[MystroX5]

I have 30 years of high performance cars from Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, etc.... I chipped many of cars years back like RS4, 911 Turbo, etc... It was a gray area with warrantee and ECU modding. Today it’s not and I won’t do it while under factory warranty.

The cold cut and dry answer is “Yes”. If you have a problem, BMW will use any direct tampering with the ECU to void your warranty. Aftermarket companies like to dance around this simple truth but it’s the same with Porsche, Audi or any manufacture. I know it’s a buzz kill and many that have the modding sickness wanna argue this but in the end the manufacture is the judge and jury to implement a warranty claim. A beater Asian import is one thing but a $65k+ car is another tax bracket of risk.

BMW are wise to what’s going on and you’re not going to fool them so the risk to reward has to make sense to the owner before flashing their car. We used to say that whatever your manufacturing defect had to be proven it was the cause of the aftermarket tampering but that’s not the case. Even minor coding is splitting hairs but you are at the mercy of the manufacture with any warranty claim and they will deny your claim.


It happened at my dealership with a flashed M4. My dealership didn’t even have to make the call because a secondary service team from BMW came to the dealership to investigate the vehicle with their own diagnostic equipment. They did their diagnostics and void the warranty on the spot.