For any who might be interested, I thought I would share the results of the chip tuning I just had done on my 98 E300. I'd been researching the matter off and on for the last six months or so. Seemed like I had everything to gain and nothing to lose. I decided to go with Rocketchip in Red Lion, PA, in part because of the consistently stellar reviews Jeff Roberston gets and in part because I could drive the car to him to get it chipped (Red Lion is not too far from my parents).

I decided to go with a Stage 2 tuning. According to everything I could read, that's (a) well within the operating envelope of the engine and (b) the most you can get out of the car without also making other upgrades (exhaust, etc...) which I have no interest in doing. Jeff's claim for a Stage 2 tuning on my car is an increase of 40 hp, 68 ft-lbs. of torque, 6.5 psi of boost, and 3-4 mpg of increased fuel economy (and he claims that his estimates tend to be fairly conservative).

One of the benefits of taking the car to Jeff was being being able to watch him work! Very thorough and professional and precise. But I must admit to being a bit nervous watching him modify a board that would cost $2000 for the part alone for MB to replace!

He put two new sockets on the board, programmed two new chips, and installed them; he gave me back the old chips in case, for any reason, I ever wanted to switch the car back to OEM specs (no chance of that).

Then, the moment of truth. Took it for a test drive and...WOW! I was impressed with the car before, but by comparison everything was smoother, more powerful, and more effortless...especially on the top end.

From PA back to RI I drove it about 400 miles or so and it drove like a dream the whole way. Couldn't be happier with the tuning. Mind you, I could very easily live with an UNtuned E300....but this is a very clear improvement and well worth the effort and expense.

On Friday, I will put it on a dyno for the "after" test (put it on a dyno two weeks ago to get a baseline). Then I will know for certain the actual hp and torque gains and will let you guys know.

Fuel economy wise, I had been getting about 27 mpg mixed, 30 straight highway. It will be a few months before I have reliable numbers.

Anyway, really, really pleased with my chip tuning (obviously).

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 159k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 178k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 75k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife