Oxygen

For some reason, I've only "heard" about the W5A1000, but I've never actually seen it listed anywhere...

EPC and all other Mercedes parts guides show the W5A900 for the 600s and 65s... but Kleemann's site shows otherwise...

CHunter323232

Oxygen,

Thank You for showing me those pictures. I should have known better! I am naive in here. That made my mind up - I can't believe I even thought that would work.

I feel stupid for even considering... It's a little embarrassing!

I will look to the other's You guys have been discussing and pony up for my ponies.

You are the man for saving me such a big dissapointment.

This forum is awesome. No telling how much faster I will evolve due to the knowledge of the Members.

Thanks to Reckless also for responding!

Thanks AGAIN!

IngenereAMG

You may want to check out our ECU/TCU work for the 600tt. We have allot of happy clients who decided to go our route.

Reckless

Chunter: Don't feel bad... we appreciate your posts.

Ingenere: I saw the thread about VRP VR825 package... sounds really really tempting, but I want my s600 to last 100k+ miles and I would be worried with all that upgrades and torque if the car would be able to do 30-40k miles without some serious mechanical failure (not to mention warranty coverage-how hard is it to remove?). I am waiting to see some numbers for the 600.

silver65

That's what I thought, but Bob said it was different. Just haven't been able to find out what it is yet.

I have some time today. I'm going to try and make it over to RENNtech and speak with Bob. Thanks, I'll ask him.

Oxygen

I would advise anyone doing the VR825 package to also get the VRP Bullet-Proof Transmission exchange.

Once you install the intercooler and such from VRP, you won't be taking them off. I do know how the dealer would react... this does not look too stock to me:

Vadim @ FD

Here is the dyno of our VR620 Power Package. It is on CA 91 gas, typically with 93 we are at 540-550RWHP.

It is on sale right now for $1990 ($500 off).

We also are working on TCU tuning which is currently being tested on my S600. Once it is complete, it will be released for sale.

Reckless

Since those are RWHP numbers, how do we compare that to the figures published for other tuners?

Why are you using 91 gas?

How much longer on the TCU?

Oxygen

They don't have 93 gas in California..

Oxygen

Will your TCU tune enable C/S/M modes and allow the use of steering wheel shift buttons?

Reckless

They don't have 93 in California? Doesn't 93 burn better or something? That sucks!

Where are the steering wheel shift buttons? I didn't even know though were any.

whoover

The buttons are on AMG cars. I assume the question is can you mount an AMG steering wheel and activate the buttons with TCU mods. I wouldn't expect so since the wiring for the buttons isn't in place. I guess with enough work you could wire things up, but I also doubt that a non-AMG TCU tune would have anything to do with it. It could possibly make shifts (using the stick) faster and wiring could make the buttons parallel the function of the stick, but the software doesn't know how the shift is initiated.

Vadim @ FD

91 only in Western States.

TCU will shorten the shifts and help with TQ limiting that makes shifts longer.

AMG cars have the wiring for the buttons from 04 and up. It can be done, but takes a lot of work and coding.

Vadim @ FD

We use 17% drivetrain loss, so 519/0.83 = 625. We call it VR620 Power Package. Stock cars are under rated. They are closer to 540.

Reckless

I wonder what the stock car is actually rated at then in terms of torque?

When will the TCU be finished? ~1 month?

Oxygen

Whoover - I've brought this topic up before to a wide audience of experts and non-experts and no one has really given me a clear answer.

Yes, the non-AMG cars do not come with steering wheel buttons.

When I was replacing my wood steering wheel (yuk!) with the wheel from the 65s, there was a connector on the steering wheel itself that had wires leading to the shift buttons... it looks like this:



There are obviously no other electrical components in the steering wheel itself, unless it's a heated one, which I don't think is offered in the AMG version.

Anyways, I was curious to find out if my car had a spot where that cable could be plugged in on the steering column, or maybe it's only present on the AMG cars...

I was suprised to find the port when I took off my old steering wheel, it looks like this on the steering column:



Someone said that the contact spring is different on AMG cars... looking up the above part number from the steering column, this part is used on ALL W220/W215 cars.. AMG and the regulars...



I was told by a very knowledgeable Mercedes technician that the TCU is not recognizing the input from the buttons because it's not coded to do so.

Another thing that I was told is that the RENNtech TCU tune enables "M" mode, which should enable the steering wheel shift buttons.

whoover

Interesting. One thing: two buttons would need a minimum of three wires. From those pictures it looks like the connector on the wheel is three wire (a stack of two next to a single socket on the connector) but the steering column connector only has two pins.

Oxygen

Great point about the 3 wires vs 2 pins on the connector... I am going to investigate.

Vadim @ FD

IMHO some cars might have it, some might not. Figuring out what is in a particular car might require following the wires to TCU.

Specific coding will also be a concern.

In other words it is not a clear cut upgrade that will work accross all MY Ss.

silver65

I spoke with Hartmut Feyhl yesterday. He is the owner of RENNtech. Bob was at lunch. He explained to me that the TCU tune that is done is minimal in terms of performance. There are small adjustments made, but more in terms of safety and protecting the transmission. The most noticeable adjustment is the addition of the Manual mode.

The transmission upgrade on page 13 in the W220 catalog is a mechanical upgrade. They tear into the transmission to upgrade and replace clutches and bands. And some other technical stuff I didn't understand. They maximize the space inside the transmission. There are also changes made to the ECU and TCU which will make the transmission shift faster, and crisper. It winds up being a much stronger transmission.

I spoke with Hartmut about the transmission disengaging and he said he has some customers that have cars that do that, and some that don't. It's kind of the luck of the draw. My transmission is doing exactly what it's supposed to do when the engine sends it too much torque. Reducing power to the transmission (de-tuning the engine) or beefing up the transmission are my options. I don't want to detune, so I think the car will go in for the transmission upgrade next week.

I didn't ask them. I forgot what your question was when I was there. But I doubt they remove any protection features. What he was talking about was more of protecting the transmission.

Reckless

silver: Thanks for writing up the post. No need to ask that question, Hartmout's response covered the issue. The transmission upgrade sounds like a worthwhile investment especially in your case.

I'm still debating between Renntech and Kleemann. VRP sounds like it is the best of the three but I would be too worried taking it that close to the edge.

xircom200

For a ECU upgrade on a SL55 who would you guys go with Kleemann, Renntech or VRP and why ?

Reckless

I think I read somewhere that Kleemann was renowned for their work on supercharged engines and Renntech was more famous for the turbos.

They all are probably really good but I am drawn to the one with the cheapest price. With the cash left over I can do some other upgrades... I'm leaning towards Kleemann ECU/TCU, the suspension lowering module, possibly the Limitted Slip Differential (it subtracts 0.3 secs for 0-60 on the S55), and AMG brake kit.

silver65

0.3 seconds is a lot from a differential. Is the diff on the S600 the same as the S55?

silver65

What does VRP do to the tranny and what's the price on the tranny exchange?