help!!! power increase for e350cdi

[StephenS]

Hello,

first time ever creating a thread anywhere so apologies in advance for any errors! need some help

bought my e350cdi just over a year ago, like the car but lacking in power so within two months i was on my way to Superchips to have it mapped, half hour or so later the guy comes out and quote "cars already been mapped by someone else they've done a good job" ohhhhhh

so as i was there for the sake of £50 and curiosity i had the rolling road and 285.0 BHP, 657.4 Nm Torque, but its not enough, the cars a 10 plate, done 72k so im thinking ill be keeping if for a few years but what performance mods are out there? it needs something!.....any recommendations?

Stephen

 

[merc85]

Maybe a trip to MSL, They got 300hp out of my friends 211 e280 cdi, they can usually get a little more from the 212's

 

[ph47mf]

sounds like you need a new car, it no longer satisfies you unless you spend serious money on it

 

[esscee]

Surprised you feel it is "lacking in power". Maybe try using "Sport" selection of the gearbox rather than the "Comfort/Economy" selection?

 

[StephenS]

sounds like you need a new car, it no longer satisfies you unless you spend serious money on it

unfortunately i fear you may be right!

Would have hoped to have found some performance exhaust systems or filters to add a little more but not so unless you can point me in the right direction.... that weigh up on cost or like you say replace the whole thing, probably £1k is the most i would want to spend in the hope that it may provide some gain and make me keep it for a couple of years, its a nice car just a touch lacking

yesterday i ordered the racechip xlr throttle response system, no power gain in that, but may make it feel a little more lively, we shall see...

 

[StephenS]

Surprised you feel it is "lacking in power". Maybe try using "Sport" selection of the gearbox rather than the "Comfort/Economy" selection?

It nearly always is in sport!! probably more me and the change to a diesel car maybe

 

[MrRight]

the weight probably blunts that very decent horsepower and torque . If you make the car lighter by chucking out the back seats, spare tyre etc , it might feel more nippy

 

[alzieboy]

Never thought my E350cdi Coupe 265 bhp lacking in grunt, I do like to use sport mode though .

 

[st13phil]

If you’re looking for Superturbodiesel levels of power then the OM642 engine isn’t a good starting point and it would cost significantly more than your suggested budget too.

Frankly, if you think it lacks performance then you’re not going to be satisfied with another 5 or 10%, so there’s only one obvious answer: swap it for an E63.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[merc85]

These guys will be able to Help

DMS Automotive - The Ultimate in Performance Upgrades

 

[Kamisuma]

I assume you are after better acceleration and response,

Power only impacts top speed, torque is what gives acceleration, although there is a direct relationship between the two.

657.4 Nm Torque is pretty substantial , 160 more than a non turbo E63 and only about 60 less than an E63 BiTurbo.

Have you thought about having the TCU tweaked? Even in sport mode the standard gearbox is pretty tame.

 

[StephenS]

I assume you are after better acceleration and response,

Power only impacts top speed, torque is what gives acceleration, although there is a direct relationship between the two.

657.4 Nm Torque is pretty substantial , 160 more than a non turbo E63 and only about 60 less than an E63 BiTurbo.

Have you thought about having the TCU tweaked? Even in sport mode the standard gearbox is pretty tame.

Spot on about the acceleration and response, i'm at first stages really at the moment so really keen to hear peoples opinions and that decision as others have said, do i swap the whole car? I will look into the TCU tweak, any suggested companies?

 

[Kamisuma]

Spot on about the acceleration and response, i'm at first stages really at the moment so really keen to hear peoples opinions and that decision as others have said, do i swap the whole car? I will look into the TCU tweak, any suggested companies?

Before you do anything, is there a significant lag on kick-down when accelerating hard? Have you tried manually changing-down? If so, is there a significant difference? If the manual change-down is much better then I would first reset the gearbox, and when reset I would drive the car for a few weeks to let it learn your "driving style".

If that doen't help, then you might contact these people and ask about TCU remapping. I don't know the indies in your area but these have been mentioned a few times. Alternatively, you could ask on the forum.
Mercedes Benz Service Repairs and Tuning Romford Essex

I had a clk500 and an sl500 gearbox remapped to an amg setup and that made a big difference to the response, but I did them only after trying the reset procedure.

