Daveskee

Has anyone had any experience with Emotion Garage in Santa Clara, CA? They are the Nor. Cal. dealer for UPsolute performance chips.

Daveskee

They quoted me a price of $500 installed for my CLK. Can anyone comment on that quote?

Daveskee

You mean to tell me no one has a comment on an UPsolute chip for $500 installed? Too much? Good deal? Easy to install yourself? Anyone ever heard of Emotion Garage? Anyone installed an UPsolute chip and what did they pay?

Come on guys, looking for a little assistance please!

Richard Galing

I have an appointment with Upsolute So Cal rep. Lanny Richardson on Monday to have my 2001 E430 Sport chipped I will keep you posted with my results. Also, $500 is reasonable considering I had my ECU remapped with RBTech for $850 and only to discover 5-7 RWHP gain @ the dyno.

speedybenz

Several guys at Benzsport ahd there MB's chip upsoluted but at $350 per car.

I do not know why you would have to pay more.

Jeff

Daveskee

Thank guys for the replys. Richard, let me know what you think of the chip upgrade.

Jeff, where's Benzsport? In Sacto? I thought $500 was high but wasn't sure what shops were charging for installation.

I chipped my former M5 and installed it myself. Was a snap to do but not sure what the procedure is on my CLK or whether its a diy job. I think UPsolute advertises on their website the price for the chip at $300. If its an easy install, I'll do it myself and save $200. I'd be willing to have a shop who knows what they're doing do it for $350!

David

speedybenz

David,

No, Benzsport is another web based MB club similar to MB World.

The people at Benzsport have frequent GTG such as the one just this last Saturdat in Hayward, CA.

Seems like a good bunch of guys.

Just type in Benzsport.com.

Jeff

Lynn

The price for Upsolute chips is $500 for Mercedes and Porsche. The price was increased due to the difficulty of working on the ECU's of these cars. There also seems to be a $25 fee for r&r of the ECU, if you don't do it yourself. Some dealers don't charge that fee.

NJPaprika230

The reason the Upsolute price was raised from $350 to $500 was because chipping the MB ecu is more labor intensive than chipping the VW's and Audi's that they do. With the VW's and Audi's, getting inside the case is simple, and then the chip itself is socketed on the board. With the MB ecu's, at least on my C230K, there are two long tabs that run the length of the sides of the case that need to be bent back in a manner that won't scratch the back of the case, in case a service tech has to pull the ecu. Don't want any visual evidence, now do we? And from witnessing the Upsolute rep that did my car open the case, it is a hard nut to crack... (continued)

NJPaprika230

... Then, once the case is opened, the chip is not socketed to the board, it is soldered to the board, which adds an extra level of danger. The original chip has to be desoldered from the board, put in an EEPROM programmer, and then soldered back to the board. All of this has to be done very carefully so they don't fry the rest of the board. Then the case has to be closed just as carefully. So, you see, our newer Benzes is a little more involved, has a little more risk, so they charge a little more to cover themselves. If they fry a customers ecu, they have to replace it, so they have to cover it by raising prices a bit. It's still cheaper than most of the other tuners out there. And it's not a DIY job, either. You have to have their ecu program, plus the hardware and software to program the chips, etc... I got my car done, and I'm happy with it. Of course, I also just got my car KLEEMANNized, so the smile on my face is bigger now.

Richard Galing

I certainly agree with NJPaprika230 explanation after witnessing Lanny pull the ECU & download the EPROM info, the MBZ ECU is labor intensive it took a good hour and disconneting the battery required the removal of the rear passenger seats which houses the battery. The file will now be sent to UPsolute and after 4 days I expect the new file to be returned to Lanny. Also, he stated a 20-24 HP flywheel gain I can't wait to dyno the car.

NJPaprika230
Upon having your 230 chipped did you notice your car feeling slugglish for a few days or how long did it take for your ECU to learn the new file? Lanny stated about one week.

NJPaprika230

Richard, after I got my car done I took it for a short drive on the highway near the rep's house. The car felt quicker, but that could have been in my mind. But, since the ecu is adaptive based on how you drive, it will take a few days at least for it to fully learn the new mappings provided by UpSolute, but I think you will be pleased. And the car didn't feel sluggish immediateley after chipping, so don't worry about that. Just drive it like you normally would.

Richard Galing

NJPaprika230, Thanks for the info...Have you had the chance to dyno your car to see if UpSolute HP & TQ claims were valid?

NJPaprika230

I dyno'd before and after. Base #'s were 169HP/179TQ. After the chip, 180HP/192TQ, but I think these #'s might be screwed since I did not go to the same shop as the first run, and I don't think they used the same measuring system on the dyno pc (SAE, STD, etc). But I did notice a difference afterwards. I'm sure your car will realize bigger gains since you are starting out with more.

Daveskee

So Richard023 and NJPaprika230,

What was the turn around time to have the job completed? Am I correct in assuming you have to bring the car back a second time to have the new file downloaded after being sent to Upsolute?

I previously experimented with two different chip brands with my M5. One from Dinan and the other from Jim Conforti. Both gave HP gains (buttdyno!) but on different ends of the spectrum. The Dinan chip gave more top end, and the Conforti chip gave more pull in the low-mid rpm range.

How would you describe the characteristics of the Upsolute chip?

NJPaprika230

Daveskee, when I got my chip done, it was a two step process, ONLY because they were just starting to chip these cars and did not have my ecu code yet. Each ecu has a different code, kind of like a version #. If they have the program for your code, then the whole process can be done in about an hour or so. But if they don't have your code, they have to download your stock program, email it to their HQ in Austria for tweaking, and then it gets emailed back to your rep. Then you make another trip (or they make the trip to you in some cases) and the new code is loaded onto your chip. I would imagine that since they've been chipping these cars for a few months already that they have a number of ecu codes and programs already, so your odds are good that it will only take one trip and and hour or so and you're done. As far as the characteristics of the program, I would say that on my car it was most noticeable on the top end. On the highway, I just squeezed the GO pedal and it was like making the jump to lightspeed. The tweaked program did seem to make the car more driveable at lower rpms and speeds. I suppose that it smoothed out the mappings to accomplish this. And I did seem to gain a few mpg's, maybe 3-4 mpg more than I was getting before. But I got my chip fairly early into ownership, and I was just out of the breakin period, so maybe the mpg increase is due to that. Overall, I am happy, and I may contact my rep again since I got the Kleemann pulley upgrade to see what UpSolute can do for my new setup.

Richard Galing

Unfortunately my So Cal UpSolute rep did not have the program for my particular ECU code, therefore I anticipate a call from Lanny this weekend to download the new program onto my ECU...I'll keep you guys posted with the results.

Daveskee

Sounds like things aren't quite ironed out yet with MZB installations. I'm leaning toward waiting before having it done. The Nor Cal rep hasn't worked on a MZB yet and I'm a little reluctant to be the first. I'll wait and see.

Turbo][

I live down the street from Lanny(not literally). But I spoke with him about 2-3 weeks ago, he told me it was still $300.

I also posted pricing issue at upsolute.com's website, and I also was quoted for $300. Maybe different year Benz have different pricing????

Daveskee

Upsolute website says $300 for MZB. Doesn't indicate anything other than the $300 price for MZB. Don't know what to think at this point. Who payed $300 or $500 for an Upsolute chip and how long ago?