Alex Alpine ECU Tune

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by x Spades x

So are we going to act like we didn't see the DCT downshift video, on IG?

Lol

Alex, I know this isn't out and its going through testing... but can you tell us what its about? How is it different than the GTS DCT tune you provide now? Do you need beta testers, bc im here if you need

thats for the 6spd only. its auto rev match feature.

[Vuu]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

thats for the 6spd only. its auto rev match feature.

It was DCT,

confirmed on the slide right after on the IG page.

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by Vuu

It was DCT,

confirmed on the slide right after on the IG page.

hmm i couldve sworn he had tease it for 6spd. again i only saw the story not the actual post.

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

hmm i couldve sworn he had tease it for 6spd. again i only saw the story not the actual post.

DCT, not 6speed.

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

DCT, not 6speed.

you've peaked my interest again sir... your test mule is here.

[x Spades x]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

DCT, not 6speed.

Can you give us a "Beta" synopsis?
What does it do and how is it different?
Again, need a tester, bc I drive a lengthy distance everyday... :-)

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by x Spades x

Can you give us a "Beta" synopsis?
What does it do and how is it different?
Again, need a tester, bc I drive a lengthy distance everyday... :-)

Not to a beta stage yet, I test everything myself and if it doesn't cause damage it moves to beta to iron out the bumps.

I am testing louder more aggressive downshift blips and shift speeds.

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

Not to a beta stage yet, I test everything myself and if it doesn't cause damage it moves to beta to iron out the bumps.

I am testing louder more aggressive downshift blips and shift speeds.

i do notice the DCT only blimps pretty hard depending on RPM location so this is something i am interested in testing if you decide to open it. i am local to you

[x Spades x]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

i do notice the DCT only blimps pretty hard depending on RPM location so this is something i am interested in testing if you decide to open it. i am local to you

You went from telling me its for 6sp, to all over the beta... lmao.
Sheesh Bruh

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by x Spades x

You went from telling me its for 6sp, to all over the beta... lmao.
Sheesh Bruh

stop yelling at me

i corrected myself.. also my master plan to deceive people

[MPizza]

Installed my Alpine tune yesterday (ECU and DCT) and I really like it so far. Alex was responsive and helpful. Now I just need to go stage 2.

[Powashiftin]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

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

How does one request this map? Thanks

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by Powashiftin

How does one request this map? Thanks

Follow your map request instructions and place your mods on the bottom

[Mimmer]

Finished my tune...only took like 6 months after purchase. Relatively easy and quick process.

Noticed a difference in torque and responsivness! At slower and higher speeds. Almost like i had new spark plug feel is the best way discribe it.

As for stiffness in steering. Idk if i really felt a change ... Tbd.

Exhaust... Didnt expect this but its def louder often... Good thing though. I felt was soft at higher speed beofre the tune but now its more alive now. Engine sounds more alive too without a upgraded intake or anything.

Overall happy and worth it!! Going keep driving and learn the new changes.

Fyi. I did try the low burples and mine would only make a small pop like aroundv 2k at lower speeds ... Almost like a can hit the floor lol. No x pipe so i removed it pretty quickly. Did standing revs but nothing happened. I guess you really need a full setup to get a more true sound from the tune.
*I only have Valvtorntic design mid section.

[chocstraw]

I'm going to write a big long post and ignore any responses to this.

My qualifications: I'm a technician under federal regulations. I work with internal combustion engines and more advanced technologies.

My experience with alex has not inspired confidence. I began this process after removing my primary cats and a fresh set of plugs, oil, etc.

Alex is polite and I do like his demeanor in most communication. However, his rigid inflexibility in tune requesting is beyond annoying. Any communication that anyone competent can interpret is met with some sort of scorn. This has been addressed.

Onto the tune. I have requested a decent sample size of tune files from alex, all of which are inconsistent. There is almost no rhyme or reason to the changes he makes to his files. Invariably, the issues I would have would either be:

- pre-ignition
- poor MPG
- worse than stock performance

On the first few tunes I requested, all tunes had a knock at high-load, low-RPM circumstances, typically uphill driving in 7th gear. While I have experienced this on stock 241E, the stock software adapted VERY quickly to these circumstances and prevented further knocking, often within seconds. The car would also make strange noises on high load, high RPM uses. Noises at redline that I wasn't used to hearing.

Upon further mention of knocks and furnishing of logs / evidence of knocking, Alex had the audacity to suggest that my issues were related to rod bearing wear, and suggested, and I quote, that tuning in additional lubrication was necessary. The S65's oil pump's output is directly correlated to the engine RPM, and thus cannot be "tuned".

