[scotthilly]

Hey everyone - the previous owner of my 335i had the MPPK flashed by a 3rd party for a couple hundred bucks as opposed to paying the dealer $1,500 or so.

Never thought this was a problem but when I took the car in for service the other day, they performed a software update on the dme and the ppk was removed.

I’m assuming my only option is to have it reflashed by a third party and run the risk of this happening again, or take it to a dealer and fork over a ton of cash.

Does anyone have experience with this and any solutions beyond the two mentioned? Thanks very much.

I posted this in e90 as well but there’s far more F30 N55 owners

[voxumf30]

Just buy MHD or Bootmod3 and flash a stage 1 tune for ~$600.

[rlesko]

It sounds like you have an E series car?

Was it a genuine BMW MPPK for your VIN? Just tell the dealer they overwrote your MPPK. I sincerely doubt the tune can be overwritten with a software update…

[scotthilly]

Yep, E90. Unfortunately it was done by a 3rd party remote tuner.

I was able to find a ppk on eBay for $250, and a dealer to install for $100. So I’ll just get it done OEM. It’ll be nice to have the sticker for it and the knowledge it’ll never get lost again regardless of any update.

[scotthilly]

Originally Posted by voxumf30

Just buy MHD or Bootmod3 and flash a stage 1 tune for ~$600.

Unfortunately, I want to retain the OEM nature of the PPK. I actually have a 3rd party warranty and need it for that, plus I like having it serviced at BMW.

[rlesko]

Originally Posted by scotthilly

Yep, E90. Unfortunately it was done by a 3rd party remote tuner.

I was able to find a ppk on eBay for $250, and a dealer to install for $100. So I’ll just get it done OEM. It’ll be nice to have the sticker for it and the knowledge it’ll never get lost again regardless of any update.

I’m not an expert but again, a software update should not overwrite a tune.

On the F series platform, you cannot buy an MPPK off eBay. The FSC which are generated are tied to the VIN at the time of purchase. I would be weary of the same on an E series platform.

How did you get the original MPPK? Again, I’m not sure why you don’t tell the dealer you think you lost your PPK as part of their update.

[scotthilly]

Originally Posted by rlesko

I’m not an expert but again, a software update should not overwrite a tune.

On the F series platform, you cannot buy an MPPK off eBay. The FSC which are generated are tied to the VIN at the time of purchase. I would be weary of the same on an E series platform.

How did you get the original MPPK? Again, I’m not sure why you don’t tell the dealer you think you lost your PPK as part of their update.

Yeah, so the original owner flashed and I believe he used a 3rd party to have it flashed - perhaps an MHD bin file or something like that, not 100% sure - but it was not a dealer that coded it. One of the services online (sf*********) says any software update will remove the flash, and I believe that's what happened. It was an independent mechanic that did the software update this time.

I've seen that e90 mppk's are NOT tied to vin's, unlike the f3x ones. I'll update this thread accordingly based on what happens here. Thank you!