I send my DME off today to be chipped by Jeff at Rocketchip. Very excited! The only downside is that he doesn't seem to respond to emails, I always have to call and he seems very busy. As long as the product is good, which from research on many other forums it seems to be, then I'll be very happy. Going with his Stage 2 with full emissions delete.

Cool, will be interested to hear how it goes.

Sorry to hear about your experience with Rocketchip. I kind of understand the situation with small business owners. You can be a genius in one area but have no social or customer service skills. I friend of mine owns a performance tuning shop locally and if I call or drop by, he won't give me the time of day but at least he responds fairly quickly to emails.

Away from work though, he's a different man.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Ya, I own an automotive repair shop as well, so I definitely know how that goes. I don't think it's anything to be sorry about though. I've been open 2 years now and am desperately looking for another tech. It's been, for the most part, just me for the last ~6 months or so and I have more work than I can do.

Yep, if you want to get a hold of Jeff you have to call him.

Which tune did you get? Stage 2?

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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

Yessir!

What does he charge? There's a guy in Ireland tuning these now and his prices are pretty reasonable. He's a member on one of the other mb diesel forums. Trying to decide what route I want to go with mine. Eventually will have a built IP and bigger turbo but that's a little bit down the road

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'98 E300 Turbo "Juliette"
'85 Federal 300TD

For the stage 2 tune with return shipping was $400.


On another note - tracking confirms it was delivered to his porch Saturday (USPS Priority). Curious to see what the turnaround time is and when I see it back.

Takes him maybe an hour and a half of actual work...I watched him do mine.

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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

Oh, I know what it takes to socket am ECU. I just meant from the time he gets my ECU in the mail, until the time I get it back.

Once you get it back, and have a chance to drive around and feel the difference, please do follow up here and let us know your thoughts. I've been thinking of doing the RC2 on my E300 as well.

I've dealt with Jeff probably 12 years ago now, in the VW TDI tuning world. Had several of my TDI's tuned by him. He's a stand-up guy and is highly skilled at his craft, both in the physical ECU modifications (soldering and such) and in developing performance maps for turbo diesel cars. He spends a lot of time travelling to various car club get-togethers and meet-ups, where he does ECU modifications and chip tuning on the spot, and has always been tough to get ahold of because his schedule is so busy.

__________________
1998 E300 turbodiesel

America's Rights and Freedoms Are Not The Enemy!

In the meantime, here's my experience:

OM606 Unleashed: My 1998 E300 Chip Tuning Experience

__________________
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

Looking at your dyno charts (as convoluted as they are), it looks like they both start north of 3k rpm - which is already past peak torque. I bet the off-idle performance is spectacular compared to stock.

Not really. Noticeable, but not a dramatic difference. Before I got my CDI, I owned a 99 E300. So I could compare the 98 and 99.

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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

Ya. My biggest complaint thus far is the off-idle performance and 'lag', which I know is purely emissions based.

You will definitely notice a significant reduction of the lag.

__________________
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