Upon mentioning this to Alex, Alex suggested many things. The first was a map that was so bad that it brought my MPG down to nearly 10MPG combined. Of course you can eliminate knocks if you richen the mix, but you also eliminate power.

I abandoned this tune, my confidence diminished.

Alex also blamed "fuel quality". This is an illegitimate issue. Fuel quality is regulated strictly, but even if this was not the case, see Brazil, which has lower quality fuel than CA but still has perfectly fine S65 BMWs (no adjustment to compression ratio). "bad gas" is, far and away, a myth.

I had my rod bearings replaced in the middle of this communication, and issues followed. Rod bearing wear as an issue eliminated (though they were not legitimate to begin with).

After some positive feedback from associates, I decided to get continued tuning from alex to see if issues have been corrected; everyone is worthy of redemption.

Tunes continue to get worse than stock performance and MPG ratings. One concession I will make is that perhaps, at its best, the Alpine tune is better than the stock 241E. In extreme conditions, be it cold or high demand, the tune is invariably worse because Alex has seemingly eliminated the flexibility of the stock tune.

The MSS60 is a very advanced ECU / DME and is more than capable of extracting the best power. It will adapt to cold / hot weather, good / bad fuel, aggressive / soft driving, and it will be fine. Those who are unfamiliar with other platforms, some ECUs will destroy an engine simply on a cat delete or filter change (see: subaru).

Look at the S65 and the E9x M3 and tell me that the engineers at BMW M didn't take all considerations into mind. The intake design is among the best I've ever seen. The exhaust design is excellent. The transmissions, engine, etc have all taken far beyond their rated power under strenuous circumstances.

I am not to believe an army of one has somehow superseded this engineering expertise.

My opinion of this tune is based on multiple years of experience with this tune and several revisions (they are free, why wouldn't I try a new tune?). To this day, I cannot clearly identify why Alex makes the changes he does. I love my E92 and am intimately familiar with the platform, I hope to see you all at a [200k+ miles] thread. But with this tune, I am afraid that cat melting, piston melting, cylinder wall scraping, etc failure would be brought on prematurely.

My issue with this tune is that alex assures that none of these concerns are legitimate. Claims of stock safeguards being kept intact are intuitively ignored by the prevalence of knock I've experienced. The DME is not adaptive. Performance on a cold night is the same as a hot day. This was not the case with 241E, it would perform just fine regardless of inputs.

I take ethical issues with the tune. I would not imagine charging for my services if I was not fully confident in what I was doing. If you are chasing big power: go with a newer turbo BMW solution. The S55 does make big power with relative ease.

If you want to go faster, take this money and budget for a set of camber plates or tires / coilovers.

This tune is an irresponsible risk to the community- no matter how slight- and a clear cash-grab of an amateur turned entrepreneur.

my advice is to get better at tuning. leaning out an engine and disabling stock protections for small (<10hp gains, delta) are not worth it. do not offer a service that you cannot in good conscience offer.

[Alex@Alpine]

Hi, I am sorry you feel this way and like to answer a few things here

Originally Posted by chocstraw

I'm going to write a big long post and ignore any responses to this.

My qualifications: I'm a technician under federal regulations. I work with internal combustion engines and more advanced technologies.

My experience with alex has not inspired confidence. I began this process after removing my primary cats and a fresh set of plugs, oil, etc.

Alex is polite and I do like his demeanor in most communication. However, his rigid inflexibility in tune requesting is beyond annoying. Any communication that anyone competent can interpret is met with some sort of scorn. This has been addressed.

I understand it seems most problems stem from the map requesting system I have put into place, seems to frustrate some. I do not mean this in anyway, I am just trying to stream line the request process for everyone. It looks I will have to return to manually reading each email and filling everyone's requests.

Originally Posted by chocstraw

On the first few tunes I requested, all tunes had a knock at high-load, low-RPM circumstances, typically uphill driving in 7th gear. While I have experienced this on stock 241E, the stock software adapted VERY quickly to these circumstances and prevented further knocking, often within seconds. The car would also make strange noises on high load, high RPM uses. Noises at redline that I wasn't used to hearing.

Upon further mention of knocks and furnishing of logs / evidence of knocking, Alex had the audacity to suggest that my issues were related to rod bearing wear, and suggested, and I quote, that tuning in additional lubrication was necessary. The S65's oil pump's output is directly correlated to the engine RPM, and thus cannot be "tuned".

Upon mentioning this to Alex, Alex suggested many things. The first was a map that was so bad that it brought my MPG down to nearly 10MPG combined. Of course you can eliminate knocks if you richen the mix, but you also eliminate power.

I abandoned this tune, my confidence diminished.

