Engine Remap - Is it worth it ?!?

[Bamz]

Hi All

My CLS 320 is booked in for a stage 1 remap on Friday morning with Indigo Tunning. I made the decision in the hope they will be able to get a bit more punch out of the engine for me.

Not being too clued up when it comes to car engine's etc, one of the guys in work has voiced opinions that i am making a mistake as it will put unnecessary strains on the engine and therefore reduce its lifespan ?!

Can you give me your opinions on whether you found it worth it or not? Are the results that noticeable ? Have you had problems with your car as a direct result of getting it remapped ?

Many Thanks

Ross

 

[automaniaman]

I've had mine remapped & the limiter removed...worth it, that's subjective, made a difference, I think so....

 

[MWCLS]

On a Turbo engine yes some nice torque gains to be had if you take the car to the right tuner. N/A engine imo cost to benefits not worth the money.

** you won't notice the extra xxbhp or xxnm on a N/A it may smooth out power delivery/ limit removal that's about it imo.

 

[frostbite]

Just about every manufacturer will make their cars with big margins of what the engine will take... e.g. poor maintenance, rubbish oil, infrequent service, driven badly etc etc, and still the engine will groan on and do what the owner 'expects'. Go to the opposite end and a race engine may be taken to bits and rebuilt to exacting standards, but will perform to within an inch of its life. So, back to the average engine, if you do wring a bit more out of it, then provided you service it well and use good oil and look after it properly, it'll cope admirably.

 

[mornin clatter]

I have only experienced one car before and after remap, it has been a kia ceed 1.6crdi. Bhp went from 90 to 115 and Nm up from 235 to 285. I can say that it felt like a different car, it was quite impressive. The reason i haven't remap my car is because i try to keep the costs down, and i don't want to stress the components, plus i don't think i will keep the car for more than a year. When you do the remap you could even ask about a eco remap which still gives you a bhp increase but drops the top torque to lower rpm, making for a more relaxed drive. But then again i never felt the 270 to lack torque. But the 320 cdi must turn in o a real beast. Enjoy!

 

[Bamz]

Cheers Frostbite - Well to be honest as far as maintenance goes I'm not too bad, I service my cars every 12 months ( I only do 8k - 10k miles per year) inclusive of full oil change etc.

Thanks MWCLS - I have the same car as you with the 3.0 V6 Turbo Diesel Engine so I'm hoping I should see a noticeable difference after the remap - I think I'm still going to go for it so I will feedback to you and let you know how it goes.

As part of the new year deal they are offering, they will also carry out a Dyno Power Run giving me a printout of my before and after engine stats so I will share them on here for future info

 

[MBScoob]

Remaps on autos can also tweak the gearbox settings for faster changes and better responsiveness - making the car nicer to drive whether pottering or pushing on.

Scoob.

 

[Bamz]

Have you bothered with yours Scoob ?

 

[MBScoob]

Have you bothered with yours Scoob ?

Yep, turning it into quite a beast, though it still potters well as the extra power and torque are only available over 80% throttle. So, just pottering sees the mpg unchanged. You do however benefit from the gearbox software tweaks all the time. "E" mode feels about the same gear change wise, so very languid. "S" mode however is a little faster to change and manual is improved also.

To be honest I've been driving the car far longer tweaked than I ever did untweaked so it's difficult to compare. I do know my friends E350 CDI Sport Coupe however (same engine & gearbox, yet he has the official Brabus tune) seems a bit more fussy on it's gear changes and less responsive - especially noticeable in "S" mode.

Scoob.

 

[joeysnowey]

Considering remapping my R320 (for more MPG mainly) but after a bit of advice. I have three options:

1. Pre-written remap file - guy comes to house, plugs in, sends file to germany or wherever, who send back a modified file which he uploads. job done

2. Rolling road remap - similar to above but use the rolling road to MAKE a custom file to remap my exact car with

3. Some kind of plug in chip/box which a mercedes independent I know uses on his cars purely for MPG improvement, he swears by it and says its around £150.

Anyone know which is the best? I would have thought logically option 2 is the best as it is the only which tests the car, but I am not after wringing out all the performance I can, I just want to maximise the fuel economy as much as poss, so any comments appreciated from people with experience or knowledge. thanks

 

[grober]

If your R class is a 4wd model you will have to use a rolling road that caters for 4wd vehicles! Most plug in boxes concentrate on improving power and torque and when just offering a mild increase in power/torque may actually improve overall MPG usually at the expense of some emissions such as NOX. Gains are likely to be in the order of 4-6mpg but only if driven conservatively

 

[joeysnowey]

Thanks very much, I will drive it like my great great great great grandma if I can get 4+ extra mpg!
Great tip re the 4x4. Better check, I might go to Celtic Tuning, I think they have 4wd rolling road but again i will make sure first. Would you say rolling road remap is the best chance of biggest MPG improvement? Would you say an economy remap is best or a performance one? I hear so many different things. I know the performance one can improve MPG if driven very carefully, but if the economy map adds an extra MPG or two, I will not miss the extra performance. This vehicle is far too huge to throw into bends anyway! (and not at all slow!)

 

[grober]

The two are not really mutually exclusive in that both depend on a more efficient use of fuel- one for more power and one for more mpg. Theoretically a rolling road remap should allow you to tune for greater economy rather than a tuning box but remember the manufacturer will have already tried to maximise fuel efficiency within certain constraints. My guess its easier to make an engine more powerful than to make it more economic [ without a noticable drop in performance]
In cost terms I would guess the box is the also the cheapest option [ and its reversible]

 

[E55BOF]

I have a TDI Tuning box on my '09 E320 CDI estate; I had it on my '14 E350 Bluetec previously. The power and torque gains have been very noticeable on both, but the fuel economy suffers if you use the extra; I do.

That said, on a 265-mile motorway run yesterday in the first (of seven) power modes, for which TDI claim an extra 17% power and 6% more torque, keeping up with traffic at (hypothetically, officer) 80-85 most of the way, it did a real 35 mpg.

The fourth power mode, for which they claim 22% more power and 11% more torque, was actually a little more economical on the same run, but that was on a Friday afternoon in traffic, and rarely exceeding the legal limit.

Fuel economy is not a factor for me. However, I have difficulty believing that if you drive a chipped or remapped diesel automatic, but otherwise standard, in exactly the same way as you drove a standard version, you will see any significant improvement in fuel economy. For a given level of performance, why would the manufacturer not have made it as economical as possible?

The TDI box is the best £330 I've ever spent on a car, though...

 

[joeysnowey]

Great hear that thanks! yes I see the logic of the question re manufacturers levels being hard to beat, but i have also seen many cars improve on MPG and performance with remaps. VW Sharan, Passat, E320, various others. Not always a huge jump, but always at least a small improvement on MPG and definite improvement on power. Not going to start the debate thats been had a million times, but the idea is that cars are specifically tuned to each market (EU, UK, others) to match local laws, emissions regs etc. This can (doesn't always) mean that in certain countries (UK being one I think) engines do NOT perform to their best, purely due to the settings the engine is given when being exported to that market. Thats the theory anyway, heard it a thousand times from various sources. All i know is the experiences I have had and definite always seemed worth doing, more so on TDIs and CDIs.