Mike Benvo COMPLETELY OVERHAULED my m3!!! the car was good before he touched the car,
but now the car is AMAZING! Thank you Benvo!
BACKSTORY:
I decided a few month ago I wanted to retrofit my 08 m3 CCC to a CIC retrofit. As my luck would have it, a good friend of mine practically gave me his CIC idrive. Having just the CIC and the CIC controller without the CIC screen I was lost on what or where or how to continue the retrofit. I reached out to Benvo and he assured me he could help and let me tell you guys, he REALLY knows his stuff.
THE WORK:
Fast forward a few weeks and Benvo happened to be traveling to the east coast, so instead of remotely coding my cic, he did it for me in person. He brought tons of equipment with him, which by the way all OEM tools!! Mike also sourced a few parts for me including a Cic screen and a latest version media snap-in for my iphone that he brought with him. All the parts he was able to get within a few days of ordering, knew what versions, and part #'s I would need.
Benvo was very helpful with the install, and knows exactly what he is doing, I am sure he has done quite a few retrofits. I would have been clueless without him. We installed, a 2011 euro cic, cic screen, baseplate, iphone 4 media snap-in, video wiring for baseplate, combox telematics, 6fl, glovebox usb. Benvo has full plug'n'play harness's for combox retrofits, CIC retrofit's, among a few other pnp harnesses. He helped with the install, and the pnp harnesses made the install SUPER clean, and as good as OEM.
Once installed, Benvo started coding the cic. Without coding, I would have not had audio, USA maps, bluetooth, Sirius, and Im sure there is a bunch I am missing. Benvo was able to get 2012 USA maps FSC for a great price, and coded the rest of the CIC to act like it came with my car. He coded premium M audio to the car, he got my external satellite tuner working with the cic, got the bluetooth working properly, added M drive settings to my CIC, BMW Live, BMW internet, turned off the annoying accept message at start up, DVD in motion, and the list goes on. The CIC retrofit was a 100% success, I could not be more happy!
Then Benvo worked some magic with the car's coding. He coded the car so when I lock the doors the windows roll up and the mirrors fold in. He deleted the corner led in the headlights, added the cornering lights to both come on when high beams are activated, turned off a bunch of the annoying gong sounds, upped the voltage on the angel eyes (you can actually see them now!!). Also, he turned off the auto correct on the digital mph cluster to show the exact mph you are driving, added the fuel efficiency option which tells you how to achieve optimum gas mileage.
Next, Benvo corrected the cars tune. I had problems with my powerchip tune, it had been acting funny, like no check engine light AT ALL. Mike knew exactly what was wrong, and not only corrected that but also did a full custom tune for my car. I have a few bolt on mods and my car felt ok before, but now the car pulls like a freight train!!! The car screams now, I fell in love with my car all over again. Matter of fact, after tuning, myself and Mike went for a test drive, and after the first run to 60mph, we looked at each other and just started laughing at how hard the car pulled. The tune REALLY woke the car up.
After that, Benvo also did some coding for my other car, a 335i with cic. Again adding BMW Live, setting the mirrors to fold and windows to go up upon locking the doors, custom welcoming lights.
The Aftermath:
I have had the Dinan Tune, the Powerchip tune, and now Benvo's tune... Benvo's tuning beats all the previous tunes hands down!! The CIC retrofit would not have been possible without Benvo. I had previously reached out to a few coding/cic retrofit vendors and none of them seemed all that interested in working with me, or even responding to my pm's, but thats neither here nor there. Like I said before Benvo knows his stuff, and his knowledge of our cars, and retrofits knowledge is endless. If anyone is thinking of retrofitting their ccc to CIC, or getting custom coding, or Euro MDM, or tuning, I implore you to reach out to Benvo. He is one of the most professional people I have ever worked with, and I would also like to mention that Benvo is a great guy, honest, and made me feel 100% comfortable diving into all the mods. Thanks again Benvo, I am digging all the new stuff!!!
CIC:
Back to the CIC stuff. Here are some pics of the CIC coding Mike did.
Cic Retrofit
3d Maps, ( thats NYC)
Satellite Maps
M Drive coded into my CiC
DSC off added to M Drive
Bluetooth coded as the donor cic did not have bluetooth
Bluetooth A2DP streaming
Bluetooth Streaming Pandora, with Album info
Playing music from iPhone plugged into USB
Car is now coded to work with my dealer installed external Sirius radio
Coded Vehicle info to work with my car properly
BMW Internet
Efficiency Dynamics
Instant MPG
Corner delete and brighter angel eyes
MORE PICS TO COME!!