 

[StephenS]

Before you do anything, is there a significant lag on kick-down when accelerating hard? Have you tried manually changing-down? If so, is there a significant difference? If the manual change-down is much better then I would first reset the gearbox, and when reset I would drive the car for a few weeks to let it learn your "driving style".

If that doen't help, then you might contact these people and ask about TCU remapping. I don't know the indies in your area but these have been mentioned a few times. Alternatively, you could ask on the forum.
Mercedes Benz Service Repairs and Tuning Romford Essex

I had a clk500 and an sl500 gearbox remapped to an amg setup and that made a big difference to the response, but I did them only after trying the reset procedure.

There's not really any lag to be fair, the car does shift when i put my foot down hard and the paddle shifts you'd be hard pressed to notice any difference between doing it manually and the car taking care of it, its just that slight lack of feeling as though its on the cusp of pushing you back in the seat but just not quite doing it - so many times i look at the speedo and think it got to that quick but rather uneventfully

The racechip xlr throttle tuning is due to arrive any day, i wonder how that will make things feel (i'm skeptical) and then if no discernible difference ill contact the above

Thank you everyone for the insights, will let you know how i get on!

 

[Kamisuma]

There's not really any lag to be fair, the car does shift when i put my foot down hard and the paddle shifts you'd be hard pressed to notice any difference between doing it manually and the car taking care of it, its just that slight lack of feeling as though its on the cusp of pushing you back in the seat but just not quite doing it - so many times i look at the speedo and think it got to that quick but rather uneventfully

The racechip xlr throttle tuning is due to arrive any day, i wonder how that will make things feel (i'm skeptical) and then if no discernible difference ill contact the above

Thank you everyone for the insights, will let you know how i get on!

Just a last thought - does the traction control (e.s.p) show up when you accelerate hard?

 

[st13phil]

657.4 Nm Torque is pretty substantial , 160 more than a non turbo E63 and only about 60 less than an E63 BiTurbo.

While the peak torque number is impressive, and not that much less than peak torque on an E63 BiTurbo, the big difference is that the torque curve on the E63 hits peak at quite low rev's and is then flat until almost the max horsepower speed. By contrast the torque from the diesel peaks quite low down but then falls quite rapidly as rev's rise, meaning that the area under the torque curve (a much better indicator of acceleration performance than the peak number alone) is much smaller.

Having owned both a 265bhp E350CDI and a couple of BiTurbo E63's I can vouch for quite how much quicker the latter is. That said, I would never have described the E350CDI's performance as lacking, and the high level of refinement tends to disguise quite how quickly it will build up speed. It does lack both the aural drama and sledgehammer kick of the E63 though.

 

[StephenS]

Just a last thought - does the traction control (e.s.p) show up when you accelerate hard?

No all good in that regard on a dry day

 

[Deletedmember130310]

.......its just that slight lack of feeling as though its on the cusp of pushing you back in the seat but just not quite doing it - so many times i look at the speedo and think it got to that quick but rather uneventfully
QUOTE]


Diesel engines are not usually very free revving so you won't get the same feeling

 

[Kamisuma]

No all good in that regard on a dry day

Try the gearbox reset as I said above. If it hasn't been done then the car will be using the previous owners driving style.
Good luck!
Ian

 

[KeithJG]

The ECU and the TCU are adaptive.......they do not take long to learn either.
I red line at least once when out on a run but if i don`t and just amble around the next day the motor is not very willing at all as it has adapted!

You have to keep the performance up to get the best from it as it is learning ALL the time not part of the time.
Not saying go barmy but use the power properly.

If the OP`s car seems to drive ok then surely the easiest way is to do a few 0-60 runs to find out as this is proof of supposed bhp /weight ratio?

What made the most difference to the feel of my motor was having the airfilters changed and having in re adapted (as you are supposed to do but many don`t) and the motor seemed to fly. These V6`s do consume a lot of air and 60,000mls for an airfilter change is really too many miles.