Surge

I know this option has received considerable flack online, and I get it. But it’s the way in which it’s offered that I think bothers many people. Upgrading engine power via a “chip” or software change is nothing new. Porsche has been doing it for ages. Most performance car enthusiasts know that a simple chip change can unlock more power.

If you look at the price difference (in CAD) between the 580 and 450, it’s $8100 (with the same options in both cars). The “lifetime” purchase of the Acceleration Increase is $3800. And you are getting 0-60 times that are now much closer to the 580.

In the 450 SUV, Mercedes quotes a stock 0-60 time of 6.0-6.2, vs 4.6 for the 580. With the update the 450 0-60 drops to 5.3. That’s significant and you’ll definitely feel it (if MB’s numbers are correct).
This is more than 80hp, there must be a big torque increase that they are not disclosing.

All to say that $3800 to get you much closer to the 580’s acceleration time for less than half the price of the 580 seems like a good deal. And you are not carrying around larger motors (assuming the 580 does have larger/heavier motors), so there should be no hit to range.

Thoughts?

https://www.mercedes-benz-laval.ca/e...04.8%20seconds

QuadBenz

I have the acceleration boost. The added power is definitely noticeable. In stock form the take off from a stop is already pretty brutal but begins to fade between 40-70. Above 70 it's quite quick again into the triple digits. The acceleration boost is felt everywhere but the 40-70 dead spot is gone and it pulls even harder at 70+.

I appreciate being able to make the car I've already brought home faster from the convenience of my couch rather than having to plug something into it, wrench around with parts, take it to a shop, etc. None of the ICE cars that came before this one could do that.

As far as the 580 motors, I don't think they're larger, I think they're the same as the 450 and the difference lies in software. The Maybach 600 has even more power, it may have a different rear motor, (the one from the EQS AMG sedan?) but I don't remember all the details.

PeterUbers

A power boost that is this significant in a modern vehicle with full warranty coverage and full support from the manufacturer for $3800 is something us in the internal combustion world have been wishing for for many many years. This is a no-brainer if I were to have this vehicle. Additionally, unlike modifications and tuning to internal combustion engine vehicles, this modification is not going to make any difference in the long-term reliability of this particular vehicle.

nosnoop

It depends on how to you look it.

Here you have a car fully capable for doing 0-60 in 5.3s.
But instead they software crippled it to do 6.2s, and you are asked to pay $3800 extra to remove the software cripple.
Mind you, it doesn't cost Mercedes a cent to click a button to activate the acceleration increase for you.
This is totally different from a power boost for an ICE car.

If you are happy about the power boost, good for you. But I can also understand why some people have problem with this.

lkfoster

I have concerns about cooling system limits but my main concern is about the vehicles warranty. Reading the AMG forums as soon as the car gets gets plugged into the mothership in Stuttgart while in for servicing and they detect a tune the warranty is toast. Not a good thing.😩

Surge

It’s not necessarily different from an ICE car at all. Porsche does this all the time with models - it’s software limited to a certain power output.
It’s just marketing and product segmentation.
You can pay more for the 580 to come with the additional power from the factory - it’s still a software change whether it comes from the factory or not.

PeterUbers

The amg m157 was "crippled" with software for certain models and the max power was given to the sl63... the least to the e63 base (non S)

jamshedd

>>Mind you, it doesn't cost Mercedes a cent to click a button to activate the acceleration increase for you.
This is totally different from a power boost for an ICE car.

As someone that works in the software industry I know that’s not true - getting to the 1 click took teams of software engineers effort to code the change, test it on their computers first, then labs, then in collaboration with automobile engineers in the field to see how the change performed in the real world. Eventually another team would have built the deployment package to deliver this change to cars, the upgrade experience, etc. then someone updated internal dealer, sales, technician docs to ensure everybody is prepared for this feature. None of that was free, even if the eventual click to send the fix to your car is nearly free.

fyi - my software experience is not with software with cars, it’s in general. Ive been building software for over 2 decades in several specialized domains and also software than runs on over a billion consumer machines

Crito

Agile has completely taken over in the software world. Software gets spit out the pipeline at the same time every year ready or not. Ubuntu still owes me for a laptop they bricked come to think of it... https://lwn.net/Articles/741913/
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/12/...vo-laptop-bios

nath_h

I wonder if @BenzNinja could unlock this for you guys via coding. Would be a lot cheaper to buy his system and expertise than $3800, if possible.

23-EQS580-SUV

The upgrade is directly from Mercedes Benz. MB can't void warranty if they offered the products and install it themself.

I want it for my 580 but not offered. suck!

Surge

I did the upgrade. First month is free. Definitely noticeable! Now that I have it I can’t go back.
There does seem to be a ~5% reduction in range though. Maybe if you’re super careful you can eke out the same range but knowing you have the increase you want to use it more.

nosnoop

BenzNinja doesn't do any EQ cars. Not even simple coding.

Crito

I miss the good ole days when everyone used "waterfall" project management. But as I said before, it's all Agile now baby and they literally just push a button and then see what happens. User acceptance testing has been completely automated so no actual users are involved until this happens: