[shanknik]

I guess the question now is.. how often has a flash been attributed to a warranty claim being denied!

[Razor2010]

The old risk to reward......but, if you happen to blow your engine or destroy a gear box and are looking at a $20k+ bill because of 30+HP gain, you will be kicking yourself. Not saying not worth the risk, but man, I don’t see it.

[shanknik]

Has anyone used Evolve Technik for tuning? They seem to offer some kind of warranty in the manufacturers place if anything goes wrong and gets denied by BMW.

[Razor2010]

Originally Posted by shanknik

Has anyone used Evolve Technik for tuning? They seem to offer some kind of warranty in the manufacturers place if anything goes wrong and gets denied by BMW.

Would love to see how this holds up on real claim for a new engine or gear box and potential $20k+ bill.

[shanknik]

Originally Posted by Razor2010

Would love to see how this holds up on real claim for a new engine or gear box and potential $20k+ bill.

Yea not entirely sure, but supposedly that is what it's there for.

[g20beam]

Honestly, BM3 OTS Maps are very reliable. I know a few individuals that own a range of 3ers ranging from 4cyl to 6cyl, all running flash tune, and have had no problems, provided because they went with what was required before flashing and also just taking care of the car and not to drive it like a maniac, for instance when WOT and not shifting while till past red line, shit like that will obviously break the car if you keep doing it. But I know most don’t do that, and most have some sense of taking care of their cars and also appropriately modding their vehicles.

Just take care of your car when you mod it. Oil changes, constantly monitoring logs, etc.

On a side note regarding warranty. There are rumors that BMW logs the status of the car through the key of your vehicle. Not sure if this is true or not, but regardless, best thing to do when you flash your car back to stock and relock DME, use your spare key that’s never been used to unlock the car when it’s tuned, and use that key for service. It’s never a guarantee but, stay super safe with it, and chances are you just might be able to get away with it.

But honestly if you break a car while modding it, you should be the one paying for it. It’s not BMW’s fault you went and screwed with the car and broke it. Pay to play. Simple as that. If you’re so worried about warranty then tuning this early on simply isn’t for you.

[VipinLJ]

Originally Posted by g20beam

Honestly, BM3 OTS Maps are very reliable. I know a few individuals that own a range of 3ers ranging from 4cyl to 6cyl, all running flash tune, and have had no problems, provided because they went with what was required before flashing and also just taking care of the car and not to drive it like a maniac, for instance when WOT and not shifting while till past red line, shit like that will obviously break the car if you keep doing it. But I know most don’t do that, and most have some sense of taking care of their cars and also appropriately modding their vehicles.

Just take care of your car when you mod it. Oil changes, constantly monitoring logs, etc.

On a side note regarding warranty. There are rumors that BMW logs the status of the car through the key of your vehicle. Not sure if this is true or not, but regardless, best thing to do when you flash your car back to stock and relock DME, use your spare key that’s never been used to unlock the car when it’s tuned, and use that key for service. It’s never a guarantee but, stay super safe with it, and chances are you just might be able to get away with it.

But honestly if you break a car while modding it, you should be the one paying for it. It’s not BMW’s fault you went and screwed with the car and broke it. Pay to play. Simple as that. If you’re so worried about warranty then tuning this early on simply isn’t for you.

I agree.

Also, I’ve heard of SAs claiming that BMW notes DME changes via connecteddrive too. I find that hard to believe but who knows what the truth is. Either way, if you get your car tuned, it’s almost guaranteed that you lose engine and drive train warranty. There’s no guarantee that you won’t lose it with a piggy back as well.

Pay to play it definitely is.

[shanknik]

I spoke to my local dealership today and told him of my plans with tuning.. he really didn't seem to phased and just said make sure you get a tune that can be reverted to stock when you bring it in for a service.

Apparently the same guy used to work at a tuning shop some years back.. however he was in the parts department and not service, not entirely sure why they transferred me there!

[Razor2010]

Originally Posted by shanknik

I spoke to my local dealership today and told him of my plans with tuning.. he really didn't seem to phased and just said make sure you get a tune that can be reverted to stock when you bring it in for a service.

Apparently the same guy used to work at a tuning shop some years back.. however he was in the parts department and not service, not entirely sure why they transferred me there!

Just know he will be of zero help when BMW denies your warranty claim because of tuning.

[shanknik]

Originally Posted by Razor2010

Just know he will be of zero help when BMW denies your warranty claim because of tuning.

hahaha agreed, also did not mention my name, vin or rego so he doesn't know who I am. Also reviewed me to BMW club here locally as well.

