[///Monika]

Guys, buttoned everything up today and verified all the wiring was correctly routed and plugged in. Connected the battery and we could hear a loud clicking noise coming from the engine (both doors were opened). We loaded the MHD map for the HPFP (Dorch) and the car does indeed start. Car is acting very odd. Every time the door is opened the engine clicks loudly (car is off). Windows aren't rolling down/up either. Lots of errors on iDrive and the car started to throw a message about being too hot so we immediately shut down the engine.

DME codes (MHD) are : 135808 - Valvetronic servomotor position sensors, electrical: Malfunction.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///Monika

Guys, buttoned everything up today and verified all the wiring was correctly routed and plugged in. Connected the battery and we could hear a loud clicking noise coming from the engine (both doors were opened). We loaded the MHD map for the HPFP (Dorch) and the car does indeed start. Car is acting very odd. Every time the door is opened the engine clicks loudly (car is off). Windows aren't rolling down/up either. Lots of errors on iDrive and the car started to throw a message about being too hot so we immediately shut down the engine.

DME codes (MHD) are : 135808 - Valvetronic servomotor position sensors, electrical: Malfunction.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

The clicking noise while the car is off is indicative of valvetronic acutator and or eccentric shaft failure.

Does it sound like this: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=23028907

If it does then your valvetronic motor and or eccentric shaft is faulty and needs to be replaced. I am hoping this is not the case for you guys because it is quite an expensive job, even for a diy since the parts are really expensive.


Do you have ISTA? If you do run a diagnostics scan, then maybe try to reset DME adaptations. No idea why just doing the HPFP could have caused it.

[///Monika]

Yes, that's exactly the sound it makes (thank you for finding this). Occurs when the doors are unlocked, trunk is opened etc. I do apologize for using HPFP in the title, issue was pretty fresh (hence help) and appears completely unrelated. So this 'valvetronic' problem occurred the minute we hooked up the battery. Unbelievable. All the posts I read last night (searching for 135808) indicated higher mileage N55's were susceptible due to wear. We're just shy of 2k miles.

So yes, expensive (as always) and honestly a ridiculous issue to have. I take it no one really knows why this happens so soon ?? Bad design ? Faulty part ? We don't have ISTA (was in the plans but were an Apple shop here) but we did reset adaptations using MHD. No difference whatsoever. I can say the future with this car is uncertain at this point. I know the plan this morning is to remove the fuel system changes and reload the stock map. If the car can be driven to the dealer that would be preferred but if it still runs like it is now, it'll have to be towed.

I'll update this thread later today.

Originally Posted by F87source

The clicking noise while the car is off is indicative of valvetronic acutator and or eccentric shaft failure.

Does it sound like this: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=23028907

If it does then your valvetronic motor and or eccentric shaft is faulty and needs to be replaced. I am hoping this is not the case for you guys because it is quite an expensive job, even for a diy since the parts are really expensive.


Do you have ISTA? If you do run a diagnostics scan, then maybe try to reset DME adaptations. No idea why just doing the HPFP could have caused it.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///Monika

Yes, that's exactly the sound it makes (thank you for finding this). Occurs when the doors are unlocked, trunk is opened etc. I do apologize for using HPFP in the title, issue was pretty fresh (hence help) and appears completely unrelated. So this 'valvetronic' problem occurred the minute we hooked up the battery. Unbelievable. All the posts I read last night (searching for 135808) indicated higher mileage N55's were susceptible due to wear. We're just shy of 2k miles.

So yes, expensive (as always) and honestly a ridiculous issue to have. I take it no one really knows why this happens so soon ?? Bad design ? Faulty part ? We don't have ISTA (was in the plans but were an Apple shop here) but we did reset adaptations using MHD. No difference whatsoever. I can say the future with this car is uncertain at this point. I know the plan this morning is to remove the fuel system changes and reload the stock map. If the car can be driven to the dealer that would be preferred but if it still runs like it is now, it'll have to be towed.

