BerndV

I just returned home to Montana after a 3500 mile road trip that included a trip to AMS for installation of their ECU tune, their full intercooler upgrade including the auxiliary intercooler, and their catback exhaust. They also performed a complete before and after dyno tune that was quite thrilling to witness. I also paid a bit extra for a before and after dyno test of a popular item many of you have purchased with less than stellar results which I will address in a different post. I did not have a downpipe installed for several reasons. I wanted to do the DP install myself as it is a fairly straightforward DIY and I wanted a less expensive DP than the AMS. I plan on eventually adding a new larger turbo once Speedriven completes development of their standalone ECU and at that time I will install the complete Weistech turbo-back pipe kit, so the very nice AMS piece plus install would have been a waste of money. I was also going to have their complete carbon fiber intake installed but unfortunately it was out of stock.

I also took the car to the drag strip at Union Grove, Wisconsin the Friday night before I dropped the car off to get in a few stock baseline 1/4 mile runs. I have been an amateur motorcycle road racer for years but this was actually my very first time running a car at the drag strip. I went with two friends who brought along a 2006 S65 AMG sedan as well a 2010 BMW M6 coupe. That entire experience was truly a lot of fun. My reaction times were less than impressive but I still managed to get the information I needed. The best part was the look on some of the spectators faces and the questions I received about the relatively quick times I ran in a four door luxury sedan and what had been modified. Most Friday drag racing types don't see much AMG stuff. I'm afraid I embarrassed the guys I ran against despite my lousy reaction times. Anyway, lots of fun and good conversations in the pits.

I have to say that I was very impressed by their facility, the professionalism and friendliness of their staff, and the great lengths that were taken to fine tune my ECU on the dyno. I was given a tour of their facility and it is a truly outstanding place to see. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Their tune, when done at their West Chicago facility, is a truly custom tune. Their ECU tuning/dyno tech made six trips back and forth from the dyno room to his office with my ECU in hand as he honed every parameter in order to get it as perfect as possible. His job was made a bit more difficult by the fact that I had that wonderful midwest 93 octane gas in my tank but he had to de-tune a bit for the 91 octane we get out west.

On my return trip home, I managed to hit a GPS readout of 191 mph on a particularly long stretch of Hwy 2 in eastern Montana with ambient temps of 95 degrees and an altitude of 2000 feet ASL. In was hoping to break 200 MPH but it really takes a looong stretch of open road with great visibility to reach those speeds. I will give it a try on I-15 north of Great Falls, MT some other time. I did spend lots of time well into triple digit speeds with many runs to 170 mph.

I will post some dyno sheets and my best 1/4 mile slip later today.

I would like to extend special thanks to my salesman Larry Hamilton, COO Anthony Miniscalco, and their ECU guru Jake. They put up with all my questions with tremendous patience and courtesy and made me feel truly valued as a customer despite the fact that they clearly have a huge number of customers.

BerndV

Stock 1/4 mile time slip:

BerndV

Stock and modified dyno runs with stock downpipe:

cstanley92

Excellent to hear some positive experiences at shops. Most people just go about their day because they expect the world. Of course we would all like to be taken care of like you were, but that is not always the case.. Anyway, great numbers (dyno wise). You can definitely squeeze some tenths off the quarter. Thanks for sharing

BerndV

Frankly, I was amazed at how much HP this thing makes bone stock. It calculates out to around 650 HP at the crank. I should be around 650 WHP once I install the AMS intake and my catless downpipes. I had considered installing the intercooler upgrade myself over the winter but the procedure is actually rather daunting and would have required an equipment purchase for a bleeder system that I will never use again.

I used race start for my three 1/4 mile runs. I did not try any other method because I was simply looking for consistency. However, race start may not be the optimum way to extract the best 1/4 mile results.

TMC M5

Great write-up!

Your stock car also performed very well at the track. What were the ambient conditions that night? The stock dyno numbers are also very strong.

BerndV

It was around 70 degrees F with around 85 percent humidity.

PeterUbers

Nice run man

BerndV

Dyno run video taken from outside the building (crank up the volume). I was surprised at how loud these things are at full throttle from the outside. I'm afraid the video cannot convey how loud and bad-*** these motors really sound to those we drive by at WOT. I had to plug my ears with my fingers for each run I witnessed. You would simply never imagine the cacophony when serenely cocooned inside.

