[Dark_Knight_335]

Well yea I suppose you are right, but speaking just for me I am fine with it.
It's BMW software besides. I guess everyone fails to realize this fact.

[BillionPa]

something to remember, this software is very specifically for N54 engines (but seems to work with N55 just fine), so there may be additional warranty considerations for N55 owners with this flash

[melloww22]

Originally Posted by BillionPa

something to remember, this software is very specifically for N54 engines (but seems to work with N55 just fine), so there may be additional warranty considerations for N55 owners with this flash

The warranty disclaimer is applicable to both the N54 and N55 platforms when addressing repairs and maintenance on a non Alpina dealer. Alpina platform is the bi-turbo, and this flash was designed with it in mind. The flash is on the TCU that is shared by both the N54 and N55, hence why it works for the N55.

[torr]

Am I the 4th? I have the tach issues.
2011 335i n55,
DS to M mode only.

[torqnDC]

Originally Posted by torr

Am I the 4th? I have the tach issues.
2011 335i n55,
DS to M mode only.

Welcome to the exclusive club! Our cars clearly have minds of their own and like to confirm our manual shift commands... haha

Can you get me a screenshot or a list of all your ZB #s? That will help towards potentially isolating the compatibility mismatch.

[e92sport]

This has to be the best n55 mod to date!!!! Makes a world of difference.

[BillionPa]

Originally Posted by melloww22

The warranty disclaimer is applicable to both the N54 and N55 platforms when addressing repairs and maintenance on a non Alpina dealer. Alpina platform is the bi-turbo, and this flash was designed with it in mind. The flash is on the TCU that is shared by both the N54 and N55, hence why it works for the N55.

the flash contains 2 data files, one for the TCU (same as originally installed on N55 cars, upgrade to some N54 cars) and one for the ECU (controlling rev matching and timing adjustment during shifting)

the ECU specific code was designed for the N54 engine but with higher boost pressures and different compression ratio than stock, and as such can feel a little weird in D mode, but will be just fine in all other modes.

there will be no actual warranty problems to an N54 based system because of this flash, but there can be on N55 systems, because of the different engine management software.

by warranty problems I mean the flash causing a problem, not being denied warranty claims because of it.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Originally Posted by BillionPa

the flash contains 2 data files, one for the TCU (same as originally installed on N55 cars, upgrade to some N54 cars) and one for the ECU (controlling rev matching and timing adjustment during shifting)

the ECU specific code was designed for the N54 engine but with higher boost pressures and different compression ratio than stock, and as such can feel a little weird in D mode, but will be just fine in all other modes.

there will be no actual warranty problems to an N54 based system because of this flash, but there can be on N55 systems, because of the different engine management software.

by warranty problems I mean the flash causing a problem, not being denied warranty claims because of it.

I'm taking my car in for service next month because of some potential turbo concern. You're saying the dealer will treat my car as it were bone stock, and not care at all that my tranny is clearly showing D1, D2. Etc, and possibly blame it?
Just hypotheticals of course. Mind you my Dinan BMW dealer cares not, however they are also 30 miles further from me too...

[christafurr]

Just got this done and WOW it's amazing! I must be lucky because I'm not experiencing a tach drop

[iconfat]

Thinking the tach drop issue may have to do with the build date.
Are you guys logging this and is there a correlation?

[torqnDC]

Originally Posted by iconfat

Thinking the tach drop issue may have to do with the build date.
Are you guys logging this and is there a correlation?

It's not build date. Two cars with the same month build date have both been flashed, one experiencing the issues and one without. I've run quite a lot of scenarios at this point working with cn555ic to see if we can isolate anything, and my last hope is that there is a particular module that has to have a specific or date-ranged firmware/software load on it to match up properly.

[melloww22]

Originally Posted by BillionPa

the flash contains 2 data files, one for the TCU (same as originally installed on N55 cars, upgrade to some N54 cars) and one for the ECU (controlling rev matching and timing adjustment during shifting)

the ECU specific code was designed for the N54 engine but with higher boost pressures and different compression ratio than stock, and as such can feel a little weird in D mode, but will be just fine in all other modes.

there will be no actual warranty problems to an N54 based system because of this flash, but there can be on N55 systems, because of the different engine management software.

by warranty problems I mean the flash causing a problem, not being denied warranty claims because of it.

I wasnt aware of the ECU changes specific to N54... although yes, the D mode driving is awkward, very fast shifting to 6th gear @ 40mph. I usually drive in S or M mode, and D mode only on highway traffic jams...

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

Wait, it touches the ECU too? It couldn't have possibly wiped out my Dinan flash could it? I'm taking my car in for service next month because of some potential turbo concern. You're saying the dealer will treat my car as it were bone stock, and not care at all that my tranny is clearly showing D1, D2. Etc, and possibly blame it?
Just hypotheticals of course. Mind you my Dinan BMW dealer cares not, however they are also 30 miles further from me too...

