2007 C200TCDI Performance Upgrade

[KiwiRobbie]

Hi guys,

I'm a reasonably new Merc owner, I traded up from a 1.6 FSI Golf and must admit find the C very comfortable but a little slow in pick up. From what I understand the easiest way to give my car a little more motivation is to chip the ECU or install a tuning box. Can anyone recommend a good reputible supplier.

If anyone has had this upgrade done to their C200CDI how did you find the upgrade and was it worth thew money.

Cheers

Rob

 

[jberks]

Most of the reputable upgrades are very good allegedly.
However.
1 You need to tell you ins co and they'll want more money from you. If you don't, they are aware of them these days and should the worst happen, they will be looking for evidence that you had one.
2 You will probably invaildate your warranty. Allegedly some kits are now approved abroad but nothing in the UK as far as I know. One of the issues is premature wear on the injectors.

The best upgrade would be to swap it for a 220 but whether that's an option I can't know.

 

[KiwiRobbie]

I would like to swap for a 220 but can't afford to upgrade, and the new estates will be quite expensive compared to the deal I goton the 200. I was thinking that if I had a tuning box I can remove it when it goes in for a service or if anything happens which the insurance needs to get involved with.

 

[Schtum]

I would like to swap for a 220 but can't afford to upgrade, and the new estates will be quite expensive compared to the deal I goton the 200. I was thinking that if I had a tuning box I can remove it when it goes in for a service or if anything happens which the insurance needs to get involved with.

Seek out an expert. Perhaps these folk?

http://www.celtictuning.co.uk/technical-info.html

 

[100%Bitch]

I was thinking that if I had a tuning box I can remove it when it goes in for a service or if anything happens which the insurance needs to get involved with.

One thing to bear in mind is that it might be a bit difficult from a hospital bed if you were to have a bad accident, though god forbid that would ever happen.

 

[verytalldave]

I would really advise most strongly against tweaking and not telling your insurance.
There are many different situations you could rattle off which would make removal of any evidence of a tweak impossible after an incident. Its too much of a risk too take.
Without going into specifics, if you imagine a worse case scenario - with no insurance.......it kind of puts it all into context.

 

[hawk20]

I would like to swap for a 220 but can't afford to upgrade, and the new estates will be quite expensive compared to the deal I goton the 200. I was thinking that if I had a tuning box I can remove it when it goes in for a service or if anything happens which the insurance needs to get involved with.

If you have an accident you may not be in good shape to remove it. And people will be around. And police may be called. You run a real risk of having your insurance declared null and void. And do you really want to risk losing your 3 year warranty as well?

 

[whitenemesis]

I believe STAR can detect when a remap or even an add-on box has been used.

It is not worth the risk, inform your insurer if you go down this route

 

[James R]

I looked into all this and it turns out that Brabus is now recognised by M-B and will not invalidate your warranty providing you fit it from new. I was told this by my local Merc dealer. Carlsson is another one that seems to be very good in that they provide their own two year warranty for the drivetrain and engine of the car plus three year warranty for the tuning box itself. This would mean that if anything did go wrong and there may be some doubt that the tuning box caused it then you are covered by Carlsson's warranty. There are masses of other tuners that might be able to help : have a look in Mercedes Enthusiast magazine. I was interested in Brabus in Carlsson though because it looked as if their units wouldn't overstress anything and come with proper warranties and / or were Mercedes approved. Hope this helps.

James

 

[KiwiRobbie]

Thanks forthe help,I will check out the Brabus and Carlsson products. I live in Norway so the rules around modified vehicles and insurance aren't very difficult.

 

[KiwiRobbie]

Another update I found out today that the Brabus and Carlsson products are approved by Mercedes and do not invalidate the warranty. Both companies charge twice what everyone else does but for piece of mind and the warranty issue makes it all worth the extra expense.