Stereolab42

Must be that much louder for those of us with res delete/straight pipes and a muffler in mostly passthrough mode lol. I know at WOT it's as loud as hell in the cabin with windows down, I can imagine what it's like behind.

godrealm06

Nice post. I plan on purchasing their products since I was very satisfied when I used their products for my Evo X. Did you happen by chance to find out if installing their catless downpipes without a tune would trigger a cel?

Zod

If you do not mind me asking what gear did you dyno in?

and what configuration did they set the dyno for the AWD?

Lastly congrats and thanks for sharing

BerndV

I believe installing any brand of catless downpipes without a tune will result in a cel.

Fairbird

560 stock , wow , I'd like to see post tune 1/4 mile results . Thanks for sharing !

BerndV

Regarding configuration, I was not in the car and for liability reasons was not allowed inside the dyno room when the actual full throttle portion of the testing was performed. However, I believe he had it in sport handling mode with either S or S+ selected. I asked for all the runs to be done in 5th gear. However, it was explained to me that because of the need for repeated full throttle runs (he must have made about 12-15 total while tuning the ECU), limitations on airflow, the fact that ambient temperatures were in the high 80's, and the resulting heat soak that accumulates, all runs were performed in 4th gear. Therefore, the numbers are all accurate in relative terms, but the true numbers are probably off by a small percentage. I believe they would have made a final run in 5th had I asked, but since I have yet to install the intake and downpipes, I really didn't care. On my next trip there when everything is installed, I will have a final pull made in 5th gear.

otakki

Lucky you to have all that places around you to run speed like that. Moreover, it's nice to have understanding cops and not too many speed traps.

BerndV

Indeed! Once you get out of the cop, radar, and speed trap hell of the midwest (Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Indiana), you get into a lot of wide open country with sparse populations and minimal speed enforcement. That is not to state that speeding tickets don't exist, but speed enforcement is somewhat more relaxed and easily detected with a good radar detector. Through all of North Dakota and Montana on the way home, my detector went off only once. I routinely travel at triple digit speeds here in Montana and have had only one in-state speeding ticket in the last five years. It was for going 91 in a 70 zone on one of my motorcycles just outside of Missoula. The fine was $129 and three points. It takes 30 points in three years to jeopardize your Montana license. A speeding ticket for 10 MPH over the limit on a state or federal highway during daylight hours is $40 and zero points. Traffic here is very minimal as well, as the entire state has a population of only 1 million. The single danger that requires maximum attentiveness is an animal encounter, especially deer. Hitting a deer at high speed is my only fear when riding my motorcycles around this part of the country. I always slow way down early in the morning and late in the evening as well as at night.

stroock6394

dyno numbers are good and all, but how does the butt dyno feel? if you get out of a stock car right into a tuned car is it really night and day?

BerndV

Well, I certainly noticed a significant difference. However, keep in mind that I still have the stock downpipe installed. I have also yet to install the AMS intake along with the additional ECU tweak the intake requires. I think once all of those items are completed the difference will be quite stark. I will then be at about an additional 80-90 WHP along with an additional 200 ft lbs of WTQ. That I believe will result in a "night and day " difference coming out of a stock E63S. I will then have what AMS refers to as their Alpha 7 package which will produce consistent 10.9 second 1/4 mile ET's at close to 130 mph trap speeds. A difference of 7/10's of a second ET in the quarter mile is a very significant improvement. One interesting aspect of this car and how it performs is that the power and acceleration is so seamless and serene. You put it in S or S+ and nail it and you then glance down at the speedometer after a few seconds and your knocking on 100 mph. Even at 190 mph, the car is stable and surprisingly quiet. It's a beast but it never scares you or feels like it's on the edge. That, to me, is the beauty of this car as well as all of the better ultra high performance German cars. I can have all of the luxury and electrical amenities and yet drive a car that will smoke almost every other car on the road.

