Mercedes Performance ECU upgrade, experimenting with a C200K.

[No1vic]

Has anyone had the ecu upgrade for a W203 C200K? What results did you get? Having read their website is a pulley upgrade necessary when they quote a gain of 40BHP just through the ECU? Is it such a bargain at £250?
I'm now thinking do I need the bigger pulley for more power and have tried experimenting with whats there already. I did block the bypass valve off to see what difference to boost it made, the result was as soon as I touched the throttle the boost was enough to blow the hose off from the inlet manifold. So again do I need a bigger pulley? Right I thought plenty of boost there anyway so I modified the blanking plate to give about a third of the original bypass valve diameter, this time I could hear the supercharger working and initial acceleration was very quick......then it went flat. Plugged in my diagnostics to see what was going on.Diagnostic results were on flooring the throttle, throttle showed 99% then as the boost came in quickly the ECU must drop the throttle back to 15% to lower the 'excess' boost. My thinking is now how to fool the pressure sensor to the ECU to allow extra boost and modify the bypass valve blanking plate so as to up the boost but not too much. Trial and error on my part but if anyone else has had a go how did you get on?

 

[GrahamC230K]

I would not go near Mercedes Performance.

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=16828

 

[jimmy]

Buy a car with a more powerful engine

From my experience, if you are craving more power you will never be fully happy with a 200K

 

[GERRY GALLAGHER]

I havd tried to get info. on the Kleeman unit but they only sent me the price list & my subsequent enquiry on the technical application to my car (C200K -202)has not been answered! Maybe there's a plot.........!?!
Take Jimmy's point but you can't help getting attached to some cars, and when you've weathered the depreciation, then a bit of tweaking seems more cost effective.

 

[Flash]

Buy a car with a more powerful engine

From my experience, if you are craving more power you will never be fully happy with a 200K

The new W203 C230K shares the same 1.8L engine block as C180K and C200K but tuned differenlty. C230K is a quick enough car no doubt and therefore may be possible to achieve similar performance to the C230K but would involve a fair bit of work though...

However, I personally would prefer a bigger engine car then modifying the vehicle to increase power unless a MB Tuner i.e. Brabus were to carryout the conversion (all the upgrades have been tested and come with warranty...)

 

[No1vic]

W203 C200k

The engine in my car is a 2.0 not the 1.8. It seems Mercedes performance is not a recommended tuner! So I'll carry on 'experimenting' myself. My car is quick enough but knowing I can get more out of it I can't help but mess. If all else fails I have a nitrous oxide system to fit with guaranteed results

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

your car is the 1.8

the 180,200 & 230 are all the same engine in different states of tune. you should be able to turn your 200 into a 230 if you have the money.

or go to brabus and for £1500 they will give you nearly 200bhp

 

[No1vic]

The engine in my car is a 111.955 with 1998cc Does Mercedes call this a 1.8 then? Is it a German manufacturer thing like the BMW 316 with a 1.8 engine?

 

[fullfocus]

i got the asp pulley it makes a huge difference i must b just under 200bhp i also have the c200 k 2.0 let me no about any progress on the bypass vale sure sounds interesting

 

[zishan03]

i got the asp pulley it makes a huge difference i must b just under 200bhp i also have the c200 k 2.0 let me no about any progress on the bypass vale sure sounds interesting

2.0 here too, keep us updated because the engine sure feels like it has alot more in it.


Zishan

 

[No1vic]

I imagine once I get the bypass valve 'restriction' right the effect would be similiar to having the bigger crank pulley in as much as more boost goes to the engine instead of being allowed to flow back to the low pressure side of the supercharger. I am studying the wiring diagram at the moment to work out a 'fix' for fooling the pressure sensor to allow higher boost. From what I can see it has a three connections + - and signal voltage to the ECU so I assume its a variable resistance, I will measure it's output when I get a chance and see what effect placing a resistor in the signal connection has. Anyone else on the forum tried any DIY modding?

 

[GrahamC230K]

No, although it sounds interesting.

None of the popular ECU tuners can increase boost through ECU mapping alone. DMS said they could, but didn't.

 

[fullfocus]

cant wait 2 see results a pulley + modified bypass ooooh i reckon 230bhp easy

 

[fuzzer]

the old 200 engine was a 2L

the new one is a 1.8

 

[No1vic]

I have made a blanking plate that fits into the bypass valve hose with a 4cm diameter hole in it which effectively reduces the area of the valve by a third. I have tried this for a week and the car does feel quicker, I will try reducing the diameter further to get more boost sent to the engine up to the point where the ECU backs the throttle off when it senses the 'over boost'. I am working on a voltage divider circuit to put into the signal line from the boost pressure sensor which will hopefully allow the engine to run up to 11psi boost without the throttle being backed off. Should give a reasonable increase in performance

 

[GrahamC230K]

I have made a blanking plate that fits into the bypass valve hose with a 4cm diameter hole in it which effectively reduces the area of the valve by a third. I have tried this for a week and the car does feel quicker, I will try reducing the diameter further to get more boost sent to the engine up to the point where the ECU backs the throttle off when it senses the 'over boost'. I am working on a voltage divider circuit to put into the signal line from the boost pressure sensor which will hopefully allow the engine to run up to 11psi boost without the throttle being backed off. Should give a reasonable increase in performance

Refine it, get some dyno results and you have a product to market that produces better results than all the chip tuners!

 

[No1vic]

Project Update-Still experimenting!

I'm now using a blanking plate with a 2.5cm hole in it fitted to the bypass valve, throttle response is instant and has the ESP warning light flashing as soon as I floor it Turn the ESP off and there's no sign of the ECU backing the throttle off as it did when I blanked the bypass valve completely. You can hear the supercharger working now much the same as if I'd fitted a pulley kit. Positive results so far. Still going to see how much restriction I can put in the bypass valve before the ECU reduces the throttle but only after I've run the car a few weeks with this current setting.

 

[Bazzle]

No1 Vic

 

[Bazzle]

No1 Vic

How is it all going VIC??

I ended up putting an ASP pulley kit on mine. It does work great.
I tried your mods too and did find a positive result but had problems keeping the wastegate shut and having the revs drop as quick as before.

Bazzle

 

[No1vic]

More power

Well after my trials the car is more responsive and knowing there's more power to be had I have now gone down the pulley route. Just ordered a Kleemann kit which includes pulleys, idler, belt, high flow airfilter and a K-Box. Hopefully should be able to fit it next weekend. What fuel are people using with a pulley kit fitted? I've been advised to use super unleaded higher octane once the kits on. So it's BP ultimate or Shell Optimax from now on or do I use octane booster added to my regular fuel......or even super unleaded and octane booster! I suppose the higher the octane the more ignition advance is allowed by the ECU giving better power. I will have to wait and see.