NefMoto

Good evening all,

Bit of a noob question. Hence this forum category.

I've been looking at flashing a friends map onto my car for a while now.

He has identical hardware to me, but I am running a mere 213bhp 282lbft, he is running 245/289.

I originally intended on paying for a new map since getting my FMIC, but if I can do things cheaper than that then I will!

Anyway, I digress. My main question is - can I use any Bosch ME7 ECU on my 1.8T VW BJX? I notice there are plenty on eBay for under £30, but none for the BJX specifically.

I plan on buying a spare ECU so that I can simply disconnect mine and mod the other, just incase it all goes wrong.

Many Thanks
Dan

Here, put this on.  ;D

Haha!

OK, following this incredibly novice question, I have done more research.

I now recognise that there are many features that make the BJX ECU different from other ME7.x ECU's.

Most notably, DBW throttle.

I guess my question still stands though - if not a little altered - what equivalent ECU's can I use?

The flamesuit was for coming on to a DIY forum with 4 posts and asking "can you guys help me copy my friends tune so I can save $"  :)

All me7 ecu's are dbw. Just fined a definition file for your ecu and take the plunge. Me7.5 is easy

I'm gonna take a pretty decent stab at what file you're wanting to flash with 240 odd bhp. 

Is it Dave's?

I'd really not recommend it.  Firstly, his file isn't that good as I've looked at it and I'm really not impressed.

Also, you literally have no idea what you're doing.  There's been three people join this week from the Polo side and you're all wanting to just cross-flash files.  Two cars that I know this week have ended up in a sticky situation, one now needs bootmode and the guy can't do anything.

If you're going to flash a file to your car - flash the SAME file to your car, nothing else.  Stop cross-flashing, ensure the checksums are correct and learn how to tune, not how to copy.

Okay, so I was right.  I've just seen a post on Facebook about you and Dave "selling" your already mapped file. 

I know you haven't looked into it, but the file you're going to be selling on has a tuner tag in it, which is massively wrong on all levels.

I'm not meaning to be a dick, but just because you can spend 12 pounds on a China copy cable and download some free software does NOT give you the right to be SELLING ON OTHER PEOPLES TUNES.

Not only that, but you have NO idea what's been done to these tunes, so you CANNOT quote numbers.  "Stage 1 gives you this power, Stage 2 gives you that".  Bullshit.

I'm gonna nip this in the bud and I'm not helping you attempt to rip off other tuners, swap files and getting people to cross-flash.

You, and Dave have no idea what you're doing and its showing with an already bricked ECU.

What happens when people start cross-flashing and bricking theirs and come to you crying.  You don't have the hardware, or knowledge to sort it.

My advice is stop what you're doing before someone gets pissed off.  I've been nothing but helpful to Dave in an attempt to sort his mess and now because you've caught wind of what Dave's doing you think you can make a few bucks off it by selling someone else's work?!

Oh, and that work that you're selling sucks.  Timing is gash, it's too lean and the boost PID is basically 100%. 

Dave said it wasn't good until I tweaked it slightly and is now happy with it.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but no-one is going to help you if you're just going to be selling on someone else's work.

My 2c.

There is a slight amount of confusion here. Dave and I discussed selling maps only if we ever got confident enough to write our own. We never intended on selling a map with a tuner tag - we wanted to learn how to tune.

But I understand your point. Have taken it on board. Will not be continuing with it this way.

I do, however, still want to LEARN how to tune.

I don't see how you can learn how to tune and just assume you're going to achieve certain HP numbers?  What are these HP numbers based on? 

Once you can learn how to adjust, log, see what you've changed is working and producing a good result, and flash (and have the necessary means of recovery), then maybe, just maybe you can look at selling your product.

But, selling your product will not be tolerated in here by someone who doesn't know what they're doing, can't define a file and can't flash without bricking an ECU.

