C63 Powerchip Reflash Review

[2MANYCARS]

Overall, I think it's alright, the power, smoothness, and pick up are definitely there, but there are a few problems, although Powerchip claimed they didn't touch the idling parameters, but the car idles drastically different. Keep in mind the shifter is in P for all scenarios, first up: cold start, when I first picked up the car, cold start was my most favorite part of the day because I could feel the raw power coming out from the pipes, the fantastic sound of the V8, it was the best way to start my days. After the flash, no more fantastic start up's, as a matter of fact, it'd gotten worse, the car would start at around 600 rpm, stay there for 5-10 seconds, then goes up to 8-900 rpm, as oppose to a normal car where it would start at higher rpm then drops slowly to its factory preset. Secondly, the car actually idles better with AC on, I mean not as high as with AC off, please help me understand this folks, don't AC draw power from engine? So when AC is switched on, the idling rpm should be higher than with AC turned off, correct? My Powerchip flashed C63 is the exact opposite, keep in mind this is what they called "revised" version of the software, so in other words, the ECU'd been flashed by them twice already. I hope Evosport or Powerchip representative would chimp in on this.

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[Timeless]

Originally Posted by 2MANYCARS

Overall, I think it's alright, the power, smoothness, and pick up are definitely there, but there are a few problems, although Powerchip claimed they didn't touch the idling parameters, but the car idles drastically different. Keep in mind the shifter is in P for all scenarios, first up: cold start, when I first picked up the car, cold start was my most favorite part of the day because I could feel the raw power coming out from the pipes, the fantastic sound of the V8, it was the best way to start my days. After the flash, no more fantastic start up's, as a matter of fact, it'd gotten worse, the car would start at around 600 rpm, stay there for 5-10 seconds, then goes up to 8-900 rpm, as oppose to a normal car where it would start at higher rpm then drops slowly to its factory preset. Secondly, the car actually idles better with AC on, I mean not as high as with AC off, please help me understand this folks, don't AC draw power from engine? So when AC is switched on, the idling rpm should be higher than with AC turned off, correct? My Powerchip flashed C63 is the exact opposite, keep in mind this is what they called "revised" version of the software, so in other words, the ECU'd been flashed by them twice already. I hope Evosport or Powerchip representative would chimp in on this.

Couldn't resist.

Hope they get your problems resolved.

[2MANYCARS]

Powerchip has offered me a full refund for both the reflash & shipping and returning the car back to stock. I'm glad Powerchip is not like other companies out there which don't care about their customers. I would definitely recommend Powerchip to my friends if they ever need their cars flashed.

[nrgy]

Hopefully they come out with another "revised" version that corrects the idling problem. I wouldn't want to lose that cold start sound either. But did you happen to do any dynos with the powerchip? If not, did they give you any idea what type of gains you would see from this chip?

[2MANYCARS]

Didn't get a chance to. On their website, the car should make 478bhp and 465tq with their Gold 93 program.

[Hans Delbruck]

Thank you for your post! I wondered if that little rev on startup was programmed in for effect.... sounds like it might be.

Thanks for posting your experience with the chip. It's important for everyone to know the good and the bad.

[ShanSL350]

So did you actually drive the car then or not?
Did you see any improvement on the road?

As for the start up i know what you mean, the cold start is the best bit of the day.
Does anyone know if thisis due to a valve movement in the exhaust or is it something else?
I know the Lambo's have a valve that moves that makes a massive sound difference as does the Bentley Conti GT.

[2MANYCARS]

Originally Posted by ShanSL350

So did you actually drive the car then or not?
Did you see any improvement on the road?

As for the start up i know what you mean, the cold start is the best bit of the day.
Does anyone know if thisis due to a valve movement in the exhaust or is it something else?
I know the Lambo's have a valve that moves that makes a massive sound difference as does the Bentley Conti GT.

Yes, I did drive the car after the reflash was done, as a matter of fact, I put 70+ miles on the car so the car/ecu could adapt, and there's a difference, not huge, but significant enough that you can actually feel. I'd looked underneath the car when we picked up the car from dealer and I didn't see any valves around the mufflers, so it has to be the programming.

On a side not, very simple to understand, even a 3 years old would agree. If I didn't change anything on the car, parts & mechanical wise, before and after the flash, but the cold start behavior is hugely different, it has to be the flashed ECU doing it.

[JohnEnglish]

Yeah the throttle blip on start up is programmed into the ECU.

