67 Plate A200d Remap

[Merc17]

I know this has probably been asked before, but I can't seem to find a definitive answer.

I've just leased an A200d AMG Line Auto 136bhp with 300nM torque and was wondering what my options are in terms of remap.

obviously I don't want to void my warranty, but what are my options, and what are the potential performance gains.

I've been looking into chip tuning, are they are equal ? - and are they undetectable if removed before going into the dealer ?

Quantum say they can remap the car to 214bhp and 420nM torque, which sounds insane

So to put it quite simply, what are my options, what are the gains, and whats the safest bet.

Thanks.

 

[V6Matty]

Any map wether by chip, box or full map will void your warranty if found to be used.

 

[Merc17]

How likely are they to pick up on a chip tuning box ?

 

[LostKiwi]

whats the safest bet.

Safest bet is to do nothing.

 

[peterdh]

I'm afraid I don't understand why anyone with a 17 plate would even contemplate a re-map. Two reasons. First is the warranty implications. Secondly if the power etc output isn't sufficient why not buy a motor that does what you want in the first place? I don't understand but maybe I'm so long in the tooth now so as to be incapable of understanding such things.

 

[fabes]

Leasing company will go 'ape' if you remap in any way the car.
STAR will (I understand) show up any mod even if removed unless you can clear the history yourself (you need STAR to do this, not a code reader)

Implications under lease contract is that they will make you personally liable for the whole cost of the vehicle plus lost income.
We had a muppet (no offence intended) at work who did this to his company car and also invalidated cover under the fleet insurance (which I look after amongst other things).

My recommendation - Drive it harder if you want to go faster, it is only a lease car after all

 

[Craiglxviii]

Lease cars are, like rental cars, the most powerful machines on the planet. They're the only ones to put out 100% of engine power from the instant the key is turned.

Utilise it- or hand it back in and spend more money.

 

[bembo449]

I don't understand this , I had a brand new car a few years ago and remapped it , main dealer was totally fine for all warranty work for the 3 years I had it

 

[Merc17]

which specific vehicle ? and who did you get the remap done by ?

 

[fabes]

And did you own or lease it..?

 

[LostKiwi]

I don't understand this , I had a brand new car a few years ago and remapped it , main dealer was totally fine for all warranty work for the 3 years I had it

Did it need any engine or transmission warranty work in that time?
I bet I know what their answer would have been if you brought the car in belching smoke everywhere.....

 

[Merc17]

That's another thing I wanted to ask, how common is it for new cars to develop faults in which you need to take them into the dealer ?

The K & N filter seems to be above board, so I'll be fitting that later this week.

 

[LostKiwi]

That's another thing I wanted to ask, how common is it for new cars to develop faults in which you need to take them into the dealer ?

The K & N filter seems to be above board, so I'll be fitting that later this week.

Why bother with the K&N? It will do nothing at all for performance and the dealer will likely chuck it away on the first service.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Indeed- although they come with stickers to warn against throwing them away, that won’t stop it happening.
There are also varied opinions in the K & N’s, whether they are in any way effective or placebo driven!
There are also opinions on the possibility of oil contamination from the filter coating to the MAF...
There are opinions on lots of things though!

 

[Frosty149]

Your basically gambling (I’m sure you realise this), of course a remap is not visible unless investigated specifically, however, the risk here is near total!
“So do you feel lucky?”

 

[LostKiwi]

One way to see how much a K&N will give you....
The theory goes that a K&N flows better than a standard filter hence liberating more power so try this.
Remove the existing filter entirely as after all no filter must flow better than any filter right?
How much extra power does it give you with no filter?
If you fit a K&N you cannot get more power than no filter.....(and I'd be surprised if there is any objective difference with no filter). What you will get is a lot more noise....

 

[bembo449]

Did it need any engine or transmission warranty work in that time?
I bet I know what their answer would have been if you brought the car in belching smoke everywhere.....

it had a new gearbox repaired without quibble

 

[Craiglxviii]

Indeed- although they come with stickers to warn against throwing them away, that won’t stop it happening.
There are also varied opinions in the K & N’s, whether they are in any way effective or placebo driven!
There are also opinions on the possibility of oil contamination from the filter coating to the MAF...
There are opinions on lots of things though!

There are indeed opinions and there are facts and data. I prefer the latter...

The latter tells us that K&N filters have no statistically discernible improvement in engine power over OEM paper filters but a statistically significant reduction in filtering capability.

The numbers are something like +/- 3% vs the paper filter over the whole air mass flow/ intake velocity range. However that is misleading in its own right as across the same range the paper filters showed +5/-3% vs the K&N filter.

The numbers also show that the placebo effect is in full force due to a booming / drumskin effect generated by the fairly taut membrane structure that K&N use. Lubricated with finest snake oil too btw add to that, their filters allow particulate sizes up to an order of magnitude greater than a new paper filter will allow, so intake manifold and cylinder liners take a big hit.

So really... they’re nice if you want a cheap way of making the car noisier.

 

[curious]

Leasing company will go 'ape' if you remap in any way the car.
STAR will (I understand) show up any mod even if removed unless you can clear the history yourself (you need STAR to do this, not a code reader)

Star won't detect a remap.

Your big issue is if you have serious accident that is potentially going to cost an insurance company (who aren't informed) a fortune. They may well dig deeper than you expect to avoid payout.

 

[LostKiwi]

Pretty sure STAR can detect a remap as it can look at software and harware versions.