DME tuning renaissance, why the hell do we still use JB4?

[inevitab1e]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

What is convenient about it? More power is simply not true, a flash tune can make as much power as your hardware supports AND more smoothly with good calibration.

A fanboi is someone who supports a particular product or brand. I say, use whatever is best...and in your situation that is definitely NOT a JB4 for reasons explained in the OP. I have no issues with people choosing the flash tune of their choice. I do have an issue with a deceptively marketed product which has no place in the current N54 / N55 tuning scene except for the special cases noted above.

As for the fast cars, many of those cars are running special-case things like auxiliary fueling or water/meth, which are situations where a JB4 makes sense, since the stock ECU is not setup to run that stuff. You're not running auxiliary fueling, meth, nitrous or anything like that, so why you would spend more money to make your car less reliable is still beyond me.

I may do meth soon and regret getting rid of the JB4, which I chose over Dinan.

[The Wind Breezes]

Originally Posted by inevitab1e

I may do meth soon and regret getting rid of the JB4, which I chose over Dinan.

That is the first reasonable thing I've seen you post, and I accept it. But ethanol mix and a bigger intercooler would probably make more sense. More consistency less headache and no issues with distribution or failure to spray.

[ShocknAwe]

Another good reason is if you're converted to single turbo on a N54. The JB4 is still a great way to control that setup. Flash tuning is quickly catching up and I may find myself switching sometime soon once Motiv releases their 6MT shift bog resolution.

[The Wind Breezes]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Another good reason is if you're converted to single turbo on a N54. The JB4 is still a great way to control that setup. Flash tuning is quickly catching up and I may find myself switching sometime soon once Motiv releases their 6MT shift bog resolution.

Are you referring to what I covered in the OP wrt the pain of calibrating the feedback control tables for the turbo or something else? The ECU is a super powerful and intelligent boost controller needing no external assistance with that task, it just needs proper calibration.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by inevitab1e

Or some of us had late E-series DME's that were locked. And tunes weren't available until recently. The ideal reason to add JB4 (years) is because it's better than Cobb. MHD wasn't an option.
Clearly some of you think all BMW's have unlocked DME's. Not the case.

What would you do?

Obviously you'd buy the JB4 instead of waiting a year for the 'hopes' of a flash and unlocking the DME.

I kept the JB4, recently unlocked the DME, added the BEF. So I use both.

I noticed you didn't mention BEF or any of the above in your thread.

You make it sound like someone had a choice between JB4 or MHD. And went JB4. Don't be silly

I would install a Dinan tune.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

Are you referring to what I covered in the OP wrt the pain of calibrating the feedback control tables for the turbo or something else? The ECU is a super powerful and intelligent boost controller needing no external assistance with that task, it just needs proper calibration.

Not challenging that. Dialing in a ST is much more precise on flash if you have the right tuner. Nice thing with the BMS products in ST land is the ease of getting it working right if you already have it. Then can get the flash calibrated slowly without downtime. Very nice feature to be able to run the box in passthrough on a standalone with only the safety features active. The other mention is that BMS is currently the only one to offer a true elimination for manual post shift timing drop that's not associated with hardware failure. Jake@motiv said they have a DME solution in beta that truly fixes it, but who knows when that will release, took forever for flex fuel.

The next year will be super interesting I think.

[jmfc01]

Pardon the stupidity, but I was under the impression the DME still had to be unlocked for certain models (mine). I recently got a '12 135i vert and I have been holding off on mods until I had the money and time to remove it and send it out. Is that not the case anymore?

[WeekendWarriorz]

Originally Posted by jmfc01

Pardon the stupidity, but I was under the impression the DME still had to be unlocked for certain models (mine). I recently got a '12 135i vert and I have been holding off on mods until I had the money and time to remove it and send it out. Is that not the case anymore?

My DME had to be removed (which I did myself in 45 mins) and I paid $80 to have it bench flashed, most places charge around $100.. if you have the tools by all means pull the DME out there's an amazing DIY thread on here which goes through step by step to do it. Then flash MHD and laugh at anyone who still has a JB4

[ssalinas]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Another good reason is if you're converted to single turbo on a N54. The JB4 is still a great way to control that setup. Flash tuning is quickly catching up and I may find myself switching sometime soon once Motiv releases their 6MT shift bog resolution.

Not to hijack the thread, but can you elaborate on the shift bog resolution

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by ssalinas

Not to hijack the thread, but can you elaborate on the shift bog resolution

If you're talking about Motiv, I wish I could. Or are you unclear on the shift bog itself.

Bog is created by clutch input to the DME, causing timing flatline post shift.

[ssalinas]

Thanks for the clear response

[xQx]

Sorry to chime in to what's obviously a JB4 hate thread... but my experience is the JB4 is *MUCH* quicker to pick up on AFR issues and pull power than the MHD flash is alone.

If you're regularly reviewing your MHD Logs, I'm sure you can do without a JB4, but reading the n54 facebook threads I'd say most MHD users these days wouldn't even know what the logging button does...

I know I found out I needed a replacement LPFP a lot earlier with the JB4 than I would've without it.

The other thing is (for a JB4) is the later firmware flashes don't interrupt OBD2 comms, and you can get them dirt cheap second hand because of the 'JB4 hate threads' on every forum these days.

... all that said, my overwhelming advice to new users is:
Don't buy a JB4 until you know you need one.

I got screwed into owning mine by a mechanic who obviously saw me as an opportunity to make some quick cash; and I'd be shitty if I wasn't (now) staring down the barrel of a ST conversion with PI or Meth.