I'll update this thread later today.

No problem, I try my best to help. But oh man that is not a good sound to have. Is it consistent or intermittent?

I used to have this sound the day I brought the car home from the dealership and it only happened a handful of times before it stopped completely and bmw's new ISTEP could have helped, and I have a hypothesis behind it.

- The car would actuate the valvetronic system only if the car was off and has been sitting for a certain period of time to "prime" the valvetronic system for action. This would be triggered by a key press or when the comfort access was used.

- The noise would occur because there was no lubrication when the car was off causing binding on the eccentric shaft, which also cause stress on the actuator.

- Since the issue was so intermittent for me and could have been fully resolved by an ISTEP update from BMW (since it has stopped for almost 2 years now), I think bmw could have disabled the actuation of the valvetronic motor in the new updates fully preventing this noise from occuring when the car is off and there is no oil flow. Or my car just got better over time, maybe any roughness on the eccentric shaft got smoothed out with use. Again I can only speculate.


Ok with that ramble out of the way here are my suggestions for you:

1) If the issues are constant and not intermittent like mine was, then you have some serious troubles with your valvetronic system, especially if the issues persist when the engine is started. If it is that bad I do not recommend driving the car.

2) If you only have apple computers, then download boot camp and get a windows license. Then get ISTA, it is an amazing tool to have if you own a bmw and there are lots of diagnostics for this issue.

3) If you bring the car back to the dealership it better be 100% stock or else you can be in huge trouble.

4) Yes this is a common issue on higher mileages N55 and S55's, but there are reported issues at lower mileage cars. This is indeed unfortunate you are having it at 2k miles, and I believe this is common enough that bmw will cover you. I also wouldn't let it turn you away from this platform.


Question: Do you let the car fully warm up to 90ºC oil temps before driving it hard and did you follow the break in protocols?

Also try disconnecting the battery for awhile then reconnecting it.

[///Monika]

The sound occurs for around 2-3 seconds when the door or trunk is opened. Sounds like a plastic gear grinding really loud. I read through your post a couple of times and what your saying makes sense (hypothesis) given the fact that the car was on jack stands (front) for almost 3 weeks before the battery was reconnected.

Last night he went out and removed everything down to the HPFP and put it all back, he just wanted to be sure that it wasn't something he had missed. Reconnected the battery and GRIND ! A sad night .. I woke up this morning and he was outside removing all the aftermarket parts. I know him, he'll work on this until the car is back to stock (battery is disconnected through this process). Sigh ! It's discouraging and we do hope that the dealer focuses on replacing whatever failed per the diag code. As for ISTA, this makes sense and we talked about it as we both have BMW's. I guess it all depends on how the dealership handles this. I'm trying to stay optimistic for the both of us...

Answer: Yes, temps are monitored using the performance steering wheel. Car is rarely driven hard as it's mostly just short drives in town. Every once in a while it's taken on the highway to stretch it's legs. All break in protocols were followed. Even after break-in service was performed the car is rarely driven.

I wish I could hit that appreciate button 100x over.. Thanks for your help and I'll keep updating this thread. Like I said above, not much else going on. Just putting everything carefully back to stock. Comes off faster than it went in ...

Take care and again, thank you !

Originally Posted by F87source

No problem, I try my best to help. But oh man that is not a good sound to have. Is it consistent or intermittent?

I used to have this sound the day I brought the car home from the dealership and it only happened a handful of times before it stopped completely and bmw's new ISTEP could have helped, and I have a hypothesis behind it.

- The car would actuate the valvetronic system only if the car was off and has been sitting for a certain period of time to "prime" the valvetronic system for action. This would be triggered by a key press or when the comfort access was used.

- The noise would occur because there was no lubrication when the car was off causing binding on the eccentric shaft, which also cause stress on the actuator.

