Reflash DME

[Phil-E30]

Afternoon guys,

I am one of the owners with a hint of hesitation and grumpiness in the car when cold. I have seen a few people say about reflashing the DME.

I wondered if anyone had done this themselves and if so, how easily? Also, how much would BMW charge to do it?

Thanks!

 

[David-H]

Mine was done at the BMW dealer (free under warranty) but Exodus got his done at his Indie's, so he'll know how much it costs when he gets the bill. Both jobs took about an hour and a half to complete, so I'd guess that a BMW garage would charge for a couple of hours labour?

The difficulty in doing it yourself would be in getting hold of the latest tables / data / software from BMW.

 

[AndyBeech]

I'm getting this (and only this) done at BMW in Reading on Saturday so I'll post up here how much it costs. I suspect north of £100

 

[exdos]

Mine was done at the BMW dealer (free under warranty) but Exodus got his done at his Indie's, so he'll know how much it costs when he gets the bill. Both jobs took about an hour and a half to complete, so I'd guess that a BMW garage would charge for a couple of hours labour?

If Exodus is meant to be me; I've never had a reflash or remap.

 

[David-H]

Mine was done at the BMW dealer (free under warranty) but Exodus got his done at his Indie's, so he'll know how much it costs when he gets the bill. Both jobs took about an hour and a half to complete, so I'd guess that a BMW garage would charge for a couple of hours labour?

If Exodus is meant to be me; I've never had a reflash or remap.

Sorry! Must have been Bing not Exodus!!

 

[Phil-E30]

I'm getting this (and only this) done at BMW in Reading on Saturday so I'll post up here how much it costs. I suspect north of £100

Brilliant Andy, would be much appreciated. If you could feedback on the drive after this is done that would also be great.

 

[Bing]

Mine was done at the BMW dealer (free under warranty) but Exodus got his done at his Indie's, so he'll know how much it costs when he gets the bill. Both jobs took about an hour and a half to complete, so I'd guess that a BMW garage would charge for a couple of hours labour?

If Exodus is meant to be me; I've never had a reflash or remap.

Sorry! Must have been Bing not Exodus!!

Yep, t'was I. No bill yet though as my lights aren't being fixed until next Friday

Exdos - it was just a flash to upgrade the DME, not a remap.

 

[AndyBeech]

I'm getting this (and only this) done at BMW in Reading on Saturday so I'll post up here how much it costs. I suspect north of £100

Brilliant Andy, would be much appreciated. If you could feedback on the drive after this is done that would also be great.

Having this done now, its about an hour and a half (same as Bing) and charging an hours labour so will be £100 altogether! Not driven it yet so will let you know if it feels different or not, certainly wont hurt, plus I'm a geek and like things to be up to date

Got some strange looks when I requested that the 'expert' valet guys don't wash it afterwards, no I don't like a dirty car but I also don't like a scratched car, a concept I couldn't be arsed to explain to them!

 

[Phil-E30]

:lol: I understand completely Andy, I will be making sure nobody else washes mine either.

Let us know how the drive feels once the reflash is done.

 

[AndyBeech]

:lol: I understand completely Andy, I will be making sure nobody else washes mine either.

Let us know how the drive feels once the reflash is done.

Doesn't feel much different to be fair, it has introduced a massive idle dip though, doh! That might be the fuel cleaner that I'm running through at the moment though so I wait till that's passed through to pass a proper judgement, annoying though. My car also seems to dislike V-Power, Tesco and BP seems to run better, the quirks of the S54!

 

[Phil-E30]

Just wanted to follow this up with Andy and Bing. What were the long term effects of the DME reflash? What about the idle dip Andy?

 

[AndyBeech]

Just wanted to follow this up with Andy and Bing. What were the long term effects of the DME reflash? What about the idle dip Andy?

It won't fix those issues mate, as far as I'm aware it basically fixes some of the cold starting issues of jerkiness and the like, that's what I remember the notes on the update specifying anyway. Idle dip is a separate issue. I wouldn't bother personally unless you experience those issues, its nice having the most up to date software but not for the cost if you have to pay for it. Other 'fixes' are most likely due to the DME's adaptations being reset when the update is done. As the car is re-learning its values and adaptations, its likely to feel nippier initially but it will just re-learn the issues you had previous over time unless they've been fixed. An easier method would be to install INPA and reset your DME values from there and see what happens.

Just realised, I didn't answer the long term part of your question, I still have a slight idle dip, nothing to write home about, and the car feels very sprightly at the moment. I've done a fair bit of general maintenance with cleaning intake parts, refurb VANOS that kind of stuff, which has obviously had a positive effect. Basically, I'm not really worried about chasing the supposed 'problem' anymore. The car goes like stink and doesn't exhibit any real ill effects. I regularly stick INPA/DIS on it to make sure all is good, no error codes etc. for my own piece of mind really and it's all good so I'm just enjoying the car now, like it should be
(The main reason I use INPA/DIS on it is I'm a bit of geek with car diagnostics to be honest and I like seeing all the various readings doing their thing! )