Tune wipe? This would affect DINAN & PPK.... good thing I have COBB now, although my PPK was a good start tune from the dealer.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Hey Mellow- let me make clear I am not making any false claims that it wipes out flash tunes- not sure what the other fella is talking about but this ONLY flashes our TCUs. Maybe it's a different story with the N54 crew

[torqnDC]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

Hey Mellow- let me make clear I am not making any false claims that it wipes out flash tunes- not sure what the other fella is talking about but this ONLY flashes our TCUs. Maybe it's a different story with the N54 crew

It definitely doesn't wipe or flash the ECU in any way. You can verify this as the ECU module doesn't change its version or date from the before and after. This is only firmware and software for the GKE215 (TCU), not anything else. The transmission talks to the ECU, but the ECU is not changed by this flash. If it were, it would brick the car as the n54 ECU is 100% not compatible with our n55s.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Bam. There it is. Thanks Torq! Still probably shouldn't take it into any dealer for warranty related work before flashing it back though huh?

[cn555ic]

God I hate the fact of all the misinformation here...WOW

[Dozhdbog]

What's misinformation here?

[Dark_Knight_335]

Originally Posted by Dozhdbog

What's misinformation here?

The ECU flash part.

[KG3356MT]

Originally Posted by cn555ic

God I hate the fact of all the misinformation here...WOW

+1 Steve. This is why you gotta take everything you read on a fourm with a grain of salt.

[BillionPa]

I should be more specific, it does NOT flash the engine computer (DME ECU) but there are 2 parts of code that are flashed, one is essentially the operating system of the TCU, and the other is the software it runs.

The DME and TCU are in constant communication, and the TCU needs to know what do do with those signals (when to shift based on engine torque and speed signals, etc). The main software for the TCU is identical to that of the standard BMW software for post 03/07 E9x, the only difference is the part that communicates with other modules.

The TCU tells the DME when do change timing during shifts and for how long, and the DME tells the TCU engine torque, speed, throttle position, and other data, then the TCU interprets it and decides when to shift, how to shift, and what kind of shift parameters to send back to DME. The TCU also sends the data back to the instrument cluster that displays the gear, it even communicates with the traction control system and the steering angle sensor, and uses data from these to determine when to shift (or when not to shift specifically)

The code that interprets DME signals is specific to both the DME and the engine (and expected engine performance characteristics), and may react oddly (or not correctly) if they are not the same. In this case, the Alpina flash was designed for MSD80 with N54 putting out 10% more power than stock. The code expects certain behavior (amount of engine torque after a shift given current RPM and throttle position, acceleration rates at a given torque and gear, range of input values, etc).

on N54 cars with JB4 or other engine boosts, the engine performance is very close to that which is expected (or more with meth or high octane), and the signals from the DME are received within the range and timing that the TCU expects. On E9x N55 cars, the transmission 'coding' is different than the E9x N54 cars for stock BMW software, even thought the main trans software is exactly the same, which means that something needed to be changed for some reason, and using the N54 (Alpina) coding can in theory cause problems, but probably will not. It could be that certain signals were within different ranges, or engine timing for shift was different, or something else.

Other car chassis' have different coding because they have different chassis weights, and that is taking into account by the transmission. If you flash E92 TCU coding to an X3 with N54 and 6HP21 (this is just an example), if a given engine torque is not causing an expected acceleration level, the car will think it is going up a hill, but in reality the car is just heavier, and shift patterns will be much different than expected. I know someone with an X1 has flashed the Alpina code, and it works, but may behave differently because of weight issues.

The tach needle issue on N55 could be caused by an erroneous signal from the Alpina software being sent back to the DME, and in return the DME messes up the cluster signal, or it could be the signal sent to the cluster from the TCU for gear change was not friendly to the cluster because of Kombi software version, Alpina cars do use different clusters. I have no reason to speculate on the cause without more data.

If any of this does not make any sense, I will try to explain something better, just ask.

[jmkworld]

Originally Posted by torr

Am I the 4th? I have the tach issues.
2011 335i n55,
DS to M mode only.

i have it as well. things i have thought of that could of caused it 2011 335i xdrive n55. i did have autoclear thru the jb4 during the install. wonder if that causes it?

[cn555ic]

Originally Posted by jmkworld

i have it as well. things i have thought of that could of caused it 2011 335i xdrive n55. i did have autoclear thru the jb4 during the install. wonder if that causes it?

No...autoclear has nothing to do with it as I flashed many N55 with JB4 and same scenario as yours and you were the only one that had this issue. I still have no correlation to why it happens to certain cars and not others..I would love to find out why as many things that I have tried have lead me to a dead end on this. I am one of those people that need to know why something happens, and this is quite puzzling to say the least