V2 Valvetronic Catless

[Kalzone]

Hey everyone, I'm new to modifying my car and my first mod has been a full catback setup. I'm running catless right now, i've read it's recommended to get a full tune so I don't have my primary O2 sensor come up on me with a check engine light. Can anyone recommend me a website or what to do about getting a tune? Not sure where to go in person or online, I live in the San Antonio area.

[Fooksdaddy]

Originally Posted by Kalzone

Hey everyone, I'm new to modifying my car and my first mod has been a full catback setup. I'm running catless right now, i've read it's recommended to get a full tune so I don't have my primary O2 sensor come up on me with a check engine light. Can anyone recommend me a website or what to do about getting a tune? Not sure where to go in person or online, I live in the San Antonio area.

I'm in San Antonio as well. I currently have the alpine tune and I've had the BPM tune on my previous M3.

I'd go with the BPM tune. Just for pure reliability/customer satisfaction but you can't really beat the alpine price.

I also can do some light Carly changes if you're interested? I'll charge a 6 pack of Shiner lol! Just let me know.

[SYT_Shadow]

I would only get an ESS tune, or better yet, have someone use MSSFlasher and the Ecutek tool to flash the OEM BMW 240E software (latest version) and then modify it to not show a check engine light.
The second option would cost you whatever it costs to have someone do this remotely plus $49 for the ecutek license. The side effect of doing this is you get a tune which is completely clean, unlike some of the tunes on the forum which get 'rave reviews' from people who have no idea what they're running but are happy because the terrible software they installed on their car came with 'great service'.

More than one person can do that remotely for you.


It seems like the forum is full of people who would happily eat at a buffet that serves different forms of poo, as long as it comes with 'great service'!. I must be a weird one who wants the actual food to be good

[Macpsi]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

I would only get an ESS tune, or better yet, have someone use MSSFlasher and the Ecutek tool to flash the OEM BMW 240E software (latest version) and then modify it to not show a check engine light.
The second option would cost you whatever it costs to have someone do this remotely plus $49 for the ecutek license. The side effect of doing this is you get a tune which is completely clean, unlike some of the tunes on the forum which get 'rave reviews' from people who have no idea what they're running but are happy because the terrible software they installed on their car came with 'great service'.

More than one person can do that remotely for you.


It seems like the forum is full of people who would happily eat at a buffet that serves different forms of poo, as long as it comes with 'great service'!. I must be a weird one who wants the actual food to be good

I also cannot understand the intense desire for these canned/microwave dinner tunes. One reason why I haven’t considered modifying my m3 to the point of requiring any sort of tune. There’s no reason why a decade+ old m3 platform shouldn’t have the ability for custom tunes. As enthusiasts we should be pushing for improvements within the platform. Maybe to help this thread more could you share more info or pm where we can find more details for this flash? Many other sports cars(evos, sti’s, etc) Has the community where they could flash the ecu and people could tune their own cars with the help of the community then also had freelancers that offer professional tuning on the flashed stock ecu.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Macpsi

I also cannot understand the intense desire for these canned/microwave dinner tunes. One reason why I haven’t considered modifying my m3 to the point of requiring any sort of tune. There’s no reason why a decade+ old m3 platform shouldn’t have the ability for custom tunes. As enthusiasts we should be pushing for improvements within the platform. Maybe to help this thread more could you share more info or pm where we can find more details for this flash? Many other sports cars(evos, sti’s, etc) Has the community where they could flash the ecu and people could tune their own cars with the help of the community then also had freelancers that offer professional tuning on the flashed stock ecu.

As I haven't called out any tuner my post should not get deleted. Let's see.

If you google 'MSSFlasher S65' the first link is the Ecutek tool. That also has a link to the MSSFlasher open source software to be able to read and backup your oem tune.
So, in order, I'd do:
Update ECU OEM software to 240E
Read ECU software with MSSFlasher
Pay $49 Ecutek for a license to modify the OEM software and then click on the 'disable cat check' option or remove cold start or whatever.

I actually wouldn't care about these microwave/cookie cutter tunes if then I didn't have to read threads that are dozens of pages long about people suffering 'predetonation' and other issues with these tunes that are 'highly recommended'. If the off the shelf tunes were written intelligently then I'd be ok.

