Views upon ECU remapping and brabus chip

[David-Butter]

'Course if you want a MB M class that goes better than a 350 get a 420. peach of an engine and warranty / insurance issues go away.

It'a 4 litre v8, it goes well in my GL, the ML will be even quicker.

Power is 306hp and torque 700nm. Suspect the Brabus / remap solution doesn't get to those numbers.

271 BHP and 675 NM of torque.The 420 CDI would be top of the list if i were in the market. However i just want it done in case ive to drive when she has had a bottle or two,

 

[roadhog]

Road Hogg - The X6 is shocking. Did you not see clarkson ! Only jesting i personaly am not a BMW fan. Its trying to live upto to many names, Its not a supercar its not a 4x4 ?

Ive the disco for the mud and to enter another time zone the F430. Now the ML is the wife "PIMP" wagon or so the kids would refer to as.

You're of course right, it's utterly pointless which is why I like it. A lot. So much in fact that it's on the shortlist to replace my current unmentionable. All in good time though.

Good news on the remap and thank you very much for posting the outcome, even with the cliffhanger.

 

[whitenemesis]

I seems ive been where no mercedes owner has been. Worth the wait,

The good news is i can stick to plan A, and get the remap.


Now then let's get down to the good stuff.

Ive now seen the documentation the proof was in the pudding. Plan and simple the warranty will cover every part the remap can potentially cause damage to. The process - I would have to take it to mercedes to see there diagnosis if they pay out thay pay out.If not GCL Tuning will step in and get it covered under there policy. Any part that is classed as ware and tear is not covered. Every thing in relation to engine & engine management is. GCL in my view have gone the extra mile to help me out ( I think it more to prove a point as i stated i was a forum member) But there we are. I will have the full ins and outs sent to me shortly and will post them up.


Now ive just got to wait to pick the damm thing up !

I'm pleased you are happy with the documents but I'm somewhat more cynical and would say the proof is not in the documents but in the response should you make a claim.....

But as I say, I'm just an old cynic

 

[psmart]

Chippers 1 Cynics 0

....now all we need is feedback on economy

 

[David-Butter]

Give me a chance chaps, First i have to wait for the service ect to be done,Secondly i will need the remapping changed/re done.

Cant wait as soon as we are all set and ive become confident the remap is working as it should i will try my best to review.

 

[roadhog]

Chippers 1 Cynics 0

How so?
And what's wrong with being critical of the myriad of wonderous claims made by many of the 'tuners'?

 

[David-Butter]

Very true, I would have been in no mans land if was not for members being critical. The Key for a novice (remaps at least) is to know the company policy and then reserch the product.

 

[stumpy]

Maybe I'm a fool but I will still go down the Brabus route if / when I get the S done.

 

[psmart]

...what's wrong with being critical of the myriad of wonderous claims made by many of the 'tuners'?

Conversely, why should these people be knocked at every drop of a hat

As mentioned above, the premium fuels claim performance/economy advantages - if this being true, then why not kick up a fuss about warranty etc for those choosing to use premium fuels.... after all, any power increase may be detrimental to the vehicle and thus gives cause for warranty invalidation!

It's all a risk, just have to know the pro's and con's and take an educated decision. If you drive like a turbo nutter bas*d and you get chipped, expect failures and expect no warranty to help you when it all goes wrong. If you drive like a gent who occasionally needs a power injection, then chances of anything going wrong are small and thus warranty really becomes less of an issue.

Lets see, ML270, RS Cosworth, RS Turbo, MG Montego Turbo .... all past cars Ive had chipped. I know myself, and should I chip my current cars (having researched them), I'll use the power, regularly, so Im bound to have failures, so I dont do it! I dont go looking for some warranty to repair my cars because of my decision and the way I would drive them.

