Brabus E55

the brabus decided to empty its battery today somehow while i was driving. It started giving me a lot of problems like it said that the command system was going to shut off in 10 secs due to lack of voltage in the battery. The AC system and power seats stopped working. 2 secs afdter that it said Brake Malfunction. A minute after that it said check fuel cap. At that point i knew something was wrong. Luckily i was at the intersection where Mercedes benz of Anaheim Hills is located so i took it in and it died in the driveway. They told me that there were 4 recalls to be performed on the car which included replacing the battery, alternator, and two other things i dont remember. Just thought id give you guys a heads up

BENZGal

I would be very careful if I were you! One of the recalls that is being done in conjunction with the battery issue is the ECU reflash. It caused a set of temporary problems with tuning my car.

Brabus E55

i just called them and told them that i was worried about the ECU getting reflashed and losing the brabus software, and the guy told me to relax and that they do it to brabus cars all the time and that there is no way to extract that software

BENZGal

Hmm that is good to hear. I think this is a new issue for the tuners and no one really has a good answer. Several cars on this board have had issues with the MB reflash. My car wouldn't dyno after the reflash. Powerchip was able to reflash it without any problem. I will know in a few days when I get my car back on the dyno. Powerchip told me that sometimes they put a no dyno program in the upgrades? Glad to hear you don't have any issues. Good luck with your car.

Ted Baldwin

.....sorry to be so blunt, but whoever called you to tell you that information is an idiot. I can understand the point of view that argues that after the recall service, your ECU can be sent to Brabus to reinstall the Brabus software. But, sayig that when Mercedes flashes your ECU, that your Brabus software will still be there is simply not correct.
With Brabus, your car is not really much faster than stock so you may not notice any difference........so maybe he is not an idiot. Maybe he thinks that since the Brabus badge will still be on the car, no harm is done since the badge is what people pay Brabus for.

Ted

BENZGal

I was trying to give the guy some hope. LOL I don't know about you guys but I am not about to pay Powerchip to reflash it everytime the dealer gets their hands on my car. I own my car outright and trust me if I can't get my car to dyno after all my mods are complete someone at MBUSA will be getting a call! I threw my warranty out the window a while ago. I just want my damn mods and my dyno.

Brabus E55

so youre saying that hes just telling me that the software is not going to be there. Im going to call brabus after i get the car back and have them re upload the software again........hope fully free of charge

Ted Baldwin

............you DO NOT have t have your ECU flashed by the dealer durig the recall. Just tell your dealer not to flash, thats all.

...........Tuners like Kleeman will re-install your software for free after the recall. But this is not always problem free. Best option is to simply tell your dealer not t flash your ECU.

Ted

jangy

Keep preaching. I am sure a few will listen. You also do not have to replace your belts when they are worn...

BENZGal

Ted I did tell the dealer not to touch my ECU and they did it anyways. Both the dealers around me suck. The one in T.O. had my 210 for a simple issue five times. The dealer in S.B. totally disregarded everything I said and touched the ECU. A friend of mine Fast55 also had problems with the one in Calabasas. I'm not saying all the dealers are bad or that you can't get work done without the ECU hassle. I was just telling Brabus55 to be careful. In defense of the dealerships I don't even think they know what is going on. My modifications are working on the car so I am just uptight about the dyno. I might be all upset for nothing since we havent got the car back on the dyno. All could be well in a few days.

Ted Baldwin

.........Thanks for the input. No useful info as usual, but happy to know you are here.

Ted

Ted Baldwin

..........I don't think the dealers are doing it on purpose. They are just doing what MB told them to do. If your car is not modified, then you will probably have no problems. If your car is modified, you'll likely have probablems at WOT or during a dyno. The cars tend to run lean because the tuner software is erased. At WOT or during a dyno, the engine computer senses the lean conditions and pulls timming and A/F becomes very rich. If you dyno your car, be sure to get A/F ratios.

.........I now have two different ECU's for my G55 K4. I had the above problems after the recall. I purchased a brand new ECU that did not have the recall software. Sent the new ECu to Kleemann and had K/4 program installed. Car ran very well and had none of the above issues.

