[casualsurfer]

HUGE thanks to AWil335i (a fellow Indy member) who took time to show me his 335i and helping me flash the TCU.

Refer to the thread here: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...7#post13568707

I was curious to see what "grandma mode" meant and sure enough, if you're not stepping on it, the car will shift promptly at 2K RPM in D mode, but I'm finding that I'm OK with it in city driving.

S mode & M mode are AWESOME. Are the shifts quicker? Yes, absolutely. Is it Porsche PDK quick? No, but close enough on upshifts. Downshifts are great - the car already did rev matching before but now it seems to rev match quicker (as soon as I pull on my "-" paddle), but it's of course not PDK/DCT quick. Still, I'm extremely happy and would recommend this to anyone whose transmission is compatible with the software.

The slight change in display too is nice: "D" now shows "D1 ~ D6", "DS" is now "S1 ~ S6", and M1 ~ M6 as before.

[dk79]

I also got my car flashed yesterday with the b3 tranny software.
I agree yes the tranny shifts very smoothly in D mode but I think it does not care any more about the throttle input. it just keeps on shifting even if you are pushing on gas pedal. previously the car if was in 3rd gear and you are in D mode and pushing on gas pedal it would hold it in that gear longer but now it just shifts w/o brains.

yes paddle shift response has improved. in DS mode shifts are quicker.
but I timed my car before and after alpine flash. I lost 0.1 sec avg to 60 and 0.2 sec avg to 1/4 mile.

any comments will be appreciated.

I am currently stage 2 + aggressive on cobb tune.

[casualsurfer]

Originally Posted by dk79

I also got my car flashed yesterday with the b3 tranny software.
I agree yes the tranny shifts very smoothly in D mode but I think it does not care any more about the throttle input. it just keeps on shifting even if you are pushing on gas pedal. previously the car if was in 3rd gear and you are in D mode and pushing on gas pedal it would hold it in that gear longer but now it just shifts w/o brains.

yes paddle shift response has improved. in DS mode shifts are quicker.
but I timed my car before and after alpine flash. I lost 0.1 sec avg to 60 and 0.2 sec avg to 1/4 mile.

any comments will be appreciated.

I am currently stage 2 + aggressive on cobb tune.

That's odd, when I step on it in D it's still pretty much the same as before. The throttle input (i.e. distance you step on in D) may be a bit longer than before, but it'll downshift and go fast once you step on it.

[stashtrey]

I got my cable today. Have had a tough time finding the full software download. Got a link to a torrent but no seeders. Have xp 32 bit laptop.

Anyone have a good link to the full 4.6 GB software download? Any help woUld be appreciated!!!!!

[stashtrey]

Got it done tonight. Awesome. Amazing. Manual downshift rev match. Shifts way quicker in manual and sport is smooth.

Highly recommend.

[dk79]

ok guys the alpine flash does make some quick gear changes but d mode is plain dull.

also we did get the flash but the reality is that the actual alpina b3 car has modified forged pistons and upgraded transmission as compared to the stock bmw transmission. they always upgrade components on the alpina cars so the reliability of the tranny on our cars goes down with the flash.

[cn555ic]

Originally Posted by dk79

ok guys the alpine flash does make some quick gear changes but d mode is plain dull.

also we did get the flash but the reality is that the actual alpina b3 car has modified forged pistons and upgraded transmission as compared to the stock bmw transmission. they always upgrade components on the alpina cars so the reliability of the tranny on our cars goes down with the flash.

If your worry about the future of the car with respect to this flash, honestly why mod in the first place...Do you have a tune? If so you can also ask the same question about that too. Problem is anytime you do any modifications outside the factory settings that it came with will eventually cause premature failure compared to a car thats not touched at all..Thats why they coined the phrase..."you have to pay to play"

[stashtrey]

Originally Posted by dk79

ok guys the alpine flash does make some quick gear changes but d mode is plain dull.

also we did get the flash but the reality is that the actual alpina b3 car has modified forged pistons and upgraded transmission as compared to the stock bmw transmission. they always upgrade components on the alpina cars so the reliability of the tranny on our cars goes down with the flash.

D is a drag, yes.. but why not just run in S??? It's frigging awesome. Manual shits are WAY faster and the downshifting is awesome.

Not sure why you'd expect D mode to be thrilling or exciting. Also... your transmission needs up to a week to 'relearn' how you drive and adjust to that. Give it some time.

As for shortening the life... all it is doing is changing the timing and behavior of the transmission. Smoother. Should have come from the factory like this.

[Boost'd]

Originally Posted by stashtrey

I got my cable today. Have had a tough time finding the full software download. Got a link to a torrent but no seeders. Have xp 32 bit laptop.

Anyone have a good link to the full 4.6 GB software download? Any help woUld be appreciated!!!!!

I'm in the same boat. Did you find the full download?

[dk79]

Originally Posted by stashtrey

D is a drag, yes.. but why not just run in S??? It's frigging awesome. Manual shits are WAY faster and the downshifting is awesome.

Not sure why you'd expect D mode to be thrilling or exciting. Also... your transmission needs up to a week to 'relearn' how you drive and adjust to that. Give it some time.

As for shortening the life... all it is doing is changing the timing and behavior of the transmission. Smoother. Should have come from the factory like this.

sure will wait about a week to see how it turns out to be.
I just want the D mode to behave as it used in stock.

