Experienced ECU tuners in the GTA?

daveysew · 05-08-2014, 07:20 AM

Hi All, just wondering is anyone has any recommendations for an experienced ECU tuner in the GTA. I bought a Supercharged 2005 Z4 3.0 in 2008 (I don't have too much info on the S/C kit I think it's a Teknik Engineering Kit, company no longer in business), it's passed Drive Clean via tailpipe sniff test no worries every (2nd) year, runs perfect with no CEL. This year when I went for Drive Clean it came back as a fail, not because of any high readings but all the readings come back "n/a" The Ministry tells me there is something wrong with the car, I can connect an OBD-2 scanner and get reading from it, the car just doesn't like emissions computers. Best info I've gotten so far is that I need to get the ECU flashed/tuned to ensure the car reads "ready" for emissions testing. Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations?
Thanks in advance,
dave

ClayMan · 05-12-2014, 03:49 PM

check if your car has any outstanding recalls. I know S54 and S62 cars had an emissions recall to reprogram the DME because they were having trouble communicating with e-test equipment through the OBD2 port.

cogriff · 05-13-2014, 01:53 PM

Have you disconnected the battery or had the battery go dead recently?

The new format for drive clean testing is a simple computer scan. In order for the testing to be carried out it checks that all the sensors on the car related to engine performance and emmissions are in the ready state. If the battery is disconnected or dies then when power is restored the sensors will not be in the ready state. Most of the sensors will reset the first time time you start the car up. However, some of them will take time to reset. They have a lot of permissives to meet and it can take up to a few hundred kilometers of driving to get everything to reset (for example some will never reset until ambient air temp exceeds a specified amount like 20*C). I believe on newer cars (post 2000ish) you can have 1 sensor in the not ready state and still do the testing. Older cars can have 2. If you have more than that it is an automatic fail.

Drive the car for a week or so then try the test again.

If your battery hasn't been the issue the you could also do a scan with the BMW software (which gives more info than OBDII) and see if any sensors are bad. You may have a bad sensor but it's not one that throws a check engine light or code. Replace the bad sensor (or 2) and all should be good.

I would doubt you need to remap/reset/tune your ECU but I could be wrong.

If you need any help with software to look up BMW codes I'm east of the city in the Durham area. I've got the software and cable. Just PM me.

Good luck

daveysew · 05-19-2014, 01:49 PM

Thanks for the thoughts. What I've been told so far from a Subaru tuning shop in Oakville (& from a few owners in California dealing with similar issues) is that when the car was tuned for the supercharger a "readiness status" for emission testing may have been deactivated, until it's "turned back on" the car will never pass emission based on an OBD-2 only test. Bit of a pisser as the car always passed the sniff test with flying colours, but MTO refuses to do a sniff test on the car, they just keep parroting the line "there is something wrong with your car, you need to fix it).

FWIW I have hooked the car up to a BMW compatible scanner and get no error code, no CEL to clear, and it runs great. I did have the battery out for the winter, but have driven it for a week between test attempts to make sure it had a full driving cycle in the computer.

Cogriff, thanks for the offer I may have to take you up on it.

dave

05-08-2014, 07:20 AM	#1
daveysew First Lieutenant 14 Rep 307 Posts Drives: '91 318is/'05 Z4 SC/'18 440ix Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toronto iTrader: (1)	Experienced ECU tuners in the GTA? Hi All, just wondering is anyone has any recommendations for an experienced ECU tuner in the GTA. I bought a Supercharged 2005 Z4 3.0 in 2008 (I don't have too much info on the S/C kit I think it's a Teknik Engineering Kit, company no longer in business), it's passed Drive Clean via tailpipe sniff test no worries every (2nd) year, runs perfect with no CEL. This year when I went for Drive Clean it came back as a fail, not because of any high readings but all the readings come back "n/a" The Ministry tells me there is something wrong with the car, I can connect an OBD-2 scanner and get reading from it, the car just doesn't like emissions computers. Best info I've gotten so far is that I need to get the ECU flashed/tuned to ensure the car reads "ready" for emissions testing. Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks in advance, dave
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05-12-2014, 03:49 PM	#2
ClayMan Second Lieutenant 18 Rep 213 Posts Drives: E36, E39, E86 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: ON, NY iTrader: (0)	check if your car has any outstanding recalls. I know S54 and S62 cars had an emissions recall to reprogram the DME because they were having trouble communicating with e-test equipment through the OBD2 port.
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05-13-2014, 01:53 PM	#3
cogriff Private First Class 69 Rep 107 Posts Drives: 2006 Z4MC Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Canada iTrader: (0) Garage List 2014 Audi [0.00] 2006 BMW Z4MC [9.00] 1977 Honda CB750K [0.00] 2007 Kawasaki ZX6-R [0.00]	Have you disconnected the battery or had the battery go dead recently? The new format for drive clean testing is a simple computer scan. In order for the testing to be carried out it checks that all the sensors on the car related to engine performance and emmissions are in the ready state. If the battery is disconnected or dies then when power is restored the sensors will not be in the ready state. Most of the sensors will reset the first time time you start the car up. However, some of them will take time to reset. They have a lot of permissives to meet and it can take up to a few hundred kilometers of driving to get everything to reset (for example some will never reset until ambient air temp exceeds a specified amount like 20*C). I believe on newer cars (post 2000ish) you can have 1 sensor in the not ready state and still do the testing. Older cars can have 2. If you have more than that it is an automatic fail. Drive the car for a week or so then try the test again. If your battery hasn't been the issue the you could also do a scan with the BMW software (which gives more info than OBDII) and see if any sensors are bad. You may have a bad sensor but it's not one that throws a check engine light or code. Replace the bad sensor (or 2) and all should be good. I would doubt you need to remap/reset/tune your ECU but I could be wrong. If you need any help with software to look up BMW codes I'm east of the city in the Durham area. I've got the software and cable. Just PM me. Good luck
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05-19-2014, 01:49 PM	#4
daveysew First Lieutenant 14 Rep 307 Posts Drives: '91 318is/'05 Z4 SC/'18 440ix Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toronto iTrader: (1)	Thanks for the thoughts. What I've been told so far from a Subaru tuning shop in Oakville (& from a few owners in California dealing with similar issues) is that when the car was tuned for the supercharger a "readiness status" for emission testing may have been deactivated, until it's "turned back on" the car will never pass emission based on an OBD-2 only test. Bit of a pisser as the car always passed the sniff test with flying colours, but MTO refuses to do a sniff test on the car, they just keep parroting the line "there is something wrong with your car, you need to fix it). FWIW I have hooked the car up to a BMW compatible scanner and get no error code, no CEL to clear, and it runs great. I did have the battery out for the winter, but have driven it for a week between test attempts to make sure it had a full driving cycle in the computer. Cogriff, thanks for the offer I may have to take you up on it. dave
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