04 E55 AMG: TCU tune

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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

04 E55 AMG: TCU tune

Post by kevm14 »

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/799 ... ers-4.html

I have been e-mailing the tuner and I am 99% ready to do this. This sounds amazing and I'm annoyed it took me this long to discover it. I just need to decide between the option he gives to either hold the gear in M mode or still automatically upshift at the shift point in M mode. Stock it upshifts (which is "lame") but with a possible Eurocharged tune (that I guess can muck with the rev limiter) it may be safest to let it upshift. I honestly never use M mode though with this tune it's supposed to be way better.

https://mkultra-electronics.company.site/
https://mkultra-electronics.company.sit ... p266052916

Frankly the price is cheap for what this is. And I can just hold onto my TCU as a spare in case something weird happens. It is under the passenger foot well and is supposed to take 10 minutes to swap.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG: TCU tune

Post by kevm14 »

Here are some testimonials from this thread:
IMHO the weak link in the W211 E55 is the TCU.
Mind you the Transmission appears to be built well, with members pushing out north of 600lbs torque.

In addition to the ECU, header and pulley mods I also run a DTE-Systems Pedalbox.
I have been through a bunch of TCU tunes: DTK, RaceIQ, Eurocharged and now this MKUltra TCU tune.
Every tune had their ups and downsides.
But this one(MkUltra) is truly the one for me.

As you can read in the posts above in A mode this thing is an absolute monster.
But in A mode I guess u have to be in 'Track' state of mind to enjoy it. A little much for my taste for daily driving.
But on track days I guess this A mode is must.

In M mode the shifts are definitely quicker & Firmer. But dont expect a near DCT type experience.

In C mode, now this is a slight improvement over the Stock C mode. With slightly quicker shifts and less lag.
Its the Mode I use when I have the Mrs. riding with me.

For me the best mode happens to be S. The snap, crispy and firmess of the shifts seem just about right.
Even the slight SC engagement harshness seems to have melted away.
I am not sure if its the 'learning', but initial 50 miles after install things did not go as well.
For the first 50 miles I ran a mix of Highway WOT , some slow traffic and I was not pleased with the shifts.
It seemed a little harsh and the kick down seemed not 'Well timed'.
But I did read about the adaptation and decided to give it more time.
But after those 50 miles things have progressively improved.
I now have almost a 100 miles on this TCU and things are so much better that it has put off my upgrade itch.
Brings a smile on my face when I mash the pedal.
Like they say 'Better late than never', applies to this TCU tune.
Agility mode on a stock TCU has several performance differences over the stock sport mode. In A mode it will hold the current gear with a much lower acceleration increase. It will downshift from a cruising speed to a lower gear with mimimal increase in the accelerartion rate. When I was using the stock TCU, I always used A mode over S mode.

Now for Troy's TCU, as compared to stock, it is a big performance upgrade as so many people here have commented. It resolves all the little annoying issues that negatively impact daily use and high performance function, it greatly shortens shift times, does not miss shifts, does not reduce enigne output at shift points, and it too has the Agility mode which does all the stock features, but also much, much quicker (noticeably sharper),and can be paddle shifted. A mode with Troy's TCU is the high performace transmission package MB should have provided in our cars.
I actually hadn't driven it until today. Overall it is an awesome modification. I never considered any of the previous TCU tunes on offer from other vendors as no one had anything very good to say about them so I can't compare to them. My notes:

Agility (A) mode
- Much much much faster shifts, definitely a lot more forceful. I didn't reset the adaptations so the obvious bump on gear change might improve over time. It isn't uncomfortable at all, just my head was slammed into the head rest (in a good way) at redline shifts a few times. Lots of grinning.
- It is more likely to shift to lower gears when you *partially* plant your foot than the old S mode. I found that the stock TCU frequently wouldn't drop gears unless the pedal switch was activated.
- I still had the occasional scenario when it didn't drop into the lowest gear possible (used 3rd at 2900rpm instead of 2nd at the highway onramp) but I didn't activate the pedal switch ie 98% depressed pedal rather than 100%. Still heaps better than stock overall.
- When you use the paddles in A mode it actually does what you want. I found at regular cruising the stock TCU would wait sometimes 5-10 seconds before going into 4th gear, now it will do it straight away (as long as rpm high enough of course). The stock TCU seemed to love to ignore your upshift requests. Hugely better than stock, it is worth the money for this behaviour alone.
- I did a burnout all the way up a hill, smashed into 2nd and kept going with no traction.