Let's see if this post survives or gets censored

[gfisher99]

[Redd]

Let's agree that a custom tune will be better than a canned tune any day, assuming you have a trusted tuner do the custom tuning. Otherwise a poorly done custom tune is more likely to blow your engine compared to a safer, less powerful canned tune.

I too am confused why 'that' tune is so popular when it's been causing pre-det with so many users. Maybe cos it's cheap?

But all that said and done, I'm a happy BPM Stage 2 customer for 5 years and 70k kms now. Having a BPM tune is night and day difference compared to stock 240E, especially for the added low end torque which makes so much sense in day to day driving. I even have the burble tune (flamesuit on) with zero issues. My car is 137k kms now and have only changed one O2 sensor in that time. Plugs are changed at normal intervals and don't exhibit fouling or abnormal wear. So that's my vote for BPM also.

[OG Shark]

Kalzone we are in San Antonio too - can help walk you through it if you want. SYT_Shadow made a good suggestion.

And since you are new to mods - if you have any questions or want to see what else is out there for our platform we can show you what we have going on with our cars - from mild street car to full race car

[Kalzone]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

Kalzone we are in San Antonio too - can help walk you through it if you want. SYT_Shadow made a good suggestion.

And since you are new to mods - if you have any questions or want to see what else is out there for our platform we can show you what we have going on with our cars - from mild street car to full race car

I'm just looking to keep my car for the most part a daily driver. I'm not sure I wanna tune the car past its stock tune at this point just yet. I just want to either run a bypass so my main cat sensor doesn't bring up the check engine light or cause any issues with driving. I wouldn't mind swinging by this week maybe Friday. Could you PM me your shops address?

[Kalzone]

Originally Posted by Fooksdaddy

I'm in San Antonio as well. I currently have the alpine tune and I've had the BPM tune on my previous M3.

I'd go with the BPM tune. Just for pure reliability/customer satisfaction but you can't really beat the alpine price.

I also can do some light Carly changes if you're interested? I'll charge a 6 pack of Shiner lol! Just let me know.

I would easily provide a 6 pack of Shiner for you to tune my M3. I'm not sure I wanna do tunes past Stock at this point. The more I'm understanding tuning I don't want to run the risk of blowing the motor. I know at this point I just wanna remove the CAT sensor from triggering a check engine light at this point.

[Kalzone]

Originally Posted by Redd

Let's agree that a custom tune will be better than a canned tune any day, assuming you have a trusted tuner do the custom tuning. Otherwise a poorly done custom tune is more likely to blow your engine compared to a safer, less powerful canned tune.

I too am confused why 'that' tune is so popular when it's been causing pre-det with so many users. Maybe cos it's cheap?

But all that said and done, I'm a happy BPM Stage 2 customer for 5 years and 70k kms now. Having a BPM tune is night and day difference compared to stock 240E, especially for the added low end torque which makes so much sense in day to day driving. I even have the burble tune (flamesuit on) with zero issues. My car is 137k kms now and have only changed one O2 sensor in that time. Plugs are changed at normal intervals and don't exhibit fouling or abnormal wear. So that's my vote for BPM also.

I couldn't imagine the feeling of having a blown motor on after tuning my car. This is something I'm just not wanting to run the risk on. A canned Tune is something you could just download online I assume that's already got the parameters set for the car and add a mild amount of HP/Torq?

[Fooksdaddy]

Originally Posted by Kalzone

I couldn't imagine the feeling of having a blown motor on after tuning my car. This is something I'm just not wanting to run the risk on. A canned Tune is something you could just download online I assume that's already got the parameters set for the car and add a mild amount of HP/Torq?

Google Carly for bmw. You'll be able to see what convenience type changes can be made. Remove Idrive safety message, fold in mirrors on lock, stuff like that.

Like others have said custom tune is always better but finding a trusting party to do it is the hard part.

With that said, I'll most likely get rid of my alpine tune sooner than later and go back to BPM.

I haven't had the issues others have with alpine but my old M3 (08)ran better consistently than my current one (11).