[OM3RTA]

Originally Posted by g20beam

Honestly, BM3 OTS Maps are very reliable. I know a few individuals that own a range of 3ers ranging from 4cyl to 6cyl, all running flash tune, and have had no problems, provided because they went with what was required before flashing and also just taking care of the car and not to drive it like a maniac, for instance when WOT and not shifting while till past red line, shit like that will obviously break the car if you keep doing it. But I know most don’t do that, and most have some sense of taking care of their cars and also appropriately modding their vehicles.

Just take care of your car when you mod it. Oil changes, constantly monitoring logs, etc.

On a side note regarding warranty. [COLOR="black"]There are rumors that BMW logs the status of the car through the key of your vehicle. /COLOR]Not sure if this is true or not, but regardless, best thing to do when you flash your car back to stock and relock DME, use your spare key that’s never been used to unlock the car when it’s tuned, and use that key for service. It’s never a guarantee but, stay super safe with it, and chances are you just might be able to get away with it.

But honestly if you break a car while modding it, you should be the one paying for it. It’s not BMW’s fault you went and screwed with the car and broke it. Pay to play. Simple as that. If you’re so worried about warranty then tuning this early on simply isn’t for you.

This is true & I would agree that this method might just work.

[agma]

Originally Posted by VipinLJ

Nope. Battery did not die. The car refused to start saying it was parked on an incline and that it was in gear. When both were not true (car was parked on absolutely level ground in my garage and it was in P as show on the dash and gear selector). And it happened right at the end of the flashing process (after around 95%). I did some digging around with the help of g20beam and we found that someone had the exact same issue I had on their M2C (right down to what it said when it was being flashed). In his car, they said it was because the software was the updated one by BMW wherein they’re making it harder to flash cars via obd alone and it needs to be bench flashed first.

Someone else who knows a bit about BMWs said cars post mid-2019 had the updated software (not sure how true it is but in my case that might be it). My car was manufactured in 08/2019.

I messaged a few people who had BM3 tunes on their cars and both their cars were early model cars (very early 2019 and early 2018). Which as probably why they were successful. I have not come across anyone else with a newer car that is running BM3.

My g20 was manufactured in 05/2019 do you think I will be fine with the BM3 tune?

[agma]

Originally Posted by g20beam

It’s both the production date and the ECU software date. If your car is produced in 2018 and it was flashed with the updated ECU software from late 2019, you lose the ability to flash BM3. So the criteria for being able to flash BM3 is limited to

1) Your car MUST be produced before March 2019 (Or so the guy said on another thread on M2C forum about cars produced after March 2019 cannot be flashed with BM3)

2) Your car MUST have the early 2019 ECU software

my g20 was manufactured in 05/2019 do you think bm3 will be fine for me?

[VipinLJ]

Originally Posted by agma

My g20 was manufactured in 05/2019 do you think I will be fine with the BM3 tune?

I’m not very sure. I guess the only way to confirm is to actually try and flash the car like I did?

[nicksam5]

I'm also new to this whole tuning things but I'm mainly looking for which tune is the best for increase in hp. Also do tunes make your car louder if so what's the best way to go about that?

[VipinLJ]

Depends.

Flash tunes are considered the best since it gives an OEM+ feel. Problem with flash tunes is that the DME/ECU has to be bench unlocked in newer cars which requires you sending it via mail or taking it to a shop to get it bench unlocked.

Piggybacks have come a long way compared to a few years ago. They're not considered as good as tunes by purists. But they definitely work and your car will feel like a "boosted/tuned" car. I have a JB4 on my 330i and I love it.

Regarding tuning and warranty. There are probably a million threads out there and a million and one view points on it. You'll have to go through a few of them and make an informed decision.

A basic stage 1 tune will give you an increase in HP. You can increase that even more with hardware mods (intake, exhaust, new turbo, strengthened internals, better cooling system, charge pipe etc). A transmission tune for our cars is also in the pipes (xHP is working on it). It won't increase the HP but it can help make your car faster.

Some flash tunes can help make your car louder in the form of burbles (called burble tunes). But you'll need an aftermarket exhaust/downpipe since I've read it can melt the stock cat if overdone. But since you're based in cali where you'll need to pass emissions tests, that might be out of the question (going catless). Piggy backs will not help with making your car louder.

[bquatt]

Originally Posted by Razor2010

The old risk to reward......but, if you happen to blow your engine or destroy a gear box and are looking at a $20k+ bill because of 30+HP gain, you will be kicking yourself. Not saying not worth the risk, but man, I don’t see it.

