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Any options for self tuning our cars?

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Old Apr 24, 2012 | 07:39 PM
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b16
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2009 C63, 2000 ML 430, 1994 Del Sol Vtec
Any options for self tuning our cars?

I come from Japanese cars (Mitsubishi Evo and Honda's) where I had tools to do my own flashing of my ECU and tuning. I have free access to a dyno and would like to tune the car myself. Does anyone offer anything? Do the tuning vendors ever license out their software to end users?
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Old Apr 24, 2012 | 08:21 PM
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Nope. You need hardware to gain access to the ecu and the guys who manufacture this hardware won't sell to anyone without a business license.

Also tuning the ME97 is more difficult than say hondata.
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Old Apr 24, 2012 | 08:31 PM
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So the ME97 is an option or no? I'll do some searching. I'm a software engineer professionally and like to tune my cars as a hobby. I'm willing to learn now matter how complex.
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Old Apr 24, 2012 | 08:41 PM
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From what I can gather the ME97 allows you to upload, log, and assume download a map from the ECU? Now the trick would be editing the files. There needs to be some software out there that these shops are using. Wish there was more demand, maybe openecu.org could then jump in and help. :P
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Old Apr 24, 2012 | 08:59 PM
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Originally Posted by b16
So the ME97 is an option or no? I'll do some searching. I'm a software engineer professionally and like to tune my cars as a hobby. I'm willing to learn now matter how complex.
Good luck disassembling the software haha.

It took years for the PGMFI community to fully disassemble, understand, and comment the Honda OBD0 ECU code. The codebase in our ECUs is probably 1000x more complex. Sure it can be done, but do you want to spend 5, maybe 10 years doing it full time?

You can probably disassemble enough to find out where all the maps sit, but it took years for companies doing it full time to find everything that needed to be modified, torque limits throwing CEL's and limp mode being the biggest hurdle that I can remember.

Now, if you had the source code, that'd be a totally different story. I highly doubt Mercedes or Bosch would give that up.

BTW - I've been in the software industry, and doing reverse engineering for 20 years.
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Old Apr 25, 2012 | 12:03 AM
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I'm well aware of the history of Hondata.

I wasn't really suggesting I reverse engineer the code, I don't have that kind of time. I was suggesting tools must be there because people are tuning these cars. Who's software ate they using?
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Old Apr 25, 2012 | 12:07 AM
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Originally Posted by b16
From what I can gather the ME97 allows you to upload, log, and assume download a map from the ECU? Now the trick would be editing the files. There needs to be some software out there that these shops are using. Wish there was more demand, maybe openecu.org could then jump in and help. :P
There is software the edit it. I believe it comes with the hardware.

http://www.de-crypt.com/products/tun.../bdm_index.asp

Something like that.
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