Mike Benvo Coding Review

AWE90M3 · 07-21-2012, 10:20 PM

Just posted an engine tuning review as well. As stated in that post, i just shipped my car back to California from Germany, and contacted The Tech to get an appointment for some coding. He set me up with Mike and they both worked with my schedule to get what i wanted done in the short amount of time i had to do it.

A little back story. I ordered my sedan through military car sales in Feb 11 and it was built and delivered in April 11. It's a US spec car, but had the German Nav maps loaded from the factory. I tried to get it to the local German dealership to get the maps swapped to US prior to shipping, but they weren't able to get them in. I had been following the 2012 Nav update thread, downloaded the ISO's from Kmarei's home server, contacted Sergej for the FSC code, bought 3 16gb USB sticks all formatted to FAT32, and thought i had everything ready to go for the update. I get to California, pick up the car, plug the USB into the glove box, it says an update is available, and then it gives me the error screen about incomplete/manipulated data, see your service center. So I've got no maps, it shows me in the Atlantic Ocean, wonderful...

I make it to Mikes place by iPhone and tell him the story. No problem he says, we'll get it fixed. Turns out when i formatted the USB sticks I didn't set it to the default allocation unit, guess the Nav didn't like that. He reformatted my sticks and reloaded the files, inserted into the glove box and it started updating.

While the Nav is updating, Mike gets started on the coding i wanted done. He ran down the whole list of options and explained everything in detail while he was working. I had some questions about a few of the options and he was more than happy to show me how they worked on his vehicle. When i ordered my car, BMW Live/Internet/Apps had just become available, but i didn't select it on my build. He took me for a spin and gave me the full demo, i had to have it. I noticed the engine tune as well during the ride and was sold on that as well.

So we get back to his place, headed to the elevator to go get the laptop again, and out comes a 2 or 3 year old kid with no parents in sight, on the garage level. We both look at each other like WTF? The kid sees Mike, gives him a High Five, and just clings to his leg. Interesting. We head up to the Lobby with the kid to start trying to contact the parents, when the Mom comes running down the hall. Mike explains the situation and everything is well. I thought she was gonna accuse us of kidnapping or something, but she was just happy we found her kid. Disaster averted. Mike "Child Savior" Benvo: Hero of the Day.

Finally get back to coding in the BMW Live/Internet/Apps and everything works like a champ. The NAV finished updating, I'm no longer in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the car doesn't have the annoying gong sound, along with the NAV accept screens, seat belt warnings, amber corners, etc. the list goes on. Amazing. It's like an entirely new car.

I got the "stage 1" engine tune as well (see separate review)

I started my 9 hour drive to Tucson and had absolutely no issues with anything, car drove flawlessly.

Once again, if your thinking about getting some coding done, remotely or locally, let Mike take care of you, he knows his sh*t and was great to deal with. Thanks again to The Tech as well for setting it all up.

bcscout · 10-26-2012, 11:54 AM

Cool. ///MFlight as some members that have the knowledge code our cars here in Europe. I dread the day I have to go back to the US w/ my M3 that has a European CIC. Great story by the way.

THE TECH · 10-26-2012, 01:36 PM

Thanks for the review. It was a pleasure working with you!!

ROB_S2K · 10-26-2012, 03:32 PM

Loving Mike's tune. It completely transformed the car.

TTG · 11-07-2012, 09:32 PM

He never responded back to my emails and I got my coding done locally.

Glad all worked out for you.

Mike Benvo · 11-08-2012, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TTG

He never responded back to my emails and I got my coding done locally.

Glad all worked out for you.

Very sorry about that.. it's in my signature to please call me. I am behind on emails since my business trip to Europe. We have been working every day to make a fully featured site for everyone to use which will have a full webshop and a ton of information. That plus all of the development projects I have been working on and assembling the tuning cables + tuning tons of cars has made it very difficult to find time to answer email requests.

I'm glad you were able to have it done locally, and I hope you accept my apology. It's likely that you'll have a response to your email in a couple weeks when I have a chance to get to them, please disregard the response in advance.

Sorry about that.

mark896 · 11-08-2012, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Very sorry about that.. it's in my signature to please call me. I am behind on emails since my business trip to Europe. We have been working every day to make a fully featured site for everyone to use which will have a full webshop and a ton of information. That plus all of the development projects I have been working on and assembling the tuning cables + tuning tons of cars has made it very difficult to find time to answer email requests.

I'm glad you were able to have it done locally, and I hope you accept my apology. It's likely that you'll have a response to your email in a couple weeks when I have a chance to get to them, please disregard the response in advance.

Sorry about that.

Hey Mike, I will be your email/PM secretary. When do I start?

THE TECH · 11-08-2012, 03:32 PM

If anyone has any requests, questions or inquiries they can always contact me. I answer PMs the same day.

xiliy · 11-19-2012, 07:03 PM

Last week I got my LCI lights, so I gave Mike a call to see if he can do coding. Long story short, few hours later we met up in West Los Angeles. Not only that he did coding he also installed them for me. I know its not like he installed a supercharger, but still a nice benefit for me since I do not enjoy doing this type of work.