- Since the issue was so intermittent for me and could have been fully resolved by an ISTEP update from BMW (since it has stopped for almost 2 years now), I think bmw could have disabled the actuation of the valvetronic motor in the new updates fully preventing this noise from occuring when the car is off and there is no oil flow. Or my car just got better over time, maybe any roughness on the eccentric shaft got smoothed out with use. Again I can only speculate.


Ok with that ramble out of the way here are my suggestions for you:

1) If the issues are constant and not intermittent like mine was, then you have some serious troubles with your valvetronic system, especially if the issues persist when the engine is started. If it is that bad I do not recommend driving the car.

2) If you only have apple computers, then download boot camp and get a windows license. Then get ISTA, it is an amazing tool to have if you own a bmw and there are lots of diagnostics for this issue.

3) If you bring the car back to the dealership it better be 100% stock or else you can be in huge trouble.

4) Yes this is a common issue on higher mileages N55 and S55's, but there are reported issues at lower mileage cars. This is indeed unfortunate you are having it at 2k miles, and I believe this is common enough that bmw will cover you. I also wouldn't let it turn you away from this platform.


Question: Do you let the car fully warm up to 90ºC oil temps before driving it hard and did you follow the break in protocols?

Also try disconnecting the battery for awhile then reconnecting it.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///Monika

The sound occurs for around 2-3 seconds when the door or trunk is opened. Sounds like a plastic gear grinding really loud. I read through your post a couple of times and what your saying makes sense (hypothesis) given the fact that the car was on jack stands (front) for almost 3 weeks before the battery was reconnected.

Last night he went out and removed everything down to the HPFP and put it all back, he just wanted to be sure that it wasn't something he had missed. Reconnected the battery and GRIND ! A sad night .. I woke up this morning and he was outside removing all the aftermarket parts. I know him, he'll work on this until the car is back to stock (battery is disconnected through this process). Sigh ! It's discouraging and we do hope that the dealer focuses on replacing whatever failed per the diag code. As for ISTA, this makes sense and we talked about it as we both have BMW's. I guess it all depends on how the dealership handles this. I'm trying to stay optimistic for the both of us...

Answer: Yes, temps are monitored using the performance steering wheel. Car is rarely driven hard as it's mostly just short drives in town. Every once in a while it's taken on the highway to stretch it's legs. All break in protocols were followed. Even after break-in service was performed the car is rarely driven.

I wish I could hit that appreciate button 100x over.. Thanks for your help and I'll keep updating this thread. Like I said above, not much else going on. Just putting everything carefully back to stock. Comes off faster than it went in ...

Take care and again, thank you !

No problem, I'm here to help!

Yes the clicking used to happen to me as well everytime I opened a door or clicked the key, but it was so intermittent and happened less than 10 times before it ended completely, so I never pursued it any further since I can't trust the dealership to reassemble the motor to the way bmw would've had it. But since your issue is constantly happening and repeatable I suggest you bring it to the dealership for repairs.

ALSO IMPORTANT TIP: Please quickly record a video of your car doing this before it disappears. What I suggest doing is have your hood open and cause the clicking noise, then film it and also film your vin number under the hood so you have proof your car is doing this. Then incase the issues stop you have proof. A few forum members have gotten warranty this way even though their issues were intermittent.

Secondly do not delete any codes moving forward, let them accumulate on the car so the dealer has proof.



I hope you guys get it fixed.





Last few suggestions: Get supporting mods before you push for more power just as an insurance, and use top cylinder lube with ethanol fuels over E50 (I would personally use it over anything above E10,I think I mentioned this before)

[///Monika]

Hard to put it in (less) words but I think we share the same thoughts regarding dealerships. I'm still reading everything I can about the valvetronic system (motor, eccentric shaft). I'd like to understand if any 'possible' damage can occur starting OR running the vehicle for any period of time.

Moving on ...

