[335DJim]

Update -

Had the rouge 'Brake Light Failure' fixed at dealers today - they changed the convenience unit that runs the cars lighting system - this meant a reprogram of the car to synch it up. Soon as I drove away I realised this had blanked my 'ChippedUK' remap..

Will have to call them tomorrow to get it booked in for a re-flash.. forgot how mellow they are stock, can really feel the difference.

[Evil Diesel]

That it properly irritating.

I may need an iDrive update so this is likely to kill the map in mine as well.

[nagge]

Bah, I guess this means having my radio replaced and reprogrammed will overwrite my remap as well
Well It's a nice 900km roundtrip to Norway if anything

[red-max]

I'm fairly convinced my re-map was over-written when my car had new keys and locks replaced. Although they had to "code" the "control unit" to match the new key fobs, I wasn't expecting new software, but it looks like I got it anyway. I don't have iDrive, but I have noticed that the font on the information panel (between speedo and tacho) has changed.

Anyone know why the ECU would be re-programmed? Does the dealer just do a complete software update and this includes the ECU, or is this a cunning plot by BMW to discourage customers from re-mapping their cars?

[mjh93sa]

The process of coding the car it seems was a bit of a new idea for the E9x and as a result there are more than a few buglets.

From what I have been told by the service guys during an open day at the dealer thay cannot program a single module, only the whole car! This takes forever and a day. The process is further complicated by the fact that if the programmer crashes, or power is lost then it will most probably fry the module that it was programming at the time. In this case they have to replace the module and start again.

hence a radio change can take all day to do... if you're lucky.

[CD]

would they reprogramme the ecu on a standard service ? i carnt imagine they would, only if there was a problem !

[dxb335d]

You guys want to be aware, bmw flash a different set up on there. I have found this out already. Your original map which is saved by the tuner can not be re-installed and a new map needs to be written.


Now when mine got wiped for the first time, i thought it felt slower, but with a bit of a razz it still felt quick. But i had driven a mini cooper for two days so a stock 335d would feel quick. Went back to the Tuner just incase and the car felt ballistic after the re-map really confirming it was ''knocked to stock'' as it were.

[PhilR]

Carlos,

I asked you last week if you had lost your map after the service as I thought this may have been the case..........

You say that a new map must be written by the tuner. I can understand this else the new info on the Dealer map will be lost too if the first remap were flshed again.

I do believe that once the tuner has gained access to your ECU for the first time (they removed mine from the car to "crack it") it's a case of plugging a lead into the diagnostic port of the car, downloading the revised dealer map, modify and reflash the ECU.

Is this the case with your 335d?

PhilR

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by PhilR

Carlos,

I asked you last week if you had lost your map after the service as I thought this may have been the case..........

You say that a new map must be written by the tuner. I can understand this else the new info on the Dealer map will be lost too if the first remap were flshed again.

I do believe that once the tuner has gained access to your ECU for the first time (they removed mine from the car to "crack it") it's a case of plugging a lead into the diagnostic port of the car, downloading the revised dealer map, modify and reflash the ECU.

Is this the case with your 335d?

PhilR

Yes and modify is the key word. The map will not be the same as previously installed. Every map has its sliigght differences


they removed my ecu first time. Bmw still flash over it and the original tuner map can not go back on.

They need to tweak the file!

[deejaygee]

Spider Tuning Box seems better everyday. Took mine out last night as it's in for the hub & caliper replacement today.

Will pop it back in later...........

[PhilR]

Originally Posted by deejaygee

Spider Tuning Box seems better everyday. Took mine out last night as it's in for the hub & caliper replacement today.

Will pop it back in later...........

I agree it's nice to able to pull it on and off (your spider tuning box) when visiting the dealer. The tuning boxes are cruder but do work very well.

Unfortunately I have had issues the diesel tuning boxes in the past. One worked fine for 18 months on my Golf GTTDi, another worked well for 12 months Saab 9-3 TiD then pow.....car went into limp mode, clogged injectors, 3 trips to the dealer and it was only set to about half way. Had to remove it completely - still have it at home somewhere

Not sure if this is an isolated case?