Something that I was not planning on doing was to tune my car. About a year ago I got Akra evo and to avoid any error messages I also had delete-r installed. Since i dont drive my car a lot and do not take it to track I was comfortable with just sound that I got from Akra, but obviously tune has been on my mind all this time. After speaking to Mike and asking him tons of questions I felt comfortable to give him OK to tune my car. My car has totally transformed. I did not do any dyno nor do I plan for it so I go just by my personal feel, car feels smooth from first gear and on while it also feels stronger. Of course while tuning I got a bunch of other programming options done, Mike has whole list of them, its awesome. While there are other places here in Los Angeles to get tune done, I am very happy that I ended up with Mike.

mark896 · 11-19-2012, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xiliy

Last week I got my LCI lights, so I gave Mike a call to see if he can do coding. Long story short, few hours later we met up in West Los Angeles. Not only that he did coding he also installed them for me. I know its not like he installed a supercharger, but still a nice benefit for me since I do not enjoy doing this type of work.

Something that I was not planning on doing was to tune my car. About a year ago I got Akra evo and to avoid any error messages I also had delete-r installed. Since i dont drive my car a lot and do not take it to track I was comfortable with just sound that I got from Akra, but obviously tune has been on my mind all this time. After speaking to Mike and asking him tons of questions I felt comfortable to give him OK to tune my car. My car has totally transformed. I did not do any dyno nor do I plan for it so I go just by my personal feel, car feels smooth from first gear and on while it also feels stronger. Of course while tuning I got a bunch of other programming options done, Mike has whole list of them, its awesome. While there are other places here in Los Angeles to get tune done, I am very happy that I ended up with Mike.

Awesome!! Hadn't had the chance to meet Mike in person but he's EXTREMELY knowledgable and EXTREMELY professional. If you get the chance, start up a review thread so the word can get out!

C17MooseDriver · 11-20-2012, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE TECH

If anyone has any requests, questions or inquiries they can always contact me. I answer PMs the same day.

I wish I knew that. I Pm'd Mike and email him a week ago, but never got a reply till today. Too late since I decided to go with another vendor.

THE TECH · 11-20-2012, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C17MooseDriver

I wish I knew that. I Pm'd Mike and email him a week ago, but never got a reply till today. Too late since I decided to go with another vendor.

Sorry to hear that. If we can be of assistance in the future, feel free to contact me anytime!

sin911 · 11-20-2012, 10:37 PM

I called Mike before I got my coding done, he got back to me very quickly. He mentioned that he was backed up on his e-mails.

I've had the coding done almost a month ago and haven't had a single issue. Mike took the extra step and spent another hour or so a couple days later to make the turn signals blink 6 times instead of 3 even though I told him he didn't need to do so. A true gentlemen.

Valentino_RS · 11-20-2012, 11:20 PM

Anyone got dyno result before and after Mike's tune?

07-21-2012, 10:20 PM	#1
AWE90M3 New Member Drives: 2011 AW E90 ZCP Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: New Mexico < Germany Posts: 26 iTrader: (1)	Mike Benvo Coding Review Just posted an engine tuning review as well. As stated in that post, i just shipped my car back to California from Germany, and contacted The Tech to get an appointment for some coding. He set me up with Mike and they both worked with my schedule to get what i wanted done in the short amount of time i had to do it. A little back story. I ordered my sedan through military car sales in Feb 11 and it was built and delivered in April 11. It's a US spec car, but had the German Nav maps loaded from the factory. I tried to get it to the local German dealership to get the maps swapped to US prior to shipping, but they weren't able to get them in. I had been following the 2012 Nav update thread, downloaded the ISO's from Kmarei's home server, contacted Sergej for the FSC code, bought 3 16gb USB sticks all formatted to FAT32, and thought i had everything ready to go for the update. I get to California, pick up the car, plug the USB into the glove box, it says an update is available, and then it gives me the error screen about incomplete/manipulated data, see your service center. So I've got no maps, it shows me in the Atlantic Ocean, wonderful... I make it to Mikes place by iPhone and tell him the story. No problem he says, we'll get it fixed. Turns out when i formatted the USB sticks I didn't set it to the default allocation unit, guess the Nav didn't like that. He reformatted my sticks and reloaded the files, inserted into the glove box and it started updating. While the Nav is updating, Mike gets started on the coding i wanted done. He ran down the whole list of options and explained everything in detail while he was working. I had some questions about a few of the options and he was more than happy to show me how they worked on his vehicle. When i ordered my car, BMW Live/Internet/Apps had just become available, but i didn't select it on my build. He took me for a spin and gave me the full demo, i had to have it. I noticed the engine tune as well during the ride and was sold on that as well. So we get back to his place, headed to the elevator to go get the laptop again, and out comes a 2 or 3 year old kid with no parents in sight, on the garage level. We both look at each other like WTF? The kid sees Mike, gives him a High Five, and just clings to his leg. Interesting. We head up to the Lobby with the kid to start trying to contact the parents, when the Mom comes running down the hall. Mike explains the situation and everything is well. I thought she was gonna accuse us of kidnapping or something, but she was just happy we found her kid. Disaster averted. Mike "Child Savior" Benvo: Hero of the Day. Finally get back to coding in the BMW Live/Internet/Apps and everything works like a champ. The NAV finished updating, I'm no longer in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the car doesn't have the annoying gong sound, along with the NAV accept screens, seat belt warnings, amber corners, etc. the list goes on. Amazing. It's like an entirely new car. I got the "stage 1" engine tune as well (see separate review) I started my 9 hour drive to Tucson and had absolutely no issues with anything, car drove flawlessly. Once again, if your thinking about getting some coding done, remotely or locally, let Mike take care of you, he knows his sh*t and was great to deal with. Thanks again to The Tech as well for setting it all up.
	Tweet

