[KaiserN54]

I thought I would write up this quick review because I think it might be helpful to get a completely, 100% no bullshit impression from a customer whom Shiv probably finds very annoying and/or doesn't like very much if I had to guess.( based on my past experiences with him.) Thus, I am far from a cheerleader. I am one of the first flex fuel purchasers who lives far from California, and I will simply say that while there were-many-bumps along the road, overall I am very, very happy with the end result.

The good:

1) Now that the car is fully buttoned up and everything is installed- and putting after some E85 in the tank....HOLY CRAP. This is my second e90 and I have never, ever felt anything like this before. (meth has nothing on this) I can be cruising in 3rd gear at 40mph, and when I floor it, the rear end wants to go sideways, despite my wavetrac and relatively new-ish michelin pilot SS's. And that is with maybe with 60% E85 fuel in the tank.

2) Likewise, the sensor integration is just GENIUS. The peace of mind, and to not need to constantly be f*&$ing with the tune on my car, make the kit totally worthwhile. When I got the car back from my mechanic, I only had 93 octane in the car- no problem. No map changes, no constantly worrying about whether the map i'm running will work well with the gas in the tank. Set it and forget it. I stopped by the gas station, and immediately found myself wanting to monitor how many gallons of E85 I was adding to the quarter tank of 93 I already had out of habit. No need to do that here. I topped off with straight E85. Car started fine, and after the ethanol change was detected, no problem. car runs extremely hard and is very smooth. Despite the high ethanol and boost levels, fuel trims never exceeded 5%!



The bad:

1)There were some hiccups in getting my DME to and from Vishnu. I sent the DME in on a Tuesday next day morning service from Cleveland. I specifially requested a rush to get the DME back to me before the end of the week for a number of logistical issues. I called them and asked this of them, AND I included a written not in the box with my DME. Despite this, no DME until the following Monday. This, despite making special arrangements in a rush with Robert to get payment for shipping done, and being told it would ship that night.

2) Between Vishnu and FFTEC, it seems one hand doesn't know what the other is doing. Robert was unable to answer many questions I had about the kit, and told me he would have to ask Shiv. But then I wouldn't hear back. five hours later, no response. It wasn't until a e90post member gave me Shiv's cell that I was able to reach him and get some questions answered. Shiv did get better about getting back to me with some subseqent questions, but still.

3) Even though I got my DME and Flex-fuel kit back on a Monday, i couldn't actually install the kit until wednesday, because the install instructions and maps weren't available until then. This meant running around a car with probably 150 horsepower, because the DME will only run 1-2 pounds of boost if it doesn't detect the sensor. (a safety feature that I appreciate) This means that those with dealer worries will have problems, because if the kit is removed, the car will be obviously handicapped to anyone who drives it. You can turn off the proceed if you want, and I don't know if BMW will detect the flash, but you better hope they don't take it for a test drive.

4) The instructions are a tad unclear. For example, they tell you to remove pin 17, "and the one below it" without specifying which one. This could mean the wire directly below it literally, on the same (female) side, or the male side opposite the wire. The pictures allowed me figure it out, but why not just call it "pin X" on the male side? Like wise, the connector included in the kit which goes to the proceed accessory patch presented me with the dilema of having to figure out how to plug a female connector into another female connector. This was resolved by sniping both connectors and directly attaching them- no biggie, but it made things harder than they needed to be.

All in all, im very, very happy with the kit. It will be even better when all the kinks are worked out, though.

[Jeller]

Thanks for your review :tup:

I have a flashed DME but dont have my flex fuel kit yet (still waiting) and my car would run actually more boost than I thought was comfortable for not having the procede installed in the car (just flashed DME only)

[pinky_and_me]

Originally Posted by atomos319

Like wise, the connector included in the kit which goes to the proceed accessory patch presented me with the dilema of having to figure out how to plug a female connector into another female connector. This was resolved by sniping both connectors and directly attaching them- no biggie, but it made things harder than they needed to be.

Just got mine (and I'm in Cleveland as well

About the wires, this is what the instructions say:

5) With the DME connectors fully installed, you will now see the two stray wires that you extract in Step 3. Connect the male terminated wire to the female terminated wire on the FlexFuel harness. Then using two small bits of electrical tape, cover the exposed terminals so that they don't short against anything nearby.

Are you saying that you connected the female terminated wire from the procede harness to the flexfuel harness and it still works?

[spiderx4]

How many mpg's do u average with the setup running straight e85?

[KaiserN54]

Originally Posted by pinky_and_me

Just got mine (and I'm in Cleveland as well

About the wires, this is what the instructions say:

5) With the DME connectors fully installed, you will now see the two stray wires that you extract in Step 3. Connect the male terminated wire to the female terminated wire on the FlexFuel harness. Then using two small bits of electrical tape, cover the exposed terminals so that they don't short against anything nearby.

Are you saying that you connected the female terminated wire from the procede harness to the flexfuel harness and it still works?

