Hi. I come from the world of VWs. And with 1.8t turbo VWs ECU upgrades are VERY popular. But the problem is the dealer being able to tell if you have modified your ECU and voiding your warranty. The best way to avoid this is to get a spare ECU. The problem then, is that if you do that your dealer might be able to tell that you did by reading ECU code. The final solution is to get a VAG-COM to hook up to a computer to interface with your ECU. You can then clear all fault codes and things that come up on your ECU. This is a big deal because i want to keep my warranty. Also, if the dealer is coming up with an ECU fix for the lag in the Mini S then it will conflict with your modded ECU. All things to think about. I'll wait it out a year to see what goes on. The dyno results on Mini-madness.com look VERY nice though. 20hp+ pretty much all the way across the board. And such a flat torque curve. On the VW 1.8t engine the torque spikes violently at 3.5k rpms. The mini is a very smooth engine because of the supercharger's linearity. Even though i really haven't taken mine past 4.5k rpms it doesn't seem like you have to beat it like that to get power like a honda. Just stick in between 3k and 4k rpms and you've got decent oomph.

ERiC

 

yes they can.

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Cheers
daMatta

 

Well I would have to debate DeMatta on this one.

I just talked with Diamond Racing who modded their ECU. They took their Standard Cooper into the dealer a few days ago for it's 10k service.

According to Cy at Diamond, they did not "discover" the changes to the ECU. Part of the reason they took it in for service was to see if they would in fact notice their mod.

Now that it has passed this test they are beginning installation on standards. Unfortunately I have to wait because the S program is not quite ready.

 

>>Well I would have to debate DeMatta on this one.
>>
>>I just talked with Diamond Racing who modded their ECU. They took their Standard Cooper into the dealer a few days ago for it's 10k service.
>>
>>According to Cy at Diamond, they did not "discover" the changes to the ECU. Part of the reason they took it in for service was to see if they would in fact notice their mod.
>>
>>Now that it has passed this test they are beginning installation on standards. Unfortunately I have to wait because the S program is not quite ready.

Prolly cuz they weren't looking for it - but say you need warrenty work done on say a blown header etc - they would prolly try to find out what caused it - they will look at the ecu closer then and I am positive they would see that.

 

I believe you need to take a look at what the upgrade actually does. There are three type of ECU upgrades:

1. Full ECU replacement-Thousands of dallors. Requires a Professional installer and tuner to get max perfromance.

2. Chip replacement- Could be thousands of dallors. Requires the existing chip to be removed and replaced. Or a piggy back mod is added.

Both of these solutions are difficult to back out.

3. Is a software upgrade-Hundreds of dallors. This modifies the fuel curve and timing. These are equal to the old days of rotating the distrbutor and adjusting the jets on your four barrel.

This process can be backed out at anytime and stock curves back in. The olny draw back is that if you add too much or too little during smog time in CA you could get different numbers.

Well if you changed spark plugs to a hotter plug and burned a hole in your pistion whos fault is that? I have seen pistions that have had hole burnt into them because they were in wrong.

Now will advancing your timming and adding more fuel will void warrenty I really doubt it.

Problems can accure if you do not know what you are doing. Going to a professional ECU programmer will help. These ECU's real touchy. Any little static cling or surge could blow the ECU. Accessing the ODB II port with the wrong software program or connectors could cause problems.

Why ODB II. The manufacturers were not giving owners and non-dealer much a way to conduct routine maintence. Thus the ODB II interface. Now, what do you think if dealers were the only shop that you could do your maintance? We would be ticked. Now with the general public not being able to adjust timing and fuel what will the dealer want to do? Keep it all in house. Then they can eliminate third party tuners. More money back to the dealers.

My 2 cents....