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Even if most of the time, the tuner like Brabus, Renntech claimed they can provide same warranty as Mercedes. I still have heard negative stories when something actually happened with some customer's drivetrain. If the dealer have good connection with Renntech, then it will be a different story.
Warrenty is a very tricky business in the US. It's not so black and white unfortunely.
This is actually pretty interesting, William. I always thought that warranty isn't tricky at all in the US and that the dealers have
clearly to provide proof that the failure is connected to the aftermarket mod.
Well, here in Germany warranty is very tricky too. Mercedes has the so called "Pascha List" as far as I remember. When the dealer finds out that the car has been altered with (ECU, engine mods, suspension mods, etc.), he is obliged to report it. A similar thing exists also with Porsche as far as I know and I bet other car manufacturers have
their own methods to deal with aftermarket mods. I always find it funny when people do for example ECU mods and think they're undetectable. They might be undetectable by the regular "imnotinthemoodtowork" mechanic at the dealership but as soon as a factory rep has to come to check (for example if the engine needs replacement), you're busted.
Even if the dealer did the aftermarket install, this doesn't mean it is covered by the factory warranty (some people don't seem to understand that).
Best thing to do is to go to a reputable Tuner like Brabus to get an additional warranty for stuff which isn't covered by factory warranty or to have some kind of "secret arrangement" with your own dealer who sold you the car and who does the aftermarket install. The factory knows only what he reports.
I'm actually a little bit disappointed that AMG doesn't offer so called powerkits as Porsche does. It shouldn't be difficult to pull an additional 30-40 HP out of the supercharged V8 engines without compromising reliability too much.
They could sell these kits for let's say 5000 EUR as a new car option and 7000 EUR as a retrofit kit including install.
Brabus charges a fortune (if I remember correctly around 17000 EUR) for the 530 HP kit on the E55. I understand it comes with a warranty but this is a lot of money for so little power. Considering that most E55 already have around 500 HP power from the factory, 30 HP more for 17000 EUR are completely exaggerated.