[m_fife]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

When I plug in my Launch x431 PAD V, it says tune suspected. I have a tune. It’s a high level tool but BMW factory is higher level so I don’t know how you would fool the BMW tool.

If you have aftermarket scanners detecting a tune it is highly likely that ISTA will flag it as well.

[G MONEY]

I've talked about my F82 when I spun the hub. Put the car back to stock , then brought to dealer. I told them up front which my Rep already knew that it was tuned ( Jb ) and I just wanted it fixed. Was not worried about warranty as I knew I was not covered. They would not touch the car until someone from BMW NA came and put it through the ringer. I wished I saved the paperwork from all that!! They had so much info on my car. The Piggyback tunes are not undetectable!!! I always laugh when I see vendors spout that bullshit on this site!!!! You blow your engine or tranny, you are fucked. 17 grand later my car was fixed🤑. Running strong going on 6 years. Don't be a bitch and start crying if you have to fork up the money to fix your car. They are going to find out my friends

[NathObeaN]

Does this apply to the "free" 4.32.15 ISTA+ ? Or, do you need the newer version (4.35.X+)? Thanks

[NathObeaN]

Answered my own question - no, the ‘free’ version doesn’t include this function. Need a newer version (I used 4.39).

[imolaa_m5]

would be interesting to see as other stated if it can pickup a racechip/dinan piggyback tune

[pbonsalb]

I doubt it. A flash tune, yes.

[Stlthnmrdrd]

Originally Posted by imolaa_m5

would be interesting to see as other stated if it can pickup a racechip/dinan piggyback tune

It picks it up

[Kirill_Nezd]

Originally Posted by imolaa_m5

would be interesting to see as other stated if it can pickup a racechip/dinan piggyback tune

of course it can pickup piggyback. take a look at a small piece from the ECU operation algorithm. in this case, it "simply" calculates the opening angle for the wastegate

[pbonsalb]

First, this is not a question about trying to detect a tune or piggyback in real-time, while it is telling the engine to operate outside of normal expectations. Rather this is a question about trying to detect whether the engine was tuned but there is no flash tune or piggyback operating because it has been removed. So you are looking only at stored data in the ECU.

For a flash tune, sure — tune detection software will report that stored ECU data is outside of the expected range. The flash tune is not hiding anything from the ECU.

A piggyback intercepts the ECU commands, changed them and sends them to the wastegate and injectors and other devices, and sends normal expected values back to the ECU. A normal check of the ECU stored data won’t show anything out of the ordinary. From what I understand, a more serious analysis can discover stored data that does not match up to expected values. I do not know the exact details, but my understanding is that a normal Ista plug in analysis won’t show a problem.

We would love to read information from a BMW engineer who actually knows, but I have not seen that yet.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

First, this is not a question about trying to detect a tune or piggyback in real-time, while it is telling the engine to operate outside of normal expectations. Rather this is a question about trying to detect whether the engine was tuned but there is no flash tune or piggyback operating because it has been removed. So you are looking only at stored data in the ECU.

For a flash tune, sure — tune detection software will report that stored ECU data is outside of the expected range. The flash tune is not hiding anything from the ECU.

A piggyback intercepts the ECU commands, changed them and sends them to the wastegate and injectors and other devices, and sends normal expected values back to the ECU. A normal check of the ECU stored data won’t show anything out of the ordinary. From what I understand, a more serious analysis can discover stored data that does not match up to expected values. I do not know the exact details, but my understanding is that a normal Ista plug in analysis won’t show a problem.

We would love to read information from a BMW engineer who actually knows, but I have not seen that yet.

Extremely well said.

[fieldhouse123]

Team,
If I do the " tune check" in ISTA will it write something to the car so when BMW next time does normal service will ISTA then directly flag the car was tuned.....

Basically want to know if when I scan for it from the house, does BMW later see the scan was done and it is flagged as tuned?

[M550bernina]

I had $7,000 repair needed on my 2021 550. My car is tuned. I knew the SA very well (friend). I figured screw it, I don't have a warranty on my drivetrain either way, so let's see what they say.

They had to bring in a BMW engineer to go through the ECU. First thing they told me is they check to see if there are other reports of the particular problem with other vehicles, if there were, it wouldn't matter if I was tuned or not they were going to cover it.

Engineer came back and said there are no similar cases to mine and that the car is making way too much power and they couldn't push it through.

The engineer also said that they can see everything and if repairs are a certain value, The dealership has to bring in a BMW engineer to go through the ECU.

Not sure if this is BS or not but the engineer said that BMW actually has a team that goes through tunes (files) and they can tell which tuner tuned the vehicle. They use this data for some r&d stuff he said.

Anyway, this was just my experience I thought I would share.

[choppedliver]

A related question is whether xHP is detectable. From some reading, I gather it isn't. Assuming you go back to stock before it goes to the dealer.

[vipguard1]

Originally Posted by choppedliver

A related question is whether xHP is detectable. From some reading, I gather it isn't. Assuming you go back to stock before it goes to the dealer.

xHP is also detectable.
ISTA will show EGS module as suspect during a scan.

As tested on a 2018 F22, ISTA version 4.39.20

[Verner]

Comparing checksums to original, will be very fast way to check manipulation. It only need couple of bytes read from car, to detect manipulation. Compare database to all models and SW versions is no more than couple of megabytes. Problem is that many ecu's have protection, that prevents to reading.