Opinions Needed - ECU Tuning business

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oligokoko

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Dear Forummers,Recently I have been thinking of doing BMW troubleshooting + ECU tuning (mainly for BMW only for the time being) as a freelance. To me, troubleshooting is common on BMW vehicles and so im not afraid of jobs coming in. my concern is more to ECU tuning part, which I want to make this as my core business. Below are some of my concern :-1) Do you guys feel that this is a good business?2) What about the market/potential customers?3) What brand should I go for?4) Any additional ideas for me to include in my services?5) With whom should I consult further regarding this matter?Please fell free to comment and let it flow. any comment from u guys are very valuable to methank you:top:
 
Planning to start it in Damansara (home sweet home), then if everything went well, this will spread like a virus, into KL, Klang Valley, States of West Malaysia, East Malaysia and hopefully goin international too.

Im posting this in the BCM forum because most of my potential customer (if im really doing this) will come from this forum and also I want to gain more knowledge and experience from you guys since most of u have ur own business or even more exposure in the business world.im still 23 and knowing there are still alot to learn, and thts y i asked this in this informative forum. even though Ive used to manage a few small businesses and handled a few projects, but i fell that this can go BIG. and to go BIG, u must learn from the BIG guys.

please do leave ur comments regarding this matter here. thx
 
Do you have a good source of remapping program and some knowledge about tuning?

Not all UDM are mod the same way. Some have this and some have that. How do you determine which map to use to get the optimum performance.

If you can overcome the technical part, I think you can cari makan.
 
how much do u know about ECU tuning? ECU tuning is both science and black art...
 
jarance;500694 said:
Do you have a good source of remapping program and some knowledge about tuning?

Not all UDM are mod the same way. Some have this and some have that. How do you determine which map to use to get the optimum performance.

If you can overcome the technical part, I think you can cari makan.

yup. have contacted some established brands in ecu tuning and also wholesalers of ecu tuning products about it. 2 of the most leading brands are almost d same in term of their supported cars and devices. only the price differs abit n also their package. some include this and some include that. but both cannot do proton cars, too bad.

they also will provide trainings upon purchasing their product. 1 of the leading brands offered me to a detailed training on d product itself n also tuning secrets, including eliminating "flat-spots", checksum calculations and programming methods.

regarding the map, yes they do provide basics to tuning, where they will provide the most basic map and u can either use that (with already minimum of improvement) or improve on that map.

they also can help to do the tuning by just sending the file to them, but i consider this a cheap way for anybody to call themselves "tuner". just read, send, receive and reflash ecu doesnt make u an ecu tuner. just my 2 cents

fabianyee;500698 said:
how much do u know about ECU tuning? ECU tuning is both science and black art...

ive used to study tuning on Haltech ECU during my coll times, but unluckyly just by the software coz the coll does not have a dyno machine yet. but by using the simulator provided by the UK guys (there r 2 kwai los from a tuning company in d UK come 2 my coll to do a small competition on ecu tuning while promoting their products), I have the most fuel saving map and also the best map for fuel efficient + performance. the most powerfull map went to d other guy (although i think 80% of the map is done by me, but i scrape d idea off because its too dangerous for the engine, but the map is the most powerfull of all. sigh).

but this is just theorytical. on real life basis, alot more aspects need to be considered to. and as I say before, the tuning company are willing to provide me training upon purchasing their product. so Im expecting to gain as much as possible from the kwai los. plus I have already started to read atricles, asked some tuners, join tuner forums to gain more about ecu tuning. but still that is just on the science part. the black art part will come when I know how to tune the maps :proud:
 
its to good to have ppl wanting to break the ecu tuning market for bmws. but as the other sifu's mentioned, bmw tuning is not like running a standalones or piggy backs. as you work using the oem ecu, a lot of factors come into play. but if there's a will, there's a way. :D

just fyi, in the US currently you can count the established tuners on less than 2 hands, if not 1. i'm just using this as an example, as their market is matured in mods n tuning. my definition of an established tuner is kicking out tunes on reliability, power n fc. i hope i chose i right one :eek:
 
ramsing;500820 said:
its to good to have ppl wanting to break the ecu tuning market for bmws. but as the other sifu's mentioned, bmw tuning is not like running a standalones or piggy backs. as you work using the oem ecu, a lot of factors come into play. but if there's a will, there's a way. :D

just fyi, in the US currently you can count the established tuners on less than 2 hands, if not 1. i'm just using this as an example, as their market is matured in mods n tuning. my definition of an established tuner is kicking out tunes on reliability, power n fc. i hope i chose i right one :eek:

true2. agreed with ur point there. in this(automotive) world, everybody is a student of automotive technology. everybody is racing against each other and to be fair, nobody is perfect in this area. although there is the best in the business, but still they r not 100% perfect.

to me, I see this as an opportunity to bring Malaysia's automotive sector into d next level. we'll see in the long run whether Malaysian can compete with the kwai los or not. the japs have done it, chinamen is doing it now, and I see no reason y Malaysian cannot do it. this is the time where "Malaysia Boleh" slogan kicks in. anyway, thank you ramsing for sharing ur tots. it gives me inspiration to keep on going. thx man :top:
 
oligokoko;500938 said:
true2. agreed with ur point there. in this(automotive) world, everybody is a student of automotive technology. everybody is racing against each other and to be fair, nobody is perfect in this area. although there is the best in the business, but still they r not 100% perfect.

