My thoughts on engine tuning software: Street, Canyon, and Track Use

[CCLSVTM3]

Originally Posted by X2Board

Nice write-up. If this type of tune could be incorporated into an access port type device for easy removal and re-installation, I would definitely buy it.

That's why I went with the direct flash from ESS. At least Incan plug it in and flash back to stock at anytime......

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by CCL16M3

That's why I went with the direct flash from ESS. At least Incan plug it in and flash back to stock at anytime......

The Direct Flash is an older tool made by DimSport, and I much prefer the flashing cables I supply.

The Dimsport is a handheld tuner that stores files. The cable and software I supply is a full software suite which allows programming of multiple files, fault reading and clearing, etc. I actually went overseas and met the engineer who designed them in person (he also makes the evolve-r and the ess eflash). It is by far the best product on the market, until the second generation of bluetooth flashing (from iPhone/Android) comes out probably sometime next year.

I am assembling about ten cables today and will post some pictures up once they are finished. Have to take the kids to baseball and make an airport pickup before I get my cable playtime.

Cable is going out to yinlee early next week, hopefully he can report back after the car is flashed.

Responded to all PMs, still working on emails

[yinlee]

Can't wait to get the tune and will definitely report back.

[Zaw]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

The Direct Flash is an older tool made by DimSport, and I much prefer the flashing cables I supply.

The Dimsport is a handheld tuner that stores files. The cable and software I supply is a full software suite which allows programming of multiple files, fault reading and clearing, etc. I actually went overseas and met the engineer who designed them in person (he also makes the evolve-r and the ess eflash). It is by far the best product on the market, until the second generation of bluetooth flashing (from iPhone/Android) comes out probably sometime next year.

I am assembling about ten cables today and will post some pictures up once they are finished. Have to take the kids to baseball and make an airport pickup before I get my cable playtime.

Cable is going out to yinlee early next week, hopefully he can report back after the car is flashed.

Responded to all PMs, still working on emails

I'm happy to hear that you are on the cutting edge of things. You've got a future patron in me.

[jbkonis]

After having had Mike successfully tune my M3 w/ Akra, I'm pleased to report he is now tuning my X5M with the first BPM flash cable. Once we get the tune running I will report back. I have every bit of confidence it will be awesome.

[CCLSVTM3]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

The Direct Flash is an older tool made by DimSport, and I much prefer the flashing cables I supply.

The Dimsport is a handheld tuner that stores files. The cable and software I supply is a full software suite which allows programming of multiple files, fault reading and clearing, etc. I actually went overseas and met the engineer who designed them in person (he also makes the evolve-r and the ess eflash). It is by far the best product on the market, until the second generation of bluetooth flashing (from iPhone/Android) comes out probably sometime next year.

I am assembling about ten cables today and will post some pictures up once they are finished. Have to take the kids to baseball and make an airport pickup before I get my cable playtime.

Cable is going out to yinlee early next week, hopefully he can report back after the car is flashed.

Responded to all PMs, still working on emails

Damn, wish I heard of you before I got the ESS...

[BPMSport]

The cables are built! They will start shipping tomorrow. I'm just configuring the software now. Every cable was tested and they are all working 100% perfectly

For those of you with 6MT: Check out launch control assist:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=746163

Here are a couple teaser pics, some pre-assembly and one post assembly:

Stay 'tuned'

[Merlosso]

Hey Mike, I have a question about the cable, software, and flash. In the coding forums many have said, including you, that updating the DME via the OBD and software like winkfp is very risky and there is potential to brick the DME, yet flashing a tune like yours or Evolve's is safe. What is different about the cable and/or software that makes the tune safe and what makes the DME update dangerous?

Please know that I'm not questioning the safety of the tune. I'm not at all worried and I'm eagerly awaiting the group buy you teased us with. I only ask because I like to know how things work.

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by Merlosso

Hey Mike, I have a question about the cable, software, and flash. In the coding forums many have said, including you, that updating the DME via the OBD and software like winkfp is very risky and there is potential to brick the DME, yet flashing a tune like yours or Evolve's is safe. What is different about the cable and/or software that makes the tune safe and what makes the DME update dangerous?

Please know that I'm not questioning the safety of the tune. I'm not at all worried and I'm eagerly awaiting the group buy you teased us with. I only ask because I like to know how things work.

Thank you for your question, I am happy to answer for you.

When I was in Europe a few weeks ago, I tested this particular reason as to why many of those that attempt an update on their own 'brick' their ECU. Theoretically, you should be able to use these cables for flashing. However, there is one BIG problem that 99.9% of people are unaware about.

I purposely used one of the coding cables to 'brick' the ECU and determine what in particular is happening behind the scenes. When people attempt these updates, it often goes to 100% and appears that it has successfully flashed, only to receive an error at the very end which leaves the ECU in a state of no communication. This means no reprogramming it through the OBD-II port, and no communication with the car itself - so basically it's a 4000lb paperweight.