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Kalzone

I'm just looking to keep my car for the most part a daily driver. I'm not sure I wanna tune the car past its stock tune at this point just yet. I just want to either run a bypass so my main cat sensor doesn't bring up the check engine light or cause any issues with driving. I wouldn't mind swinging by this week maybe Friday. Could you PM me your shops address?

Absolutely welcome to stop by the shop - I will shoot you a PM

Also we are kind of making it sound like tuning is all doom & gloom - that certainly isn't the case. There are lots of cars that of have been tuned for a long time without any issues. But unfortunately there are those that have had issues. I'm not trying to persuade you either way, definitely something you have to weigh the value of to see if it works for your situation. I do think that coding right now sounds like what you are looking for - and if you are interested in tuning waiting for one of the options that is in the pipeline right now might be the best.

Originally Posted by Fooksdaddy

Google Carly for bmw. You'll be able to see what convenience type changes can be made. Remove Idrive safety message, fold in mirrors on lock, stuff like that.

Like others have said custom tune is always better but finding a trusting party to do it is the hard part.

With that said, I'll most likely get rid of my alpine tune sooner than later and go back to BPM.

I haven't had the issues others have with alpine but my old M3 (08)ran better consistently than my current one (11).

What kind of issues have you had with the 11 over the 08?

[Fooksdaddy]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

What kind of issues have you had with the 11 over the 08?

Random idle drops, periodic cold start codes. I'll clear and monitor and no issues afterwards for weeks/months then suddenly same code. Rinse and repeat.

It's not hindering performance just annoying. I'm running test pipes.

Overall just isn't as smooth running as when I had my BPM '08.

Just checked your IG, I've had my car in with you guys.....DCT leak that was the damn side filter seating, that was near impossible to see... Gerald Fuchs

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Fooksdaddy

Random idle drops, periodic cold start codes. I'll clear and monitor and no issues afterwards for weeks/months then suddenly same code. Rinse and repeat.

It's not hindering performance just annoying. I'm running test pipes.

Overall just isn't as smooth running as when I had my BPM '08.

Just checked your IG, I've had my car in with you guys.....DCT leak that was the damn side filter seating, that was near impossible to see... Gerald Fuchs

Good that it is just an annoyance. Definitely can get frustrating when it is sporadic like that - but at least doesn't mess with performance like you said.

That is M-Technik - they are the ones that have done all the work on my race car from the ground up. Great guys. The new shop is actually a bit north of town in Spring Branch. The owner of M-Technik (Will), a fabricator friend of ours, and I are getting this one going as just performance based stuff whereas M-Technik is still doing there thing as primarily service work. We all love racing which will be our primary focus - but will definitely have some non-racing specific stuff in the works as well.

[Fooksdaddy]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

Good that it is just an annoyance. Definitely can get frustrating when it is sporadic like that - but at least doesn't mess with performance like you said.

That is M-Technik - they are the ones that have done all the work on my race car from the ground up. Great guys. The new shop is actually a bit north of town in Spring Branch. The owner of M-Technik (Will), a fabricator friend of ours, and I are getting this one going as just performance based stuff whereas M-Technik is still doing there thing as primarily service work. We all love racing which will be our primary focus - but will definitely have some non-racing specific stuff in the works as well.

Oh, that's your race car. Amazing machine! I'll definitely have to check out the new place!

[Nisfro98]

I haven't heard anything bad about alpine tune. Is there a thread these failures?

[Fooksdaddy]

Originally Posted by Nisfro98

I haven't heard anything bad about alpine tune. Is there a thread these failures?

search -- AlpineMSS Low RPM Catless X-Pipe Misfire/Torque Dip/Bog

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Fooksdaddy

Oh, that's your race car. Amazing machine! I'll definitely have to check out the new place!

Yeah that's my baby - so much fun to drive. Starting on the build of a bit wilder race M3 now too & and an endurance M2. Definitely welcome to stop by, bit of a mess while getting the new place set up at the same time prepping for the race season but slowly getting everything going

[DukeofAlexandria]

It's up on the top right. Welcome.

-Duke

[Kalzone]

What does everyone think about Gintani Tune?

[Redd]

Originally Posted by Nisfro98

I haven't heard anything bad about alpine tune. Is there a thread these failures?

Issues with bogging, fuel in certain areas, and sensitivity to the x-pipe you use, specifically the location of the x merge.