I will definitely record a video once everything is returned to it's previous. I'm curious if the sound is the same as you were experiencing (i'll host it so others can hear as well). Regardless, great suggestion. I wouldn't call it lucky but if the car somehow heals itself, this is great insurance to have.

We still need to load the stock map back. I remember storing this on the phone prior to flashing the s2 map. So we'll do that, give it a quick start - verify the trouble code is still present and call it a day. As for supporting mods, yes - good advice and hopefully we can get (back) there once this unfortunate event is past us.

Take care and again, thank you so much...

Originally Posted by F87source

No problem, I'm here to help!

Yes the clicking used to happen to me as well everytime I opened a door or clicked the key, but it was so intermittent and happened less than 10 times before it ended completely, so I never pursued it any further since I can't trust the dealership to reassemble the motor to the way bmw would've had it. But since your issue is constantly happening and repeatable I suggest you bring it to the dealership for repairs.

ALSO IMPORTANT TIP: Please quickly record a video of your car doing this before it disappears. What I suggest doing is have your hood open and cause the clicking noise, then film it and also film your vin number under the hood so you have proof your car is doing this. Then incase the issues stop you have proof. A few forum members have gotten warranty this way even though their issues were intermittent.

Secondly do not delete any codes moving forward, let them accumulate on the car so the dealer has proof.



I hope you guys get it fixed.





Last few suggestions: Get supporting mods before you push for more power just as an insurance, and use top cylinder lube with ethanol fuels over E50 (I would personally use it over anything above E10,I think I mentioned this before)

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///Monika

Hard to put it in (less) words but I think we share the same thoughts regarding dealerships. I'm still reading everything I can about the valvetronic system (motor, eccentric shaft). I'd like to understand if any 'possible' damage can occur starting OR running the vehicle for any period of time.

Moving on ...

I will definitely record a video once everything is returned to it's previous. I'm curious if the sound is the same as you were experiencing (i'll host it so others can hear as well). Regardless, great suggestion. I wouldn't call it lucky but if the car somehow heals itself, this is great insurance to have.

We still need to load the stock map back. I remember storing this on the phone prior to flashing the s2 map. So we'll do that, give it a quick start - verify the trouble code is still present and call it a day. As for supporting mods, yes - good advice and hopefully we can get (back) there once this unfortunate event is past us.

Take care and again, thank you so much...

No problem, I try to help. Yeah I don't trust dealerships, especially since alot of the techs there are straight from a tech school and have really low experience. I've seen alot of them cut corners and not even care about torque specs, which is why I am worried about letting them access my motor. Plus the guy who took my front bumper off to check the headlights couldn't even orientate the bumper properly....


No you should be fine, the car would trigger a limp mode and disable any valvetronic actuation from lifting the valves anymore than what is required by the cams if it detected an error. So you shouldn't have experienced anything terrible like pistons contacting the valves.

My sound was quite quiet compared to every other post regarding the valvetronic issue, and it occured the day that I brought the car home.

A few things make me feel like my car is fine:
1) It occured during day 1 with 11 km on the car. This makes me think that maybe the valvetronic system on my car needed to break in a bit (if that is even a thing since everything should have been machined perfect from the factory on the eccentric shaft) then the sound stopped. Because the first year I bought my car I only got to drive it for 1,500 km before winter, and the second year I put another 2,000 km on it. Then it stopped completely after that and I haven't heard it during the 3rd year and moving onto the 4th year. So hopefully this issue is gone for good and it was just due to the parts breaking in, and it took longer since I didn't drive it too much.



2) It was extremely intermittent with multiple months in between a tick, and it has only done it under 10 times total before stopping completely, which is another reason why it could've been breaking in. I could never intentionally cause the clicking no matter how hard I tried.


3) It was extremely quiet compared to all the videos online even with the hood open.


4) Issue never occured when the motor was on and I never got a code or CEL, which means the part was still 100% functional in my case.




