MHD or ECUtek or BM3?

[SilverMk5]

I've been reading around the forums but I'm still unsure of everything (call me stupid) but I'm having some difficulty understanding all of this new "BMW Tuning" stuff. I came from Hondas where it was just simple as buying Hondata, locking it to the car, or buying a stand alone ecu like on my s2000 and boom dyno tuning. But with all this new German stuff I'm a bit lost. Currently I have a dinan intake and catless downpipe on order and I know with the catless dp on a stock tune it will have a CEL, which brings up me looking into tuning. I have a 2021 Supra 3.0 and I checked the date on the ECU and it was labeled "20 - 2 - 20" which I'm assuming is Feb 20, 2020 which is before the June 2020 + locked ecu's. The car is my year round daily driver and I just want some a bit more pep, KEEPING IT RELIABLE (to an extent) and possibly have the ability for a dyno tune as well as the CEL off from the catless dp (honestly most important) , and between all the tuning solutions thats where I'm struggling to choose which one. So for ECUTek to my knowledge you need to get a bench unlock first then have the licence flashed directly to the ecu? Is it the same process as Bootmod3 or MHD , do I have to get a bench unlock for Bm3 or MHD or can I flash it straight through my OBD2 port, and which one of these options are best for my needs/goals. As well as which one is the "most reliable" as in has the lets say....... the best connectivity and the "well known tuners". From the limited knowledge I have I'm leaning towards BM3 or ECUtek (but please educate me on MHD as well) just mainly concerned if I need to send my ecu out for a bench unlock to use Bm3 or is it just an ECUTek thing. I'm slightly leaning towards the option of not sending out my ecu for a bench unlock but if its required for the "best option" I will gladly do it, but Im lazy and want to save the hassle. I know somewhat of a big write up on something I could figure out on myself but would appreciate the extra clarification

Thanks guys!

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[5Rocket_]

You have to get a bench unlock for all 3 options.
If you go with Bm3 you can change your maps from your steering wheel and their recent updates make the platform extremely competitive with Ecutek from a racing standpoint and I would say better from a user interface perspective.

I vote Bm3 for you.

 

[zrk]

BM3 for you, but please spend the extra few hundred dollars on a custom tune.

If reliability + some pep + kill CEL is your custom tune, go with BM3, and have a tuner tune it for your car specifically. An OTS (Off the shelf) tune will definitely kill your CEL and give you some pep, but unless you want to monitor your fuel trims all day, pay the extra few bucks.

 

[Supra Jr.]

BM3 for you, but please spend the extra few hundred dollars on a custom tune.

If reliability + some pep + kill CEL is your custom tune, go with BM3, and have a tuner tune it for your car specifically. An OTS (Off the shelf) tune will definitely kill your CEL and give you some pep, but unless you want to monitor your fuel trims all day, pay the extra few bucks.

I have MHD Ots map and there has never been a problem running them on our cars with the basic maps especially on the 93 tunes, and their OTS maps are wayyyy smother than the base bm3 maps. No need to scare someone about the OTS maps, they are very safe maps.

 

[zrk]

I have MHD Ots map and there has never been a problem running them on our cars with the basic maps especially on the 93 tunes, and their OTS maps are wayyyy smother than the base bm3 maps. No need to scare someone about the OTS maps, they are very safe maps.

I mean, I know a thing or two about a thing or two... sometimes at least.

Both platforms OTS maps are... lacking. I've looked at... idk dozens, maybe even hundreds of logs from folks on this forum and facebook. Overboosting, throttle closures, STFTs waayyyy too high, timing problems, timing rainbows, etc. Sure they'll 'work' for 10-15k miles, but you're putting a ton of unnecessary strain on shit that doesn't need it.

The biggest problem is elevation and fuel isn't all equal. An OTS map that runs very well at a DA of 2600 isn't going to run well in Denver. Sure it'll be 'faster' but it's not going to be ideal.

It's not exactly a lot of money for a custom BM3 tune, so not doing it is.... questionable. Take car of your car.

 

[Supra Jr.]

I mean, I know a thing or two about a thing or two... sometimes at least.

