ECU Remapping, Norwich and East Anglia, UK - Opening Offer

[jHamshaw]

Hi Guys

Black Code is now open in Norwich (UK!) and the surrounding areas - £25 off the pre-VAT price for X5drivers members - please quote reference "codeme" when asking for a quote...

My e70 X5 3.0d M Sport has had a Code 2 remap which I'm happy to demonstrate!

Thanks

Jim

[omodos]

what is the situation with insurance though?will the tweak invalidate your policy?

[jHamshaw]

Originally Posted by omodos

what is the situation with insurance though?will the tweak invalidate your policy?

Our advice is to advise your insurance company, as any remap counts as a modification. As ours all achieve some fuel economy gains, our invoices can be issued as "economy" remaps. Many insurance companies will not load premiums for an "economy" tune.

Having said that, our remaps are undetectable (apart from how much better your vehicle will drive afterwards!) so we provide a lifetime guarantee that, if they're ever overwritten by a dealer performing a "service upgrade" we will re-apply our map for a nominal charge to cover time and travel costs....

[omodos]

thanks fella, so I guess no physical device goes into the car, and it is done via the obd to remap the ecu?I thought if you put advanced diag tools into the port any changes made to fuel timing etc can be picked up though?

[jHamshaw]

Originally Posted by omodos

thanks fella, so I guess no physical device goes into the car, and it is done via the obd to remap the ecu?I thought if you put advanced diag tools into the port any changes made to fuel timing etc can be picked up though?

Yup, all done via the OBDII Port. Existing map is extracted, modified, and put back, with all hardware, software, revision numbers and any counters maintained as before. Our bespoke hardware and software does this - beware some smaller one-man-band laptop jockeys who may not achieve the same levels of sophistication!

Dealer diagnostic equipment cannot tell - needs much more sophisticated analysis to detect the low-level code changes....

[X5Sport]

Given the fact that the remap could exceed the maximum ability that the torque converter on the ZF 6sp auto can handle (600Nm max?) - and according to the folks that rebuilt mine, torque converters 'can be weak' on the E53 3.0D gearbox - where do owners stand if a remap boosts the torque but breaks the transmission?

I only ask coz it was a cheap bit of plastic that broke on the 'sprag clutch' in the torque converter on my unchipped E53 and that was the end of the box. BMW wanted nearly £7k to fix, or a rebuild by a ZF specialist was £2k (which is what Warranty Direct approved and did).

Whilst it would be good to have the extra ooompph, I'm wary having had one very premature failure.

[jHamshaw]

No remapper will give a mechanical warranty - it's just a complete minefield, as you can imagine - so many other factors can affect mechanical failure such as mileage, driving style, manufacturing defects, etc. etc. as you appear to have discovered!

Having said that, our maps (whilst bespoke to each vehicle) are based on parameters supplied by our european partner (the largest european remapping company) and supplier of our hardware/software platform. Their processes are German TUV certified, and all maps are created to be well within the operational capabilities of the engine and drivetrain of the respective vehicle.

You may find back street laptop jockeys promising the earth for very little money, but you get what you pay for....

Not sure where you got your 600nm from, but our e53 maps don't exceed that in any case....

[omodos]

Ta for replies, Sorry to bring up the issue of tuning again... a relative wants to bring a X out here and wants to tune it in the u.k beforehand, but who informs who re insurance? we plan to ship the car straightaway more or less so will not get it insured whilst on the trailer to the docks(it has road tax so will sit public roads until trailer comes by),do the 'tuner's inform the 'insurance companies' in the u.k who will then inform the insurance companies out here that this car has been tuned?or would your bill of services rendered be enough proof of the changes made?messy business, that then begs the questions if we buy a used car that we feel needs NO tuning and then find out(insurance does) after an accident that it is 'chipped' how do we prove one way or another to the insurance people that we were not aware of this mod?Do you keep logs of who and what is 'tuned'?so as to prove that 'my' car was chipped by the previous owner and not disclosed to me.....?

[jHamshaw]

UK-based tuners are under no obligation to inform insurers, neither is there any existing mechanism for this to happen. The onus is on the policyholder to make the necessary advices, although we always recommend that you do so.

Many insurance companies will not load a policy for an economy remap, which can be stated on invoices if so required.

All reputable remapping companies should have records of work undertaken, and have original maps available to return cars to standard if requested.

Hope this helps!

[omodos]

thanks for the speedy reply did see one of your competitors at work on a neighbors car, after he had finished he took down the car details and mentioned they were for insurance purposes...having said that do they have the right to pass on information about a third party like that?