Alex Alpine ECU Tune

[Vuu]

Originally Posted by 911r

Tune requests are limited to once per month, correct?

I believe it's once a week.

[Eeko]

Originally Posted by noneedlessnoise

Thanks bro, appreciate it. How do you know what features he has available to put in the list, and are you not supposed to put your name and VIN in the subject field?

I haven't been asked to put name or VIN in subject field, and yeah pretty much the list that dpc2u put is most of the options other than Launch control for MT cars

[nah dude]

Yeah that was my bad, but really not worth having a melt down over.

I asked for the instructions and a list of features prior to submitting the request but he ignored the email so I just worked with what I had. Again if he has such a specific process he wants customers to follow that's fine, but he should have that listed somewhere like his website or somewhere in this thread that gets updated regularly so he doesn't cause himself a brain aneurysm. A lot of pointless back and forth that he could avoid himself.

[Scharbag]

Originally Posted by noneedlessnoise

Yeah, this guy has a stick up his ass. For someone who has such a dedicated following on this forum you'd think he'd be a little nicer and appreciative of business.

Yup - if you make a mistake, he gives you a written warning and fails to provide guidance.

If he makes a mistake (and he is human, so he does) he does not even give a verbal apology.

Perhaps a snippet on his website would be wise - something that lists all of the options and the format of the request...

[nah dude]

Yeah, imagine a customer making a mistake.

[MP0W3RD]

I have had a very positive experience with Alex. He has been courteous and prompt in his responses.

There are a few different email addresses he uses depending on the request (sales, troubleshooting, map request) but again, straightforward.

The tune options are limited and laid out on his site clearly from my recollection.

He is one guy, a valuable member of this community, and his tune offers a tremendous value against some of the competition.

[Redd]

I'll qualify by saying that I have an Alpine DCT tune and Alex was very patient during the remote programming and even had to defeat the anti-virus on my work laptop which kept locking him out. This was 4-5 years ago.

That said, this is not how you treat customers. I work in sales and if I want customer loyalty I make it easy and pleasant for my customers to deal with me. If you don't make your list of options easily available, then don't blame customers for getting the options wrong. And wtf is a 'warning' anyway? After 5 warnings he switches off your map and u can't drive for 2 weeks? Or he makes you stand in a corner until you behave yourself?

This is not the way to run a business, honestly. If you're swamped and can't respond to everything, don't take it out on the customer. Hire someone to manage communications for you.

[nah dude]

Originally Posted by MP0W3RD

I have had a very positive experience with Alex. He has been courteous and prompt in his responses.

There are a few different email addresses he uses depending on the request (sales, troubleshooting, map request) but again, straightforward.

The tune options are limited and laid out on his site clearly from my recollection.

He is one guy, a valuable member of this community, and his tune offers a tremendous value against some of the competition.

There is a list of features on the site but if you use those to request maps - which is what I did initially because he wouldn't provide instructions - he will snap that you're not following process correctly and issue a warning. Whatever that means.

No one discounting the value of the tune, purely talking customer service. Maybe you had a good experience, I'm sure others have as well. Seems I'm not the only one who has gotten "time out" warnings or whatever that means for requesting maps not following the exact process that was never laid out to begin with.

Yesterday after getting the map request process wrong the first time I apologized and requested instructions but he refused saying he already sent them. I dug through all my emails and documentation on this tune from when I purchased it 4 years ago and there was nothing. Only a quick convo about the tune and then map files he sent over originally, there was no process. So after two more map request denials and "warnings", each time I apologized and again asked for instructions, did he send them. If he had sent instructions the first time I would've gladly followed the process and wouldn't waste his time guessing what the process is and he wouldn't spend his night giving himself a stroke.

If he wants you to follow a rigid process that's fine, more than happy to oblige, but he should be willing to provide that info or put it somewhere easily accessible and updated so people know what to do or what features are available. His website hasn't been updated since 2017. Could use his website or create his own thread here with an updated OP. Silly to rely on a PDF he claims circulated to every person when they originally purchased the tune. I never got it, and that obviously isn't getting updated either.

Alex was nice and patient and super helpful during our first encounter. He got the car tuned and coded and that was that. Super happy with the tune and was a great value compared to the rest. But it has been over 4 years since that initial contact and every other time I reached out since then either for a remap or a question about the tune he's gotten angry and lashed out for questions he felt were stupid. He once accused me of having much higher mileage on my car than I said it did, which was honestly weird and unnecessarily hostile. He said the issue was my O2 sensors were fried (they weren't) and that my tune files were old (totally my fault amirite) anyway and sent over 4 remaps without me requesting any, there was no process followed there either. Those have been my only interactions.