Now.. on to why this happens. Many of the cables that people are using have an inherent firmware flaw. The DME and TCU are one of the few control units in the car that are programmed with D-CAN. Most of the other modules in the car are programmed via K-CAN or KLINE, and the junction box may convert signals to the appropriate type depending on the ECU we are dealing with.

What I have found is that when programming DCAN modules (such as the DME and TCU), the firmware flaw causes erroneous data - specifically '06' to be written to the ECU every 253 bytes. This causes almost irreparable damage to the software programming and pretty much makes the DME useless.

The MSS60 (M3) and MSS65 (M5) DME's have two Motorola MPC563 Freescale processors. The MSS60 and the MSS65 share a very similar architecture, however, there is one pretty major difference. On M3's (cars with software from 2009 and above), BMW has introduced a revision of the code which 'locks' the left processor from reading. The ECU I tested this on was my E60 M5 DME, and luckily, both processors are not locked. This allowed me to open the DME up, and BDM (Background Debugging Mode) them. BDMing an ECU is when you open up the DME and use heads to connect to the pins on the motherboard which connect directly to the processor. This allows for reading and writing to the DME even if it is bricked, allowing you to now program and read a corrupted processor. Reading out the information from the processor gave a clear indication of why these DME's are left in a bricked state after such failed updates. I was able to recover the M5 DME completely, and it is working great again. Even flashed an M3 file into it for fun, and it accepted the flash.

However - with the M3, when this happens, it's a different story. Because the left processor is locked, you can not read or write to it using BDM. You can recover the right processor no problem, but without both processors working properly the DME will not be operating as designed and the vehicle will not start or run. On the M3, in order to fix a damaged ECU programmed with one of these cables, you have to desolder the left processor from the DME, and resolder a new one. After that, the processor will accept programming once again, and you can fully recover it.

Even a completely working M3 ECU will not allow communication with the left processor over BDM. OBD II will read fine from both processors, but you can not program certain sections of the processors over OBD II. I have a spare M3 DME that I use for testing, and unfortunately it will not work in my car because of the electronic immobilizer data written to the left processor which is secured from OBD programming. For this reason I am going to replace the left processor which will allow it to be programmed to a virgin state. I will then be able to link this ECU successfully to my M3 and have two working DME's for my car.

Now onto why the cables that eVolve and I offer you do not cause this problem: They are designed 'specifically' for DME programming over D-CAN. They do not program any other modules because they are not designed for that, although the second generation of bluetooth cables will likely have a pass-through for coding and programming other modules. Not only that, the cables test ranges to program and are not nearly invasive as WinKFP for flashing. They don't alter the boot sector. They also have built in recovery mode features in the off-event that something does go awry, such as a cable getting pulled out in the middle, drastically low voltage, etc. The worse thing you can do to an electronic control unit is program bad data to the operating system part of the firmware/software. A properly designed system takes all measures to ensure that bad data is not written, and that in the event there is a fault, recovery can be performed. The master of all of this DME stuff is the engineer that designed these end user flashing cables.

I hope this helps!

[flanast]

Originally Posted by ilya335

My MPG has remained about the same. Maybe a slight improvement in city driving since I'll keep the car in the higher gears.

I think the tune made my right foot a bit heavier in the process

What mods do you have in addition to the tuning; pulleys, air filter?

[Merlosso]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Thank you for your question, I am happy to answer for you.

When I was in Europe a few weeks ago, I tested this particular reason as to why many of those that attempt an update on their own 'brick' their ECU. Theoretically, you should be able to use these cables for flashing. However, there is one BIG problem that 99.9% of people are unaware about.

I purposely used one of the coding cables to 'brick' the ECU and determine what in particular is happening behind the scenes. When people attempt these updates, it often goes to 100% and appears that it has successfully flashed, only to receive an error at the very end which leaves the ECU in a state of no communication. This means no reprogramming it through the OBD-II port, and no communication with the car itself - so basically it's a 4000lb paperweight.

Now.. on to why this happens. Many of the cables that people are using have an inherent firmware flaw. The DME and TCU are one of the few control units in the car that are programmed with D-CAN. Most of the other modules in the car are programmed via K-CAN or KLINE, and the junction box may convert signals to the appropriate type depending on the ECU we are dealing with.

What I have found is that when programming DCAN modules (such as the DME and TCU), the firmware flaw causes erroneous data - specifically '06' to be written to the ECU every 253 bytes. This causes almost irreparable damage to the software programming and pretty much makes the DME useless.

