220CDi Power Upgrade

[silverbarge]

I have heard that Birds in Uxbridge can upgrade the power on my W211 220CDI from 143ps to 170ps using some gizmo called a Carlsson Diesel C Tronic. Has anyone out there upgraded their engine and were the results noticable? What about mpg?

My car is a 2004 model but reading the Birds blurb it seems the upgrade will not invalidate the warranty! Any thoughts from anyone in the know?

 

[Dieselman]

My car is a 2004 model but reading the Birds blurb it seems the upgrade will not invalidate the warranty! Any thoughts from anyone in the know?

As long as you remove it from the car and don't ever tell MB you have had one fitted........

Any power modification, unless supplied and installed with MB approval, will invalidate the manufacturers warranty.

All these tuning devices add more fuel to release more power. The added fuel can cause localised overheating and the additional soot can block the Cat.
The tuning will normally help mpg as the engine runs with more torque at lower revs, so the gearbox can pull a higher ratio for longer.

Chip tuning is not necessarily bad but really the engine needs more air if it is to stay in good health for longer.

 

[tamrsoft]

Sounds logical to me. I am sure that if MB felt they could increase the power output and at the same time maintain or reduce fuel consumption and output polutants they would have done so. It would have given them some marketing leverage on the sale of that model. There must obviously be a good reason not to do so, is it worth the long term cost risk (ie screwed up cats etc) ?

 

[silverbarge]

Thanks for the info

Thanks folks, I think you have both put me off any upgrade. Not that the E Class is slow, but when you jump out the SLK you notice the difference. Then again the SLK struggles to accomodate the two boxer dogs!!

 

[jeremytaylor]

I had my C270 CDI superchipped (i.e. ECU re-written rather than a plug-in like the Carlsson kit). It went a lot quicker but also smoked a little bit more. Eventually the EGR valve stuck, but I'm not sure if it was related.

Anyway, I had the car 'unchipped' and the EGR was replaced under warranty. Decided not to chip it again after that.

You can get upgraded air filters for the 220CDI but not the 270CDI to help the breathing that Dieselman mentions.

 

[tamrsoft]

Jeremy,

I would like to know a bit more about the filter upgrade for the E220 such as source, cost etc