Sounds like a good find, Ray. Pics, please!

Could someone educate me on the purpose/value of the ECU tune? Is the main point the increase in fuel economy and a little more HP?

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05 E320 CDI - 175K miles
82 300D - 200K miles (sold)

According to the research I've done on the ECU tunes, they increase horsepower and torque, turn off the exhaust gas recirculation valve (EGR), all while improving fuel economy if you keep your right foot out of it.

Mercedes used EGR to help meet government imposed emission standards by routing the exhaust gasses back through the intake process to be re-burned. The problem is the soot associated with diesel exhaust gasses gets built up in your intake system over time and reduces performance, eventually even plugging up the intake system in worse cases. Also, that soot contains abrasive particles. No doubt those particles don't do anything good when they enter your cylinders. Stopping EGR should have the effect of prolonging engine life, at least in my opinion.

That makes sense. I know EGR delete kits are often talked about on the W123s. Wonder if there's much benefit on a CDI engine (like mine) with over 130K miles? Maybe the damage has already been done? Those chip kits are not cheap!

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05 E320 CDI - 175K miles
82 300D - 200K miles (sold)

You cannot delete the EGR system with out fooling the engine management system into thinking that it has not been deleted.
You can do this by "bricking" the sensors; or with new software that tells the system to ignore the sensors, never power up the flapper motors, and never throw any associated codes.

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Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

Right, it seemed much simpler to do on the 617... but now that everything is computer-controlled, you've got to pony up some big bucks for the same result.

Ray -- I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on the tuning if you care to update this thread (or perhaps start a new one) as you go. Thanks.

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05 E320 CDI - 175K miles
82 300D - 200K miles (sold)

If you find the correct resistors to "brick" the sensors, it would cost very little.

__________________
Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

I just ordered the tuning kit today...two day delivery. And I should have the car home tomorrow.
I need to get this car out on the highway and open it up a bit. I accelerated hard a couple times and got a big puff of black smoke. Since I bought it from an older couple, and it's been her car for the last 5 years, I suspect it's been driven quite gently.
My initial reasoning for the GDE specific ECO tuning kit.....
Added performance and improved MPG are two benefits. But the kit also allows you to revert back to the original OEM map at any time down the road. Or if a dealer or independent shop ever restores the ECU coding, I can put the tuned code back on. I don't have to worry about GDE being in business years from now or shipping ECUs back and forth. With their kit I'll have the tools to take care of it myself. Their tool also allows me to read and clear fault codes. I know I could get cheaper tools for that. But it's nice that it's included with their kit. It has everything I wanted, and nothing I didn't. And I know I'm saying all this without receiving or installing anything yet. So time may change my attitude about it. But I've only read positives so far, so I think it'll work out well for me.

Definitely give us a run down on performance after install.

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-- Chris

'95 E300, 216k miles, Silver Surfer
'05 E320 CDI, 138k miles
'07 S550 4matic, 69k miles

Gone but not forgotten:

'76 300D, 350k miles?, SOLD in 1995
'75 240D, 300k miles, SOLD in 1991

Here are a few photos....
I drove it home today.....@650 miles. It was in its element. One tank of fuel...with some left.
I got a big puff of black smoke when making an aggressive take-off early on. But it cleared up nicely. The previous owner was an elderly couple and didn't drive it hard at all. As a matter of fact, they had left the transmission in "C" mode and didn't know what that C/S button was for.

Attached Thumbnails

     

Great looking car!

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05 E320 CDI - 175K miles
82 300D - 200K miles (sold)

I installed the Green Diesel Engineering tune last night. I'll be taking the car out for it's first after-tune test drive today. I'll post my installation experience and test drive thoughts in the CDI tune thread under diesel performance.

Looking forward to it.

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05 E320 CDI - 175K miles
82 300D - 200K miles (sold)