Alex also blamed "fuel quality". This is an illegitimate issue. Fuel quality is regulated strictly, but even if this was not the case, see Brazil, which has lower quality fuel than CA but still has perfectly fine S65 BMWs (no adjustment to compression ratio). "bad gas" is, far and away, a myth.

I had my rod bearings replaced in the middle of this communication, and issues followed. Rod bearing wear as an issue eliminated (though they were not legitimate to begin with).

I do not remember blaming rod wear for knock or lack of lubrications, maybe early on. Maybe if you can provide your name or email in PM so I can look up our emails I can not find any information on you even in the PM system.

Originally Posted by chocstraw

My opinion of this tune is based on multiple years of experience with this tune and several revisions (they are free, why wouldn't I try a new tune?). To this day, I cannot clearly identify why Alex makes the changes he does. I love my E92 and am intimately familiar with the platform, I hope to see you all at a [200k+ miles] thread. But with this tune, I am afraid that cat melting, piston melting, cylinder wall scraping, etc failure would be brought on prematurely.

My issue with this tune is that alex assures that none of these concerns are legitimate. Claims of stock safeguards being kept intact are intuitively ignored by the prevalence of knock I've experienced. The DME is not adaptive. Performance on a cold night is the same as a hot day. This was not the case with 241E, it would perform just fine regardless of inputs.

I take ethical issues with the tune. I would not imagine charging for my services if I was not fully confident in what I was doing. If you are chasing big power: go with a newer turbo BMW solution. The S55 does make big power with relative ease.

If you want to go faster, take this money and budget for a set of camber plates or tires / coilovers.

This tune is an irresponsible risk to the community- no matter how slight- and a clear cash-grab of an amateur turned entrepreneur.

my advice is to get better at tuning. leaning out an engine and disabling stock protections for small (<10hp gains, delta) are not worth it. do not offer a service that you cannot in good conscience offer.

Claims of us turning off or disabling stock protections is invalid. All stock safeguards are in place.

You yourself have seem to ran the tune for years with no problems, many of our customers have done well over 100K running our tune with no problems. Most customers claiming to have INCREASED fuel economy with our tune. You can look even back on this same thread.

I might respond quickly and with confidence, but I haven never claimed anyone's concerns to be false or not legitimate. I urge you to snap it and post it if I did.

I have never used such words "tuning in additional lubrication was necessary" This is not me.

[chocstraw]

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by chocstraw

Yes, the reference wasn't related to your car's noises, I tell everyone to have their rod bearings checked on these vehicles as practice. Please, send me a PM or email and give me one more chance at a resolution.

[Mimmer]

Im no coder ... Any proof of it safety being turned off when it should be on for colder or hotter temps?

Alex mentioned its turned on ...

[MP0W3RD]

I've tracked my car extensively with Alex's Stage 2 tune with stock redline and have experienced zero pre-detonation or knocking…fuel economy is pretty much the same as stock…I am running fully catless on the track.

I am not an engineer or coder but from my personal experience the tune has been great. I bought my car with 17K miles on it and it now shows 43K. Tune has been on the car for the last 23K miles.

Alex is very clear about the potential excessive wear of some options: higher Redline, cold start delete, and burbles.

I can't imagine that the other tunes offer a substantially more "reliable" product. At the end of the day, yes, you're trusting that the BMW engineers left something on the table when it came to factory tuning. They're going to be conservative. It's BMW.

Guess what though? Driving your car every day causes wear to it.

Drinking causes wear to your body. Most people think it's worth it though.

You're getting into a very technical argument here, but at the end of the day, Alex's tune makes the car faster. I trust that the tune is not causing excessive wear due to his advice and professionalism.

My two cents.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by chocstraw

additionally, you cannot claim that safeguards are in stock if you're just functionally disabling them. The knock and overheat protection are basically disabled outside of any condition aside from the engine actively being on fire or blowing coolant.

All safe guards are in place from what I have experienced. My car with this tune has gone into limp mode when it got very hot on a very hot track day (100F+ South Florida). There was a temp warning and I cooled it down and went into pits. It went away after cooling down and I went back out and cut my sessions short.

[omgzirra_exe]

i've literally abused my car last summer on Alex's tune on and off track and i have no complaints. no issues with predet, car ran smooth.. my MPG on e85 was pretty consistent i could probably squeeze more if i put new o2 sensors and replaced my coil packs..

every ones is going to have different experiences, whether it be on the engine side or the dme side of things. in fact i had one of those issues where at low RPM my engine would stutter and guess what? wasn't tune related, just had to replace another throttle actuator. since i only replaced one bank at that time.

Not all engines are made the same even if they are the same manufacture. some will out last, some will die sooner. some make more power, some make less.

No body is out there to blow your motor. no one is out there to hurt you or your wallet. if Alex tunes were an issue he would not be here.