less than retail value of car+modifications done.

I recently thought the same exact question, and when I was selling my car prior to my E300 that was modified and I assumed that I would need to remove the aftermarket parts to draw any interest. NOPE. Sold in the first day of listing as is. Meanwhile I thought nobody would want to even show interest due to me modifying it to my personal likes.

I probably wouldn’t since I know the car has obviously been driven harder.

You just need to make sure you include the typical phrase “adult owned and driven, never abused and raced. Oil changed every 25 miles.”

Also depend on who you ask. I shared my youtube videos of the car being tuned, and raced, multiple times and that may be a positive for the perspective buyer. If someone wants stock and factory they would not be interested in your car for obvious reasons.

Check out some of my topics on performance modifications that share your experience and also maybe you may get some more answers to your questions here.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...osh-sound.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...teresting.html