e class e300 hybrid remapping

[John Laidlaw]

thanks for the comments guys.

personally i find the car slower than slugish but at least it's not a desirable car to steal like my last one.

i'm waiting to hear back from one of the main tuners and see what they say after all its just a e250 with a battery attached.


i have also found that brabus to a plug in box.

Hmmm, i had one for 18 months and to be honest on kick down with electric and diesel power combining I found it quite rapid and certainly torquey. Makes me think yours isn't running right rather than needing a remap...
Interesting to hear what the tuners say and whether they've done the hybrid before..my concern is that the motor is attached to the gearbox, the ECU doesnt like change thats for sure!

 

[V6Matty]

I'm actually looking into the pug being mapped by John at big fish, we're going to see what can be done with the electric motors too, although, I know the Merc design is much more complicated than the pugs but worth some investigation I think.

Slight side note, hybrids can be tuned, there are a few golf GTE's that have had tinkering with the system to push the tourque up and change how it elecermatric power comes in.

As I say fully worth investigation by the OP but you need to be ready for something wrong and it not easy to fix such a complicated system.

 

[star]

thanks for the comments guys.

but at least it's not a desirable car to steal like my last one.

The car might not be but the battery will be, £5k a pop.

 

[Craiglxviii]

"Ohhhhh Smeg"... As the battery melts?

Having heard some of the wee hiccups with the hybrid systems when standard, I'd be scared to death of tinkering with it!

This is just it, it's not just as simple as an engine plus motor... the development of it took them 4 years so it certainly wasn't straightforward! Having seen various hybrids, they're not sluggish. There's an E300h in the village that's ****** quick so I'm inclined to think the OPs needs a checkup rather than a tuneup...

 

[John Laidlaw]

This is just it, it's not just as simple as an engine plus motor... the development of it took them 4 years so it certainly wasn't straightforward! Having seen various hybrids, they're not sluggish. There's an E300h in the village that's ****** quick so I'm inclined to think the OPs needs a checkup rather than a tuneup...

Agreed and what I said Craig, mine was rapid ( until it went thunk!)

 

[Craiglxviii]

I'm actually looking into the pug being mapped by John at big fish, we're going to see what can be done with the electric motors too, although, I know the Merc design is much more complicated than the pugs but worth some investigation I think.

Slight side note, hybrids can be tuned, there are a few golf GTE's that have had tinkering with the system to push the tourque up and change how it elecermatric power comes in.

As I say fully worth investigation by the OP but you need to be ready for something wrong and it not easy to fix such a complicated system.

Hehe is that the technical name for it?

 

[graykp]

Hmmm, i had one for 18 months and to be honest on kick down with electric and diesel power combining I found it quite rapid and certainly torquey. Makes me think yours isn't running right rather than needing a remap...
Interesting to hear what the tuners say and whether they've done the hybrid before..my concern is that the motor is attached to the gearbox, the ECU doesnt like change thats for sure!

my wife has the same car and they are both the same. i think the issue is me lol

my last car that was stolen was a 3litre twin turbo diesel bmw.

 

[graykp]

This is just it, it's not just as simple as an engine plus motor... the development of it took them 4 years so it certainly wasn't straightforward! Having seen various hybrids, they're not sluggish. There's an E300h in the village that's ****** quick so I'm inclined to think the OPs needs a checkup rather than a tuneup...

nothing wrong with the car as my wife has the same one and they are both the same, i think the issue is me regarding the speed i'm used to a 3l twin turbo bmw.

 

[V6Matty]

Hehe is that the technical name for it?

yep it's a very techmikel term

 

[graykp]

thanks for all the help guys this i why forums are so important and certainly ones that offer good advice rather than posting stupid comments

all i actually wanted to do was up the power of the engine not to touch the electric motor side.

my comments regarding current power are maybe not correct the car actually goes ok but i'm not being exactly fair comparing to my last one.

 

[Craiglxviii]

yep it's a very techmikel term

One of our lamp design engineers refers to the headlamp ECU as "that box of ones and zeroes"

 

[Frontstep]

I can't see how the engine could be done without the electric side as they hold hands and run together.

 

[V6Matty]

One of our lamp design engineers refers to the headlamp ECU as "that box of ones and zeroes"

most of the car is just ones and zeros these days

 

[Craiglxviii]

most of the car is just ones and zeros these days

Nah, there's plenty of decent body metal to do real engineering on.

 

[dsharples]

Has any E300 hybrid owner tried the Brabus D4-Hybrid tuning kit? They used to come with limited warranties and didn't invalidate the MB warranty if fitted by a MB dealer. I had one fitted on a previous C220CDI, and was impressed. It really opened up and sustained performance at the higher end of the rev range.

Like others I've been a bit nervous about trying the same on the Hybrid - due to the interaction of the engine power/torque characteristics with the electric motor - but would trust Brabus to have done their homework? I also understand its c.£2.5k fitted.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Has any E300 hybrid owner tried the Brabus D4-Hybrid tuning kit? They used to come with limited warranties and didn't invalidate the MB warranty if fitted by a MB dealer. I had one fitted on a previous C220CDI, and was impressed. It really opened up and sustained performance at the higher end of the rev range.

Like others I've been a bit nervous about trying the same on the Hybrid - due to the interaction of the engine power/torque characteristics with the electric motor - but would trust Brabus to have done their homework? I also understand its c.£2.5k fitted.

Think you'll find this has been explored before on the forum....personally I'd be scared witless to tinker with the Hybrid...its delicate at best...

 

[Craiglxviii]

Has any E300 hybrid owner tried the Brabus D4-Hybrid tuning kit? They used to come with limited warranties and didn't invalidate the MB warranty if fitted by a MB dealer. I had one fitted on a previous C220CDI, and was impressed. It really opened up and sustained performance at the higher end of the rev range.

Like others I've been a bit nervous about trying the same on the Hybrid - due to the interaction of the engine power/torque characteristics with the electric motor - but would trust Brabus to have done their homework? I also understand its c.£2.5k fitted.

Would you explicitly trust Brabus to repair your car if it failed due to their tuning chip?

if not- and as John said, we've had multiple discussions on this exact subject- it's safest not to attempt it. Way too new with way too many, highly costly, potential issues. Unless of course you're a zillionaire in which case go for it and let us know how you get on

 

[John Laidlaw]

You'd be safer and potentially cheaper if its performance youre after selling the E300, get a 350 and get it tuned by GAD or MSL, you could end up with a rocket ship, rather than a drive ornament if it went wrong with the Hybrid...

 

[dsharples]

Wow, that's a pretty definitive view - and it sounds like from hard won experience. As a newbie to the forum, perhaps someone can point me to list of these fragilities or gotchas with the hybrid system so I'm forewarned?

 

[Craiglxviii]

Wow, that's a pretty definitive view - and it sounds like from hard won experience. As a newbie to the forum, perhaps someone can point me to list of these fragilities or gotchas with the hybrid system so I'm forewarned?

It's more the whole system. We had one member a few months or so ago who tried it and had multiple cascade failures, car went into limp mode and it cost a small fortune to fix. His take was that, well it's a 250 CDi engine so that can be tuned right? Only, it turns out that it isn't. It's a 250 CDi engine that features multiple differences to the standard, it is coded differently, it interacts differently with different layouts of electrical grid and powertrain... and that the experienced tuners we know on here won't touch the hybrids with a bargepole for all of these reasons and more.