Just Completed Brabus Engine Conversion - But Need Some Help!!

[sim-ni]

Hi All. Its a long time since i posted here but i really could do with some help Please!!

I own a 2001 C200 Kompressor (M111 W203) and after about one year of driving i decided i wanted some more go!! I liked the car a lot and ignored (Stuipdly)the
usual advice of selling the car and simply getting a better performing Merc,in favor of engine upgrade!

So first i purchased a brabus pully kit and had it installed to my 200K engine, this gave me short boosts of accellaration but but i wanted more!!

So about a year ago i sourced a M111 Brabus 2.6 engine on e bay Germany (Brand new engine on a pallet) and after talking to my mecanic mate i went ahead and bought it!!
The only problem was that it is a N/A Engine (Not Supercharged) But it was too good a deal to pass up.

Next Stage was to get the engine into the car - But i wanted it supercharged! So after some investigation we went ahead and bolted my 200K charger straight onto the new 2.6 (Bolted straight on with no mods Req) We also at thes stage fited the brabus pully kit i already had!

As the engine was a M111 Unit everything bolted into the car perfect and with some minor swaping of parts plugged into the OEM loom.

So we fired the engine up for the first time and much to my supprise it run (baddly!!) so after some tinkering we realised we had a fuel problem. We got around this by swaping the 200K injectors and plugs and the car started and run very well.

Now i am getting to my problem! The car is driving well and performance is improved but not amazing!! Problem is that the cars ECU still thinks it has the standard 2lt engine and not the brabus stroked 2.6 so therefore is not fueling the engine correctly.

We thought that the best way around this would be standalone race managment which would allow us to control the fueling as well as things like boost control (as oem ecu shuts off the boost if ti see's more than intended) After about three months of work we had to abandon this option (we overcame lots of problems with standalone managment, but it proved impossible to get it to work with the factory auto transmission control..)

So Dishartended I took the car to a few different ECU type Tuners who all thought they could al least up the fuel to allow the engine to run safe.. But when they got into the semens oem ecu they were unable to do anything.. (Said the code was too complicated)

So thats my story!!

PLEASE PLEASE HELP i have got this far and dont want to give up now..

PS the only other thing i can think of is to fit an ecu off an M111 w202 C230K and injectors off the same (at lease this ecu would be trying to fuel a 2.3 engine - closer to what i need)

But would i need to get this done at mercedes as it would need coded to my keys Etc? and would mercedes even be prepared to do it for me do you think??

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give and Happy New Year to all..

Shane

 

[Dieselman]

Shane
I think you need to talk to Brabus about this.

 

[sim-ni]

I allready have.. i spoke to brabus in germany and asked them would they remap my ecu or even sell me a new one but they said "thanks for your reply we are sorry if we do not fit the enginewe can not help" or word to that effect!

 

[sym]

Maybe try Brabus Kent ... they might be more helpful ...

 

[sye73]

not too up on ecu's and mapping, but could you not get something like a Emerald and have the whole thing custom mapped ?

 

[bolide]

not too up on ecu's and mapping, but could you not get something like a Emerald and have the whole thing custom mapped ?

I think that's exactly what he's done. And spent 3 months mapping it

If you've spent a few months unsuccessfully trying to get it to work you need to find someone competent to map the engine and link it to the transmission. Or (Plan B) you need to change tack

I suspect the appropriate people may not be found in the UK. I also suspect that the cost of doing it properly (ie getting a useable result you're happy with) may exceed the cost of Plan B

I'd start with the usual suspects - Birds, Brodie Brittain, etc and ask if they can help. If they can't ask them what they would advise. They may help you come up with a good Plan B

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[sye73]

I was under the impression he was using an MB ecu, hence the sugestion to go aftermarket ( Emerald ) ...... That way there would be no factory settings to deal with and he could start afresh

 

[sim-ni]

Thanks for the replys so far i was using an aftermarket ecu (DTA) and the guy i used in scotland came highly recomended.. to be fair he had to overcome lots of problems to get the standalone managment to work in conjunction with the factory ecu for the key cruise control etc etc to work. but the major problem with this was that in the end it proved impossible to get the DTA ecu to communicate with the OEM mercedes auto gearbox ecu and therefore the car could not change gear correctly..

