its 2016. still no free way to do basic tuning?
01-23-2016, 11:14 PM
#1
its 2016. still no free way to do basic tuning? its 2016 and i still have to mail off my computer just to get the computer to automatically run my electronic fans? just to tune out emissions? big inconvenience. atleast give the little guys something. makes no sense to have to mail out my computer and wait on slow usps just to get a basic tune which really isnt tuning because youre just disabling stuff. its stupid. how come bmw have all the cool free tools to tune and we get nothing. now we have idiots on craigslist and junkyards asking damn near $1500 for a freaking old 2003 5.3 with 178k. something has to give. i dont mind paying for a real tune per say if i did cam swap or intake, but just disabling things? nah. all of the real hackers have disappeared or have gotten paid off to not develop any free simple methods. every little thing i do i have to send of my freaking computer or pay one thousand dollars for some software just to use it maybe three times.
01-23-2016, 11:37 PM
#2
You want some cheese with that whine? HP Tuners basic is just $499 and comes with enough credits to edit the PCM on 4 vehicles. That works out to $125 per vehicle. And then you have a really nice scanner to diagnose problems with on a wide range of vehicles. Seems pretty cheap to me.
01-24-2016, 10:37 PM
#3
I agree with 2xLS1. It takes considerable time and effort to create a tool like HP Tuners that gives us the ability to do our own tuning. It's a business and they can't feed their families giving the product away for free. Our biggest concern is that the automotive industry and some in government would like to make altering factory settings a crime. PCM's would be sealed and it would be illegal to sell software that modifies factory settings or to make any alterations on your own car.
Last edited by unit; 01-25-2016 at 11:37 AM. Reason: Correct spelling
01-25-2016, 10:04 AM
#5
its 2016 and i still have to mail off my computer just to get the computer to automatically run my electronic fans? just to tune out emissions? big inconvenience. atleast give the little guys something.
But just based on your posting, I don't think you should be doing any tuning yourself. The reason why you send out your PCM each time is because you are clueless, not because there aren't other options available.
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01-25-2016, 07:49 PM
#8
Moderator
The "Free" tools are all bootleg software stolen from BMW; they are sourced from China, Romania and other such places through ebay. There are many versions of the many tools and these dubious sources rarely bother with the latest or even compatible versions. They are tricky to install and there are hundreds if not thousands of threads on BMW forums on how to find and install them. All before you even run and learn to use them. And many are primitive, perhaps designed originally for DOS and/or Windows 3.1, and have extreme learning curves.
Oh, and they are mostly in German. (Which is OK with me.)
The latest version of the "Data" files involve 4GB downloads which expand to 15GB. Want to tune engine parameters? That requires installing VMWare virtualizer because the software runs in Linux; few get that to work.
There are some user-friendly products like Carly-For-BMW, but that costs $50 for the software and $30 for their specific OBD/Bluetooth adapter. But that can only reset codes and change "convenience" features like how the key-FOB works; no real tuning and nothing drivetrain related.
I can only dream of having something like HP Tuners for BMWs. However the 8000+ non-drivetrain parameters I can change in my BMW are nice.
01-29-2016, 04:31 PM
#9
TECH Fanatic
i have an evo and i tune it using all the 'free' and open source stuff. it cost me $125 for the cable, $40 for the logging software, $40 for megalogviewer and $100 for the tablet i use.
and guess what? its a huge pain in the *** figuring it all out and youre left to the good will of the community for support. I spent like 15 hours last weekend disassembling and reverse engineering the speed density conversion that someone was kind enough to write because i couldnt be 100% sure the units the pcm used for the kpa axis of the ve table, and i was chasing my tail on the tune.
granted, the evo pcm development community is pretty awesome and theres amazing amounts of info out there, but i regularly wish for an efilive-like solution to all this.
efilive and hpt are only expensive until you have used the free stuff.
and guess what? its a huge pain in the *** figuring it all out and youre left to the good will of the community for support. I spent like 15 hours last weekend disassembling and reverse engineering the speed density conversion that someone was kind enough to write because i couldnt be 100% sure the units the pcm used for the kpa axis of the ve table, and i was chasing my tail on the tune.
granted, the evo pcm development community is pretty awesome and theres amazing amounts of info out there, but i regularly wish for an efilive-like solution to all this.
efilive and hpt are only expensive until you have used the free stuff.
Last edited by TrendSetter; 01-29-2016 at 04:36 PM.
02-02-2016, 09:06 AM
#12
efilive and hpt are only expensive until you have used the free stuff.
You can pick up a nice used HPT wire for like $2-300 bux with no credits, spend another $100 on credits and you have yourself a full blown tuning suite for less than what it costs to get a handheld.
02-02-2016, 09:27 AM
#14
12 Second Club
You can do it your self...
Grab a hex editor
Read and write with this http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3111
Grab a hex editor
Read and write with this http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3111
02-02-2016, 09:31 AM
#15
There are at least 3 tuning solutions that I can think of that an amateur like yourself can get and tune his car whenever his little heart desires.
But just based on your posting, I don't think you should be doing any tuning yourself. The reason why you send out your PCM each time is because you are clueless, not because there aren't other options available.
But just based on your posting, I don't think you should be doing any tuning yourself. The reason why you send out your PCM each time is because you are clueless, not because there aren't other options available.
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alfabeach (01-06-2021)
02-02-2016, 03:25 PM
#16
TECH Senior Member
There's two parts to all of this:
1. obtaining a flashing cable (HPTuners, EFILive, Tunercat, LS1edit).
2. learning how to use it and what to do with it (what tables to edit and how).
1. obtaining a flashing cable (HPTuners, EFILive, Tunercat, LS1edit).
2. learning how to use it and what to do with it (what tables to edit and how).
02-03-2016, 12:05 PM
#20
Start factoring in the cost of custom operating systems and see whose cheaper. EFILive doesn't charge for custom OS. Can HPT tune 98 computers for free like EFILive? I've tuned at least 4-98 cars for free. And I don't like that HPT hides some tables, or they simply arent available that EFILIVE can see.