10-26-2012, 01:36 PM	#3
THE TECH BimmerPost Supporting Vendor Drives: BPMsport 2012 E92 M3 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Kansas Posts: 11,896 iTrader: (39)	Thanks for the review. It was a pleasure working with you!! __________________ Check us out on Facebook at BPMsportLabs

10-26-2012, 03:32 PM	#4
ROB_S2K Lieutenant Colonel Drives: 2012 LSB E92 M3 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,519 iTrader: (2)	Loving Mike's tune. It completely transformed the car. __________________ 2012 \| Laguna Seca Blue \| Rust Brown \| Individual \| 6MT

11-07-2012, 09:32 PM	#5
TTG ... Drives: 2011 E92 M3 Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 2,592 iTrader: (2) Garage List 2011 BMW M3 [3.78] 2007 335 Coupe (ret ... [4.00]	He never responded back to my emails and I got my coding done locally. Glad all worked out for you. __________________ Retired: 2011 E92 M3 AW w/ Silver Novillo ZCP, ZTP, ZPP, 494, 6FL, 507, 302 & 415.....ED April 29th, 2010 Retired: 2007 E92 335i -Space Gray, Black Leatherette + Alum, Nav, ZCW, ZSP, PDC, CA & Sunshade.....ED Oct 19th, 2006

11-08-2012, 03:32 PM	#8
THE TECH BimmerPost Supporting Vendor Drives: BPMsport 2012 E92 M3 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Kansas Posts: 11,896 iTrader: (39)	If anyone has any requests, questions or inquiries they can always contact me. I answer PMs the same day. __________________ Check us out on Facebook at BPMsportLabs

10-26-2012, 11:54 AM	#2
bcscout ///MFLIGHT Drives: 2011 M3 ZCP 6MT Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Mustergeleen, NL Posts: 40 iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 M3 [0.00]	Cool. ///MFlight as some members that have the knowledge code our cars here in Europe. I dread the day I have to go back to the US w/ my M3 that has a European CIC. Great story by the way.

11-19-2012, 07:03 PM	#9
xiliy First Lieutenant Drives: E93 M3 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: SoCal Posts: 388 iTrader: (8)	Last week I got my LCI lights, so I gave Mike a call to see if he can do coding. Long story short, few hours later we met up in West Los Angeles. Not only that he did coding he also installed them for me. I know its not like he installed a supercharger, but still a nice benefit for me since I do not enjoy doing this type of work. Something that I was not planning on doing was to tune my car. About a year ago I got Akra evo and to avoid any error messages I also had delete-r installed. Since i dont drive my car a lot and do not take it to track I was comfortable with just sound that I got from Akra, but obviously tune has been on my mind all this time. After speaking to Mike and asking him tons of questions I felt comfortable to give him OK to tune my car. My car has totally transformed. I did not do any dyno nor do I plan for it so I go just by my personal feel, car feels smooth from first gear and on while it also feels stronger. Of course while tuning I got a bunch of other programming options done, Mike has whole list of them, its awesome. While there are other places here in Los Angeles to get tune done, I am very happy that I ended up with Mike.

11-20-2012, 10:37 PM	#13
sin911 Second Lieutenant Drives: '13 E92 M3 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Miami Posts: 297 iTrader: (0)	I called Mike before I got my coding done, he got back to me very quickly. He mentioned that he was backed up on his e-mails. I've had the coding done almost a month ago and haven't had a single issue. Mike took the extra step and spent another hour or so a couple days later to make the turn signals blink 6 times instead of 3 even though I told him he didn't need to do so. A true gentlemen. __________________ *2013 E92 ///M3 Space Grey w/ Fox Red* M Performance Exhaust, KW Sleeve Over Kit, and cosmetic upgrades

11-20-2012, 11:20 PM	#14
Valentino_RS Captain Drives: M Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Earth Posts: 739 iTrader: (17)	Anyone got dyno result before and after Mike's tune?

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