I'm trying to be harsh enough to back you out of a corner you'll undoubtedly get into if you keep going down this route.  The guys here have spent years and years of hard work to get the software and documentation to this standard.  I mean, do you know what the FR is?  How PID's work?  How FI motors like to be tuned?

I'm not that confident and I've been reading and playing for almost 2 years now.  My tune isn't even close to being close, and I've got 58 iterations so far.

You can't expect just to throw a tune together on a whim.  I'm just worried and concerned about the inevitable shitstorm that'll happen if you start getting Joe Public to flash their car, unknowing of the damage that can occur.

Totally totally understand. It was a stupid idea in the first place, one that wasn't particularly discussed or thought about very well. I appreciate your harshness because it has been a reality check for me.

But like I said previously, we never intended on selling somebody else's tune nor did we intend on selling something if we weren't 100% sure in our own capabilities. You are right, we got way ahead of ourselves and that's that. It was just an idea. An idea thought up on a whim and one that would never have surfaced. I apologise.

I am keen on learning. For my own benefit and nobody else's.

I want to get started on bench flashing. I want to learn how to read and write an ECU successfully on a bench.

Would you say it is worth getting a spare ECU for the time being?

If so, what do I need to look out for? Thank you.

:)

You don't need to bench flash unless something goes wrong.  If you use the file that was originally on the ECU, have calculated the checksums properly, and the ECU does not lose comms during flashing, you do not need to flash on the bench.  The bench is a last resort.

I haven't got a spare ECU, but I guess it wouldn't hurt.  I just make sure my checks are good before I flash and haven't had any issues.  Not saying that's good practice though. 

I guess you could get a spare ECU and just clone your current ECU.  That way, if it goes wrong, you can swap out a good, working, stock ECU.

Thank you :)

I appreciate that the bench flash is a last resort but I feel like it's pretty fundamental to understand how to do it, just incase something goes wrong (and no doubt it inevitably will).

So, as far as cloning an ECU goes - immobiliser... Can I simply read the EEPROM from the cars ECU and dump it onto the clone ECU? I have already read the immo pin through VAG Tacho though I guess this isn't relevant if you are creating a clone?

I already

Use Argdubs tool to read the EEPROM, but it needs to be in bootmode to write it.

Then read the flash, and then flash it onto the new ECU.  Done.

Absolutely 100% true.

Read, get confused, read some more, get more confused, read some more, than finally it'll start falling into place. That's what I do.

I personally started with a tuned file, I make changes that I think it needs and see how the changes affect the car.

I also keep a spare ECU that's IMMO off'd ready in case I need it. I have bricked my ECU once - due to a bad checksum. I spent hours reading up on boot mode and finding a way to recover it. I advise reading up on this first before you need it.

I think your best bet now, is to pull your MAP off, and compare it with the tuned one on your friends car. Learn your way round Winols - use the 'differences' feature. Find a definition file for it, so how things differ between the two files, and how it's been changed.

I started learning a year ago, and spend about 5 hours a week reading and making slight changes. I'm still a massive noob, and get stuck a lot!

Thanks for the great replies I'm getting, very inspiring.

I do believe that there is a lot to be learnt from simply comparing tunes and looking at other people's work. I am actually really inspired to start learning properly now.

So I've decided (with everybody's help) that the proper way to go about this is to get a spare ECU and create a clone of my current one. Then I can flash to my hearts content with no real fear of it all going wrong.

I'm going to build up a cable harness for bench testing over the next week or so, so hopefully getting a functioning "workspace" should be simple enough.

With that in mind... Does anybody by any chance happen to have a spare ME7 1.8T BJX ECU lying around anywhere? I will pay good money for it. I will get the serial number tomorrow when it's light!

Also... Immo off... Just out of curiosity, how does that work? I assume it is just coded out of the EEPROM? Might be worthwhile for me if I am going to create a debugging ECU. Anybody have any documents or links about it that I can read up on?

start by reading stickies.

immo stuff
http://nefariousmotorsports.com/forum/index.php?topic=5068.0title=