E92 M3 software & chip

[Douglas]

Hi guys

I am searching for an E92 M3. So far I have encountered 2 that have been chipped and/or have had software updates. Hard to tell whether this is more prevalent than with E46 M3’s but based on my experience so far I would say that it is.

I bid on a car that had its motorplan cancelled because the ECU had been modified with different software. BMW picked this up during the quality check and cancelled the motorplan/threatened to cancel the motorplan. The issue was resolved and the motorplan was re-instated but only after the BMW dealer who had sold the car to the used car trade replaced the ECU with a brand new one.

What is unusual about this particular example is that the car had been serviced a few times (44,000 kms at date of writing) and the software was never detected. This suggests that BMW does a far more thorough check before transferring a motorplan on an E92 M3 when there is a change of ownership.

I have found another car that I am really keen on but unfortunately the owner informed me that the car has had an aftermarket chip installed and a performance exhaust. The supplier of the chip in question believes it is likely to be detected by BMW. This puts the seller in a difficult situation because he was completely honest with me about the modifications but does not want to risk losing his motorplan should the car be subject to a quality check. I feel very bad for him because he might only be able to sell the car after the motorplan expires.

Any advice/ideas? I am not intending to criticise the modding of E92 M3's. Personally I would be keen to keep the mods on this car because it sounds great and pulls strongly.


I know I am going to be opening a can of worms with this post.

 

[Twinz]

Oh yes :fencelook: opcorn:opcorn:

 

[Sherwin@xcede]

Yes you are correct. There is a new check that is done before the transfer of motorplan that checks the FASTA logs. This procedure started around 6 months ago. If the rev-limiter has been raised or the speed governor removed it cannot be detected. But if you exceed the rev or speed limiter it is logged & cannot be erased by anyone. So I think all the tuners these days are leaving the limiters in place. That way there is no way the software can be detected & the gains are pretty much the same.

 

[George Smooth]

Yes you are correct. There is a new check that is done before the transfer of motorplan that checks the FASTA logs. This procedure started around 6 months ago. If the rev-limiter has been raised or the speed governor removed it cannot be detected. But if you exceed the rev or speed limiter it is logged & cannot be erased by anyone. So I think all the tuners these days are leaving the limiters in place. That way there is no way the software can be detected & the gains are pretty much the same.

There is a way around this.

 

[tcal69]

Hmmm interesting...

 

[ASH M]

My friend recently bought an M3 from a BMW dealer which had its MP cancelled. This happened when the previous owner traded the car in and the MP needed to be transferred, they then picked up that the car once revved to 9000rpm.

 

[///Shaun]

Hi guys

I am searching for an E92 M3. So far I have encountered 2 that have been chipped and/or have had software updates. Hard to tell whether this is more prevalent than with E46 M3’s but based on my experience so far I would say that it is.

I bid on a car that had its motorplan cancelled because the ECU had been modified with different software. BMW picked this up during the quality check and cancelled the motorplan/threatened to cancel the motorplan. The issue was resolved and the motorplan was re-instated but only after the BMW dealer who had sold the car to the used car trade replaced the ECU with a brand new one.

What is unusual about this particular example is that the car had been serviced a few times (44,000 kms at date of writing) and the software was never detected. This suggests that BMW does a far more thorough check before transferring a motorplan on an E92 M3 when there is a change of ownership.

I have found another car that I am really keen on but unfortunately the owner informed me that the car has had an aftermarket chip installed and a performance exhaust. The supplier of the chip in question believes it is likely to be detected by BMW. This puts the seller in a difficult situation because he was completely honest with me about the modifications but does not want to risk losing his motorplan should the car be subject to a quality check. I feel very bad for him because he might only be able to sell the car after the motorplan expires.

Any advice/ideas? I am not intending to criticise the modding of E92 M3's. Personally I would be keen to keep the mods on this car because it sounds great and pulls strongly.


I know I am going to be opening a can of worms with this post.

I just sold mine and trust me , BMW checked everything !

Mine was stock and never touched , thank goodness although Chip and exhaust unleashes the Ms potential.

IMO dont #### with Motorplan

:idea:

 

[Douglas]

if you have any suggestions please pm me

Tks

 

[tcal69]

listen man just get a exhaust and call it a day, SW will give you some gain, but not as much as the force induction:=):

 

[333wez]

Yes you are correct. There is a new check that is done before the transfer of motorplan that checks the FASTA logs. This procedure started around 6 months ago. If the rev-limiter has been raised or the speed governor removed it cannot be detected. But if you exceed the rev or speed limiter it is logged & cannot be erased by anyone. So I think all the tuners these days are leaving the limiters in place. That way there is no way the software can be detected & the gains are pretty much the same.

There is a way around this.

Howzit George,

Could you please elaborate?
I would appreciate knowing if there was some way around this!

Thanks!

