How does this tune not void warranty? Or are all you folks who got it done out of warranty?

Spoke to the man at RMW and was told they tune N18's....but it voids the warranty??

 

I'm out of warranty, however, i'm not sure why it would void the warranty. Nothing physical is happening other than nm taking the ecu out to flash and putting it back in. Nothing is physically removed from the stock ecu.

 

The second you crack open the case for the ECU (which is required for this type of flash), your warranty is long gone.

 

Yea, that's the issue right there.

Taking out the ECU and splitting it open is tampering with the ECU.

This sucks, I want a tune already but its an N18, and I'm a long ways from my warranty running out. I certainly don't want to void it, it can be a money saver if something goes wrong with the car that could potential be costly out of pocket.

Looks like I'll wait for another option

 

I would call them up and ask directly if they need to crack it open or not. Don't just go by the words of another tuner who could possibly be biased, or anyone for that matter who doesn't have this particular tune. Very easy to do, just called up NM and ask for Jerry.

 

You're right, it was my mistake for jumping to conclusions so quickly. I have to remind myself a lot of people on here aren't experts

In all honest though, I might just wait for RMW. They put out some of the strongest Mini's with their tunes. There is a reason they home/own one of the fastest Mini's around. Not to mention Jan has saved me a bunch of money from buying parts that yield such a small dividend its not even worth the hassle or the price tag they come with.

Think I've just brought to light which route I will take to get the car tuned.
I will gracefully leave this thread now

Happy Motoring folks

 

Believe me, they have to crack the ECU open. Outside of programming over the CAN/OBDII interface, the only other way is to get to the JTAG header on the pcb that is used to program the processor. I work with automotive grade controllers (from Bosch even), and it's the only way currently. No manufacturer is going to put an external programming interface on their setup, strictly for the reasons that we would want one. They don't want people tinkering with their software.

 

So, those with the tune....worth it?

Anyone w/ N18 get the tune yet?

 

Car feels great other than my issue that i was having prior. Other than that, car pulls hard and runs nice and smooth.

 

Just sent my ECU to get tuned with stage 2. (N18)
Cant wait.

 

^ Cool beans! I am not too far out now myself.

So why NM over RennTech or RMW?

 

Well I've dealt with neuspeed(NM) before and have had no problems. It was easier to get info and response from NM. I emailed the other two tuners and didn't get an answer as far as shipping, tune info and requirements. Seems to be the same gains anyway.

 

So today I helped a fellow member install her Helix FMIC. She was running a NM tune, which I have the AP. I wanted to see the difference and imho, I'd stick with my AP. The NM feels great, no doubt about it, but boost feels smacked in your face compared to how my AP feels, which delivers a linear, almost NA engine type of power delivery.

Whereas the NM feels like it cuts outta boost up top, the AP will keep building all the way up to redline. Just my observation in the quick drive in her R56.

 

In the link it states in the pros & con that there's no downside but I'm a bit skeptic about that claim for a few reasons.

Dealer warranty work!
I took our mini for it's first dealer service and when they scan the key fob it tells the dealers exactly what's been going on with the car. How do I know this? I got a low tire pressure sensor warning and the factory alarm go off some weeks prior to taking it in. The service advisor told me this after scanning the key fob which was true.

So how can a MN tune not be detected even if you have MN reinstall the factory tune prior to taking it to the dealership?

 

You're down the street from them. Go in and talk to Jerry.

 

I'd highly recommend taking it out whenever you take your car in for dealership work. If it's purely an oil change or something, that's fine, but if they do ECU work, they will slam you, if not now, they will when something bad goes wrong.

When I had my BMW 335i, I had fuel pump and turbo issues. I always came in with my intake and exhaust on there. As soon as something went wrong, they slammed me for it and tried to foot the bill on me.

Don't take your chances, and have it removed when you go in. I could care less now though since I'm out of warranty and do my own work on the MINI now.

 

For the locals close to NM / Neuspeed it would be easy to remove MN tune for warranty work but for those who live too far away that's not an option. In my other older computer controlled vehicles I always switched back to the factory tune prior to taking it to the dealership simply because the ECU aren't as smart. What I'm saying is how does MINI not know the ECU wasn't tampered with?

 

It's not until they tap into the ECU will they know. Just because they insert the key and it tells you what has occurred via the key does it mean they'll know immediately.

 

Just got my ECU back from NM and love the tune, the car pulls hard even with the sport button off.

 

Glad you like it! I love it. I have an sb too, and it's even more ridiculous with it and the sport button

 

2nd day of driving the car with the tune and just got a yellow check engine icon on the speedo. Gotta hook up my scanguage and see what code it is:(

 

It's the stupid P0456. Checked gas cap and no hoses seem broken or loose.

 

not sure what that is, but i've been running the tune fine without any problems.

 

Don't get me wrong the car feels great other than this stupid code. I just erased it and guna see if it comes back.

 

What does that code refer to?