Nope, talking about step 6:

"Plug the 2-wire connector from the FlexFuel harness into the expansion port on the Procede. Shown below is the Procede Rev3 harness's 9-pin expansion port. "

My expansion port is female, and my two wire connector was...female. had to snip them both to make it work.

What part of Cleveland are you in?

[pinky_and_me]

Originally Posted by atomos319

Nope, talking about step 6:

"Plug the 2-wire connector from the FlexFuel harness into the expansion port on the Procede. Shown below is the Procede Rev3 harness's 9-pin expansion port. "

My expansion port is female, and my two wire connector was...female. had to snip them both to make it work.

What part of Cleveland are you in?

Ah, I'll have to check mine, I do have the rev2 harness though and my meth kit does have the female plug which fits just fine.

How difficult was it to disconnect the fuel line? Did you have to remove any under-trays?

I'm in Lakewood, how about you?

[Ferruccio]

Originally Posted by atomos319

Nope, talking about step 6:

"Plug the 2-wire connector from the FlexFuel harness into the expansion port on the Procede. Shown below is the Procede Rev3 harness's 9-pin expansion port. "

My expansion port is female, and my two wire connector was...female. had to snip them both to make it work.

What part of Cleveland are you in?

I have a Flex Fuel kit installed, and, on the highway, the car says I'm getting about 23 mpg. However, I would not put much faith in this number, as Shiv said that the estimates will be a bit optimistic, due to using a different type of fuel. I'm not sure what I am actually getting, as the California fuel prices have thrown off my usual pattern of fill-ups.

[KaiserN54]

Originally Posted by pinky_and_me

Ah, I'll have to check mine, I do have the rev2 harness though and my meth kit does have the female plug which fits just fine.

How difficult was it to disconnect the fuel line? Did you have to remove any under-trays?

I'm in Lakewood, how about you?

I don't know, I paid a mechanic to do it. Cost about $200.00. Since he's now got experience doing the job, I can give his info if you like. Just about everything on my car his shop put on. (although the wiring stuff is up to me- not their area of expertise).


I live near Kamms. Funny, i'm guessing you fill up at the same GE pumps I do on 117th, right? Never thought i'd be putting GE gas in my car! Well at least now I can use those fuelperks.

[pinky_and_me]

Originally Posted by atomos319

I live near Kamms. Funny, i'm guessing you fill up at the same GE pumps I do on 117th, right? Never thought i'd be putting GE gas in my car! Well at least now I can use those fuelperks.

Yep, the same gas station.

Just got the install done - 2.5 hours.
Removing the metal plate over the fuel line and disconnecting the line are the two toughest things. I wish I had one of those flexible ratchet extensions and a lift. That would probably make the install much faster.

[joec500]

Driving at WOT as often as possible I have been getting about 12-13 MPG's. Vs about 18 when I used 91.

[dtdprobe]

Hey, another Clevelander and Kamms area 335i here.

I'm running a Cobb AP tune, but am very interested in this FlexFuel kit, is it Proceed only?

Edit: sorry, found the answer, I guess the Cobb will be going up for sale after I'm out of warranty.

[pinky_and_me]

Originally Posted by dtdprobe

Hey, another Clevelander and Kamms area 335i here.

I'm running a Cobb AP tune, but am very interested in this FlexFuel kit, is it Proceed only?

Hi there, there are more moded 335 around here than I though, I should be careful from now on

The kit is generic enough that it can be used by other piggies but I'm not sure how Cobb can take advantage of it without more hardware.
All the kit really gives you is an analog input of the ethanol concentration. Theoretically anything can read the input and adjust logic as necessary but Cobb can't handle any inputs outside of what the DME has (for the moment).

[KaiserN54]

Originally Posted by pinky_and_me

Hi there, there are more moded 335 around here than I though, I should be careful from now on

The kit is generic enough that it can be used by other piggies but I'm not sure how Cobb can take advantage of it without more hardware.
All the kit really gives you is an analog input of the ethanol concentration. Theoretically anything can read the input and adjust logic as necessary but Cobb can't handle any inputs outside of what the DME has (for the moment).

Ah, no, I don't think other tuning platforms are compatible. Only the Proceed has the tuning logic to autotune based on the ethanol reading. I can tell you first hand the DME flash only allows the car to run 1-2lbs of boost without the sensor or proceed beiung hooked up. I'm guessing other platforms might be able to backwards engineer it, but...they would likely have to start from scratch. Besides, what are the other players going to offer that this solution doesn't? (aside from maybe better/more responsive customer service)

[JamesM3M5]

Shiv mentioned that the output is not an analog 0-5V, but didn't elaborate whether it was analog some other voltage or digital signal.

[pinky_and_me]

Originally Posted by JamesM3M5

Shiv mentioned that the output is not an analog 0-5V, but didn't elaborate whether it was analog some other voltage or digital signal.

But the sensor is not custom so there must be a spec sheet somewhere. All I was trying to say is that it's not dependent to the Procede.
Right now it sounds like that's the only piggy that can use it but I don't see why others won't be able to make it work as well.