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nokia8860
01-07-2003, 08:03 PM
Anyone know of a place that makes performance chips for the M104 inline 6 engines? Not ready to do a turbo or supercharger im thinking of performance chips

Denlasoul
01-08-2003, 07:25 AM
I read somewhere that UpSolute could make a custom chip for you.

slk320
01-09-2003, 11:50 AM
Anyone know about a chip for a V6 3.2?

Luwin1026
01-09-2003, 11:51 AM
Isn't there someplace in Australia where you can send off your ECU for them to reprogram and send back?

Denlasoul
01-09-2003, 03:25 PM
Powerchips I believe. I'll post the addy when I find it.

speedybenz
01-09-2003, 06:45 PM
I do not think you guys really want a chip. The reason being that the chip programmer can only make crude quesses about how much ignition timing and fuel to add to your car.

The reason is that without the car in front of the programmer on a dyno how is he going to know what changes to make that will work best.

I would suggest a piggyback ECU module which allows an on-site programmer to add ignition timing and fuel while your car is on the dyno. This method allows an experienced programmer to get the most out of your car.

The two piggback ECU's that seem to perform the best are the Unichip and Perfect Power modules.

Do a search for the Unichip with the words Racers Group. And the Perfect Power under that name.

At this point I would chose the Perfect Power unit as it can be owner programmed and it will hold either 2 or 3 programmes and allows you to switch between the programs.

The Unichip is progammed on the dyno and that is the program you drive off with. If you make substantial changes to your motor you have to go back for additional tuning. Not really a bad thing if your not real experienced on the methods used to tune a motor with a laptop and ECU.

Do the searches and some homework. I will be happy to answer any questions, if I can.

Jeff

Denlasoul
01-09-2003, 08:42 PM
Jeff:

I had purchased an UpSolute chip a few months ago, but havent had it installed. When I was at the shop, they downloaded the stock parameters of my car. Is this what they do to make a piggyback ECU? If not, then what would have been the purpose of getting the stock parameters?

BTW, I havent had it installed due to some metal casing that was around the ECU. Though they had claimed to work on MB's before, they were unfamiliar with the metal casing. So...I'm kinda stuck with the chip and in order to have it done, I need to send it out to their headquarters.

DLS

speedybenz
01-10-2003, 09:25 AM
Denlasoul,

They download the stock ECU info so they can make changes to the ignition maps and fuel settings and other parameters. However, without you car strapped to a dyno they are making an educated guess based on similar experience to set the ignition timing or fuel.

For instance; Upsolute adds 10 degrees timing, but is that where your car runs best. If it was on the dyno the programmer would add 10 degrees timing and run the car, which would allow you see the dyno graph and compare the data between the stock setting and the new setting. And you continue this process for all the different throttle settings, rpm and ignition timing until you have generated the best ECU maps for YOUR car.

More on this topic soon, but now the Boss wants to see me!

JEff

Brabus
01-10-2003, 02:06 PM
I have a Custom Superchip installed on my C36. It was programmed and messed with by the guy like Jeff said.

oosix
01-13-2003, 11:06 PM
Speedy,

This sounds like a laborious process. How much will it cost to get the car tuned just right and who in Southern California can do this best?

mrjones
01-15-2003, 09:41 PM
Originally posted by Luwin1026
Isn't there someplace in Australia where you can send off your ECU for them to reprogram and send back?

Originally posted by Denlasoul
Powerchips I believe. I'll post the addy when I find it.
http://www.powerchip.com.au :)

JRE320
01-26-2003, 11:57 PM
Damn!!! I try to put in my car spec and came out with 15hp more and cost like $490!!!!! insane!!!!

CKlasse
01-27-2003, 01:02 AM
I have chip on my VW.. Without the 'turbo factor' the only two things it does is timing advance and richer AFR. :)

nokia8860
01-27-2003, 12:36 PM
I will take the plunge and purchase one and do a write up. I am tyring to speak to someone live. However, there is no number listed and calling 411 they cant find anything either.

Powerchip Inc,
233 Wilshire Blvd.,
4th Floor
Santa Monica, CA
90401

I emailed them saying I wanna test what they have. So lets hope someone contacts me. Having no way of speaking to someone live isnt cool.

Mr. Powerchips if youre reading this call me at the number I left at the webmaster address.

Luwin1026
01-27-2003, 01:00 PM
Yeah - hope they contact you! I'm 15 minutes away from that Santa Monica place, but I can't find the number either! :o

nokia8860
01-27-2003, 01:03 PM
Thats what I'm saying. Shoot yeah you can order it on the web, but you want to talk to someone. And what if you have a problem who ya gonna call?

Mr. Powerchip call us!

Luwin1026
01-27-2003, 01:19 PM
Did you try calling the office "Down Under?" I tried - but not sure how to dial internationally here :o

nokia8860
01-27-2003, 01:48 PM
lu: you should pay em a vist and tell em nokia wants to ask them a few questions hahaha.

