[e.n335]

I called Hartge today whats up with their ECU flash. Got the answer that they removed their previous ECU flash from their website and won't provide a different, newer / better flash. They did not want to have something on their website they are not able to deliver. They never sold such a flash.

A second, excellent German BMW ECU tuner I know I gave a ring explained to me that there is no technology avaliable yet to flash this ECU, the 335i is on the top of his priority tunes but he is simply not able to get the technology to do it and he does not expect it will available this year.

Anybody here has a 335i ECU flash in the car already ? I am not interested in announced or "for sale" ECU flashes, I am interested in an installed one ...

Thank you.

- Eugen

[BoostedBMW]

Wow, this is pretty interesting news. I just read the last issue of Bimmer magazine and they had a whole article on Hartge's 335i, and they were raving about how good the flash was. I'm very surprised to hear this, I wonder how they could go from having the prototype running around to just giving up on it. Its such a huge market to give up on also.

[stressdoc]

Very interesting.

[6Zylinder]

Maybe BMW wont let them do ECU upgrades due to reliability issues. (oil temp high or poss. overheating of cylinder 5+6) I don't know, just guessing.

[bnj]

Well, I asked the same question a couple of weeks ago when noticing that Hartge does not have reflash listed in their site. Nobody answered saying having a reflash and I am quite sure nobody has a reflash. Only BMW (including Alpina) is able to access the ECU, since it is well protected.

[BzzzBom]

and Dinan - reflash may be available as early as next month

[Bimmerista]

You know it is quite possible that BMWAG is leaning on the official tuners, who rely on their corporate goodwill to have access to tech specs and pre-pro cars to have their accessories launch at the same time as the new model.

It is also quite likely that BMW does this bcs of the excessive heat problems and also bcs the manual tranny they use is close to being maxed out in terms of the torque it can handle (the auto as well from what I read).

[Serjames]

here's a scenario...

borrowed Turbo tuner or procede or xcede etc etc etc

Press rave, concept sells...

buying time for hartge to actually crack the ecu, which MUST be proving difficult or we'd see reflashes right.

So is this a case of marketing selling before engineering have finished tinkering.

?

SJ

[6Zylinder]

Originally Posted by BzzzBom

and Dinan - reflash may be available as early as next month

Maybe not, BMW might lean on them to. BTW, is BMW quitting its partnership with Dinan at the end of the year?

[rwalker]

Originally Posted by e.n335

I called Hartge today whats up with their ECU flash. Got the answer that they removed their previous ECU flash from their website and won't provide a different, newer / better flash. They did not want to have something on their website they are not able to deliver. They never sold such a flash.

A second, excellent German BMW ECU tuner I know I gave a ring explained to me that there is no technology avaliable yet to flash this ECU, the 335i is on the top of his priority tunes but he is simply not able to get the technology to do it and he does not expect it will available this year.

Anybody here has a 335i ECU flash in the car already ? I am not interested in announced or "for sale" ECU flashes, I am interested in an installed one ...

Thank you.

- Eugen

At Bimmerfest a noted European tuner told me that BMW had actually threatened legal remedies against at least one tuner who tried to sell a reflash in Europe. The story goes that cracking the encryption of the ECU might legally be considered a form of industrial espionage.

This might be a smart move by BMW. Maybe they learned a lesson from Audi's experience with the B5 S4: Audi spent a lot of money replacing turbos on those cars (I'd heard that warranty work had come to something like $3k per car).

-Rob

[former 240 s14]

Here is another scenario.... Maybe BMW is leaning on these tuners because they are going to add an ecu flash down the road with the performance parts division that is growing????

Rubin

[adc]

Originally Posted by Bimmerista

You know it is quite possible that BMWAG is leaning on the official tuners, who rely on their corporate goodwill to have access to tech specs and pre-pro cars to have their accessories launch at the same time as the new model.

It is also quite likely that BMW does this bcs of the excessive heat problems and also bcs the manual tranny they use is close to being maxed out in terms of the torque it can handle (the auto as well from what I read).

I expect this is the case, although I'm not sure which one of the causes prompted the move.

Another possibility is that BMW is also supposedly coming out with their own line of performance products, including an alleged "50HP" increase via reflash.

I think it's true, I've seen pics of the BMW E46 performance parts catalog. It had the cams and reflash to turn a regular 330 into the ZHP. I would be truly surprised if BMW didn't offer some HP upgrades for the 335.

Originally Posted by Serjames

So is this a case of marketing selling before engineering have finished tinkering.

Hartge is reputable, and big. If they were found with this type of marketing, they would loose face bigtime. They would be nuts to go out of this modification market with a whimper - if they had a piggyback why not sell that?

[adc]

Originally Posted by rwalker

This might be a smart move by BMW. Maybe they learned a lesson from Audi's experience with the B5 S4: Audi spent a lot of money replacing turbos on those cars (I'd heard that warranty work had come to something like $3k per car).

Still doesn't solve the problem. There are now piggybacks, SSTT, juice boxes which still increase boost - some up the wazoo.

They can keep their encryption, won't stop tuners.

[roy@gambitmotorsport]

I'm missing something, perhaps - isn't this a reflash of the stock ECU?

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...CT_ID=TN54-ST1

If so, did Turner crack it? Are they not under the same pressures as Hartge?

[e90AW335i]

Originally Posted by roy@gambitmotorsport

I'm missing something, perhaps - isn't this a reflash of the stock ECU?

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...CT_ID=TN54-ST1

If so, did Turner crack it? Are they not under the same pressures as Hartge?

Looks like a reflash since you have to remove the computer and send it in.....

Also, does anyone have this installed.....I am asking because their website says "Due to the large sales volume of this software, the price has recently dropped and customers who have purchased this at the higher introductory price will be refunded."

[Park2670]

Seems interesting, this is the first I have heard of a flash from anyone.

[Rips335iCoupe]

Let's not forget EVOtech ...

[schneid4323]

Originally Posted by e.n335

I called Hartge today whats up with their ECU flash. Got the answer that they removed their previous ECU flash from their website and won't provide a different, newer / better flash. They did not want to have something on their website they are not able to deliver. They never sold such a flash.

A second, excellent German BMW ECU tuner I know I gave a ring explained to me that there is no technology avaliable yet to flash this ECU, the 335i is on the top of his priority tunes but he is simply not able to get the technology to do it and he does not expect it will available this year.

Anybody here has a 335i ECU flash in the car already ? I am not interested in announced or "for sale" ECU flashes, I am interested in an installed one ...

Thank you.

- Eugen

Nope welcome to my delima.

[schneid4323]

Originally Posted by roy@gambitmotorsport

I'm missing something, perhaps - isn't this a reflash of the stock ECU?

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...CT_ID=TN54-ST1

If so, did Turner crack it? Are they not under the same pressures as Hartge?

Im pretty sure with that you have to have the dealer reset all the settings which is ridiculously expensive, such as the key flob

[roy@gambitmotorsport]

Originally Posted by roy@gambitmotorsport

I'm missing something, perhaps - isn't this a reflash of the stock ECU?

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...CT_ID=TN54-ST1

If so, did Turner crack it? Are they not under the same pressures as Hartge?

Come to think of it, might these have been one and the same?