I understand life gets hectic and it's one dude and he's busy, but there has never been any urgency on any of my requests. My car is driven for pleasure and I made it known there is no rush. You don't have to treat your customers like shit. What kind of business issues warnings?

[s0ldats]

a business can be run however the owner wants it to be run. if that scares some customers off, that's on the owner.

if you don't like the guy then don't buy his product. there are tons of other companies offering similar services.

for me, i like the guy and the product.

[DBE]

Originally Posted by s0ldats

a business can be run however the owner wants it to be run. If that scares some customers off, that's on the owner.

If you don't like the guy then don't buy his product. There are tons of other companies offering similar services.

For me, i like the guy and the product.

😚 🍑

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by noneedlessnoise

There is a list of features on the site but if you use those to request maps - which is what I did initially because he wouldn't provide instructions - he will snap that you're not following process correctly and issue a warning. Whatever that means.

No one discounting the value of the tune, purely talking customer service. Maybe you had a good experience, I'm sure others have as well. Seems I'm not the only one who has gotten "time out" warnings or whatever that means for requesting maps not following the exact process that was never laid out to begin with.

Yesterday after getting the map request process wrong the first time I apologized and requested instructions but he refused saying he already sent them. I dug through all my emails and documentation on this tune from when I purchased it 4 years ago and there was nothing. Only a quick convo about the tune and then map files he sent over originally, there was no process. So after two more map request denials and "warnings", each time I apologized and again asked for instructions, did he send them. If he had sent instructions the first time I would've gladly followed the process and wouldn't waste his time guessing what the process is and he wouldn't spend his night giving himself a stroke.

If he wants you to follow a rigid process that's fine, more than happy to oblige, but he should be willing to provide that info or put it somewhere easily accessible and updated so people know what to do or what features are available. His website hasn't been updated since 2017. Could use his website or create his own thread here with an updated OP. Silly to rely on a PDF he claims circulated to every person when they originally purchased the tune. I never got it, and that obviously isn't getting updated either.

Alex was nice and patient and super helpful during our first encounter. He got the car tuned and coded and that was that. Super happy with the tune and was a great value compared to the rest. But it has been over 4 years since that initial contact and every other time I reached out since then either for a remap or a question about the tune he's gotten angry and lashed out for questions he felt were stupid. He once accused me of having much higher mileage on my car than I said it did, which was honestly weird and unnecessarily hostile. He said the issue was my O2 sensors were fried (they weren't) and that my tune files were old (totally my fault amirite) anyway and sent over 4 remaps without me requesting any, there was no process followed there either. Those have been my only interactions.

I understand life gets hectic and it's one dude and he's busy, but there has never been any urgency on any of my requests. My car is driven for pleasure and I made it known there is no rush. You don't have to treat your customers like shit. What kind of business issues warnings?

I apologize for what you went through and I did not mean to offend you in anyway. It was my fault for your bad experience. Certain things you listed in your email I do not want to make public are things no one wants to hear in this industry.

I never accused you of having higher miles, it was a mere suggestion/question for a failing part that is common on higher mileage vehicles.

My brief/prompt responses might come off offensive, but that is not my intention.

Originally Posted by s0ldats

a business can be run however the owner wants it to be run. if that scares some customers off, that's on the owner.

if you don't like the guy then don't buy his product. there are tons of other companies offering similar services.

for me, i like the guy and the product.

Thank you. This is true, but I try to keep my customer service standards high. In reference to noneedlessnoise above, I do not think other tuners on this platform offer updates 4 years later and most charge per map request.

Everyday I try to improve the tune on this platform, from better fuel economy, drivability and power . I constantly log my own vehicle and have had multiple test groups with customers to iron out problems with certain mods on their vehicles. I want all of my customers to enjoy these updates with me. I can without a doubt say that the tune has improved a great deal throughout the years. Sales on this platform are almost at a standstill and I still work to update the tune for my old customers. I respect every dollar you guys put in my pocket, I really do.

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by Redd

I'll qualify by saying that I have an Alpine DCT tune and Alex was very patient during the remote programming and even had to defeat the anti-virus on my work laptop which kept locking him out. This was 4-5 years ago.

That said, this is not how you treat customers. I work in sales and if I want customer loyalty I make it easy and pleasant for my customers to deal with me. If you don't make your list of options easily available, then don't blame customers for getting the options wrong. And wtf is a 'warning' anyway? After 5 warnings he switches off your map and u can't drive for 2 weeks? Or he makes you stand in a corner until you behave yourself?

This is not the way to run a business, honestly. If you're swamped and can't respond to everything, don't take it out on the customer. Hire someone to manage communications for you.

