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      07-08-2009, 08:12 AM   #98
andrew@southernBM
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Drives: M3 F80, M140i
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Melbourne, Australia.

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To be able to flash tune you need a constant auxillary stable battery supply as a starting point. When you flash the ECU you will always have a footprint with date, time and what program has been installed, it shows that the ECU has been flashed. This is also the case with deleting fault code memory. In most late model cases you only have an option in the DME for 14 flashes then it is expired and it can be binned. A failing DME ecu is common and are regularly replaced now even when doing progman updates. The DME is not the only ECU that intergrates either, when they do update the DME the likihood of another ECU's falling over is high. The inteface to be able to talk and modify the DME is way different to any other brand cars as others have posted above. The BMW DME just does not work like that for this car.

Now as a viable option for the tuners why would you produce a flash when all the owner has to do is go back to the dealer or independent and get a service and updates done and then the tuner would have to offer free updates for his tuned files again. In the life of the car the tuner would then be married to that car for life. Hardly a good business practice. When the owner of the car gets DP's then he'd need to get a new flash, what about an exhaust or intake, new flash, your burning up the ECU slots. Talking to the Germans recently i know they have no plans at all to have home DIY'ers doing there own form of tuning through OBD, it is just too complex. If you want to talk about the the companies who have to send the ECU's off, then they are probably offering "ECU modification" burning directly to the chip rather than through the OBD.

Just a few random thoughts in no particular order.

What the future holds with new technology, no-one knows.
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