Hey there site isnt working now. :confused:

Luwin1026
01-27-2003, 03:10 PM
Joey -

Email me the questions, and I'll see what I can do. :D

speedybenz
01-28-2003, 09:07 AM
Joey, I would call up these guys and get them to make a chip for the I6 W202. They seem to do very good work and if I was going to chip a car this would be the one I used.

They work long enough to achieve smooth power curves. They also di the chip for the C230K of John Peck?


http://www.giacusa.com.



Jeff

nokia8860
01-28-2003, 03:21 PM
Thanks for the tip Jeff. And as in internet time things have moved on so I am focus on another thing.

Attention spans.... eh go figure.

JasonH
02-12-2003, 07:28 PM
I have been using the PerfectPower SMT5i for over 6 months, and can't say enough about how great it has been. I can serioulsly tune my car with my laptop, what could be better?

For more info go to:
http://www.perfectpower.com/Products/smt6.asp

Jason

J Irwan
02-12-2003, 07:57 PM
Originally posted by nokia8860
I will take the plunge and purchase one and do a write up. I am tyring to speak to someone live. However, there is no number listed and calling 411 they cant find anything either.

Powerchip Inc,
233 Wilshire Blvd.,
4th Floor
Santa Monica, CA
90401

I emailed them saying I wanna test what they have. So lets hope someone contacts me. Having no way of speaking to someone live isnt cool.

Mr. Powerchips if youre reading this call me at the number I left at the webmaster address.




Joey I have emailed them about you ;)

Let me know how it turns out.


Regardz,

J Irwan

nokia8860
02-20-2003, 04:30 PM
email me again. i didnt get it

c36ryder
02-21-2003, 05:15 PM
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I just dowloaded the PDF brochure from their web site for the C36 and it says that their Powerchip is only 49-state legal. It's not legal in Cali !!! :(

Renn 208
02-21-2003, 10:05 PM
Originally posted by c36ryder
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I just dowloaded the PDF brochure from their web site for the C36 and it says that their Powerchip is only 49-state legal. It's not legal in Cali !!! :(

I believe they are working on getting CA certification, but best to find out from the powerchip people themselves.

Three Point 6
02-22-2003, 12:18 AM
It's legal where I am! (Texas) No sniffer/green sheet required in my county ....yet. (we got worst air quality in US two years in a row!! ha) If I can trust them to hack my 'one of around 1,000 ever made ECU's' then I'll post before/after Dyno specs. I really don't want to be the guinea pig though???

Here is the North America link for Powerchip USA

www.powerchipgroup.com

Here is also the phone # that they E.mailed me last week!( I am on their mailing list from a previous inquiry)

310.917.1075
Santa Monica

w202mae
03-16-2003, 04:47 PM
One thing about chip tuning IMHO was the power gain was tested under the condition which they tested their program. Meaning if you ask any chip manufacturer that you want to dyno test their chip and see if it holds up to their claims, they will most likely be reluctant to say it will show the same result but because it must be tested under the same condition when they dyno tested the results (air temperature, modifcations done to the car, the fact not every engine comes out same spec from factory, altitude, etc. etc.).

I have worked on many Japanese cars, not sure how MBZ works, but in my opinion chip tuning gain power because they tweak with the ignition timing. Ignition timing is what makes the power for normally aspirated engine, then the chip tuner alter the fuel curve value to compensate for the advanced timing, making sure you do not ping or detonate, but while not running overly rich that hurts gas mileage and reduce power (this is the hard part).

Normally MAS equipped cars will be able to compensate to a certain % of air flow increase to the engine, meaning if the engine takes/measure in certain amount of additional airflow over what you had before (upgrade intake/exhaust), it will shift to another a higher fuel map in the OEM ECU parameter (again if that's how MBZ work, but I figure all MAS car worked this way based on amount of airflow and air intake temp which dictates the fuel map the ECU runs on).

I guess the main concern is how well the fuel maps are tuned from these different chip 'tuning' manufacturers. How good are their fuel/timing map when it is 100+ deg Summer time, with the advanced timing did they program enough fuel to prevent ping and detonation, and that all depends on the R&D of each chip mfct. Unless you have a wideband air fuel to test all the chips that's available in the market on the dyno, I am not too sure if doing the chip upgrade on a non-turbo car is worth the money. Even then we have to test the chip under changing weather condition. AND EVEN THEN, dyno does not tell the real truth because it does not simulate actual 'load' your car is getting when it's running on the road, but just as close as it can be is all you get.

For instance, Power chip claims 12hp minmum increase for my C280, but during hot summer time I might actually just gain 5hp, 6hp, or maybe worse than stock, who knows. :)

I was going to do the chip upgrade, but now I think about it again if I really want any serious performance, I'll wait until my tranny blow up and the real sense is drop in a C36 or C43 motor package, that's where one feel the REAL performance increase.

My 2 cents. :)

nokia8860
07-07-2003, 07:33 AM
Up from the dead. Just wondering if anyone recently purchased one?

714guy
07-08-2003, 06:11 PM
i will need one when i do my next project, maybe in a year.

merc_lover
07-14-2003, 05:12 PM
i'm a bit confused here
why do we need all these chips to increase engine performance?. i thought MB already gave us the car from the factory with the correct settings
why would they lower the engine's performance?