While I agree with this rationale, I just don't think there is much risk with a simple stage 1 tune. The B46/48 is a closed deck block and is essentially the B58 less 2 cylinders. It most certainly can handle 315 crank HP and 350 TQ with ease. Same with the ZF8 transmission. While there's always risk, I just don't see it as substantial. It's when people start getting greedy that there could be problems

[Don76]

Originally Posted by VipinLJ

I’m not very sure. I guess the only way to confirm is to actually try and flash the car like I did?

Not quite true.

I have a 2020 build car. I did a "pre-scan" with BM3 app and shared my ECU version with the makers of BM3 (pro tuning freaks)

Within 2 mins they replied to say "your DME is locked, do not proceed" I then had a local tuner unlock the DME. This unlocking allows me to flash between maps whenever I like. It took 15mins and cost £100. The shop stuck a couple of pins on the side of the ECU whilst it remained in the car and performed some wizardry on a laptop.

Had I just went ahead and tried to flash before confirming my ECU info then I'd have had a bricked car.

[VipinLJ]

Originally Posted by Don76

Not quite true.

I have a 2020 build car. I did a "pre-scan" with BM3 app and shared my ECU version with the makers of BM3 (pro tuning freaks)

Within 2 mins they replied to say "your DME is locked, do not proceed" I then had a local tuner unlock the DME. This unlocking allows me to flash between maps whenever I like. It took 15mins and cost £100. The shop stuck a couple of pins on the side of the ECU whilst it remained in the car and performed some wizardry on a laptop.

Had I just went ahead and tried to flash before confirming my ECU info then I'd have had a bricked car.

That post was made many many months back. Before tuners knew for sure that the DME was locked and there was an unlocking option. I say because that's exactly what happened to me. I flashed it. My DME was locked but back then, people claimed only M cars had the lock and not non-M cars. My car was bricked. PTF unbricked it for me after a bit of back and forth. Now they know for sure that the DME is locked and can be bench unlocked.

[Don76]

Originally Posted by VipinLJ

That post was made many many months back. Before tuners knew for sure that the DME was locked and there was an unlocking option. I say because that's exactly what happened to me. I flashed it. My DME was locked but back then, people claimed only M cars had the lock and not non-M cars. My car was bricked. PTF unbricked it for me after a bit of back and forth. Now they know for sure that the DME is locked and can be bench unlocked.

Sounds like I benefited from your unfortunate situation. Glad you got it resolved in the end fella.

I'm now in a similar position with regards to software update 07/2020.54. The OTA update is awaiting install, but I can't be sure it won't mess up the ECU unlock. Given I'm running stage 2 BM3 with decat this would be a disaster for me....

[VipinLJ]

Originally Posted by Don76

Sounds like I benefited from your unfortunate situation. Glad you got it resolved in the end fella.

I'm now in a similar position with regards to software update 07/2020.54. The OTA update is awaiting install, but I can't be sure it won't mess up the ECU unlock. Given I'm running stage 2 BM3 with decat this would be a disaster for me....

Hehe. I'm sure they had others with similar issues which was when tuners realized BMW was upping their game!

And I did read about someone (a couple of G20 330i owners actually) who updated their car to the latest software OTA (or at a service centre - not sure) and they couldn't flash their car with BM3 and needed to bench unlock the DME (they had an older car with older software on it and DME was unlocked then).

[nicksam5]

Originally Posted by VipinLJ

Depends.

Flash tunes are considered the best since it gives an OEM+ feel. Problem with flash tunes is that the DME/ECU has to be bench unlocked in newer cars which requires you sending it via mail or taking it to a shop to get it bench unlocked.

Piggybacks have come a long way compared to a few years ago. They're not considered as good as tunes by purists. But they definitely work and your car will feel like a "boosted/tuned" car. I have a JB4 on my 330i and I love it.

Regarding tuning and warranty. There are probably a million threads out there and a million and one view points on it. You'll have to go through a few of them and make an informed decision.

A basic stage 1 tune will give you an increase in HP. You can increase that even more with hardware mods (intake, exhaust, new turbo, strengthened internals, better cooling system, charge pipe etc). A transmission tune for our cars is also in the pipes (xHP is working on it). It won't increase the HP but it can help make your car faster.

Some flash tunes can help make your car louder in the form of burbles (called burble tunes). But you'll need an aftermarket exhaust/downpipe since I've read it can melt the stock cat if overdone. But since you're based in cali where you'll need to pass emissions tests, that might be out of the question (going catless). Piggy backs will not help with making your car louder.

I got you. I'm mainly looking for a deeper noise and backfire is that is possible. Obviously want some performance too.