I would appreciate information regarding the availability of performance chips, name of manufacturers, cost and "varifiable" results of the upgrade.

Go to www.500e.com and do a search on chips. You'll find everything you need to know, there, on all brands and types of chips.

Bottom line, not worth the time nor money.

Cheers,
Gerry

I agree 100% with Gerry....don't believe the claims that they 'make' hp ...they just move the power around in the 500E, if they even do that.

I drag raced a chipped 500E with my stock one when I first got into it...times thru-out the runs (3) where practically the same. (14.1s at about 100mph)

__________________
Jim

1992 500E
2007 CLK63
2003 Audi RS6
2001 Audi allroad

Thanks for the input. In the past I have reviewed other web sites and the conclusion seems to be the same - basically, suppliers are scamming owners. I also contacted a few of these chip companies and cound not get a straight answer when asking for a dyno pull - especially, from the guy asking the BIG $$ for the ECU reprogramming.

Depends what the car is really...chips can be worthy in a turbo or super-charged car but just not on the ole M119 motor.

But, yes, you are correct, manufacturers of chips generally overstate their claims. I think one of them claims an added 15-20 hp for the 500E. Riiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhtt ...and I'm in line for the next Pope postion.

__________________
Jim

1992 500E
2007 CLK63
2003 Audi RS6
2001 Audi allroad

Here's how I attempted to seperate the honest from the inept - lay down the pepsi challenge: offer to do a dyno pull before the upgrade and share the info. Next, upgrade the ECU and do another dyno pull - if the claims are wrong, the supplier refunds the cost on the chip/ecu upgrade, cost of the dyno pulls and standard hourly labor rate for the install and removal.

Amazing, none of the tuners would take the challenge and guaranty thier claims.

A couple of us have done dyno tests with various chips installed vs. stock setups.

The bottom line in my own testing has been that no chip, exhaust or non-Nitrous Oxide modification has been definitively shown on the dyno to provide measurable power increases. By measurable I mean more than 5 HP.

I still have one chip yet to test on the dyno, and surgery 5 weeks ago and flu 3 weeks ago (I'm in the final stages of recovering from both) precluded a planned round of local dyno testing I had planned for ahead of this Friday night's opening of the drag strip for the season. I am going to try to get into the dyno shop next week for this final round of chip testing. I am going to do a straight-across stock vs. custom chip test with this final round. We'll see how it goes. I'll be sure to post all documentation and results when I obtain them, at the source, at www.500e.com.

Cheers,
Gerry

I picked up the infamous eBay chip and did some dragstrip testing. Due to variations in the weather condistions, I can't say for sure that the chip worked, but preliminary data hints that maybe it actually did do something. I plan to return and test again. I picked up a second LH module to make the swapping simple in the pits at the track, now I just need to trade modules (3 minutes) instead of chips (30 minutes). I'll be posting again when I have more concrete data. After using the dragstrip to see what combos seem to actually work, I plan to do some dyno testing for confirmation.

Side note: If you have a 1993-94 500E/E500, you can get a solid 7-8hp gain by installing a 1992 LH module, which has WOT enrichment. Carl at BergWerks agrees that this is the only thing they found to work every time. I have the 1992 module in my car (and the extra I just picked up is also a 1992). They're not easy to locate though (especially for under ~$400), they only were used that one year. I may have a line on another one, if someone is interested drop me an email or PM.

__________________
Dave
Boise, ID
Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

I was lucky enough to pick up a BRAND NEW 1992 LH module in the UK for around $1,000, last week. I was happy to pay a grand for it because of the very fact that it is new, and hasn't been in a car before.

I will use my old stock 1994 unit to continue to compare various chips during the bulk of this year's drag season. I have last year's times with several chips using that unit so I can use that as a baseline.

Cheers,
Gerry

Nice find, Gerry. Remember that the 1992 chips may not interchange with 93/94 modules and vice-versa. Any competent chip manufacturer will offer two different chips for the 500E/E500 because of this.

On a side note, I'll also be playing with race gas (Sunoco GT-100) again. My best times last year (13.9 @ 101) happened to be with race gas on two different days, and I was never able to duplicate them on pump gas. I want to see if using race gas will bring back the magic times or not.

Although this is slightly offtopic it has some relevance to this discussion.

In my C36 if I disconnect the two O2 sensors (before and after CAT) I can run whatever fuel mixture I want. If I don't I can dump any amount of fuel into the engine and the stock computer simply leans out the mixture. Assuming that the A/F ratios in the M119 are always 14.6-15 then when running in WOT in a 1992 or with a chip and disconnecting the O2 sensors could make a difference. Although 14.6 A/F ratio is the most effecient lower ratios of say 12.5 produce more power. Now I am fairly certain that the WOT enrichment on the 92 model probably does run at a lower ratio if not then it could benefit from a chip too. Another matter that could be greatly beneficial would be the timing. Increased timing via EURO selectable timing + more fuel + high octane fuel could gain 15-30hp easily.

A grand for a 92 LH model? Wow, I passed on one for $300 because it was to EXPENSIVE, almost bought another for $100 but it was bought out from under me.

Keep the faith, they are out there.

__________________
1993 500E
http://2phast.com/500e/500e-sig.jpg

The one I purchased was brand new, factory fresh, never installed in a car. From Mercedes, these are around $2,300 in the same condition (they even cost a dealer $1,400 to buy).

With a used unit, you always take a chance on it being non-functional, being from an accident car, etc. I wanted a known-good unit, and was willing to pay for it.

Cheers,
Gerry

I understand, but 1 grand for 7 hp?

__________________
1993 500E
http://2phast.com/500e/500e-sig.jpg

Gerry, any adjustments needed on your NOS system for the new LH unit?

__________________
Vince

'94 E500 2 piece SL rims, chip, K&N Filter, HR Springs. Mesa Valve "Y" Pipe, ASR Defeat, BW NOS, S600 Grille, SL600 300mm rear brakes