ECU Coding etc.

[Crypty]

Hey guys. I have only just purchased a cable for coding and haven't actually tried anything yet, though I'm pretty tech savvy(Computer programmer by profession).
Coding in little customizations is mildly interesting to me but more intriguing is ECU flashing. I see tuning companies charge 1000+ for software tunes which I think is a bit extreme. What kind of hardware and what level of software know-how is required to do ECU programming?

[alee0729]

Being a software engineer by profession isn't going to cut it. You not only need to know intimately how a car's electronics works at a very low level, and how it communicates with all the other pieces of the car to make it turn on and move, but also how to reverse engineer and rewrite chunks of codes and parameters specific to that ECU to gain performance ... all without the source code available.

It's not like you can call Siemens and ask for the MS S65 ECU support line and get answers for how their code works. I suspect, but cannot confirm, that most coders have a good deal of industry contacts and insiders that give them strategic guidance in order for them to access the parameters needed for them to tune the cars.

[BPMSport]

Coding and Tuning are two completely different animals.

PS: M3 uses the MSS60 DME, MSS65 is for the E60 M5. They like to make it confusing don't they..

[Crypty]

I see. Well that makes sense and I can now understand why they charge an arm and a leg for it.