I wouldn't call it "healing" itself, I would call it the parts breaking in. BUT if the issue was initially very consistent you may have a real problem. Since you have told me that you had it consistent and got a CEL, it would lead me to believe your problem is severe.


Make sure you back up that stock tune onto a usb drive and keep it safe, as with all ecu backups from things like coding.


I wish you guys well, and hope it gets fixed.

[///Monika]

Just now sitting down to respond (long day). Had to chuckle at 'not healing, breaking in'. So we're about 90% back to stock. Just need to pull out the LPFP and flash back to stock (removes MHD apparently). I'll add that the BMW experience has been very low for us. Damage, damage and more damage every time it enters or leaves a dealership. Ever feel like you just need to buy all the necessary tools and fix it yourself.

And then ...

Once we have video, it's going here first for comments. Hopefully we'll get a few seconds of the car trying to run (it sounds like it's hunting idle). We'll see. I need to read up more on MHD and where exactly it stored the stock map when we ran the backup. Once we find it we'll offload it to a USB and the cloud (as always, great advice).

Well, I just wanted to read your post before I crash and thank you again for taking time to respond. It's very much appreciated. Off to bed guys, goodnight and stay safe out there.

Originally Posted by F87source

No problem, I try to help. Yeah I don't trust dealerships, especially since alot of the techs there are straight from a tech school and have really low experience. I've seen alot of them cut corners and not even care about torque specs, which is why I am worried about letting them access my motor. Plus the guy who took my front bumper off to check the headlights couldn't even orientate the bumper properly....


No you should be fine, the car would trigger a limp mode and disable any valvetronic actuation from lifting the valves anymore than what is required by the cams if it detected an error. So you shouldn't have experienced anything terrible like pistons contacting the valves.

My sound was quite quiet compared to every other post regarding the valvetronic issue, and it occured the day that I brought the car home.

A few things make me feel like my car is fine:
1) It occured during day 1 with 11 km on the car. This makes me think that maybe the valvetronic system on my car needed to break in a bit (if that is even a thing since everything should have been machined perfect from the factory on the eccentric shaft) then the sound stopped. Because the first year I bought my car I only got to drive it for 1,500 km before winter, and the second year I put another 2,000 km on it. Then it stopped completely after that and I haven't heard it during the 3rd year and moving onto the 4th year. So hopefully this issue is gone for good and it was just due to the parts breaking in, and it took longer since I didn't drive it too much.



2) It was extremely intermittent with multiple months in between a tick, and it has only done it under 10 times total before stopping completely, which is another reason why it could've been breaking in. I could never intentionally cause the clicking no matter how hard I tried.


3) It was extremely quiet compared to all the videos online even with the hood open.


4) Issue never occured when the motor was on and I never got a code or CEL, which means the part was still 100% functional in my case.




I wouldn't call it "healing" itself, I would call it the parts breaking in. BUT if the issue was initially very consistent you may have a real problem. Since you have told me that you had it consistent and got a CEL, it would lead me to believe your problem is severe.


Make sure you back up that stock tune onto a usb drive and keep it safe, as with all ecu backups from things like coding.


I wish you guys well, and hope it gets fixed.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///Monika

Just now sitting down to respond (long day). Had to chuckle at 'not healing, breaking in'. So we're about 90% back to stock. Just need to pull out the LPFP and flash back to stock (removes MHD apparently). I'll add that the BMW experience has been very low for us. Damage, damage and more damage every time it enters or leaves a dealership. Ever feel like you just need to buy all the necessary tools and fix it yourself.

And then ...

Once we have video, it's going here first for comments. Hopefully we'll get a few seconds of the car trying to run (it sounds like it's hunting idle). We'll see. I need to read up more on MHD and where exactly it stored the stock map when we ran the backup. Once we find it we'll offload it to a USB and the cloud (as always, great advice).

