Some of you know I'm new to the turbodiesel Benz world. In my first 3000 miles (nearly 175k for the car), I'm having a pretty doggone good time with it. Domestic biodiesel is fun, too.

How can I liven up the car just a bit? I've still got my BMW E39 M5, which is about to be for sale, and I know the oilburner is never going to make that beast. But as easy as it is for the diesel truck guys to ramp up their outputs (and fuel economy?!) with performance chips, I think something like that must be out there for our cars.

So far I've found the following:

http://www.speedtuningusa.com/
This looks decent as far as output, and is a plug-and-play module from what I can tell. $275ish...not bad!

http://www.rocketchip.com/
The turbofroggy fellow is running this. I e-mailed him awhile back and got no response. No pricing that I see on the website, and requires sending your ECU in for a re-flash. Hmmm.

What else is out there, or what other research would you guys recommend? I think a chip of some sort is in my future, probably along with a good WVO system just for the fun of burning some grease. (Yeah, I've read both sides...but it's a car I bought precisely for experimenting!)

Cheers, John

UBERWGN has both of those chips installed currently.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

My car has a socketed ECU board so I can switch between STusa, RocketChip and the factory program.

I've had RocketChip take care of several diesel cars we've owned and I prefer their programming to others I have driven. They offer a very good compromise and the owner/designer is very familiar with the limits of these vehicles.

I think I'll have to give STusa a slight edge in overall oomph, but I am not pleased with the amount of black smoke that pours out the back of the car under WOT. That's an honest response.

Economy gains? Dunno about that. My car has numerous anti-economy mods, so I am not good gage of that.

I am NOT a fan of tuning boxes, in general. They typically dump a ton of fuel and provide no additional air. It is a non-invasive, quikee setup, but it's not done right, IMO - - it's a partial solution. I'm always going to follow a well-engineered program which means adding more boost if you're gonna add more fuel.

I think RocketChip takes the output to ~205hp/310ft*lbs. The car is brutally fast off the line

banks needs to step up and get something out for you guys

Thanks for the responses -- especially the first-hand summary, uberwgn. How does one go about getting a socketed ECU board? And if a chip alone isn't enough, who sells the appropriately sized turbo (or improved wastegate) to push more air into the engine?

Probably getting beyond what I want to do with this car (nevermind the current budget for this project), but these things always fascinate me. Thanks again...

Cheers, John

The turbo is not a weak link in these cars. For this "stage" of tuning, the existing configuration is adequate. The software typically controls the level of boost so he could request more to match increased fueling. That's where chip tuning vs. tuning box has a signficant advantage.

For bigger power gains, folks look at software + bigger injectors. Beyond that you'd look at bigger turbos, beefed up engines, heads, etc.

We're somewhat behind the state of the art diesel tuning here in the USA. The European tuners are extracting far more power.

JSR (at laptop) working his magic @ NH GTG:

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Resurrecting an old thread here.

I sent my DME to SpeedTuningUSA last week for their Stage 2/ EGR delete tune, and when I got it back and into the car, immediately had CHECK ENGINE and ASR/ BAS lights illuminated, and when hooked up to MB STAR diagnostics, it turns out there are a bunch of CAN bus errors because somehow all the coding from the DME has been wiped.

Oliver wants me to send him the DME back to that he can try this again and hope for a better outcome, but after all the good and bad that I can find about his outfit, I'm a little hesitant to do so. At least my car RUNS at the moment.

I certainly don't want to get into a matter of extortion with him holding my DME as hostage to get me to throw him more $$$ (google other threads on the web about this), and I certainly don't want to be stuck buying a new DME from the dealer.

All that being said, I'd greatly welcome further input. Thanks in advance guys.

How far do you live from Speed Tuning? If there's any possibility of actually taking it to Oliver to install the chips and test the car, I would recommend that. That's one of the reasons I went with Rocketchip for my tune....I could drive it to Jeff.

Your experience certainly confirms my decision not to have Oliver do it.

You have the old chips, right? Maybe try putting them back in and see what happens.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Not close at all- I'm in CA

I do not have the original chips, but Oliver CLAIMS that he has them.

I think I am going to try to do whatever I can (which may go as far as getting my attorney/ MD Attorney General involved) to avoid sending this thing back to Oliver. It'd be nice if Oliver would just GIVE my original chips over to Jeff, but I doubt that that will happen.

At the very least, at least the car runs currently, so if I have to get another DME from Jeff and have him work with it, so be it, but I'm not going to give up having a drivable car in the meantime- especially not for 4 months while I deal with Oliver extorting me for extra money as another gentleman did.

Oliver should certainly give you the chips...they're yours. If it's simply a matter of the information on the chips, you should be able to get your car back, although perhaps with some added expense. The greater concern would be if Oliver somehow damaged the rest of the board. Then you've got real problems. I think a new board runs about $2200. Junk yard would be best bet.

FWIW, I actually sat and watch Jeff at Rocketchip modify my board. Very precise and professional...I was impressed. Though first it scared me to death watching him take a soldering iron to the board!

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 157k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 175k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 70k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Fully agreed. Now, whether or not he will, is a different story. I hate to get Sheriffs, Attorney Generals, various attorneys, etc., involved, but when push comes to shove, that's what happens.

I am REALLY hoping that Jeff can get this sorted, as the dealer option is probably $3000 when all is said and done, and you can damn well bet at that point that there will be legal action involved.