Both platforms OTS maps are... lacking. I've looked at... idk dozens, maybe even hundreds of logs from folks on this forum and facebook. Overboosting, throttle closures, STFTs waayyyy too high, timing problems, timing rainbows, etc. Sure they'll 'work' for 10-15k miles, but you're putting a ton of unnecessary strain on shit that doesn't need it.

The biggest problem is elevation and fuel isn't all equal. An OTS map that runs very well at a DA of 2600 isn't going to run well in Denver. Sure it'll be 'faster' but it's not going to be ideal.

It's not exactly a lot of money for a custom BM3 tune, so not doing it is.... questionable. Take car of your car.

I talked with a shop who is tied in with Kies and they said it isn't worth a custom tune unless I go bigger turbo or flex fuel. Just going by what I heard. And by plenty of people with basic tunes with over 50k miles.

 

[zrk]

I talked with a shop who is tied in with Kies and they said it isn't worth a custom tune unless I go bigger turbo or flex fuel. Just going by what I heard. And by plenty of people with basic tunes with over 50k miles.

You know best, obviously. Good luck!

 

[SoDakMk5]

Ultimately it’s your car, so do what u want but zrk does know what he’s talking about. OTS will probably be fine if you’re sticking to 91/93. Having to be exact on your mix’s at the pump for E blends. Having flex is very convenient plus the tune is for your DA and fuel quality. Where I’m at has great E85 that measures 80-85 that isn’t the case nationwide

 

[Supra Jr.]

You know best, obviously. Good luck!

Relax with your usual ego, just because you race for a quarter mile at a time doesn't make you a genius or right about everything.

 

[zrk]

Relax with your usual ego, just because you race for a quarter mile at a time doesn't make you a genius or right about everything.

No ego involved.

OP asked a question, and I tried to give the best advice I knew how to give. Cheaping out never gives the best results.

And- I'm a shitty racer, I know I'm a shitty racer, but I do build these things... a lot. And I've seen a lot of them hurt, blow up, people unhappy with performance, etc. I've read logs from OTS tunes, I've seen how OTS tunes perform. My advise is to skip that, and get something custom tailored for your car. Garbage in garbage out.

 

[Supra Jr.]

No ego involved.

OP asked a question, and I tried to give the best advice I knew how to give. Cheaping out never gives the best results.

And- I'm a shitty racer, I know I'm a shitty racer, but I do build these things... a lot. And I've seen a lot of them hurt, blow up, people unhappy with performance, etc. I've read logs from OTS tunes, I've seen how OTS tunes perform. My advise is to skip that, and get something custom tailored for your car. Garbage in garbage out.

Fair enough

 

[ArmenLS1]

@zrk is right.

Getting a custom tune isn't always about getting "mooar" power out of the car. It's about drivability, reliability, and getting a tune that works for your car Vs getting the car to work for the tune. All the applications have at least 1 free OTS map so you can start there and then go custom.

I'm currently emailing all the suggested tuners that work with BM3 and getting details from them on the process and what they'll be looking for. You'll cough up another $800 for a custom tune but it's going to be worth it. The logging, research, and trials are all part of the fun in getting your car to where you want it to be.

P.S. My only mod is a DP and pump gas but a custom tune will still make a difference. My 2 cents.

 

[M3ltdown]

Ots maps are hit or miss.
Some are shit, some are good. MHD OTS seems to be nearly as good as custom.



Start @ the 15 minute mark

 

[ArmenLS1]

Ots maps are hit or miss.
Some are shit, some are good. MHD OTS seems to be nearly as good as custom.



Start @ the 15 minute mark

How is that more power achieved? More boost? More timing? It doesn't mean it's better. Hard to determine how that extra power is pulled out without a log next to that dyno graph.

 

[M3ltdown]

How is that more power achieved? More boost? More timing? It doesn't mean it's better. Hard to determine how that extra power is pulled out without a log next to that dyno graph.

Good questions, the same can be asked of custom tunes as well, is the tuner adding more boost? Is he playing with timing at all?

I could tell you that smoothness of a graph says a lot, as you can see they compare it to an actual custom tune.

Custom tunes are not the end all be all, some tomes ots maps get it right. If you tune 1 supra you have a custom map for that supra, if you tune 100 supras you can start seeing a law of averages where a certain threshold will work for 98% of people.

Is custom better then ots? Always. Is it always worth the extra coin to get 20 extra whp? Well that depends.

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