According to a post,last week BWM introduced new service software with the aim of detecting aftermarket tuner.
Audi is said to have done the same thing to detect chips and such voiding warranties.
"It's more targetted to detecting reflashed ECUs. From what I heard, it goes a bit beyond comparing checksums. As for piggybacks, it apparantly drops the fuel flow allowance to make it easier to trip tuner codes. BMW is currently working on making the MSD81 unflashable. Or at least staying a couple steps ahead of the tuners. They aren't messing around."
"With BMW adding more and more security in an attempt to keep of flash tuners. I believe it has already started this update in Europe with the 335Ds which currently can no longer be flashed."

"It's only logical for BMW to be increasingly stringent on tune detection now that turbocharged engines in general and the N54 in particular are becoming a big part of their product lineup.

"Failed engines were a small problem back in the days when 335's had the only N54s Now 135/335/535/X6/Z4's all share the N54, the installed base is quickly becoming a big chunk of BMW sales. Ain't all that difficult for a bean counter to start thinking about minimizing warranty costs when you start adding numbers together..."

 

Not surprised at all...

BMW ain't dumb.

By the way, can you provide a link for that? Thanks.

 

if bmw makes the ecu not reflashable then of course that'd be the end to the whole ecu update story for more tuning

but before that, no matter what they do on "security" hackers will continue to find a way out. it's just like computer hackers vs firewall. firewall can get better and better but hackers aren't dumb, they continue to find ways to get in

when the 335 first came out, ecu refrash and piggy backs were everywhere. bmw later put in security and also read codes from owners' car to see if they have been tempered. well next thing you know tuners found way to defeat all those "securities" and sometimes even write new codes in to defeat bmw checks. it's just a battle between the two

but now, if bmw makes it not programmable at all, umm...

 

Welcome to the world of 2nd Gen IS lol

 

Yes, this isn't completely bad. If BMW or Audi make it unprogrammable however, then that will be seriously bad news.

 

Guess I'll tell my advisor not to do any updates.

 

Honestly I don't blame car companies. If you're a consumer and want to mess with the stock performance of the car and expect warranty work to be done you're gambling. It's not exactly fair for someone to pay for your own misfortunes/mistakes. You take the risk when you change something that the car makers aren't intending to warranty.

 

Not a sad day for me. I bought mine this time around. I break it, I will continue to own it


This aftermarket vs. manufacturer battle is nothing new.. Gotta pay to play..

 

I totally agree with Koma. Auto companies have an obligation to back what THEY produce with a warranty, not your version of how you screw around with what they produce.

Of course, small cosmetic things that don't affect the car's performance are one thing (most auto companies don't care what you do with things like that), but to make signifcant changes that affect the car's drivetrain or chassis is another matter.

 

Yes, this development comes as no surprise to me, especially with warranty and emissions implications today.

 

When I had my DSM, we the second generations have out ECU swapped to a older second gen specifically the 95s because they have EPROM which can be chipped to become pretty much a standalone so you can tune everything.... and providing BMW have tons of the N54 around, it's not difficult to switch one out until warranty time comes....

 

Watch values of older cars start to rise with enthusiasts b/c of "big brother" tactics. E30 anyone

 

i can't blame bmw or audi or any manufacturer at all. why should they pay for repairs to enginers with code taking them way beyond what they promised the customer?

while anything's possible, look at the lexus ECU which has never been cracked, afaik.

so if bmw really doesn't want it messed with, encryption and many other things can make it basically impossible to figure out. now could, in theory, a tuner throw away the ecu code and write their own from scratch? yes, but that's going to become impossible too if the ecu code exchanges encryption keys with sensors for example, which simply won't work with third party code.

i've never been a fan of aftermarket ecus or even piggybacks. the days of someone just saying "oh, just 'chip it'" are coming to a close for new cars at least. and then govt will make doing to old cars less and less feasible - maybe only doable at a track.

similar to your hacker example, while in theory wpa2 wifi encryption can be broken, few people have the compute resources or time to do it.

 

..........until chip and re-flash detectors become available for them, too.

 

I had custome tuned ECU on my infiniti from Technosquare in LA. I had a blown injector and the car had to be towed into a local dealership. As soon as the tech finished with the car the service manager called to ask me if the ECU and been touched and like most I denied it and they did the work with no further question. I still think that its not in the service departments interest to rat you out because they will be getting paid from the manufacturer, so they essentially shut up. I think the manufacturers are catching on and are goping to nip it in the bud