Well, I just wanted to read your post before I crash and thank you again for taking time to respond. It's very much appreciated. Off to bed guys, goodnight and stay safe out there.

Haha I feel you, that's why I always buy bmw specialty tools when I find a good deal.

It should be in the MHD folder on android, make sure you do not corrupt anything.

Quick question, do you have a cold air intake? Because most cold air intakes can cause weird idling issues. The only one I have seen so far not do that is the CTS turbo one, which has a specially designed maf housing.

Oh and another thing to mention, I remember you had a walboro 525 LPFP upgrade. Make sure you get an upgraded EKP (BPM4 it's made by a company in Canada called Torqbyte and EOS speed helped) if you plan to run that pump long term or else you will be stranded when the factory EKP fails.

[///Monika]

Thanks for the location, I believe I found it (.bin) and stored it off for safe keeping. My doubts come with the title of the file stored (VIN_updated.bin) which coincides with the time we purchased MHD.

On to your questions. No intake, all stock as everything indicated there's really nothing to be gained otherwise unless you want some jewelry under the hood. Yes on the Walbro 525 and it's being removed and the stock part re-installed tomorrow. Funny you mention the EOS unit, we had that installed and it's since been removed.

I've been tasked with finding ISTA, I think he wants to see if he can load it to his company laptop (Win10). Any reliable places to source this ? I know we have cables and I believe the MHD also has an ethernet port as well.

Originally Posted by F87source

Haha I feel you, that's why I always buy bmw specialty tools when I find a good deal.

It should be in the MHD folder on android, make sure you do not corrupt anything.

Quick question, do you have a cold air intake? Because most cold air intakes can cause weird idling issues. The only one I have seen so far not do that is the CTS turbo one, which has a specially designed maf housing.

Oh and another thing to mention, I remember you had a walboro 525 LPFP upgrade. Make sure you get an upgraded EKP (BPM4 it's made by a company in Canada called Torqbyte and EOS speed helped) if you plan to run that pump long term or else you will be stranded when the factory EKP fails.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///Monika

Thanks for the location, I believe I found it (.bin) and stored it off for safe keeping. My doubts come with the title of the file stored (VIN_updated.bin) which coincides with the time we purchased MHD.

On to your questions. No intake, all stock as everything indicated there's really nothing to be gained otherwise unless you want some jewelry under the hood. Yes on the Walbro 525 and it's being removed and the stock part re-installed tomorrow. Funny you mention the EOS unit, we had that installed and it's since been removed.

I've been tasked with finding ISTA, I think he wants to see if he can load it to his company laptop (Win10). Any reliable places to source this ? I know we have cables and I believe the MHD also has an ethernet port as well.

Ok good to know you found the files, and yes intakes imo are just noise makers.

If you have the mhd Fseries WiFi adapter you can use an Ethernet cable with it for ista and it works fine. You just can't do software updates without the ICOM module. Just remember ISTA is a really bulky program so there are minimum specs required: 4gb ram, core i5 of atleast 2.2 GHz, and 250gb hdd. I recommend something with SSD otherwise it'll lag like crazy. Plus I recommend installing it on your own computer so you'll always have it.


Contact shawnsheridan for ISTA, real standup guy for the bmw community.

[///Monika]

Yes, we have the MHD WiFi w/enet. I ordered an inexpensive i7 this morning (w/SSD) from Amazon, found shawn and I now have everything ready for the install. Should be up and running on Friday. Many thanks on the recommendations, it's helping us move forward quicker and will be useful in diagnosing further.

Originally Posted by F87source

Ok good to know you found the files, and yes intakes imo are just noise makers.

If you have the mhd Fseries WiFi adapter you can use an Ethernet cable with it for ista and it works fine. You just can't do software updates without the ICOM module. Just remember ISTA is a really bulky program so there are minimum specs required: 4gb ram, core i5 of atleast 2.2 GHz, and 250gb hdd. I recommend something with SSD otherwise it'll lag like crazy. Plus I recommend installing it on your own computer so you'll always have it.


