I was wondering if anyone here could share their experience about ECU tuning their R230 SL55. I'm curious specifically about a simple stage 1 tune without other modifications. Have any of you used OE Tuning or Eurocharged? Was it significant and worth it? Thanks

 

I did RaceIQ plus smaller SC pulley - added about 30-ish HP and torque to almost 600. I think I added colder plugs and did the IC pump.

If you still have the stock IC pump definitely upgrade to the newer Bosch pump, whether you do a tune or not.

 

I'm talking about a tune that is programmed for the purpose of applying to an otherwise factory vehicle. Just a tune, nothing else.

 

I'm surprised you didn't see higher HP gains. OE Tuning claims an increase of 44 max hp for the tune alone: https://www.oetuning.com/mercedes-be...5-amg-03-04-05 Of course, claims and reality might be two different things. Do you find that going with a smaller pulley is safe? I've read mixed things about going with a smaller pulley which scares me away from doing it. I'll definitely look into the IC pump, thanks.

 

I never put my car on a dyno so I am quoting "advertised figures".

Now, just a tune without any hardware upgrades will probably make minimal gains, such as removing the 155 MPH limiter. These cars are already tuned from AMG.

I went with a 83mm pulley, which is pretty safe. Going smaller you will most likely need to upgrade your IC circuit to keep from getting heat soak.

 

The tuner I will use in NC races an 03 SL55. States no issues with engine or tranny with change to 77mm pulley. And again, this is under race conditions.

Others are on target about upgrading the IC circuit, particularly pre-07 models. I'm doing it with mine and I have an 08.

Base dyno results on our car can be viewed on another post I made. If you don't dyno pre mod, you have no idea what you got for your money, simple as that.

Bill

 

I have a kleemann stage 2 tune with very good results have not had it dynode yet but can feel a big difference, in the process of trying to find a good dyno shop for this car as we speak but kleemann has a proven reputation for Mercedes so I don't think you could go wrong and If you know how to work on your car yourself you can save money because you have to pull your ECU and send it to them in Colorado unless you are in the area and they can do just the ECU tune

 

from what I’m seeing with the OE Tuning ECU box flash save your money!!!!no where near their “claims”! Waste of
money. Dyno shop told me most of the box tunes are claims and not reality. Find someone that can customize tune to your car at shop with dyno

 

Check out Renntech - just got that and noticeable difference in power but also driving dynamics and throttle response. Easy handheld unit you can turn the tune on and off in a minute yourself.

 

did you do just a tune?. If so what’s the. It’s?

 

Yes, got it on this week - see here the details
https://www.renntechmercedes.com/ind...0-sl55k-detail

think you can DIY this one, you simply plug it in, wait a minute and done.

I have one on my winter driver (c350 coupe) as well, very happy with their tunes.

 

Good afternoon,you might want to check out Pressertech it looks like they have a good product for the M113 motor.

 

Good afternoon,you my want to check out Pressertech it looks like they have a good product for Benz's

 

Thanks for the info Peter.
The gains promoted b y Renntech use base HP/TQ stats from pre-07 models. I have an 08 so the minimum crankshaft numbers are 510hp/530 Lb Ft TQ.
Since my car dyno'd @ 445HP and 503LB FT TQ at rear wheel this indicates crankshaft numbers that exceed what Renntech promises in their canned tune. That's a long winded way of saying I don't think I'd get much if anything for my $1200.
Bill

 

Just a straight tune is going to give you very minimal increase in power. This isn't a turbo charged system that they can just crank up the boost and see big gains from a $500 box tune.

Box tune with no supporting mods, maybe 20-25HP tops and about 35-50lbs of torque. Hardly will be noticeable and anything you feel will be from the torque increasing more so than the HP. Why mess with the factory tune for hardly any gains.

Just adding long tube headers will get you similar or better numbers and you'll feel the difference through out the rev range and still have the safety of running the factory tune. Though your going to pay probably 2K+ for the long tube and about $500 to $800 to install it all with some custom fabrication work. But it will be factory reliable.

A tune works best with supporting mods and that is the real reason of why you get a different tune.

If you want to stay very safe/reliable just do a 83MM pulley, tune, and headers. You'll get around 50-65HP increase and 600lbs area in torque. Just have the Bosch 010 pump(many have this pump on already) and you won't need any other cooling mods and nothing about this set up would ever be the reason for any mechanical failure(unless the tune was just junk). You can swap the pulley yourself. You'd be in probably about 4K to 4.5K with this set up but you would notice a big difference through out the rev range. If you happen to have a shop in the area that works with one of the good Mercedes tuners then go for the 77MM pulley and have them custom tune it. The headers and 010 pump should keep it cool enough in most climates for few back to back hard runs(but you are in the area of highly recommending to upgrade the cooling system). It will still be relatively safe set up. Going any smaller with the pulley your playing with fire at that point without other supporting mods and monitoring everything.

 

I had RaceIQ send me a tune for my E55 which ONLY has a fixed 83mm pulley installed, everything else is stock. I was massively impressed with the seat of the pants feel and my Vbox showed 0.5 sec improvement 100-160 kph. The cheapest biggest improvement per $ ever IMO. I will in due course install a 2nd H/E and better pump as obviously with more unclutched boost, a second pull without recovery isn't as strong due to faster heat generation. For every day driving, the instant response and massive passing ability makes this pulley change well worth it even without attending to heat reduction.

 

. Guess that’s the way I need to go. OE Tuning won’t respond to my emails (waste of $$$) and HD Tuning hasn’t bothered to reply either. RaceIQ is only company responding and has great “potential” customer service. With clutched 77mm pulley and tune I am seeing only 15 hp gain. Something is wrong

 

Did they do a base dyno run before the new tune and 77mm pulley????

 

yes we did. That’s why I was so surprised and disappointed in changes

 

Something isn't right.

Either you got major heat soak/intercooler might not be fully functional, major belt slippage(I'm assuming a new belt was put on with the smaller pulley), or tune didn't take/a bad tune to begin with. Who's tune is it???

77mm pulley itself should increase the HP a minimum of 20HP simply from the increase boost it is forced to apply.

 

agree with all that. Going to research belt against others what they used today. It’s OE Tuning tune. Will check out intercooler pump this weekend it was changed to Bosch 010 couple years ago and maybe 8k miles

 

I would have them run tests on the intercooler. With the age these cars are getting to some of these stock intercoolers could begin to deteriorate and clog up the intercooler causing it not run at its maximum efficiency. Also see if they can check the flow of the Bosch 010 and make sure that is within specs. Intercooler pumps are notorious to still operate but at much lesser flow rate.

I sure hope they put on a new belt as the old belt would be lose. I would think any mechanic would be knowledgeable enough to see that problem right away.


Good luck, keeps us all updated.

 

new belt was put on going to go one size smaller. How do they check if IC is clogged?

 

Usually by pressure test.

 

Sky- I got a quote for the LT MBH headers, over $4200 installed, so it appears to be more costly than you estimated (headers + cats are $3400). Nonetheless, I'm going to do this performance mod first since it should actually improve engine longevity, provides a boost in performance and makes the car sound "good"!