I will also be embarking on a weight reduction program for the car over the winter. I am a big believer in reducing un-sprung weight as well as weight in general. As long as it does not compromise the luxury and serenity I intend to retain, weight reduction is a win-win for acceleration, braking, handling, ride quality, and efficient operation. This is particularly true regarding un-sprung weight. I believe I can drop 10-12 lbs of un-sprung weight per wheel which will make a very significant difference. Switching to Braille lithium batteries is an easy 60 lb weight reduction. Unfortunately, no company yet manufactures a full carbon fiber wheel for this car, so for now I intend to purchase the Renntech Superlight wheels along with their titanium lug nuts. That will give me about 9 lbs per wheel in weight reduction. I also intend to replace the stock brakes with a complete set of Stoptech calipers, full floating zinc plated rotors, and their braided lines. That will give me another 3-4 lbs of un-sprung weight reduction while also giving me far superior brakes. The factory calipers are made by Brembo and are an aluminum mono-block construction. They look cool but are simply inferior to two piece calipers held together with steel bolts (http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...s-2pc-calipers). Furthermore, the factory front rotors are not full floating. The factory rear rotors, unlike the fronts, utilize steel hats instead of aluminum and are also not full floating.

After replacing batteries, wheels, lug nuts, and brakes, I will probably stop there. Those items alone will cost me close to $20k. After that, without compromising luxury and quietness, you get into custom carbon fiber body parts. If you want them to fit within the same tolerances as factory parts, the costs become exorbitant. Adding more HP then becomes more reasonable. Bigger turbos along the Weistech turbo-back downpipes and Speedriven's stand-alone ECU will be the way to go. When I am all done with modifications, I will be into it for about $160k. That is a hell of a lot less than a 911 Turbo S or any of the Italian exotics and yet far roomier, more comfortable, and quite a bit quicker and faster in a straight line.

BerndV

Once AMS gets the intake back in stock, I plan on trailering the car back there for installation and the ECU tuning tweak that goes with it along with a tank full of the local 91 octane gas. I will then return to Union Grove for a few post tune runs. I did not have time after I picked up the car from AMS, as I had to literally drive straight home for my wife's family reunion in Oregon over the labor day weekend.

gaspam

i dont see any stoptech rotors or stoptech big brake kits that fit our W212's ?

also since you are already going back to ams, why not the girodisc rotors they sell? they save close to 11 lbs per front wheel/ 8 lbs per rear wheel as opposed to the 3-4 lbs you mentioned

https://www.amsperformance.com/cart/...rs-a1-022.html

https://www.amsperformance.com/cart/...rs-a2-022.html

BerndV

Stoptech officially makes kits for the W212 E63 through year 2014. They have not yet checked fitment on the 2015 or 2016. However, as long as the caliper and rotor part numbers have not changed from 2014, I will be okay. I was quoting 3-4 lbs as a minimum because I do not yet have the weight specs for the combined Stoptech calipers, pads, and rotors vs the stock calipers, pads, and rotors. I expect the actual numbers to be quite a bit better. Once I get the Stoptechs and am able to weigh the two combinations for the front and rear, then I will have an exact number. My guess is that the stock calipers are a bit lighter but the Stoptech rotors will be similar in weight to the Girodiscs.

I am not a fan of the mono-block Brembo calipers either. The Stoptechs are far superior. If you didn't already, read that link I posted in post #19 above. It explains very well what I already know from road racing motorcycles. Multiple steel bridge bolts combined with a two piece caliper will be much more rigid than the aluminum mono-blocks. I am at 11k and have never tracked my E63, yet I am already getting pulsation and vibration (sometimes quite severe) during high speed braking. While I feel confident MB will warranty at this mileage, the problem will undoubtedly occur again eventually. Frankly, I've never had good luck with factory MB brakes. My 2014 E550 had rotors and pads replaced twice under warranty for similar problems. I had high hopes for the AMG/Brembo parts on the E63, but alas I am again encountering the same problems.

gaspam

do you have part number? I dont see anything for our 2014 cars from stoptech other than pads..... and yeah i know the difference between monobloc vs 2 piece rotors, that's why i suggested the girodisc from ams

BerndV

When I called them, they said up to 2014. I don't have any part numbers yet. Also, I was referring to two piece versus one piece calipers, not rotors. If Stoptechs are not available for the 2016, I will either obtain a custom Stoptech set or perhaps spring for the Brembo GT-R setup. The GT-R caliper is still inferior IMO but they are undoubtedly better and lighter than the stock Brembo calipers and rotors.

frontin55

Excellent write up.

Thank you for sharing!