Contact shawnsheridan for ISTA, real standup guy for the bmw community.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///Monika

Yes, we have the MHD WiFi w/enet. I ordered an inexpensive i7 this morning (w/SSD) from Amazon, found shawn and I now have everything ready for the install. Should be up and running on Friday. Many thanks on the recommendations, it's helping us move forward quicker and will be useful in diagnosing further.

Ok that's good you won't need to buy any additional cables then.

Make sure that i7 has a base clock of 2.2 GHz or else ista will not run smoothly, or run at all. Because ista does do a spec check of your system.

Glad to hear you're getting everything together for self diagnostics, but since you already have everything apart shouldn't you just take it to the dealership to let them diagnose the issues and then repair any problems? I mentioned ista as a nice tool to have for self use, but the end goal in your case if the sound is really bad, is to have it fixed.

[///Monika]

We've both been swamped with work and the car still has 2 more parts to remove, vid to take and photos (in case they cause damage). I figured, WTH, just get it out of the way so when we really do need it, we'll have it. It's like a tool you need to run to the store and buy. Who doesn't hate that in times of need. Anyway, I believe it's 4.6GHz so we're good. I was worried about the need for a USB (3.1) enet adapter but the forum say it's all good (don't worry me now).

Originally Posted by F87source

Ok that's good you won't need to buy any additional cables then.

Make sure that i7 has a base clock of 2.2 GHz or else ista will not run smoothly, or run at all. Because ista does do a spec check of your system.

Glad to hear you're getting everything together for self diagnostics, but since you already have everything apart shouldn't you just take it to the dealership to let them diagnose the issues and then repair any problems? I mentioned ista as a nice tool to have for self use, but the end goal in your case if the sound is really bad, is to have it fixed.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///Monika

We've both been swamped with work and the car still has 2 more parts to remove, vid to take and photos (in case they cause damage). I figured, WTH, just get it out of the way so when we really do need it, we'll have it. It's like a tool you need to run to the store and buy. Who doesn't hate that in times of need. Anyway, I believe it's 4.6GHz so we're good. I was worried about the need for a USB (3.1) enet adapter but the forum say it's all good (don't worry me now).

Yeah it is always nice to have the tools needed at your disposal.

4.6 GHZ is more than sufficient, as long as it isn't sub 2.2 ghz and 4.6 GHZ with turbo boost - which I highly doubt since that would be an insane jump in clock speeds.

Yeah you will be fine with a usb to Ethernet adapter.


This is a laptop right (A pc is fine too but a bit more risky)? I personally prefer a laptop over a pc for diagnostics or coding because there is no chance a power failure will cause the car to be corrupted, since laptops have an internal battery.

Also make sure the car is on a power supply (if you are flashing all the ecu's like an ISTEP update there is a huge thread on the proper power supply to use which is $1,000, if you are just coding or flashing with MHD that should be fast enough you don't really need a power supply or you can just a cheaper one since it won't be needed too long but is a nice bit of assurance) when flashing the tune, coding, or diagnostics (less of a concern for this) so you limit the chance of corrupting the ecu if battery voltage drops below the range required by the ecu.

[Nezil]

I thought it was far easier to update the I-Step using E-Sys. That's what I did a few months back, and though it was nerve racking, it did complete fine. I would still recommend getting ISTA+ because of the diagnostic things you can do, as well as the full service manual included.

I used a server power supply that I use for charging RC car batteries turned up from 12 to 13.8 volts, capable of 47A continuously. It will pop off if too much current is drawn, falling back to battery, but at least letting me know there is an issue. It got pretty warm during the update, but didn't turn off so 47A is probably enough. If you do need more, you could run two of these in parallel for 94A... you'd better have some serious gauge wires connected if you're using that much power though!

The other option you have is to connect jump leads between the M2 and another car with the engine running. This would have been my back up plan if the server PSU had failed.