[MB_Forever]

I believe they can "easily" raise (or lower) the idle rpm to a certain level by programming the specific parameters in the ECU, so why not try that? Maybe they can adjust the idle part to stock specs .

[2MANYCARS]

They said they can't touch or access that part of the ECU. I'm not going into details on what I think might be causing the issues, but you can certainly PM me about it.

[Vadim @ FD]

2MANYCARS: On 63s, due to twin throttle bodies, idle function is totally different than on other AMG engines. There is no simple way to adjust idle through software.

The symptoms that you describe could be pointing at something else. There are two recalls on 63 motors, one is for vacuum leak on intake gasket and one for cam sensor failures. Have your dealer check and see if your car needs them.

I have done numerous software upgrades with Powerchip on 63s and have never seen any idle problems.

[2MANYCARS]

Vadim,
Thanks for the pointers. Powerchip also claimed they can't adjust the idling settings through software, but from my experience in tuning numerous AEM EMS, ECUTek, & Diablo Sport applications, I had learned everything is linked to each other, in other words, I can adjust idle without even going into the menu that says idle control. On the other hand, I highly doubt the car has these 2 problems because everything was fine since day 1 until the flashed ECU came back from Powerchip, but I will get it checked out to see if it carries these problems.

[Rafal]

Originally Posted by 2MANYCARS

Powerchip has offered me a full refund for both the reflash ..... I would definitely recommend Powerchip to my friends if they ever need their cars flashed.

...so that they can waste their time allowing Powerchip to use their cars as lab rats, only to fail and refund the money.
Been there , done that, no thanks, never again!

[Timeless]

Originally Posted by Rafal

...so that they can waste their time allowing Powerchip to use their cars as lab rats, only to fail and refund the money.
Been there , done that, no thanks, never again!

Powerchip has MANY more happy customers than unhappy. And if they are not satisfied, they do a full refund unlike many other tuners.

[2MANYCARS]

I was one of the happy customers back then, but now it's a different story. Anyway, ECU is back to stock settings and everything is back to normal, the idle, the sound, the drive, the feel, etc.. To Vadim @ VRP, I guess my theory had proven you wrong about my car, no problems what so ever mechanically, so it WAS their programming.

Some fact about how curteous Powerchip is, they sent me back my ECU without the mounting pins on the ECU, maybe they forgot to put them back in or they ran out of pins for whatever they need. No big deal, I ran to Rallye Mercedes and ordered them, but this is the few bucks I should not be spending if Powerchip had been more careful in packing.

[Glock Guru]

So I guess Powerchip needs some more work before they get the fine tunning right?

[2MANYCARS]

Definitely, and one guy there needs to take some customer service classes before working there again.

[Glock Guru]

Originally Posted by 2MANYCARS

Definitely, and one guy there needs to take some customer service classes before working there again.

Well if the Customer Service is sub par than I am out. I am to old to put up with crappy service. Oh well, time to look for another ECM tuner.

[e1000]

AFAIK, and I've watched an ECU being reprogrammed, you must take the ECU apart to flash it.

[2MANYCARS]

Originally Posted by e1000

AFAIK, and I've watched an ECU being reprogrammed, you must take the ECU apart to flash it.

Really? I thought if you need to solder a chip onto the board, then you have to open them up. I'd tuned lots of imports in the past, and everytime I just plug my cable into the OBD II port and program/reflash the computers.

[e1000]

Don't think it works that way with MB ECU's. They don't actually remove the chip and then re-solder it back (Porsche ECU's). What they do is remove the cover off of the ecu and tap into a completely different port within the ECU to do the reflash.

[MB_Forever]

Actually, on 2006 models and earlier, you could program the ECU through the OBDII scanner (without soldering and without messing around with electronics at all). But starting with the 2007 models (more specifically, the 63s), one has to solder a chip to re-flash the car.

[Timeless]

Originally Posted by MB_Forever

Actually, on 2006 models and earlier, you could program the ECU through the OBDII scanner (without soldering and without messing around with electronics at all). But starting with the 2007 models (more specifically, the 63s), one has to solder a chip to re-flash the car.

I do not believe this is correct. I had to send my ECU to Powerchips for them to open up. When I received it back, you could smell the glue or whatever sealant is used to seal the ECU back up.

My experience with Powerchips is A+ and would recommend it to anyone. Dunno if it was because I went through Aaron with StealthAuto (Sponsor here) or just got lucky...but I am very happy and have not had ANY problems whatsoever.

[2MANYCARS]

Thanks for the info e1000 & Forever.