I hear a lot about people programming their cars and adding new features using Bimmercode.

I'm curious about what problems or issues people have run into...any examples?

Thank you

 

No Bimmercode experience but I have had and used similar tools for other cars.

One possible problem is with a new/under warranty car any change could invalidate the warranty. When I bought my new 2023 S I expressed my usual loathing of that damned auto stop/start. While there was a switch to disable this the switch was not *sticky". The sales manager said he had a guy with a Bimmercode setup that could "permanently" disable auto stop/start. I questioned what this would do to the warranty and he told me it is a change that does not affect warranty as the ability to control this via a switch is because in other areas the auto stop/start feature is not required and not even controllable. In disabling this with Bimmercode this would be putting the car in its "default" configuration. Maybe so. But I'm loathe to risk the warranty based on the advice of even a sales manager.

Other problems can arise if one "plays" with settings that are best left alone and gets these settings wrong.

With one car I could control the radiator fan stages, the temperature at which the fan would be turned on and at the subsequent higher temperatures as this the fan's speed would be increased. I slightly lowered the temperatures. Not by much and in hind sight probably not even for any real benefit. But I could have gone too far and the engine could have run colder than was ideal and this could create problems with the engine controller dealing with a too cool an engine.

Some tools I believe allow one to up the engine red line. Obviously things brings the risk of engine failure.

Something like Bimmercode is a powerful tool but one must use it with caution.

 

@RockC Thank you. The warranty issue is my biggest concern...followed closely by "is bimmercode reliable", as in if I say to code start/stop switch, is it going to do just or possibly do something else?

As for coding engine workings, etc...that shouldn't be an issue. I'm really only considering things like fullscreen carplay, auto folding mirrors, stuff like that

Thank you again for the reply

 

I can't say with any authority what you want to do will or will not affect the warranty. If you change folding mirror behavior and a wheel falls of that probably will be covered. But if the the car develops weird electrical problems...

Really my SOP -- with one exception and the one and only one was the car I mentioned in a previous post in which I tweaked the fan stages, oh and disabled the 1st to 4th skip shift feature -- I have not bothered to tweak anything using a Bimmercode like tool since.

If I don't do anything there is no risk to the warranty. And with (at least some) cars there is a way to know the car's engine/body controller has been "messed" with and not at some super duper critical level like upping the red line but really any changes to these controllers so even a change to folding mirror behavior can be known and possibly taken into account regarding warranty.

Another problem is what needs to be specified the actual setting you wish to change and how to change it -- in what units or whatever -- is often not intuitive. The actually setting name can be cryptic and what it gets changed to even more cryptic still.

Unless you have access to this level of detail regarding your model/year of car you run the risk of messing something up.

Not trying to scare you just making you aware of some possible pitfalls and the need to fully understand what it is you want to do and how to do it. And this info is not necessarily readily available.

In my former career I wrote automotive test equipment software and I had to sign a non-disclosure to get any real access to the various engine/body controller details. And a few automakers, and one in particular, didn't even share this info with a non disclosure agreement in place. The info was reserved for use by one company which wrote the diagnostic computer the factory provided to its dealers at I might add at considerable cost beyond the initial "purchase" price (which I don't recall) there was a rather large (IIRC $600/month) subscription cost, too.

 

Here's the caveat with Bimmercode.
They have "shortcuts" which only unlock features that were not enabled at the factory.
If you stick with those, and DO NOT go into advanced/expert mode, you won't do any harm.

The dealer will not even know what you did, unless you tell them.

Remember the date you first use it, that will store the stock configuration before you make changes.
You can always revert to that and be back to square one.

 

Maybe.

Documented in the OBD2 reference there is a Parameter ID that is used to query for "calibration" info. I never tested this but I was told any change to the contents of the controller changed at least one of the calibration IDs. With some brands of vehicles a special (factory proprietary) code was logged that could not be cleared. If this code was found, even if the original flash was restored, the dealer/factory knew the engine controller contents had been "tampered" with.

I do know when I was working on emissions testing software for a plug in emissions "tester" one of the things that was specifically requested was all the calibration info. I assumed by wanting this info the EPA/CARB had the info to evaluate the data and know if any changes had been made, even if the image had been restored.

One can make changes and maybe BMW has nothing implemented to scan the image and compute some CRC or other number and then know from the one computed vs. the original something's been changed. But I honestly would be surprised since too often I read a post by someone who's done something that involves a tune and says he'll just bring the car in for warranty. Given the cost of warranty repairs factories implement checks to try to avoid paying for someone's screwup. (Years ago for instance for any possible engine related warranty claim a tech was instructed to obtain an oil sample to be sent off to be analyzed. The implication was if a non approved oil was found being used the warranty claim could be denied.)

 

This is not from Stephan at Bimmercode.
it’s from a tuner, and we all know “flashing” causes a flag to be checked.
Bimmercode is not flashing.
It does not recode, only changes parameters available
Does not change any engine parameters.



apples and oranges

 

FWIW, I wasn't planning on changing anything major:
1) maybe fullscreen carplay
2) auto folding mirrors
3) tailgate
4) this reverse door handle lighting thing sounds popular
5) things like that

But thank you all. this is all good info.

 

Well, it can be apples and oranges or it can be apples and apples. It depends upon how concerned the writers of the ECU software were about code and constant and even variable data integrity. (When I wrote software for rail road track and train controller software for safety critical reasons -- to avoid property damage (from a 1000 ton train derailing) to injury or death (derailing or a collision between a train and a vehicle crossing a non-functioning crossing barrier to even two trains running into each other) -- constant checking of all the code/data that was in the controller was done. But I'm not sure to what level engine controller software is checked.) So I'll just leave it be.

 

Gussy it up however ya want, Trebek, what matters is, does it work?

 

Cars rarely break under warranty. It’s when the warranty expires is when we need to sleep with our eyes open.

 

i guess I’ve just been unlucky then. The four cars I’ve owned (including the MINI) that have had warranty have all needed repairs covered by that warranty

 

I've owned 6 MINIs and 5 of them have had warranty work of some kind.

The 6th one is only a year old, but its day may come (though it's electric, so maybe not).

 

Then I’ll go ahead and say that I stand corrected lol. I’ve only had one MINI, and I bought her at 51,000 miles, so I can’t really say that I’ve had any experience with these cars and warranty work. I have had a previous car that had an engine seize 5,000 miles after the warranty expired, but that was a massive class action lawsuit on a whole new level.

Anywho, I love my MINI and I plan on keeping her until I’m dead.

TVPostSound summed everything up perfectly.

 

Anyone ever using a chromebook to code using Bimmercode?

 

Not exactly a problem, but I'm curious (as I never even considered it prior), but how long does coding take?

If I wanted to code power folding mirrors and fullscreen carplay, once I hit code, does it take 2 minutes, 10 minutes, an hour... what are we talking?

Thank you

 

60 seconds.