to me, I see this as an opportunity to bring Malaysia's automotive sector into d next level. we'll see in the long run whether Malaysian can compete with the kwai los or not. the japs have done it, chinamen is doing it now, and I see no reason y Malaysian cannot do it. this is the time where "Malaysia Boleh" slogan kicks in. anyway, thank you ramsing for sharing ur tots. it gives me inspiration to keep on going. thx man :top:

of coz i support you man. if you can do it, we will all benefit and support you. so now u need to buy a E34, E36, E39, E46, E60 and E90 to experiment on the cars. :D
 
Something for you to read up in your spare time :D

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=662328&highlight=dme+programming

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=698928

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=667729&highlight=dme+programming

DME programming is very hard indeed like bro ramsing mentioned there's very few that can tune the stock DME directly. In the US there are two peeps that i am aware of that can truly tune the DME, Jim Conforti and Nick G from technique tuning. Nick G develop a turbo kit (stg 2) that develops 380whp (~460hp) on stock DME :love:
But if you can do it you will definitely corner the market bro :D :top:
 
ramsing;501056 said:
of coz i support you man. if you can do it, we will all benefit and support you. so now u need to buy a E34, E36, E39, E46, E60 and E90 to experiment on the cars. :D

thank you ramsing for your support :top:

B33mEr;501072 said:
Something for you to read up in your spare time :D

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=662328&highlight=dme+programming

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=698928

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=667729&highlight=dme+programming

DME programming is very hard indeed like bro ramsing mentioned there's very few that can tune the stock DME directly. In the US there are two peeps that i am aware of that can truly tune the DME, Jim Conforti and Nick G from technique tuning. Nick G develop a turbo kit (stg 2) that develops 380whp (~460hp) on stock DME :love:
But if you can do it you will definitely corner the market bro :D :top:

thank you b33mEr for the links. i'll read the whole thing and maybe will contact both guys too n ask 4 their opinions. thank you for your support 2 b33mEr :top:
 
Do your R&D first.
Buy the tool and software from reputable tuner
Experiment on your car. Do dyno first before and after.
Experiment with various maps and compare the difference.
Make your own map.
Post your result and experience.
 
U can explore any buz so long u got passion n interested wit it...

But as most of ppls said here ...BMW tuning is different....U must hv knowledge to avoid d damage like d EWS,ECU etc ....

Good Luck.....
 
B33mEr;501072 said:
Something for you to read up in your spare time :D

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=662328&highlight=dme+programming

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=698928

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=667729&highlight=dme+programming

DME programming is very hard indeed like bro ramsing mentioned there's very few that can tune the stock DME directly. In the US there are two peeps that i am aware of that can truly tune the DME, Jim Conforti and Nick G from technique tuning. Nick G develop a turbo kit (stg 2) that develops 380whp (~460hp) on stock DME :love:
But if you can do it you will definitely corner the market bro :D :top:

got a few more tuners also, OBD1 n OBD2. 380whp?? hehe...try 600whp for daily drive. :love:
 
ramsing;501342 said:
got a few more tuners also, OBD1 n OBD2. 380whp?? hehe...try 600whp for daily drive. :love:

i am waiting for that 600hp monsta to be on the road soon
 
ramsing;501342 said:
got a few more tuners also, OBD1 n OBD2. 380whp?? hehe...try 600whp for daily drive. :love:

Hehehe ... forgot to mention that the 380whp (and 500NM) turbo kit is on a stock M54B30 :love: tune on the stock DME via OBD2 without using any sorts of piggyback device. The MS43 DME is very complicated hence the reason why very few peeps can tune the stock DME for BMW's (turbo apps anyways).

More info on the following link:
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=716825&highlight=ms43

p/s: Can provide more info on the 600whp beast you're mentioning about hehehe :D :love:
 
wow! 380whp is alot! provided turbo kit is installed laa. but sadly im not doing it. but I know sumbody who is askin me to JV on bringing MEGASQUIRT to Malaysia. its a good idea coz Megasquirt is 1 of the most reputable brand in fuel delivery management sys, but I think I'll do this 1 1st. slow2 lah. we'll c what happen k.

nway, thx 4 ur info + discussion. but actually, Im targeting to buy either Dimsport or Alientech product to work with. both r big names in d tuning world, both r capable of doing Asian car's ECU (have checked on the list of ECU) n both r frm Italy. Do u guys know more about this brands? which 1 is better? any comments?
 
Its good to know that someone is into tuning BMWs. I did my studies at EFI University a while back with Ben Strader and Chris Cline (Efituningtech). I have even spoke to Nick G when I was in California regarding OBD tuning. Anyway, if you are really into EFI tech, forget bout Megasquirt. We have work with several BMWs and Minis with standalone units, it is not something you research on net and troubleshoot. What do you know about the getting the settings right to even start up a BMW or a Mini? Remember this, BMWs and Minis are not Jap cars which are supplied with a base map and settings. Are you confidence enough to wire up a standalone unit on a BMW? I am not letting you down but if you have the patience and determination to study all these I think you will be quite succesful in what you wanna do.

Dont just depend on reflashes. They are crap. It is just quick pocket. In order to start up something you have in mind you need heaps of experience and brains on troubleshooting and parts needed to coincide to tune the best map. Anyway, hope the best for you.

Cheers!
 
Another thing, how many BMW owners here are willing install a standalone unit even you are able to prove your work? Who are your target market? Can they afford ECU units such as Bosch, Pectel or even a Haltech? It is not easy to get ppl to invest in these units as far as I know, not for a very long time.
 
I agree with GT35R_BMW...there's a lot of planning and thinking to do before venturing into this business, especially when you are dealing with BMW cars...

oligokoko, maybe you could spend some time learning and experimenting with tuning as a part time hobby/ job first...when you've got hold of it...then you can pursue it into a full time business...if you're good, i think a lot of people here will support you.

good luck!
 
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