One day at a time...

MB released a new memorandum that went into effect on 11/10. It basically states that to order a new TCU from MB:

"4.2.1 When accepting an order for any of the following TRPs, the customer is to be informed that the vehicle must be presented to the dealer workshop for installation/synchronization/coding. This is to ensure complete security of the process

When any of these TRPs are delivered, the dealer must install them in their own workshop and verify proper function. The only exception is if the vehicle cannot be moved; in such cases, the dealer must dispatch a technician to the vehicle to install and code the TRP"


"4.2.2 in the case of an Engine Control Unit...These may be delivered specifically for a certain vehicle as replacement parts to a COSN (Customer Outside the Sales Network, any non dealer (including customers and independant repair facilities)) if the following TRP requirements are complied with. In the case of the ordering of engine control unitsby any customer outside the sales network, the following additional points are also required.

The installer has an enabled SDflash user ID to put engine control units into operation. Record the SDflash User ID on the TRP form.

Submission of the record of the diagnostic quick test or the test of the engine control unit carried out using the Star Diagnosis tester.

All documents mentioned above and in section 4.1 must be received in advance by the dealer and attached to the TRP form."



What does that all mean? Basically if you want a spare ECU you need to present a valid driver's license that matches the name on your title and order it directly from a local dealer to install and document. After that you can send it to your tuner of choice for flashing, but we can no longer order them for you unless you're local to us--meaning you'll pay more for the same part and you have to jump through hoops to get it.
It's MBs little way of attempting to throw a wrench in the aftermarket's ability to tune under the guise of theft reduction/elimination....





I suppose it could be worse:

 

this is nothing new and we've been dealing with this type of behavior for years. welcome to the world of mb tuning and tinkering.

 

Andy, so it looks like Mercedes have been reading your posts closely You've been blasting the idea of having a spare ECU around here so much lately that it pissed them off and blocked the whole thing. So technically, this is all your fault

Where do we go from here?

 

Really ? How so ? I assume you are referring to past issues with the E55's. So, please elaborate. How has Mercedes, in the past, made customers prove they own the car they are ordering parts for, and which parts ? Did they do this with ECU's as well ??

 

From the advent of the IR key 1998 or 1999. MB has had this same policy, not really new, just a reiteration.

 

They've done this many times in the past.

There was a point last year where I was hooking people up with SLR cams. I had purchased 24 or 25 sets of these cams from MB in Canada. By the 7th set, they had a chief engineer from Germany on the phone with the head techs at the dealership that I was ordering them from. They got so worried that all these SLRs were coming back with damaged camshafts. lol.. The General Manager of the dealership called me and wanted to know who all these customers were that I had with blown camshafts..

If you do a search on my past posts with "SLR Cams" as the text you will see where I posted and warned people about the new ruling.

Right after that, they put a rule in place that photocopies of D.L and proof of ownership was required to purchase the cams. I had to stop and order direct from another contact @ AMG in order to get them anymore.

The same thing happened with the 80mm TBs. I was ordering 30 of them from the CLK-DTM parts bin.. They got worried that something was happening with the cars and made it difficult for me to get parts without VIN # confirmation and D.L photocopies.

There are ways around it.. You just need to have the right connections.

 

They clearly never enforced it until now, though. The policy may have been written somewhere before, but it seems like now they're cracking down.

Not Andy's fault, just MBZ being d!cks like always.

 

I take personal pride in torturing AMG/Benz.

We really pis-sed um off with the SLR cams. All the sudden SLR cams are flying off the shelf in Germany.

Then we all start ordering ECU's.

Making Montvale violent is becoming really fun.

 

Gotcha - thx....I was just interested to know what "modifiable" parts were scrutinized in the past by MBZ. I'm sure they know exactly what's going on and are simply trying to limit the amount of bogus warranty claims they get.

 

Yes there are ways around it, just like anything else, but it sucks for the average Joe. I think we'll be seeing a lot more original control units coming in than before, that's all.
We did a pretty good job clearing out their stock of spare ECU/TCUs in the past few mos. *******s should be thanking us. My parts guy was more pissed than I was, lol.

 

Not sure if compatible but theres an used ECU on eBay.
Item number: 120332204361