 

[Mic]

It keeps coming into my head that Mercedes and all other international motor manufacturers have vast resources at their disposal and that they must surely know their product better than anyone. Their choice of components ought to best match their choice of power and torque for any combination of given engine and power train excepting de-tuned units. Why mess with the manufacturer's settings and enter into the murky world of already tricky issues of warranty and possible violation of insurace matters.
Why not purchase a vehicle that does what you want it to do all as per the manufacturer's specification?
I have never quite understood the idea that a ''back street'' tune up might be better than buying the right vehicle in the first instance.....but what do I know?

Mic

 

[Retired]

I suppose I might be branded as one of the cynics from my posts on this thread.

To clarify, I'm not suspicious of the ability of the better tuners ability to competently raise the power and torque outputs of, especially, diesel engines.

Many of them do themselves no favours by their silly sales / marketing approaches in which they talk about undetectability, no effect on warranty, offer warranties not worth the time they take to read etc.

I'm not against remapping / chipping. It's important that people go in with their eyes open and are fully aware of the benefits and risks.

I thought about a Brabus upgrade for my car but a bit of research led me to believe that it would take the torque beyond the gearbox's continuous torque rating. Appreciate that all of the torque isn't used all of the time but I thought I didn't want to risk it, esp as I like this car and will probabaly keep it.

 

[roadhog]

Conversely, why should these people be knocked at every drop of a hat

Because they (like the chap at the start of the epic remap thread) make astounding claims about their product and very rarely back them up.

As mentioned above, the premium fuels claim performance/economy advantages - if this being true, then why not kick up a fuss about warranty etc for those choosing to use premium fuels.... after all, any power increase may be detrimental to the vehicle and thus gives cause for warranty invalidation!

Not sure where you're going here, I've yet to hear of anyone having a warranty claim turned down on account of having used premium fuel. I have however knowledge of people having their warranty voided due to modifying their engines.

It's all a risk, just have to know the pro's and con's and take an educated decision.

Which is something you can only do after you've looked at both sides of the coin and that's why you need people who question things, not just blindly follow where they're being led.

If you drive like a turbo nutter bas*d and you get chipped, expect failures and expect no warranty to help you when it all goes wrong. If you drive like a gent who occasionally needs a power injection, then chances of anything going wrong are small and thus warranty really becomes less of an issue.

Not too much wrong with that statement except that there's plenty of evidence of cars (modified or not) throwing a wobbly even if driven by gents.

Lets see, ML270, RS Cosworth, RS Turbo, MG Montego Turbo .... all past cars Ive had chipped. I know myself, and should I chip my current cars (having researched them), I'll use the power, regularly, so Im bound to have failures, so I dont do it! I dont go looking for some warranty to repair my cars because of my decision and the way I would drive them.

OK, you're up by a couple of remaps, I've only had two so far. Without any problems I might add. Which is one reason why I found the comments in the other thread so funny. I've highlighted the research bit of your post because that's what it comes down to. You cannot however get a balanced view if all we're allowed to post is how wonderful these aftermarket 'tuners' are. There are pitfalls and it needs to be pointed out because the 'tuners' won't.

Why not purchase a vehicle that does what you want it to do all as per the manufacturer's specification?
I have never quite understood the idea that a ''back street'' tune up might be better than buying the right vehicle in the first instance.....but what do I know?

Amen to that.

 

[David-Butter]

The point about buying a vehicle "fit for the purpose" is utter rubbish. The key reason for this is my son has the golf gti this is the diesel the 140 and 170 bhp models are the same apart from the ecu map. Now there is £2300 price gap for this ?

For me its more of a "somthing for nothing" moments £500 instead of £2300 ?

The manufactures are one of if not the biggest money grabber on this earth.In this day and age its what you know. (or in my case what road hog knows)

 

[roadhog]

In this day and age its what you know. (or in my case what road hog knows)

Oops. I know very little and I'm afraid it'll never stretch to two people. I think we're going to come unstuck soon. :lol:
Still, thank you very much.

 

[bigyin1]

The point about buying a vehicle "fit for the purpose" is utter rubbish. The key reason for this is my son has the golf gti this is the diesel the 140 and 170 bhp models are the same apart from the ecu map. Now there is £2300 price gap for this ?