You can pick up a server PSU for ~$20 on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...600PB&_sacat=0.

The details of how to get it working outside of a server can be found here: http://www.tjinguytech.com/my-projects/HP47A. I've found it very useful over the years, even for non RC related things.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by Nezil

I thought it was far easier to update the I-Step using E-Sys. That's what I did a few months back, and though it was nerve racking, it did complete fine. I would still recommend getting ISTA+ because of the diagnostic things you can do, as well as the full service manual included.

I used a server power supply that I use for charging RC car batteries turned up from 12 to 13.8 volts, capable of 47A continuously. It will pop off if too much current is drawn, falling back to battery, but at least letting me know there is an issue. It got pretty warm during the update, but didn't turn off so 47A is probably enough. If you do need more, you could run two of these in parallel for 94A... you'd better have some serious gauge wires connected if you're using that much power though!

The other option you have is to connect jump leads between the M2 and another car with the engine running. This would have been my back up plan if the server PSU had failed.

You can pick up a server PSU for ~$20 on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...600PB&_sacat=0.

The details of how to get it working outside of a server can be found here: http://www.tjinguytech.com/my-projects/HP47A. I've found it very useful over the years, even for non RC related things.

Pretty cool idea! I was going to get the schumacher unit since it has a dedicated ecu flashing mode on it, that keeps the voltage regulated and steady. I might look into a server power supply now since it is literally 20 times cheaper.

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by F87source

Pretty cool idea! I was going to get the schumacher unit since it has a dedicated ecu flashing mode on it, that keeps the voltage regulated and steady. I might look into a server power supply now since it is literally 20 times cheaper.

Having done it once, I'd certainly trust it to do it again. I am tempted to buy another one though to make a 94 Amp beast!

I now have a Battery Tender (the same as the BMW recommended one, but not branded BMW) connected because I'm barely using the car with Covid-19. What I've noticed having this connected is that Auto-Start-Stop works again... it stops working when you don't drive the car much, presumably because the battery is too low. I wouldn't use the Battery Tender for flashing though... it's 6A max and you need more than that for flashing.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by Nezil

Having done it once, I'd certainly trust it to do it again. I am tempted to buy another one though to make a 94 Amp beast!

I now have a Battery Tender (the same as the BMW recommended one, but not branded BMW) connected because I'm barely using the car with Covid-19. What I've noticed having this connected is that Auto-Start-Stop works again... it stops working when you don't drive the car much, presumably because the battery is too low. I wouldn't use the Battery Tender for flashing though... it's 6A max and you need more than that for flashing.

Yeah I'm looking into it atm.

The battery tender for flashing via MHD is just more a "safety net" it really isn't needed at all because mhd can flash the car in a few mins from a locked state, map changes with the new wifi adapter is under a minute. If you're flashing a new ISTEP then definitely a power supply is required.


Does your power supply have voltage regulation? Do you know how many amps the car pulls from it while flashing?

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by F87source

Does your power supply have voltage regulation?

Yes, I set it to 13.8v and left it at that.

Do you know how many amps the car pulls from it while flashing?

No. I only know that it’s less that the 47 A max that’s the PSU can deliver because it didn’t shut off. An I-Step flash takes about 90 minutes if I remember correctly. By the end of it, the cables and croc clips from the PSU were warm. The PSU cooling fan is load based, and it was running at full speed most of the time.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by Nezil

Yes, I set it to 13.8v and left it at that.

No. I only know that it’s less that the 47 A max that’s the PSU can deliver because it didn’t shut off. An I-Step flash takes about 90 minutes if I remember correctly. By the end of it, the cables and croc clips from the PSU were warm. The PSU cooling fan is load based, and it was running at full speed most of the time.

Interesting, I will look into maybe making a unit in parallel (because I'm crazy OCD) and trying it out. Thanks for saving me alot of money lol.