Chip Tuning an E320 CDI
 

Anyone have any experience chip tuning an E320 CDI? Rocketchip can do a Stage 1 (any more and you'd need hardware mods) that yields 44 more hp and 52 more ft-lbs of torque. Of course the car is plenty powerful as is....still it'd be fun to squeeze a bit more out of that OM648.

I put the BullyDog chip in about 5 years ago, I forget the model..."rapid power" or something like that. It's just plug and play with the fuel rail pressure sensor. They claim 35hp. It felt like quite a boost when I put it in (but you always have to discount the "placebo effect"). Now that I'm used to it, it's just my everyday awesome ride.

I'm interested in someone like Malone tuning who's reflash can also disable the EGR.

I don't know if Rocketchip or others can turn off the EGR.

Yes, Rocketchip can.

VW can:).

Beat me to it :D.

If you do - including the EGR, etc. delete, I'd be interested in your performance numbers 360 Degrees.

What are the other advantages to all those mods???

According to Jeff at Rocketchip, to do anything more than a Stage 1 tune on a CDI you would need to pursue hardware mods (turbo, exhaust, etc...).

BUT, here's what you'd get with a Stage 1:

201 hp goes to 245 hp
369 ft-lbs of torque goes to 421
Vmax limiter lifted
EGR reduced

EGR elimination for off-road test purposes costs extra.

Of course, the car is fabulous as is....but for a few hundred bucks it seems worth pursuing.

I have a Stage 2 on my 98 and it's great....very noticeable difference.

On a CDI if you want to go bigger (i.e. beyond Stage 1) you can use an E400CDI high pressure pump and a C30AMG injectors, along with a tubular manifold to run a T3 flanged bigger turbo. But that is $$$.

Thanks for the info on Rocketchip. I may contact them.

I've found several threads around the net claiming EGR reduction and some ECU tweaks netted them an extra MPG or three which is cool.

I installed the Green Diesel Engineering tune last night on my 2006 CDI with 78k miles. The process and instructions are fairly simple. You connect the device to your (Internet) PC and it automatically updates to it's latest version, and loads the dashboard on your PC. Then you connect the device to the ODB port on your car, and it reads and saves the current OEM ECU tune. Next hook the device back to the PC and download the tune file to the PC and email it to GDE support. Within a few hours I received an email back with the new tune file attached. Connect the device to the PC and upload the new file to it. Then connect to your car and load the new tune. During the load, my dashboard displayed a bunch of error messages and the radiator fan came on. This is all normal according to GDE. It stops once the load is done.

I took a 40 miles test drive. The cars display says I got 37mpg and averaged 38mph. As advertised, it appears to be a few mpg better than before. Throttle response seems more linear. I'd compare it to driving a car with a V8. It pulled strong before, but even stronger now. With the ESP off, it'll easily spin the rear tires from stop.

Is it worth the price? For me, yes. If I was living paycheck to paycheck, then no. The car ran really well stock. It's just a bit better now. But the device does all I was looking for. Better and more linear acceleration. Turn off the EGR valve. Better MPG. I can read and reset error codes. And if I want to switch from the GDE tune back to OEM for some reason, I can. And if a dealer or independent manages to somehow erase the GDE tune years from now, I don't need to contact GDE to reload it. It's all self-contained in the unit.

I'm happy.

Wanna race? :)

I'm still debating....car drives so fabulously as is. I would love to get rid of the EGR...and more power on the cheap is certainly welcome. Not convinced of claims of fuel economy improvement....didn't see any improvement on my chip tuned 98 E300.

I my mind, when the flapper motor needs to be replaced, you can buy the tune for less then 1/2 the cost of fixing the flapper motor. It eliminates the flapper motor and all associated error codes from the program. Just clean up the mess left behind by the EGR system and block it off.

I have a GDE tune in the ML with the 642 v6. Smoother, more power, same economy as far as I can tell.

What would your car's display have been before the tune ?

Using the same route, I'd typically show @ 34mpg. But keep in mind I also floored it a few times during this run to check out acceleration.
I also noticed the engine temp gauge seems to run a bar lower than before.