.........then I sent old ECu back to Kleemann and they erased the Mercedes recall software by flashing my ECu with the original program it had when I first modified my car. It turns out they had my original ECU program on file. Then they reinstalled my K4 program. So my old ECU is back to stock, minus MB recall software..........take guess..........My beast is back spinning all 4 tires. No load limit issues. Cory was also able to code off the 2 oxygen sensors. No more check engine light. I am very pleased and thanks to Cory for doing a great job.

..........As an aside, I have learned a few things. There are various versions of MB software in these AMG V8 cars. Two identical cars don't neccessarily have the same engine software. This has implications for engine running. For instance, the new ECU I purchased had a totally different stock software from the software that came with my car. As a result, the application of the generic K4 software to my new ECU yielded non of the recall stalling or dyno issues, but car was slower than pre-recall conditions. My point is that to get the best results, ECU tunning needs to be tailored specifically to the car since the software in all these cars are not neccessarily the same. This may explain the wide variety of results when people modify their cars.

Ted

stevebez

What is the motivation for MB to do this ...?

1) To prevent costly warranty claims which were due to mods ? Seems to me they are pretty good at avoiding this anyway ...

2) To restrict the E55 with the E63 now out and its perhaps to close to the E55 performance wise? Guess we dont know for sure until we get a E63 on the track....

3) They are genuinely improving the car with these recals. One would assume for stock cars this is the case... and really this is all MB have to care about. I guess we mod at our own risk (and we know we do) MB have no responsibility to cater for mods in their software...

4) MB is doing this on purpose to scr3W the tuners so that AMG sells mods through their recently lauched performance studio... I think this is possibly the the best answer at the mom.

BENZGal

Ted,
Thank you for taking the time to explain your solution! Very good information! My car is in good hands with Evosport. They will make sure it all turns out ok for me. Great customer service! I will let you guys know in a couple of days what the outcome is. I'm super excited about getting all that horsepower. Congrats on turning your beast back into a beast. Cheers!

jangy

Has it never occurred to any of you that the ECU flash is intended to "fix" some issue with the cars? Saying that kleeman is happy to kill MBs programs to reinstall old ones isn't exactly reassuring and they should get in here and explain before they loose MANY customers. Also, them just turning off the o2 sensors is not exactly majig or the ideal solution. If yoiu rally love how it rides and think the recalls are worthless, WHY go in? Let Kleeman change the oil?

chiromikey

jangy,

this is really easy for you to say since you don't seem to be having the problem that others are with this latest flash. for that i'm very happy for (and envious of) you but if you were i can assure you that you wouldn't be quite so smug. the flash was/is supposed to make some fixes (mainly dealing with heating the catalyst), but unfortunately mb also made some other changes that don't appear to be related (like hiding the new load limitation map) and are have had a negative affect on performance. why some cars are affected while others aren't is still yet to be discovered.

by going back to an old version of the software we do run the risk of prematurely (4-5yrs) burning out the air pump and possibly having to replace it out of our own pocket to the tune of $380. a price i'm willing to pay to have a 55 do what it's supposed to do.

btw, my car is bone stock so this recall isn't only affecting modified cars.

CynCarvin32

I am not so sure that you were given an accurate solution to the issue. I have 2 W211 2004 vehicles and both have had this issue. Both needed new rear sam modules (the compuer connection for all systems in the vehicle. The car was having a short and it was causing the car to shut down all systems until it recovered from the shortages. The dealership thought it was a voltage issue the first time the E500 failed but after 3 trips to the shop they realized it was something totally different It took over 6 hrs of testing every component in the rear of the car one by one but finally they found the solution.

When my E55 started failing the same exact way they knew where to look. Both cars never had any battary or alternator work at all.

Good Luck.

Ted Baldwin

........this is not a battle between Kleemann and Mercedes. What would you recommend to a fellow board member with a modified car who starts having problems after the recall? Honestly interested in your solution. Totally willing to accept your idea that the recall is important. Would you tell the member to just drive the car that way even though it is stalling? Would you recommend that the person just drive the car even though the fuel mixture is to lean. What exactly should the person do other than try to fix the problem and inform others about it? Waiting for your answer.


.......you may wish to go back and re-read your posts on this topic. I am not sure you want to present yourself the way you have, but maybe you do.