The MSS60 (M3) and MSS65 (M5) DME's have two Motorola MPC563 Freescale processors. The MSS60 and the MSS65 share a very similar architecture, however, there is one pretty major difference. On M3's (cars with software from 2009 and above), BMW has introduced a revision of the code which 'locks' the left processor from reading. The ECU I tested this on was my E60 M5 DME, and luckily, both processors are not locked. This allowed me to open the DME up, and BDM (Background Debugging Mode) them. BDMing an ECU is when you open up the DME and use heads to connect to the pins on the motherboard which connect directly to the processor. This allows for reading and writing to the DME even if it is bricked, allowing you to now program and read a corrupted processor. Reading out the information from the processor gave a clear indication of why these DME's are left in a bricked state after such failed updates. I was able to recover the M5 DME completely, and it is working great again. Even flashed an M3 file into it for fun, and it accepted the flash.

However - with the M3, when this happens, it's a different story. Because the left processor is locked, you can not read or write to it using BDM. You can recover the right processor no problem, but without both processors working properly the DME will not be operating as designed and the vehicle will not start or run. On the M3, in order to fix a damaged ECU programmed with one of these cables, you have to desolder the left processor from the DME, and resolder a new one. After that, the processor will accept programming once again, and you can fully recover it.

Even a completely working M3 ECU will not allow communication with the left processor over BDM. OBD II will read fine from both processors, but you can not program certain sections of the processors over OBD II. I have a spare M3 DME that I use for testing, and unfortunately it will not work in my car because of the electronic immobilizer data written to the left processor which is secured from OBD programming. For this reason I am going to replace the left processor which will allow it to be programmed to a virgin state. I will then be able to link this ECU successfully to my M3 and have two working DME's for my car.

Now onto why the cables that eVolve and I offer you do not cause this problem: They are designed 'specifically' for DME programming over D-CAN. They do not program any other modules because they are not designed for that, although the second generation of bluetooth cables will likely have a pass-through for coding and programming other modules. Not only that, the cables test ranges to program and are not nearly invasive as WinKFP for flashing. They don't alter the boot sector. They also have built in recovery mode features in the off-event that something does go awry, such as a cable getting pulled out in the middle, drastically low voltage, etc. The worse thing you can do to an electronic control unit is program bad data to the operating system part of the firmware/software. A properly designed system takes all measures to ensure that bad data is not written, and that in the event there is a fault, recovery can be performed. The master of all of this DME stuff is the engineer that designed these end user flashing cables.

I hope this helps!

That was beyond helpful. Thanks so much for the detailed explanation.

[ilya335]

Originally Posted by flanast

What mods do you have in addition to the tuning; pulleys, air filter?

Just a Macht Schnell air filter. I believe Mike is running pulleys.

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by jbkonis

After having had Mike successfully tune my M3 w/ Akra, I'm pleased to report he is now tuning my X5M with the first direct flash cable. Once we get the tune tuning I will report back. I have every bit of confidence it will be awesome.

Let us know how it is once you have some more driving time.

Here is a video from 20 minutes ago of the X5M, Post tune. The cable worked perfectly and there were no faults after driving around beating on it. It's 12AM here, so you can call that late night flashing. I'm off to bed.

I was the one that said "Oh" in first gear as my stomach gave me a feeling that the M3 definitely does not. I think Joe was quite surprised at the 2nd gear pull.

He might be back for Stage II next week

[tightie]

you should come out on the 30th, alot of m3s will be there

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by tightie

you should come out on the 30th, alot of m3s will be there

Buttonwillow is a track that I always heard good things about but have never been to. When I was a kid my brother used to take his Z28 there all the time. I'm going to try and make it.

Not sure if my schedule will allow it though. I'm still behind from being overseas

[WolfeS2K]

Very nice review! Can't wait to get mine done from Mr. Benvo

[ilya335]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Let us know how it is once you have some more driving time.

Here is a video from 20 minutes ago of the X5M, Post tune. The cable worked perfectly and there were no faults after driving around beating on it. It's 12AM here, so you can call that late night flashing. I'm off to bed.

I was the one that said "Oh" in first gear as my stomach gave me a feeling that the M3 definitely does not. I think Joe was quite surprised at the 2nd gear pull.

He might be back for Stage II next week

Can I get a ride in that beast? What does Stage II involve?

[OerdingE93]

nice write up ilva335, and congrats on the tune! oh and vert pride btw

[jbkonis]

The video of our drive last night says it all. Version 1 of Mike's tune for the X5M is definitely a success. We're working together to continue refining the tune, and I will be renting a dyno for our final session. We're going to squeeze every ounce of "safe" power out of this car.

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by jbkonis

The video of our drive last night says it all. Version 1 of Mike's tune for the X5M is definitely a success. We're working together to continue refining the tune, and I will be renting a dyno for our final session. We're going to squeeze every ounce of "safe" power out of this car.

I've got your Stage II file already prepared. See you at the dyno on Friday.

It's a good opportunity to put my M3 on the dyno with the latest 240E software.

[WolfeS2K]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

I've got your Stage II file already prepared. See you at the dyno on Friday.

It's a good opportunity to put my M3 on the dyno with the latest 240E software.

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by WolfeS2K

- Was not expecting that!!! hahaha