I haven't tested any other modes yet. Manual mode works but I other than that I can't comment. I only use the paddles in S mode in general. I will post back with more observations and comment on C and S mode in due course.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG: TCU tune

Post by kevm14 »

Ended up ordering Stage 1 with no upshift in M mode, which is the way it is supposed to be according to....car magazines? I never use M mode but there are certain kind of hardcore situations where you'd want it to hold the gear. Mainly I'm thinking a track situation where you just don't want it to upshift, or burnouts for a similar reason. I don't use the car for those things and don't use M mode. But it's supposed to work more responsively anyway.

This might be the best bang for the buck mod on these cars, for real.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG: TCU tune

Post by kevm14 »

About to install this. Looks easy.
Attachments
W211 remove install TCU.pdf
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG: TCU tune

Post by kevm14 »

It was easy. I just glanced at the aforementioned instructions and went to work.

- Remove floor mat (unsnaps at the rear)
- Pull back carpet in foot well
- Cry about "Daimler Chrysler" branding on carpet
20210605_093459.jpg
- Remove foam. It just lifts out.
- Remove 3 10mm nuts. These might be plastic nuts like the ones that hold the wheel well liners in. Two on the bottom (the right one is not visible so you go by feel - it's kind of partially buried under the carpet) and one on the top.
20210605_093508.jpg
- Sort of fold the metal module carrier away from the firewall and lay it down backwards on the carpet that's folded back.
- This exposes several modules.
20210605_093923.jpg
- Here are some
20210605_093930.jpg
20210605_093939.jpg
- Here's the TCU
20210605_093934.jpg
- Remove 2 8mm bolts and the TCU just comes free of the metal panel
- Remove both plugs
- Install new TCU and button it up the opposite way it came out. It really did take less than 10 minutes.

I was going to test it and check for codes and stuff before putting everything back together and putting my tools away. Ain't nobody got time fo' 'dat.

Washed hands, went for a drive. Of course it was warming up so I was gentle for a bit.

I did confirm that I do now have four transmission modes instead of the stock three. Stock I had C(omfort), S(port) and M(anual). This new tune adds A(gility) which I guess is something that AMG did in some special models? So this guy sort of took that and turned it up even further. Agility supposedly does not do learning of your driving style (for consistency) and shifts the firmest/quickest. Holds gears more aggressively and so on. Comfort is sort of like before, and maintains the second gear starts. Manual does respond more quickly to the shift paddles. Sport is probably going to continue as my daily driver mode. I only briefly tried Agility and I don't drive the car on full kill much (you can't) so I suspect this will be something I use to show passengers or something.

So digging deeper into Sport. I drove the car maybe 15 miles so the adaptations are still learning and the shift feel will probably change as that happens so this is really just an initial report.

I think the TCC behavior does feel a little different as he said he was going to tweak some things there. I don't know if it's "better" per se but at least different. The SC clutch engagement jerk off initial tip in does actually seem less noticeable though the engagement if you get on it in 2nd is still there (and that's only if you didn't already engage it in first by throttle position). I do feel like the tuning may overall result in less jerky SC engagement which is nice.

At light throttle the shifting feels pretty similar to before. Maybe a little quicker but nothing harsh or noticeable. But when you start dipping into the throttle, it sure makes a big difference, as I had hoped. Basically the shifts transformed from this kind of slow but smooth slipping to a pretty quick and positive shift. It kind of feels like an old school transmission with a shift kit (in a good way) and with the muscle-nature of this car I think it really suits it. I would say downshifting is also more responsive. I punched it from a 40 roll (it must have been in 4th or maybe even 5th) and seemingly almost instantly it went to 2nd and simply took off. That got a grin.

So I look forward to putting more miles on this TCU and having the adaptations learn in so I can feel what the final product is, so to speak. But so far so good. Certainly worth the money.

I did ask the tuner about trans wear. I basically asked if this more positive shifting with reduced torque management would lead to more wear, or perhaps less wear due to less shift overlap. Turns out the latter was correct. Here's what he had to say:
Adaption period is needed. Trans will have less wear. Reason Mercedes was heavy handed with torque reduction was for needing smoother shifts and make gear box last longer with slipping smooth shifts. Making trans shift firmer would make luxury car not so luxury and get complaints. I don't eliminate torque management. its reduced and changed to match firmer shifts. There will be less wear but since its a clutch to clutch transmission trade off is feeling shifts more and makes for faster shifting and less feeling of that let of the gas feel during shifts.
All good news, really. Also, the guy actually responds to my random e-mails. That's worth something, too. He confirmed again that this is a clutch to clutch transmission. I mentioned this in my general E55 thread. That was pretty advanced for a 1996 transmission design. GM's first clutch to clutch was the 6L80 in 2006 and 6L50 in 2007. It means no bands, only clutches. For all I know this now shifts like a 6L80 with a decent trans tune on it.
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