Surely we have a new sub by now?
Things like this take time Dave but....we do now :bannana: And an update on other things AMG.....
After a recommendation from a chap on e90post, I took my car to Lee at Platinum In Car in Coventry who also happened to be relatively convenient for me location-wise. Lee impressed me from the start as he was knowledgeable on the phone, he was good when I went to see him and not once did he try to sell me anything that I didn't need to just fix the problem. He appeared to know what he was talking about and as such I booked the car in with him last week. Now he has done the work on sorting my distorting subwoofer, it seems he is also outrageously good in practice.
His attention to detail was really impressive - as an example, he even painted the top of the subs black to ensure the logo on them couldn't be spotted behind the grills! He's going to send me the pics of the work which I'll pop up on here shortly.
OK, so the audio system in my car still probably won't whet the appetite of a proper audiophile because, when Lee was demonstrating his work to me and I was jumping up and down with excitement that he'd made it sound awesome, he was less than impressed. Whilst he was happy that he'd eradicated the distortion, he still wasn't impressed with the overall sound and just wanted to rip out the whole system and start again :bulge:
Apparently there are too many speakers, most are in the wrong place, they create phasing issues etc etc.....honestly, I can't tell and reckon I now have the best sounding audio system in any car I've owned. It always had potential with nice mids and highs (with the ability to go very loud without too much brightness) - all it needed was solid, punchy and undistorted bass that you can 'feel'. I now have this just as I always wanted it, and to my ears all distortion has gone - Flo Rida and JayZ have never sounded so good :lol:
Finally, hats off to Mercedes who paid a large chunk of the cost to have this aftermarket upgrade - it may well have been just to get rid of me (I agreed to relieve them of all responsibility), but as there was no actual fault, this wasn't somehting they
had to do yet they genuinely seemed to want me to be happy.
More AMG updates.....
We've just come back from a weeks tour of Switzerland (my favourite Eurpean country and my first home :love
. As we took the outlaws who are also very interested in cars and take genuine interest in my antics, I arranged to stop off in Stuttgart on the way home where I booked us all in for a factory and AMG Design Studio tour (the department that did the customisation work on my C63). They loved it and although I'd done it previously three years ago, they've added some new features to their tour. An example is the ability to hold various engine components so you can feel the differences between the forged parts in an SLS (and C63 PPP) engine, compared to the parts in a standard '63 engine. I also met and shook hands with my engine builder who, bless him, didn't really know what to do with himself
Seeing them crank up an engine on their hot test bench until the components glow orange (they even dim the lights to enhance the effect) is always good fun too!
We didn't only go there for the tour though. Before we left the UK, I tried to arrange a meeting with someone at AMG who would talk to me about my audio system. Whilst I knew I was sorting the issue myself, I wanted someone there to justify to me why such an expensive audio system could be so poor.
I was expecting to have some customer service person plonked in front of me so, imagine my surprise and delight when they wheeled out the two actual engineers who are responsible for all B&O audio systems in Benz's! Yes, the actual guys responsible were prepared to speak directly to a customer who was unhappy with their product. This deserves special credit as how many businesses, never mind ones the size of Mercedes, would entertain accountability to this level??
The guys spent a good hour with me talking about how they developed the system, how it works, what makes it special and different to other factory-fit in-car systems and they were also really open and honest with the limitations they faced. These were mainly around two areas - firstly, they had such a tight space in which to fit the system and, secondly, they were apparently very tightly constrained on the weight they could add to the car (so no big heavy subs or enclosures then!). They freely admitted that in their other cars with the B&O system (S-class, SL, CLS etc), they don't have these weight constraints so don't have to compromise, hence they sound a lot better. Although they wouldn't specifically admit that the system was compromised, in the end I felt a little sorry for the chaps as they came across very genuine and a bit frustrated, a bit like they knew it could be better.
Whilst they couldn't offer any 'official' solution, I was just delighted to be able to have my say, to be able to understand the reasons for its performance from their perspective and, most interestingly, they actually suggested a very similar solution to what I've ended up having done and even offered their contact details for my audio installer to contact them for any further information / assistance! Again, full kudos to AMG for allowing this to happen
That wasn't the end of my trip to AMG though! You don't think I could go there and not see what trinkets they have available do you?
With the imminent release of the new SLS GT, which has ride control suspension, a few extra BHP and, most importantly, revised gearbox software to rid the car of it's one dynamic flaw (a super-fast gearchange spoilt by lethargic electronics), I really wanted AMG to offer the 'box upgrades to owners of the lowly standard SLS. It's the same 'box as in the Ferrari 458 but it's well documented how Mercs electronic programming creates a noticeable lag, for whatever reason. It's also been well documented in recent road tests of the GT that they have now 100% fixed the issue and I fully expected a request to have the new software in my car politely declined (after all, they would want me to buy the GT wouldn't they?).
So, surprise number two of the day was that they
will fit the new software to my car
Also, they would do this for little more than the cost of an aftermarket remap so, price-wise, it's extremely reasonable. All I have to do is take the car to them as a dealer could not do this (it requires a new ECU and updating of Mercedes systems to ensure that it forms part of the official specification of the car for future updates).
Of course, whilst the car is there it'd be rude not to have my door kick-plates in leather/carbon fibre which will match my centre console nicely or the new design of (AMG-embossed) gear lever. All of the above is absolutely necessary and I'm now planning when I can take it over there