[dk79]

Originally Posted by cn555ic

If your worry about the future of the car with respect to this flash, honestly why mod in the first place...Do you have a tune? If so you can also ask the same question about that too. Problem is anytime you do any modifications outside the factory settings that it came with will eventually cause premature failure compared to a car thats not touched at all..Thats why they coined the phrase..."you have to pay to play"

yes I do have cobb stage 2, but bmw made 335is with the same engine so the engine can withstand abuse but they still did not put this tranny software in 335is. I still believe that alpine b3 transmission is different than ours. I will very likely flash back to stock next week if the tranny does not relearn to behave the way it did in stock. I just cant stand the lame D mode.

[335_MI6]

i got this done about a month ago and i love it

[pits200]

Originally Posted by dk79

ok guys the alpine flash does make some quick gear changes but d mode is plain dull.

also we did get the flash but the reality is that the actual alpina b3 car has modified forged pistons and upgraded transmission as compared to the stock bmw transmission. they always upgrade components on the alpina cars so the reliability of the tranny on our cars goes down with the flash.

What work is done to the alpina transmission?

[DLam]

i just got this done yesterday. So far its been great

[smares21]

Originally Posted by dk79

ok guys the alpine flash does make some quick gear changes but d mode is plain dull.

also we did get the flash but the reality is that the actual alpina b3 car has modified forged pistons and upgraded transmission as compared to the stock bmw transmission. they always upgrade components on the alpina cars so the reliability of the tranny on our cars goes down with the flash.

Actually, if the flash does what everyone says, it will increase the life of the tranny, not shorten it.

In an ATX, the "smoothness" is derived from how long the torque converter is allowed to slip when making shifts. The longer it slips, the smoother the shifts and the more heat that is generated. Heat is the biggest enemy of an ATX. So, with this flash allowing for faster shifts, the torque converter doesn't slip as long and generates less heat.

[dk79]

Originally Posted by smares21

Actually, if the flash does what everyone says, it will increase the life of the tranny, not shorten it.

In an ATX, the "smoothness" is derived from how long the torque converter is allowed to slip when making shifts. The longer it slips, the smoother the shifts and the more heat that is generated. Heat is the biggest enemy of an ATX. So, with this flash allowing for faster shifts, the torque converter doesn't slip as long and generates less heat.

awesone you know so much more than bmw engineers. i have to agree with what you said.

[dk79]

Originally Posted by pits200

What work is done to the alpina transmission?

i am not sure what exact parts but if you wiki it, alpina does have upgraded tranny.

[smares21]

Originally Posted by dk79

i am not sure what exact parts but if you wiki it, alpina does have upgraded tranny.

Luckily, I work for a company that has many different business units. One of them is ownership of multiple BMW dealerships around the country. Even more lucky: we are an authorized Alpina dealership. WOW, what crazy luck. So, what did I do with my crazy luck? I checked out the dealership warehouse part stock request program.

Euro Spec Alpina B3 S Bi-Turbo transmission part number - 24007572071
Euro Spec 2010 BMW 335i transmission part number - 24007572071

HOLY SHIT!!!! SAME PART NUMBER?!?!?!?!?!?


Its not different/upgraded. Its just reprogrammed. Get off your high horse. Could it do damage? Sure. So can hitting a big pothole.

[stashtrey]

Someone just got served! Oh snap. j/k.

Thanks for the confirmation!

[dk79]

Originally Posted by smares21

Luckily, I work for a company that has many different business units. One of them is ownership of multiple BMW dealerships around the country. Even more lucky: we are an authorized Alpina dealership. WOW, what crazy luck. So, what did I do with my crazy luck? I checked out the dealership warehouse part stock request program.

Euro Spec Alpina B3 S Bi-Turbo transmission part number - 24007572071
Euro Spec 2010 BMW 335i transmission part number - 24007572071

HOLY SHIT!!!! SAME PART NUMBER?!?!?!?!?!?


Its not different/upgraded. Its just reprogrammed. Get of your high horse. Could it do damage? Sure. So can hitting a big pothole.

awesome, thanks for the effort and info. i did not know. great news.

[ajsalida]

Originally Posted by smares21

Luckily, I work for a company that has many different business units. One of them is ownership of multiple BMW dealerships around the country. Even more lucky: we are an authorized Alpina dealership. WOW, what crazy luck. So, what did I do with my crazy luck? I checked out the dealership warehouse part stock request program.

Euro Spec Alpina B3 S Bi-Turbo transmission part number - 24007572071
Euro Spec 2010 BMW 335i transmission part number - 24007572071

HOLY SHIT!!!! SAME PART NUMBER?!?!?!?!?!?


Its not different/upgraded. Its just reprogrammed. Get of your high horse. Could it do damage? Sure. So can hitting a big pothole.

LOL PWN'd

Great info thanks for digging it up.

Now what we all really hope is the Alpina flash will help the tranny hold up better under higher TQ loads from modded engines. The stock programming allowed too much slip.

I know my car feels much better shifting even though I only have stage 2+ Cobb (stage 1+ before flash). Did not want to go much further than that with the stock tranny.

We'll see what happens over the summer. Looking forward to reports back from folks with upgraded turbos. meth, and so forth as to what is the next weak point. It would be nice to find out Level 10 type $5k tranny upgrades were not really necessary for say up to 500WHP.

[TRIPLE-O]

Originally Posted by smares21

Luckily, I work for a company that has many different business units. One of them is ownership of multiple BMW dealerships around the country. Even more lucky: we are an authorized Alpina dealership. WOW, what crazy luck. So, what did I do with my crazy luck? I checked out the dealership warehouse part stock request program.

Euro Spec Alpina B3 S Bi-Turbo transmission part number - 24007572071
Euro Spec 2010 BMW 335i transmission part number - 24007572071

HOLY SHIT!!!! SAME PART NUMBER?!?!?!?!?!?


Its not different/upgraded. Its just reprogrammed. Get off your high horse. Could it do damage? Sure. So can hitting a big pothole.