Ted

stevebez

I really dont think that MB have any responsibility to the tuners to make MB software modable ... and dont think they have a responsibility to customers either to do this. So far it seems they have tried to make it difficult but not impossible for tuners to change stuff. And it seems this balance has resulted in only REAL tuners being able to do the work and which is a situation MB is happy with - so the status quo continues... They may be more inclined to make the software more difficult to change to perhaps keep some of this modding busniess in house - via the performance studio ... but again guessing here.

The issue regarding the recall is a complicated one. From their side they may enforce the recalls to avoid liability and improve stock cars - thats fair enough. There may be an issue where these recalls change the characteristics of the car so that it is worse than what was initially adverstised. This can clearly be challenged.

What is unclear is whether customers can opt out of the recall if they wish. If they do they in all liklihood willl lose warranty (if one exists) - unless a good reason for opting out can be established. The frustration is compounded in that customers are not fully informed as to what is changed and why. This needs to change.

An agreement / waiver needs to be signed where the customer consents to any change to the car they purchased via a recall. MB should not be allowed to change stuff without the customers being fully informed of whats being changed and get their consent.

To blame MB for doing recalls on cars that mucks up performance on modded cars to me does not make sense. I am really happy they go to the trouble of doing the recalls ... although I wish there would be much less of them and have a product out of the dealer that is more "complete".

Ted Baldwin

First of all, you CAN refuse the recall.

..........lets forget about cars for a minute. Lets say you buy a home and you decide to upgrade the the light fixtures to remote controlled lights. Say the builder decides to recall and replace your electric water heater. While he is there, he also replaces the fuse box in your home at no cost to you. After the fuse replacement, your remote controlled lights no longer work.

........you go back and you remove the newly installed fuses and you discover that your remote controlled lights are working again.

...........You want to find out if it is neccessary to have these new fuses that are not compatible with your remote controlled lights. You call the builder and he says........nothing.

............You go to an electrician and the electrician informs you that fuses do not need to be replaced and the replacement was only meant to prevent your light bulbs from dying sooner than the government requirements state. You don't give a rats *** how soon the ligfht bulbs die.

.........You call the builder back and you find out that you did not have to agree to have your fuses replaced in the first place. You could have signed a waiver, because afterall this your home.

.........Now imagine you have another house and that same builder comes to replace your fuses..........do you out of fear for authority just meekly go along?


This essentially summarizes the secondary air injection pump recall with the ECU flash.


Ted

stevebez

This may be so but by modding your car and using your analogy its the same as putting in a light fitting that has 20 lights when the wiring harness is only rated designed for 10 lights...

If the harness fails - its not the builders fault...

Also if he replaces a fuse for 10 lights and your 20 lights trip it - its not his fault either - although you could put in a 20 light fuse and setup up the harness ourself to cope ... does not mean the builder is required to support it.

Sheez .. how did I get roped into this analogy !!!!!

Ted Baldwin

.........fault is not an issue I am interested in. Infact I don't thnk that Mercedes is at fault for flashig the ECU's. I responded to your post because you were unaware that you as the owner of the car can refuse all or part of the recall. You can refuse oil changes for that matter if you wish. I actually agree with you that theproperty owner should be provided with detailed infrmation regarding what the recall is meant to accomplish and the possble down sides so that the said owner can make an informed decision. Such decision will iclude refusing the recall. Not sure why this is difficult to see. Car belongs to you not to DaimlerChrysler. If this were your home, you'll probably understand your rights more.

Ted

stevebez

Sure I agree you should be able to choose if you want it or not ... how that affects warrantees is another issue ... and I guess someone needs to test this out.

My point was more focused on guys who have modded their car and find that recalls are not compatible with their mods... thats no ones fault but the guys who have done mods... Thats part of the price you pay doing mods. If I do any mod I will only do stuff that can be 100% easly reversed to stock... e.g. rotors , LSD , tyres , mbe some Evo headers (that dont require a mod to rest of system) and so on... If there is a recall in conflict with my mod -I'll just reverse the mod if I feel the recall is justified or not.

We definately need more info on exactly what is changed in every recall - in particular software where its not immediately visible and we should be informed if - for example new load limiting software is installed - if this software was there intiially perhaps many would not have bought the car as they had the intention all along to do mods. And perhaps this question is the test to determine if the recall is justified or not.

m52e55

how many flippin' recalls can they do...is MBUSA trying to set a new recall record. tuck fhem. enough already-JUST LET US DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!