First BEEEMER...got a few of questions

[Anomaly135i]

Hi guys,

Just bought my first BMW (135i - n54) recently and I must say I do love this car. But being new to the BMW game I was hoping someone on here could point me in the right direction. My car is completely stock and I've been thinking I wouldn't mind doing a ECU flash to gain a bit more out of this great engine. So for starters, where is a good reputable tuning place in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne? MHD also sounds like an option, but sounds too good to be true. Is it really that easy ? and what's the worst that can happen ?


Thanks in advance...and if I posted in the wrong section....sorry in advance

[xQx]

No, not too good to be true.

Order a USB odbii cable, otg cable, android tablet and a good battery charger if you don't already have them

Drop on a mhd stage 1 tune without fear.

for a higher tune, you'll be changing a bit of hardware... what's your budget, how many kms does the car have, and what's it's service history?

[Dat Aus]

Don't bother with a custom tune unless you have extensive modifications like upgraded turbos and you want to squeeze every last Kw out of it.

MHD is incredible and it is stupidly easy to use. If you don't already have an Android device, head to Officeworks and buy yourself a cheap tablet. Jump on eBay and get yourself a K+Dcan cable. That and a battery charger is all you will need.

MHD is a brilliant tune and absolutely perfect for daily drivers. Even if you decide to go crazy with the car and want a custom tune, MHD is an excellent platform to do it on. To be frank; it would pretty much be stupid to go with anything else. The worst that can happen is that you touch something during the write and you brick your ECU. It just means you'll have to flash back to stock and then start again.

Just search for MHD on this forum. There is an absolute plethora of info. Martymil's thread here in the Australia section is a very good step-by-step guide for anyone flashing MHD for the first time.

Don't forget to upgrade your charge pipe because once you start running higher boost, it's only a matter of time until the crappy stock plastic one goes pop.

[Anomaly135i]

Originally Posted by xQx

No, not too good to be true.

Order a USB odbii cable, otg cable, android tablet and a good battery charger if you don't already have them

Drop on a mhd stage 1 tune without fear.

for a higher tune, you'll be changing a bit of hardware... what's your budget, how many kms does the car have, and what's it's service history?

I really don't want to spend too much hence I was looking at a ECU stage 1 tune only. Trying to keep the car relatively stock. The car has a good service history and only done 55,500km . Thanks for the response

[Anomaly135i]

Originally Posted by Dat Aus

Don't bother with a custom tune unless you have extensive modifications like upgraded turbos and you want to squeeze every last Kw out of it.

MHD is incredible and it is stupidly easy to use. If you don't already have an Android device, head to Officeworks and buy yourself a cheap tablet. Jump on eBay and get yourself a K+Dcan cable. That and a battery charger is all you will need.

MHD is a brilliant tune and absolutely perfect for daily drivers. Even if you decide to go crazy with the car and want a custom tune, MHD is an excellent platform to do it on. To be frank; it would pretty much be stupid to go with anything else. The worst that can happen is that you touch something during the write and you brick your ECU. It just means you'll have to flash back to stock and then start again.

Just search for MHD on this forum. There is an absolute plethora of info. Martymil's thread here in the Australia section is a very good step-by-step guide for anyone flashing MHD for the first time.

Don't forget to upgrade your charge pipe because once you start running higher boost, it's only a matter of time until the crappy stock plastic one goes pop.

Ok, this MHD thing is sounds like its the way to go Especially if you can flash back to stock when you need to . I already have a couple of ANdroid devices. I'll try and search for the Martymil thread also. What is a good charge pipe to get? and is it a DIY job ? Thank again for the info

[imske3000]

MHD/BMW Ediabas/INPA K+DCAN Cable http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1209577

[vtl]

Good service history doesnt mean much, you need to do lots of preventive maintenance. 55k kms I would put fresh plugs in before tuning it. Do MHD, its the best option and easiest too (just flash it yourself).

