[ecitizen]

I flashed my 2018 M2 a few days ago with bm3 stage 1 tune and thought I would share a few thoughts for those considering it. First off, it was straightforward to do the initial flash, although I did get a fuel system error and online recoding didn't work until I changed my wifi to a node closer to the car. I assume you need a strong wifi signal to avoid any errors. Once I did that, worked like a charm.

I have a fabspeed sport cat as the only other mod (which is fantastic and a must IMO) but otherwise stock. Power was only incremental, more of a subtle increase but definitely felt it driving with the paddle shifters and particularly in sport+. Most of the power gains are in the low to mid range so still doesn't solve some of the feeling of maxing out at the top end. However, I'm going to install a Wagner EVO 2 Comp IC with AA charge pipes and move to stage 2 which I suspect will feel perfect for a daily.

Burbles: Significant increase in sport+ but not backfires so I really like it. Stage 1 comes set to "OEM" burble. I did notice that selecting DSC (traction) the burbles mostly went away which is fine so it doesn't burble much in comfort when I don't want it and it's aggressive but not crazy in sport and sport+ mostly on downshifts. I like it! I tried it with burbles set to "OTS" and it was too much for my liking and burbled in all modes.

ASD: Coded ASD off just to try and it was fine but didn't love it. Sounded a bit hollow to me like driving a Subaru or something, not bad, but turned it back on and found that I prefer ASD on.

Cold start: I coded cold start off and this is a BIG win for me. My wife and daughter (room right above garage) much appreciate it as I'm sure do my neighbors.

Cable: Small annoyance having to reach down and find the ODB port so I ordered a short cable extension from amazon that I'll just leave plugged in and it will be easier to plug in my enet cable. Considered wiring to my center console but don't want have to take it out and put it back in every time I go to the dealer and flash back to stock.

Warranty concern: I went back and forth on whether I wanted to do a flash tune because I was concerned about voiding my warranty. The more I thought about it, I realized that I didn't buy an M2 to drive it like a 228, but rather to enjoy the fun with tweaking and pushing it. As a guy who likes cars why would I not just enjoy it now rather than wait a few years because of some outside chance that something goes wrong. Anyway, that was my logic and once I did it, it woke up the car a bit more and I actually enjoy being able to tweak it--sort of an enjoyable hobby outlet. So at this point I don't really care about the warranty risk.

All in all, hats off to PTF for an excellent product that doesn't break the bank. I'll add my thoughts on stage 2 once I get the IC installed next week. I think this is a worthwhile mod, along with a DP and FMIC/CP upgrade, to make this car even more fun than it already is. And the bonus beyond driving it is being able to tinker with it.