m325i 705 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 If you seach BMW chips on eBay you get all these cheap ecu chips, some for e30s. Are they junk? They are bloody chaep, as i paid $800 for a chip for my old car! Thoughts? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 we're looking at bringing some in...as a cheaper alternative to a link or similar ECU (although not tuneable) rough ballpark figures are $450~$550 or so. there are some ones that dont do bugger all, but ive heard of some good ones, easy installation too Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
*sic 1 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 anything to do with the brain of your car should be looked at carefully, ie. what level of mods do you currently have? what are your plans, (no your real plans..) are you going to go turbo, or stay NA? what features are needed, what are you going to need to control?. most importantly how much $$$ have you got, and are willing to pour into this.. is tuneability something that you want? are you able to access a tuner of reputable standard? bad tuning is Not the shizzle. A general rule of thumb is prewritten chips are quite poo, as they dont take into account all your mods / combo of mods. another good rule, is you pay for what you get. tuning wise, allow around 1k +/- for a full dyno tune after you purchase you system. ie link system.. full systems like Link = the win. (generally) thanks for your time Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
duke 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 how do they work exactly? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 mainly by advancing timing (and using higher grade fuel), as well as removing some of the restrictions placed by the factory ECU for emissions...the stock e30 325i ecu seems to lean out at higher engine speeds..not a fantastic thing. i will agree with damien that the link is the best however....we're looking at a group buy sort of thing. the best part is that the link removes the AFM.....and timing is tuneable and changeable for any combo of mods Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bumpstop325 0 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 i would say that the link/link plus is the best bang for your buck. i have also heard of hawkand other ecu being used. and that motec stuff is the shizzel. also what damien said about, what are you looking for, are you prepared to pay for it, what are you going to use it for? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m325i 705 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 I know about ecu's links etc. But these ones on ebay are like $200. IS THIS BULLSHIT? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
*sic 1 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 just think about it, if it sounds too good to be true, it generally is. when sh*t make crazy ass claims like +22HP just plug and go! its complete crap, what is it going to do? it doesnt know what mods you have to your car so how will it yeild anything? its more than likely only going to decrease performance and make your car crap make your fuel maps poo and make it run rich or run lean and f**k your ecconomy and maybe your engine also in the process... why do you want a higher limiter?, you have already past your peak torque output by that point..so whats the point to it, your only going to allow your pistons to make sweet love to those valves quicker. :gay: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m325i 705 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 Im not so concerned with the power gain claims. Are there chips made for e30s (m20), that are worthwhile? (not programmable ecus). If there was good chips made, then the cost to copy them would be next to nothing, thus allowing American geeks to flog them on ebay for $50-$100. I mean any chip i have seen is $500+, for any kind of car. So are these ebay ones good copies? or are they backyard programes stuct on the ROM? Would you get one? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
*sic 1 Report post Posted October 11, 2004 Would you get one? no. not if it was given to me for free. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted October 11, 2004 Plug an ebay chip into your car and say goodbye to your motor. They will damage your engine. Stick to reputable tuners like Jim Conforti or Mark DySilva (who i'm currently trying to get in touch with). A 10 - 15 hp increase is generally to be expected from these chips. Keep in mind you need to have the correct DME and may have to change the whole Motronic computer for the chip to work in them. His latest chip is based in 93 octane fuel (AKI - anti knock index , which they seem to use in American and Canada) which is pretty much 98 (RON - research octane number, which we use here.) You'll get improved fuel economy from these chips also, but keep in mind you'll be paying $1.32ish/ltr for gas. The chips will generally raise the rev limit to ~ 6700 rpm from what i've seen - better hope the head is in good order before you start redlining every gear. JC and MarkD chips have WOT maps and partial throttle maps unlike Dinan (crap chips) chips for E30 which only have a WOT map. Link (the new LME5) installation will run you a hair over 2000 dollars. Thats including tuning, making sure the fuel system still works, and wiring in (although that is piss easy). NB that is for Motronic cars only - L-Jet requires a fair amount of modding (or essentially a whole motronic sensors conversion) for it to work (cas, tps, ignition advance retard mods). Advantages would be for the turbo people, the 2.7 ltr people - or the modified 2.5 people that the ECU shits out at high RPM (like me). I wouldn't bother with a stock 2.5 unless you were buying the computer with the plan of moving it to your next car. Other advantages are you could run 96 maps with economy settings and other higher performance tunes and changes them on the fly with a laptop or the link dash tuner thingee. So in short - don't get an ebay chip. Ever. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