[Dat Aus]

Originally Posted by Anomaly135i

Ok, this MHD thing is sounds like its the way to go Especially if you can flash back to stock when you need to . I already have a couple of ANdroid devices. I'll try and search for the Martymil thread also. What is a good charge pipe to get? and is it a DIY job ? Thank again for the info

Any metal charge pipe will do the trick. The stock one is plastic and they literally explode when you start running higher than standard boost. Just be wary that some tend to have fitment issues (Cobb for example). Some are more expensive than others but there isn't any real difference between them.

You'll also need to decide if you want a blow-off valve or to keep the factory diverter valves because you'll need to order the appropriate charge pipe for your preference.

Contact JD75 on these forums. I'm sure he'll be able to help you out with one.

+1 on changing your coil packs and spark plugs also. You'll probably start getting misfires not long after doing the tune if you just keep the originals (ask me how I know).

[Anomaly135i]

So basically before I go MHD I'll need to...

Get a charge pipe that fits really well...with maybe a blow off valve. Im guessing the ones out of China are no good

New coils... Bosch ? Any recommendations?

New spark plugs...Bosch?

My battery seems to be in pretty good nick, and I have a 5amp trickle charger. Will that be sufficient for the mhd flash. Or do I also need a massive battery charger too!!

I presume this is all DIY Stuff, not really familiar with these European engines. I'm sure they'll probably need a socket size that doesn't exist. Or there's some impossible angle that you need to be like the rubber man from the fantastic four.

[vtl]

If your build date is before 01/2009 you don't need to change your charge pipe. In 2009 they changed to the weak one piece charge pipe. I've got 183k kms on my 2008 charge pipe with stage 2+ tune.

Get Bosch plugs bosch zgr6ste2 and you need a 14mm thin walled socket to install them

[Anomaly135i]

OK, thanks for all the help and info guys. Looks like I've got to do some part buying and maintenance first. Do you think the trickle charger will be adequate for the flash?

[xQx]

It's nice to have 8 amps, but 5 amps should be fine. Just pull the low pressure fuel pump fuse before the flash (FUSE #70) and it takes a lot of the load off the charger.
If it were me, I'd put the car in the yard/shed, put it on the charger and give it a go. If it dies halfway through I'd use a mate/wife's car to go to supacheap and buy a nice ctek 8-amp charger, then start again. You'll most likely find you don't have to.

The Chargepipe is really worth doing, because if it does pop you're kinda stranded on the road. So do it preventatively. JD75 can help you out with a good one locally, or yeah, anything metal from eBay will do the trick - but remember - if it breaks you're stranded ... so if you go cheap - well, it's your risk to take.

Coils and plugs you will need to do at some point anyway, so it's worth buying them and having them in the shed to do them if you get misfires. I didn't have any problems until I was running the stage 2 tune (ie. FBO with JB4 map 2) But if you do start getting misfires you can generally drive home - either limping along on 5 cylinders or I found my coils actually came good after a few km's of gentle driving back on the stock map.
If you walk into your nearest BMW shop and ask for 6 plugs and coils installed, expect to be liberated of about $1,000. ... A job worth learning to DIY if you ask me.

So before you do the MHD tune, I'd do the chargepipe. I'd order plugs and coils and put them on a shelf in the shed (and do them before you go on any big trip). Everything else, I'd risk it since it's only a stage 1 tune.

[vtl]

Trickle charger won't be adequate, you want a high amperage charger as the fuel pump will start running during a flash. You can pull the fuse for the fuel pump but its good to have the charger in case anything goes wrong, in which case you might be flashing a few times, depleting your battery.

Charger
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Motorcycl...AAAOSw3utY4yzJ

Proven cable
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271621954...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Anomaly135i]

Ok, I'll start hunting around for a charge pipe and maybe some coils and plugs for back up later on. Supercheap/autobarn isn't too far away so I can always get down there on the motorbike if things get ugly and I need a charger. Any recommendations for coils ? eldor maybe ?