For me its more of a "somthing for nothing" moments £500 instead of £2300 ?

The manufactures are one of if not the biggest money grabber on this earth.In this day and age its what you know. (or in my case what road hog knows)

Sorry but this is factually incorrect. Whilst some manufacturers keep the same engine but have different power levels, the latest 140bhp/170bhp VAG Common Rail units are different, they have different Turbo's. The previous 140/170bhp "Pumpe Deuse" units were completely different: different ECU's, different injectors, different Turbos.

This isn't just car manufacturers that do this, Commercial Lorries do and motorbikes for that matter.

 

[psmart]

This forum/site is excellent to understand the 'Rabbit'.... http://forums.tdiclub.com/
Nice people, used their info when looking in to upping the power on the ML270 via oversized injectors.

 

[David-Butter]

Sorry but this is factually incorrect. Whilst some manufacturers keep the same engine but have different power levels, the latest 140bhp/170bhp VAG Common Rail units are different, they have different Turbo's. The previous 140/170bhp "Pumpe Deuse" units were completely different: different ECU's, different injectors, different Turbos.

This isn't just car manufacturers that do this, Commercial Lorries do and motorbikes for that matter.

The end result is still the same. If not better ! plus you safe in knowlage you just saved a £xxx and can book a refreshing weekend in the sun.

 

[bigyin1]

The end result is still the same. If not better ! plus you safe in knowlage you just saved a £xxx and can book a refreshing weekend in the sun.

Sort of, you can push a 140 up to around 190-195bhp but then the turbo is running flat out, where as at 195bhp on the 170 version the turbo it isn't running flat out so is safer for the turbo and car...

 

[jubhi]

So what is the score with the Brabus unit? Do Mercedes honour the warranty for the life of the car? If not what is covered and for how long etc?

I've got an order on a brand new E350 CDI Sport Coupe for March and i'm thinking of getting the Brabus unit fitted after about 6 months of driving it. Decided not to get it from the start otherwise I'll never know the power difference..

Thanks.

 

[David-Butter]

I suppose I might be branded as one of the cynics from my posts on this thread.

To clarify, I'm not suspicious of the ability of the better tuners ability to competently raise the power and torque outputs of, especially, diesel engines.

Many of them do themselves no favours by their silly sales / marketing approaches in which they talk about undetectability, no effect on warranty, offer warranties not worth the time they take to read etc.

I'm not against remapping / chipping. It's important that people go in with their eyes open and are fully aware of the benefits and risks.

I thought about a Brabus upgrade for my car but a bit of research led me to believe that it would take the torque beyond the gearbox's continuous torque rating. Appreciate that all of the torque isn't used all of the time but I thought I didn't want to risk it, esp as I like this car and will probabaly keep it.

I do belive this is true from one point of view and wrong from another tuning company's arent getting as say in and gcl tuning did step up to the mark so to speak and prove it. So the paper is NOW worth somthing at last. Im not a large forum man but people seem to speak out of turn before anyone has had a chance to challange the matter.Im a business owner my self so i can see both sides of the table (sort of) i understand its a grey area but why has no one said it how it is to the company('s) in question ? in a way i feel a little for the tuners as they can't defend there corner (From a business point of view). I belive there are thing's that could be done better but this is the case with most things in life. I also see the point of limits upon the engine and damage that may be caused, If this was the case how would they stay in business ? (i know my clients would through me out the door if i was cocking up left right and centre) this brings me on to the next point, other people must just jump into this without knowing whos is doing the work ie mercedes selling it and sub contracting out they must have something to fall back on if things go wrong ?

I dont thing they would be rolling around in lamborghini's and 2010 Range Rover sports if they were a "Back Street" company as someone mentioned. There may be a stereotype kind of tuning company but i was not expecting to see £300000 woth of metal parked outside the unit. They must be doing ok to be able to plaster there logos over these vehicles.

Im not saying there gods gift but from my experience it not often someone takes time to go the exra mile (I know i don't when could). I belive credit is due were credit is due.