Hene me deciding on a re-map instead for the 330d - Sorry a MODIFICATION (Carlos's benefit)

Has anyone else had issues with Tuning Boxes / Spider Boxes?

PhilR

[Cafe.Racer]

AFAIK all tuning boxes all work by increasing the amount of fueld going into the engine.

There's two ways to do this, up the fuel line pressure (so more fuel squirts out for each injector pulse) or increase the injector pulse width (how long it squirts for).

There can be other considerations, like throttle angle.

The tuning boxes that you had on your Vauxhall and SAAB - what type were they?

[deejaygee]

I think Spider box works differently to most to be honest, the box contains 25 Engine Maps - and adaptive scan functions which switches to how you are driving at the time.

The power delivery is not crude like you would find if the box simply increased fuel pressure.

[PhilR]

Originally Posted by deejaygee

I think Spider box works differently to most to be honest, the box contains 25 Engine Maps - and adaptive scan functions which switches to how you are driving at the time.

The power delivery is not crude like you would find if the box simply increased fuel pressure.

Deejaygee.

I should explain what I meant by crude. I'm not suggesting that the power delivery is anything less than smooth. I know you get good results from tuning boxes.

I have done a fair bit of reasearch on Tuning Boxes etc over the past few Years and what I mean by crude is that a tuning box can only alter the fuel by either upping the pressure or increasing pulse width (duration of each squirt) this does have an indirect effect on boost too - as the engine temp and pressure rises and produces hotter gases that spool the turbo more.

Both tuning boxes I have used made the car smoke - by overfueling the engine resulting in some it cannot burn (not enough O2) under hard acceleration. Emissions are effected too.

A remap however can adjust the fuel pressure in the rail, injector timings, pulse width, air intake, turbo pressure, etc etc and works in harmony with the cars ECU -so it effectively re programmes the car to deliver better performance with no smoking at all.

PhilR

[deejaygee]

Well I can honeslty say that I have no more smoking at all.

[PhilR]

Originally Posted by Cafe.Racer

AFAIK all tuning boxes all work by increasing the amount of fueld going into the engine.

There's two ways to do this, up the fuel line pressure (so more fuel squirts out for each injector pulse) or increase the injector pulse width (how long it squirts for).

There can be other considerations, like throttle angle.

The tuning boxes that you had on your Vauxhall and SAAB - what type were they?

The tuning boxes

A DragonPerformance analogue tuning box on my VW GTTDi (150) and this worked very very well - smoked a bit under hard acceleration but worth the £100 I paid for it (4 Years ago) - sold it on Ebay for £70 after 18 months

A CR Digital Tuning Box (£250 - cannot reacll company I bought from) on my 9-3 TiD (150) - worked fine for a Year and then had to take it off completely. Clogged the CR, emissions sensor kept tripping. Was a total nightmare.

PhilR

[gIzzE]

I think the Sabb one was from tunit??

I had 3 faulty ones for my E46 and then two faulty ones for my A3 and gave up with tuning boxes.
Also the tunit boxes threw the obc mpg reading right out, said it was up from 32mpg to 50+ but still doing the same miles per tank.
The spider box gives true mpg readings, but that might be that the E90 measures them differently?

[PhilR]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

I think the Sabb one was from tunit??

I had 3 faulty ones for my E46 and then two faulty ones for my A3 and gave up with tuning boxes.
Also the tunit boxes threw the obc mpg reading right out, said it was up from 32mpg to 50+ but still doing the same miles per tank.
The spider box gives true mpg readings, but that might be that the E90 measures them differently?

Saab Tuning Box wasn't from Tunit I know about these - it was some outfit in Scotland trading on Ebay just cannot remember their name.

I know what you mean about the MPG - the analogue unit on the VW was telling the OBC I was getting 54MPG - when I was actually getting 43MPG

The tuning box on the Saab was giving fairly accurate MPG readings to the OBC.

PhilR

[nagge]

Bah, new radio, remap overwritten

80-120 (3rd) 3,6s before, and 4,3 after

[335DJim]

My remap has been re-instated (FOC) by ChippedUK - thanks guys!