GPrime2

Long story short I recently acquired a 2005 Chrysler 300C. And a dog. I have a Yamaha R1 and an '07 S600. The R1 doesn't make sense anymore because of the dog, I can't bring her to work on the back of the bike, so I got the 300C as a daily driver. I'm selling the bike. Which leaves me in a completely different position for my S600. It's no longer necessary to have my "fun" vehicle double as a family hauler. The BMW M6 is looking very tempting.

But before I get ahead of myself and start shopping for an M6, I have to ask those who may have experience here. The main thing that I hate about my car is the transmission, the 5-speed is a slushbox and shifts too slow. Paddle shifting is a joke, hitting a paddle seems to fill out a gear change request form that gets faxed to the transmission and is filled in the order in which it was received. Has anyone done the transmission tune to these cars? Does it make the transmission shift sharper? Or am I better off looking at the M6?

DaveW68

I haven't done mine, but I understand Eurocharged will do a TCU tune to speed and firm up the shifts by adjusting the torque manangement. I hear it works very well in combination with their ECU tune which pushes the S600 up to around 620 hp and 740 lb/ft of torque. Amusingly, the 5 speed slush box in the S600 is the exact same unit that is in your 300C (assuming you have the 1st gen with the Hemi motor). The biggest annoyance that I have with it is the long pause when shifting between Drive and Reverse. My old SRT8 did the exact same thing.

Welwynnick

Annoying, isn't it? It's because reverse gear is mechanically controlled.

The forward gears are electronically controlled, which applies clutch wear adaptation, so the TCU knows when each clutch engages.

It may also be something to do with engine speed. When you engage reverse, you're usually stationary with the engine idling, so the oil pump output is low, and the clutches engage slowly.

Nick

SilberGrau57

Don't know any specific answer to your question, but I'd say you're barking up the wrong tree. The S-Class is not designed to be quick, just fast. Luxurious, high-speed touring on the autobahn. All aspects of the S-Class are designed to be sedate in their operation, not jarring. A 12-cyl S-Class is no different, just with a sublimely smooth reserve of thrust. You need to look elsewhere if you want neck-snapping shifts.

DaveW68

Actually, Eurocharged (or many other tuners) can get him what he's looking for.

SilberGrau57

The way I read his post was he was looking for M6 performance from an S600, and no amount of engine/tranny tune is going to turn an S600 into an M6...just sayin.

DaveW68

This is true. But the M5/6 are completely different types of beasts compared to the S600. If he's looking at the E61 M6, then he's looking at an SMG trans. In everyday type traffic, the SMG is slow & dimwitted and will drive most people nuts. Under WOT at the highest setting in M-mode, the shifts are almost back-breaking. The F12 models have the DCT, which is definitely quicker shifting. But it is also much harsher than any automatic.

SilberGrau57

That was my entire point, you can't turn a S600 into an M6. Different Beasts as you agreed to. BTW, I'm well familiar the the E63 M6, V10, 7-speed single clutch SMG. See the previous rides in my sig...Nitpick: the E61 is the Touring Sedan of the E60 5-Series Sedan (touring sedan means station wagon for USA), the E63 and E64 were the 6-Series cars...Coupe and Cabriolet versions, respectively

DaveW68

Ahh....whatever. I had the E60 M5. I always thought the M6 of that generation was fugly. I think Chris Bangle was eating mushrooms when he designed that car.

GPrime2

The Bangle butt is definitely the low-point of the E60 and E63, I'm basically curious what exactly the trans tune does for the 722 transmission. I'm worried that I'm trying to turn the S600 into something it's not, which is what you folks are basically confirming for me. Tunes are great but I can't get away from the fact that the car weighs 5200lbs. I'll likely sell it for an E63 M6, I might even try to find one in real 6-speed, that could be fun.