 

[George Smooth]

Yes you are correct. There is a new check that is done before the transfer of motorplan that checks the FASTA logs. This procedure started around 6 months ago. If the rev-limiter has been raised or the speed governor removed it cannot be detected. But if you exceed the rev or speed limiter it is logged & cannot be erased by anyone. So I think all the tuners these days are leaving the limiters in place. That way there is no way the software can be detected & the gains are pretty much the same.

There is a way around this.

Howzit George,

Could you please elaborate?
I would appreciate knowing if there was some way around this!

Thanks!

I will briefly go into this.

The Fasta data does not log continuously. It logs what it considers a trigger event. There is simply not enough memory in the ECU to log ongoing events.
These trigger events are hard coded in the ECU. The charts of these events will have limits sets. i.e.
Oil limit 140 degrees
rpm limit 8000rpm
speed 255km/h
timing xyz
water temp 105C
Included in these events are numerous fault codes
etc etc etc

The moment one of these events are triggered the car will log it as well as other parameters that are relative. These event limits can be altered avoiding the log to occur all together. i.e. if the speed limit is increased to 300km/h there will never be a FASTA log of anything abnormal in terms of speed.

 

[abmi0000]

Yes you are correct. There is a new check that is done before the transfer of motorplan that checks the FASTA logs. This procedure started around 6 months ago. If the rev-limiter has been raised or the speed governor removed it cannot be detected. But if you exceed the rev or speed limiter it is logged & cannot be erased by anyone. So I think all the tuners these days are leaving the limiters in place. That way there is no way the software can be detected & the gains are pretty much the same.

There is a way around this.

Howzit George,

Could you please elaborate?
I would appreciate knowing if there was some way around this!

Thanks!

I will briefly go into this.

The Fasta data does not log continuously. It logs what it considers a trigger event. There is simply not enough memory in the ECU to log ongoing events.
These trigger events are hard coded in the ECU. The charts of these events will have limits sets. i.e.
Oil limit 140 degrees
rpm limit 8000rpm
speed 255km/h
timing xyz
water temp 105C
Included in these events are numerous fault codes
etc etc etc

The moment one of these events are triggered the car will log it as well as other parameters that are relative. These event limits can be altered avoiding the log to occur all together. i.e. if the speed limit is increased to 300km/h there will never be a FASTA log of anything abnormal in terms of speed.

Thanks.... Makes a lot of sense :thumbs:

 

[ASH M]

But my car did 258kph gps speed (+/- 270 on the odo) when it was stock and could have went on if I hadn't run out of road. The owners manual mentions that a symbol reading "limit" will appear on the dash when you approach the speed limit within 5kph. I had nothing.

The car went into BMW a numerous amount of times after that, and nothing from them.

I'm not complaining :thumbs:, however i don't go past 300kph(My new limit :rollsmile. I think that's the trigger speed, well that's what I was told and it also seems to be working for me.

Rev limiters are still in place thou.

 

[Voodoo//M]

[
I will briefly go into this.

The Fasta data does not log continuously. It logs what it considers a trigger event. There is simply not enough memory in the ECU to log ongoing events.
These trigger events are hard coded in the ECU. The charts of these events will have limits sets. i.e.
Oil limit 140 degrees
rpm limit 8000rpm
speed 255km/h
timing xyz
water temp 105C
Included in these events are numerous fault codes
etc etc etc

The moment one of these events are triggered the car will log it as well as other parameters that are relative. These event limits can be altered avoiding the log to occur all together. i.e. if the speed limit is increased to 300km/h there will never be a FASTA log of anything abnormal in terms of speed.
[/quote]

Hi George

who can alter these limits and has it been tested?

 

[Douglas]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

I decided to move on and look for another M3. I am collecting my E92 M3 tomorrow - a Space Grey 2010 DCT with 28,000 km's. Quality check passed

:thumbs:

 

[tcal69]

Congrats :bravo:

 

[Twinz]

Post those pix asap :thumbs:

 

[CamZo]

Most weekends I drive an E92 M3 manual, no motor plan, 45 000km, car is in tip top condition, bought it from a german guy who relocated back to germany. Ecu was flashed in Germany and brought back here. All I can say is what a thrill...... No words can describe it!

How true that is I wouldnt know havent dynoed it as it.... But i picked it up at a song! Best buy ever. So it has its advantages.

 

[Douglas]

Cool
I will post some pics on a new thread hopefully tomorrow.
The car is amazing, another good product from the guys at M

 

[M3_FTW]

It's possible the previous owner had software & revved it to 9000rpm. That will be logged & will show in the FASTA. But the time & date of the "overrev" will be logged. You have to show the date when you took ownership & the car & prove it was "over-revved" before you bought it.

it is possible but if he bought it from someone who put software on it, wouldnt they have picked it up when they transferred it to the new owner? so something happened inbetween

It could have been flashed back to stock before he bought it.