What are your opinions on the best Mercedes tuner(s). Presummably AMG is pretty high on the list since the company bought it and incorporated it into the company.
What is your opinion and what car do you currently own that has been tuned?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Kleeman....

Especially when they tune an AMG..

Tuning the tuned!


My boss has an Kleeman E55 K3.... It has baby seats in the back, and runs 11's.

__________________
-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

1. HWA
2. AMG
3. Brabus
4. MKB
5. Carlsson
6. RENNtech
7. Kleemann
8. Vath
9. Evosport
10. HPS

CLK55 AMG

Is that your order of preference, el presidente? What year is your CLK? Do you have any personal experience with the 2001-2CLK430? If so, how does that compare to driving your 55?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Forgot to add Lorisner....

I own an '02 CLK55.

AMG is not a tuning company anymore and is part of Mercedes.

Brabus is very high end but the dollar for hp return is low so I think they should be farther down the list.

Carlsson is another high end tuner but doesn't really go for the extreme hp of the other tuners.

RENNtech is very expensive but they give great returns and stand behind their product.

Kleemann is a great tuner for the forced induction cars and is affordible compared to most of the others.

Evosport doesn't offer the same level of tuning the the others offer but do well with what is offered.

HPS should not even be in this list based on the horror stories concering their supercharger kits.

I would say the top five 'tuners" for sales, service, and product offering in the USA as well as for all around tuning and engine modifications are:
1. Renntech
2. Kleeman
3. Evosport
4. Brabus
5. Carlsson

Everyone has preferences, based on location, experience, price and services offered.

Since the original poster did not indicate "U.S. Only" in his question, I included several that offer both exclusively in the U.S. as as well exclusively outside of the U.S.

As to whether AMG is still considered a "tuner", that is open to interpretation. My view is that if "custom" options are available, they will "tune" your Mercedes-Benz anyway you want, for a price of course. This is still the case at AMG Manufaktur in Affalterbach. My belief is that they are still a "tuner" by this definition.....just ask the crew who built the "gutted" SLK55 track specials among other unique works of art!

Outside of AMG and HWA (who built the CLK DTM and CLK GTR street cars), I think Brabus is held in the highest respect by Mercedes-Benz, due to some joint projects they have worked on. I would view Brabus as what AMG was prior to their acquisition....just my 2 cents. Brabus is adding a second showroom in South Florida, if it hasn't opened already.

On this side of the pond....no doubt....RENNtech has a very loyal following and in some cases was able to "get it right", even after a Kleemann product was tested and had issues (Ben Treynor's SL65 for example). Not to say that's a common problem, but issues with tuned cars generally "come with the territory".

After AMG left the U.S. in the late 80's, RENNtech was really the "only game in town" in the states. There was still Mosselman turbo systems being sold through some venues, and of course, some complete custom-fabricated cars like the twin-turbo C36 that was tuned out of a company in the Southwest.

Personally, selecting a tuner correctly requires a serious inward look into three things:

1. Budget
2. Tolerance of risk (being the guinea pig in some cases)
3. Performance goals

FWIW, Kleemann offers performance gains that are excellent for the price.

I don't think they will anymore. See if they will twin turbo your new E63 on special request? See if they will supercharge your new CLK63? See if they will make your 6.3 a 7.0L engine? I don't think they will do any of the mentioned mods per a customers request. However, Brabus, Renntech and a few others will do what ever you ask them to do. AMG will do some additional things for you such as removing speed limiters, ETC, ETC, but I don't believe they will make extensive modifications for individual consumers.

I'll ask over at the Private Lounge, but they did extensive conversions recently (post MB merger) with the likes of the W202 C55 and R129 SL 73 and S / CL 63.

Fulda commissioned the Maybach Excelero for $6MM. My personal feeling is that if you wanted to drop some coin, AMG would take your money. Would it be "cost effective"? Probably not!

I called Renntech years ago about the W126, and they just laughed in my face, soooooo hard. YMMV

I went into the BRABUS shop down in Newport Beach in Orange County (near the airport) and they just gave me a that DUMB stare. But they did have a SMART car there

I think Carlsson only works in Germany..

And MKB will do it here and Germany I think.

Claus Ettinger Corporation (CEC) is the Lorinser place in Beverly Hills, awesome body kits, but they tend more towards body kits and wheels than performance tuning.....for the most part. I did see a W220 S class sedan they worked over called the Lorinser K 60, a supercharged bad boy

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

What about McLaren for those with more money than brains?

They did an AMAZING job with the SLK 55 with the SLR drivetrain ... ate an Enzo for lunch (in a straight line that is).

I personally would say brabus, but renntech does amazing work.

In response to somebody's comment above, I was looking for tuners in the US. Thanks a lot for your input. Unfortunately, I have more brains than money and even at that, I'm only of average intelligence. . .

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

What's HWA? Never heard of them before.
lol
S8+

Dee8go

Go with Kleemann. They're work is top notch!

__________________
http://www.wheelexperts.com/gallery_reg_mb_001.html

They built the CLK-DTM and CLK-GTR versions, as well as manufacture and race DTM cars in that series. H.W.A. stands for Hans Werner Aufrecht (the "A" in AMG).