DaveW68

Two completely different cars altogether....and probably shouldn't be compared. That M6 is a mid-size (being generous with the mid) coupe that will perform almost identical to the S600 in zero to 60 and the 1/4 mile, but you have the wring the ever living sh*t out of the M6 to do that....while the S600 is a very large and comfortable car that will do it effortlessly. Assuming that the speed limiter were removed from both cars, the M will keep pulling hard at very high speeds while the S600 starts to run out of breath. But unless you are taking it to the track or running it on the Autobahn, that is a moot point. One of the best parts of the M motor is the intoxicating sound, especially under WOT. They sound almost identical to a V10 Lambo.

The M6 is basically a 2 person car with a back seat really only comfortable for small kids. It it were me, I'd be looking at the much better looking and more practical E60 M5 over the M6. The M5 is also a hair quicker than the M6. I did love my M5 when I had it, but I do appreciate the very smooth comfort of the S600.

GPrime2

Well, I don't need the M5, I'm going to have the 300C as my 4dr family hauler, so this will be my "special car", so to speak. It could be a 2dr or 4, 2 seater or 4, doesn't really need to be practical at all. The noise the S85 engine makes is incredible, sounds like an F1 car, part of the reason I want one over an M3, even though the M3 will feel tighter and more agile than the 6. The CL63 is another option, but I feel like that's almost more of what I'm used to with just 2 less doors, and I'd have to go 2011+ to get the MCT trans.

DaveW68

I get your points. But that E63 is just so freaking ugly.

It's got the kind of face and *** that only a mother could love.

GPrime2

So nobody has actually done a trans tune to one of these things?

DaveW68

I'm sure some people have done it to the S, CL, or SL600. You should get in contact with Eurocharged and find out exactly what to expect. What I have heard is that they adjust the torque management to make those shifts bang harder under WOT and clean up some of the slop in the torque converter.

When I had my SRT8 with the exact same trans, I did a tune through the Diablosport tuner. The trans performed so much better that I think most of the gains came from the better and faster trans shifting vs the HP gains. That car would chirp the tires when hitting 2nd and 3rd gear. But that trans behavior only happened under WOT. Under normal driving, it performed exactly the same as stock. I'm guessing that the Eurocharged tune will do much of the same.

GPrime2

I keep going back and forth but I'm leaning toward keeping the 600 and doing some cool stuff to it. I remembered that I drove a Panamera Turbo last fall expecting it to blow my mind, and it was fun but it didn't pin me to the back of my seat like the S does. I expect the M6 will be similar, and as you know the torque in the 600 is pretty addicting. I think if I can get it to have a little snappier throttle response and a bit quicker shifts, I'll be happy. Thanks for all the help.

DaveW68

Will you be getting the ECU tune also? I believe it pushes HP up to around 620 and torque to around 730.

GPrime2

Yes if I do one I'd do both. I'm also going to put new coils in it before I do the tune, since they're known for blowing up shortly after getting tuned.

DaveW68

If your coils have ever been replaced with the new part number, then you're likely good to go. If not, they are ticking time bombs that can go at any time with a tune or not.

GPrime2

Yep, I've got 83k miles on it, I'd rather get em swapped before they go. Any idea what the new part numbers are? I haven't started searching yet but if you know off the top of you head that'd be sweet.

Sidenote: 100 posts

DaveW68

I don't remember the new part numbers for the coils, but that info can be found with a search here on the forums. If your car still has the originals, then you definitely have the old part numbers. The new more durable parts came out around 2009 IIRC. I have all service records for my car and can tell you that the original coils (both sides) were replaced around 2008 with under 8k miles on the clock with the original part numbers. Then I had one bank go bad at around 33k miles and got a new replacement on that bank only. The cost to replace was $1850 for just one bank (including labor). It seems like an awfully expensive proposition to replace those coils as preventative medicine for a tune, especially on a car worth no more than $20k with those miles. If you are not the original owner, then you may want to contact your dealer to see if they can pull up previous service records to see if they were ever replaced. 83k on original coils would be pretty impressive.

GPrime2

I'll have to check with them, I do my own labor (I own a shop fortunately) so I only have to worry about part costs. Unfortunately, most of the cost there is parts, the coils I've seen are a little over 1000 each. I also figure I can sell my used ones as working cores, which helps lessen the blow of replacing them. Better to do that before they blow rather than after.