I respect every single customer,. I never switch off any customers maps or disable their vehicle. It is simply from abusing the system and asking for new maps. You always have your previous maps you can use and your stock map.

Numerous reasons why map request instructions aren't public. I'll give you my first example, I had a customer who his warranty company many years ago pretended to own the vehicle contacted me with his vin, I verified the customer was tuned and boom he went through shit to warranty his car. I had a small used car lot who was well versed on tuning contact me also doing the same thing.

A customer emails me at alex@alpinemss.com asking me for instructions I provide it. If they ask me questions, I answer them. That is not the case if you send it to the request email, I am sorry this will not ever change regardless of how anyone feels. That is simply a request system that pumps into an excel sheet so I can sit back 2-3 hours a day and fill everyone's requests. Only your map request with desired options can go to that email address and you can put one line at the bottom stating your mods.

[a_flint87]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

I respect every single customer,. I never switch off any customers maps or disable their vehicle. It is simply from abusing the system and asking for new maps. You always have your previous maps you can use and your stock map.

Numerous reasons why map request instructions aren't public. I'll give you my first example, I had a customer who his warranty company many years ago pretended to own the vehicle contacted me with his vin, I verified the customer was tuned and boom he went through shit to warranty his car. I had a small used car lot who was well versed on tuning contact me also doing the same thing.

A customer emails me at alex@alpinemss.com asking me for instructions I provide it. If they ask me questions, I answer them. That is not the case if you send it to the request email, I am sorry this will not ever change regardless of how anyone feels. That is simply a request system that pumps into an excel sheet so I can sit back 2-3 hours a day and fill everyone's requests. Only your map request with desired options can go to that email address and you can put one line at the bottom stating your mods.

As a new member, and a new E92 owner, I did a ton of research here on the forums before reaching out to Alex for a tune (namely to get rid of the pesky SES light from being catless). I was super impressed by the entire process with Alex. The shipping was rapid, the tune came faster than I imagined (12 hours after my request) and the instructions in the ReadMe file made tuning my car a breeze. I've always used Cobb products on my other cars, and was hesitant to find a new tuner to trust. Alex and Alpine were exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Alex!

[rod.bearings]

Just finished getting a few maps from Alex, and they are really good for the price. Coming from the N54 world where every tune is more reasonably priced, Alpine tune are prob the best value imo for a N/A tune.
Although Alex is quiet strict with his rules (did not follow on more than 1 occasion lol) I don’t blame him with the sheer amount of customers and I assume him being a 1 man team. He answered all of my questions, you just gotta be patient!

[Moutamid]

It all started when i tried to update to 241e and killed the ecu using wrong cable.

So i reached to alex to see if he can do anything to help me recover it and he was very responsive and agreed to help me fix it .

Shipping the cable was very fast and communication was top, he answered all my questions and put his time to help me with the issue .

Now the car is back to life with Alpine Stage 1 and this is how the m3 should came from factory.

So if anyone still didn’t tune his M3 i will say you should contact alex and you will be very happy with the outcome.

[rod.bearings]

Any issues with this tune with the bimmerworld Xpipe? I heard some tunes have issues low end with the relocated X

[Mimmer]

I think I'm finally going install my tune this weekend !
Had for 4 months and prolonged it

[gtenedio]

running on stage 2 for a few weeks now. no issue super smooth. install was easy enough.
all this fuss about Alex but he was delightful to work with.

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by krazi3azn

Any issues with this tune with the bimmerworld Xpipe? I heard some tunes have issues low end with the relocated X

We have a tune for the Bimmerworld x pipe, works perfectly.

[sbo76]

Well i just finished installing the tune as well. I had the AA test pipes put on prior to running the tune...I am your typical middle aged computer illiterate person. I was putting off the tune because i thought i would break something. It was a piece of cake and Alex has been awesome to work with. Not sure what the prior poster is complaining about. As others have mentioned Alex is very prompt with responses and the process is laid out well. I would highly recommend his products to anyone shopping for a tune. The car absolutely rips for 1,000 bucks (tune, pipes and install for the pipes). Now i just need to address the cookie cutter tires this thing comes with so i can keep it on the ground! Thx Alex.

[MJBO]

Hey Alex, when I tuned my car I lost the auto start/stop functionality, is the possible to get that back?

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

Everyday I try to improve the tune on this platform, from better fuel economy, drivability and power . I constantly log my own vehicle and have had multiple test groups with customers to iron out problems with certain mods on their vehicles.

I didn’t realise this, would there be an updated map from the one I installed six months ago? I don’t have any mods.

[Vedubin01]

Im also interested to know if there has been any significant improvements over the Alpine stage 2 tune that was purchased almost 10 months ago.