The price is $550, plus a $50 installation charge. Although it's a flash, it's a relatively complex installation: the R56 DMEs are pretty nicely locked down, so we actually have to open them up as part of the process.

For those not in the Philly area, we have a 24-hour turn around guarantee. You overnight us your DME (which is easily removed without tools), we flash it within 24 hours of receipt, and overnight it back to you. Plug and play.

 

So about geting the flash back to stock, does it need to be sent back to you guys or is it not a possibility?

 

As it stands now you would have to take it back to us (or your GIAC dealer who installed it) for the flash back to stock.

 

So, I imagine since you have to open up the ECU, a handheld flash unit for the R56 isn't very likely, huh?

 

Yep, it's pretty dicey: you have to use a heat gun to get that sucker open, and wait 'til you see the acrobatics needed to read the DME. The plus is that once the GIAC is in the DME, it's flawless and rock solid. No silly drivablility where you wonder if you're going to get any boost, error codes, or inconsistent throttle response: just smooth power.

 

So the next question is after you get this flash and you add mods... then what send it back for a fe flash and that would cost?

 

Any updates? These ready for general public consumption yet?

 

I'm curious as to which parameters are changed through mapping ? is it just timing & fueling changes ? boost changes ? changes to throttle response ?
ie. is it like the factory JCW upgrade or a more standard fuel/timing map ?

At our PS Mini dyno day, almost all of the R53's with aftermarket tunes (namely evotech) went overly rich & pulled lower numbers than the cars of the same year w/ the same mods & factory programming, so I'm a bit nervous about any 'tunes'. The one R53 w/ a GIAC ecu did pull great numbers.

 

I looked into this the other day...and the guy quoted me like $50 to reflash...My buddy who owns an Audi A4 gets them for free from the tuner shop he went with

My guess is that it will depend on the shop you are working with. But I have one other question...if you took your GIAC flashed car into the dealer for work...would the dealer reflash to stock???

 

The dealer RARELY touches the ECU on the car. The reason is because of the way their flashing tool works. Rather than modifying the tune or whatever parameters on there, a reflash COMPLETELY re-writes the EPROM on the ECU. This can only be done a limited number of times.

Companies like GIAC, RMW, APR, etc don't touch the EPROM, they just modify the tune file that's written to whatever block your current EPROM is written to.

That's the long and complicated answer. The short one is that if the dealer DOES reflash the car, yes, it would go back to stock, but this RARELY happens.

 

So you are saying I should go for it?!?

 

Just to clarify... in a BMW the DME is the ECU, a GIAC flash flashes, or rewrites the DME ---> ECU. The ECU code is written on a EPROM because it can be rewritten easily, many times. It also is read at high speed.

 

Up to you!

 

If you are looking for an ECU tune, this is one of the options, it is your car, your money.

I would do what I felt fufilled my needs list the best.

If GIAC does , then yes, do it.

 

thanks for the info...Rusty knows I'm all over the map on what I want to do...And yes my needs/wants list gets refined each day.

 

Ugh, you and me both!

When I first got the car I was pleased with the power it had. Maybe that's because I hadn't driven ANYTHING for the past 4 months since I was living in London though

Stock for stock it will blow the doors off a stock R53, but I'm starting to get bored with the power. Must have mooooooore! Dimsport needs to hurry up and release their software to tune them...

GIAC has me slightly interested, but I don't like the idea of sending my DME out and having it opened to get it flashed. And the Unichip does not interest me one bit...to me its just a temporary fix and spending $750 on something that may or may not cause issues, does not get me excited. GIAC seems to be a lot safer of a tune, so that looks good. The pricepoint is pretty good too in my opinion.

We'll see how long I can hold out waiting on Dimsport before I cave and buy the GIAC lol!

 

Last week, I heard through word of mouth about a GIAC-flashed R56 in S. CA that had problems running immediately after the flash. Soon after, the car went into the dealer and Mini could not fix the DME-related problems. The dealer found out about the GIAC. The DME was then sent to BMW headquarters in NJ and they could not get the DME back to stock. The owner had to buy a new DME, which was very pricey. The owner is not likely to say anything publicly and may not even visit this site. I have no other details and am repeating only what I heard. Obviously, everyone here would like to hear more about GIAC-flashed r56 Minis from owners, not just dealers.

 

Knowing most of the dealers in SoCal I'm not entirely surprised that the dealer couldn't figure out how to reflash the car, most of them are clueless.

As I explained above, the actual tune is written to the existing memory slot. Should something happen, the dealer can just push new firmware to the DME which should write to the 2nd EPROM slot (Overwriting the original first slot, and ignoring it's content).

Should something actually happen and the ECU be damaged beyond repair, that's where dealing with a quality vendor matters. I can't speak for Helix, but I've met Eric, had Dinner with him and Ralph at AMVIV. They're both stand up guys. Something tells me if your DME was irreparably damaged they'd step up to the plate and make things right.

 

That's pure fiction. As it stands right now, there are only three cars with GIAC on them. All of them very much running strong. We are adding a fourth today for a certain Colorado car for high altitude testing. Apparantly, the stock files for high altitude cars have more boost in them, so GIAC is developing a high-altitude file.

 

get on it

 

i need boost

 

^ What he said

 

Sorry for the delay on this folks. This reflash is available now. We were off a bit on price but not by much. With install the GIAC reflash is $625. This will be updated on our website shortly. Feel free to place the order over the phone in the mean time.

 

Ugh, right when I decided I didn't want to spend any money!

We still have to send the ECU to you guys to get the flash done?

 

Is this a standard tune...or a custom flash available(ie. for upgraded intercooler,TBE, intake)
I'm very interested.