As most aftermarket ecu's are normaly for race use they dont have any problems with auto boxes as it is not normal for auto gearbox use in competition...

So the options at this point were convert the car to manuel transmission, or go about remapping ine standard ecu..

Ps.. has anyone any ideas on converting the car to 2.3 ecu and what would be involver in codeing it in to work with my factory key etc..

Thanks again shane..

 

[blackscooby]

We run DTA on the Pug competition car, for that purpose it's brilliant, in such that we can change the rev limit, shift light etc all very easily. All stuff you'd want to do on a competition car. However we use very few inputs, and as you'd guess it's a manual box.

DTA isn't exactly at the top of the ECU pecking order. Might be worth having a word with MoTec see if they can assist. I'd looked into MoTec for use on my old Impreza to run full AntiLag and boost management, but it worked out very expensive for the ECU.

 

[campbellju]

Firstly I'd get your fuelling checked in case you are unkowingly runing too lean.

For the engine management, given your problems with standalone ECU, a piggy back ECU would be a better option.

The 230K ECU just sounds like more hassle. The engine charactrisitcs are still wrong and you might find it uses different injectors again so the fuel map might be usless

A Dastek unichip can be fitted to most cars, its not very advanced but they are cheap and would meet your needs. Here is some marketing rubbish on them: http://www.unichip.us/unichip_home.asp

I can't confirm whether they have a loom for a Merc. The old ones you had to manually splice in.

Its just a signal modulator. You can program it to do simple things like take off 20% fuel below 2000rpm but add 10% above 5000 etc. It never knows what fuel is needed in the same way as a standalone ECU.

Failing that, get really old school and fit a rising rate Fuel pressure regulator and play with your ignition timing.

 

[GrahamC230K]

Speak to DMS, they may be able to help. Not an off the shelf remap, but you might be able to talk them into this custom work at a price. I wouldn't recommend them other than I don't believe their is a MB ECU they can't map.

Contrary to what I had previously believed, it might also be worth speaking to Superchips HQ in Buckingham. They do undertake custom mapping on modified engines.

Other than that, I know Koolvin had an additional map sensor and fifth injector I believe on his C180 turbo conversion.

 

[saorbust]

any reason why you can't buy the brabus ecu for the engine you brought ? Seems like that would be the best place to start. And I'd get the 2.6 working first before you fit the supercharger - otherwise you are changing too many variables at once. Get the baseline working - then move onto modifications.

 

[dickchailey]

Hi, back to basics, are you sure the 200k injectors can supply enough fuel to match the compressed air? The ecu will prevent the engine running weak. Remaping will not help if the fuel pressure is low or the jets too small. Just my two penny worth.

 

[blassberg]

great thread! - good luck sim-ni!

 

[campbellju]

Hi, back to basics, are you sure the 200k injectors can supply enough fuel to match the compressed air? The ecu will prevent the engine running weak. Remaping will not help if the fuel pressure is low or the jets too small. Just my two penny worth.

That's what I was thinking too.

The new engine is obviously designed for bigger injectors as that's why it won't idle with them in oon the OE ECU. Your current injectors won't deliver enough fuel at high load/rev on the 2.6 with supercharger and you'll risk killing your engine if its too lean. I'm not yet familiar enough with the Mercedes ECU but in others (not all) I've worked with I'd expect to see boost/fuel cut and ignition retard. Safe modes like this will often limit revs/boost for engine safety

Out of interest what injectors are in the 200K and what are in the 2.6? What is your target power level, are the 2.6 injectors big enough?

Edit:
I just did a quick search on the ECU type and the next closest seems to be a C 230K EVo... which is the same as you already have.

http://www.ttc.pl/english/en_chiptuning_drivers.htm

Siemens anything can be a pain to program from my experience with industrial controllers so its possible the tuners you went didn't have the experience or that it can't be done. However, "Tuners" are like any tradesman and there are good, bad and ugly. Some I've seen want £400 for adding some fuel, advancing the ignition and giving a dodgy dyno plot. It would be worthwhile you contacting the ones recommeded for a second opinon.

Ask your mate about a piggy back ECU like a Dastek. If he can do a stand alone unit he can do a piggy bcak and that could end up cheaper in the long run if you want to change anything else.