AEM standalone computer for our cars

[icosaca]

well as you all know, i live in el salvador, and here there is no place to get tuning for my upcoming mods......ive been trying to find out about a standalone engine management for bmw, but havent found much info....
any input?
thanks
jorge saca

[ADVANT123]

Try www.evosport.com .They have experience with the AEM EMS on E46 M3's.

[pei330ci]

Clear out your PM inbox dude. It's full!!!

[ritos530i]

Anyone knows who has a piggy back or standalone for a 2003 -2005 BMWs

[pei330ci]

Anyone knows who has a piggy back or standalone for a 2003 -2005 BMWs

I have a piggyback on my 2001 330Ci, but it wouldn't be any different to install on a newer MS45 car. What do you want to know?

I'll be moving to a full stand alone setup in 2007.

[icosaca]

Clear out your PM inbox dude. It's full!!!

PM box clear...........sorry guys

[icosaca]

ive tried contacting the people at evosport, but its useless.....they never answer emails...
on their website, they have aem for e36........dont see anything for e46...
jorge saca

[Oshin02]

ive tried contacting the people at evosport, but its useless.....they never answer emails...
on their website, they have aem for e36........dont see anything for e46...
jorge saca

They havent posted anything nup for E46 stand alones, But they do offer it. There is no Stand alone for a specific car. The "specific car" falls into the harness. they will either wire up a harness which wil attach to you stock one so its plug and paly, or hard wire it directly so its considered, "non reversable". Then they will upload the stock fuel maps to the AEM stand alone. I will be contacting them soon......:shhh:

-Oshin P.

[icosaca]

They havent posted anything nup for E46 stand alones, But they do offer it. There is no Stand alone for a specific car. The "specific car" falls into the harness. they will either wire up a harness which wil attach to you stock one so its plug and paly, or hard wire it directly so its considered, "non reversable". Then they will upload the stock fuel maps to the AEM stand alone. I will be contacting them soon......:shhh:

-Oshin P.

thanks for the info man. ive been trying to contact these people but havent been able to.
let me know what you do
jorge saca

[TaZaM3]

I like AEM.

[icosaca]

do you have AEM on your car taz???
will it work on our cars just like it does on subarus, etc wich you can tune right from the cabin, etc... what will happen to traction control, and all the other stuff???
thanks
jorge saca

[ritos530i]

do you have AEM on your car taz???
will it work on our cars just like it does on subarus, etc wich you can tune right from the cabin, etc... what will happen to traction control, and all the other stuff???
thanks
jorge saca


If you are going to want all the other fantsy stuff you should probably do a piggyback.

[icosaca]

its not the fancy stuff, im just talking about traction control, etc...
or is it the AEM just for motor, and all the rest stays the same????
can you explain a bit more about the piggyback...not very familiar with it...
thanks
jorge saca

[pei330ci]

Moving to a true stand-alone engine management system is a very big undertaking for an e46 street car. I think all you guys that are talking about it, or considering it need to know a few things.

TazaM3...I'm really surprised you didn't comment on this.

#1 and #2 I have a solid understanding of, #3 be warned that this is information that has been passed to me by a BMW tech. It's in BMW's interest to keep cars stock and running on the road, so I'm wary of just how accurate this info is. That said, I have heard this from a number of people.

1.) You will lose ALL of your car's stock ABS system's abilities. If you want to retain ABS, the harnesses and associated electronics can and will cost just as much as an engine management system. The up side, is that you can get a BETTER ABS system than stock...but it costs. (It ranges from "wow!" to "OMG...I need a chair" on the price scale)

2.) Bye Bye stock traction control. Most aftermarket engine management systems offer traction control options, but you will have a hard time matching the stock one in terms of safety on the street. Most aftermarket traction control setups rely on wheel speed data alone, whereas the stock traction control uses a yaw sensor as well. That said, the stock traction control system sucks on a race track. This is one area that there are huge potential gains to be made if you have a good engine management system. Motec and AEM come to mind...as well as a couple of others.

3.) There are a number of "computers" in the E46 that are linked together. There is one piece of crucial data shared by a number of these computers that keep a special light on the dash off, and that is the vehicle milage. The DME, dash display, and the light switch believe it or not all have this data stored in them. Remove one of these, and the dash will trigger a light that can not be turned off. This light is there to indicate that the odometer reading may have, or has been tampered with. When this light comes on, all vehicle warrantee is voided, and deppending on where you live, your car may be rendered not legal for sale. (Similar to a salvage title)

4.) Different after market engine management systems are able to accept different sensor types. Be aware that in some cases, you may need to purchase new engine sensors that are compatible with the new engine management system.

5.) You can still start your car with a key, but moving to a stand alone exposes you to being easily "hot wired". All of the factory security features tied to the ECU will be disabled. You might want to think about putting an "extra" switch in the car Mad Max style....:P

I'm not going to comment on tuning, because that's a subject that would need a thread of it's own.

There is one piggyback that I know works on the e46, and it's reasonably priced. The only drawback is that you have to hard wire it into your existing engine management system. It allows you to continue to use your stock system with all of it's features, and adds the ability to change fuel and spark with a laptop. There are some drawbacks to the "quality" of it's tunning ability, but if you really need this type of device, it's better than running without it.

[ritos530i]

here is a basic understanding, A piggyback is commonly used to control AFR or Timing such as the Standalone but the standalone is design to take the place of your current ecu which may or may not have all the sensors for your car. ie dvd, nav,rear camera, active steering. A piggyback can be hard wired into your harness for your specific upgrade; nitrous, turbo, supercharger, which gives your current ecu a false reading of of the output. This is done this way to keep the sel from coming on. This is just a basic way of saying and by no way technical. I am sure if you are looking for a technical explanation someone on this forum will reply.

[TaZaM3]

Moving to a true stand-alone engine management system is a very big undertaking for an e46 street car. I think all you guys that are talking about it, or considering it need to know a few things.

TazaM3...I'm really surprised you didn't comment on this.

#1 and #2 I have a solid understanding of, #3 be warned that this is information that has been passed to me by a BMW tech. It's in BMW's interest to keep cars stock and running on the road, so I'm wary of just how accurate this info is. That said, I have heard this from a number of people.

1.) You will lose ALL of your car's stock ABS system's abilities. If you want to retain ABS, the harnesses and associated electronics can and will cost just as much as an engine management system. The up side, is that you can get a BETTER ABS system than stock...but it costs. (It ranges from "wow!" to "OMG...I need a chair" on the price scale)

2.) Bye Bye stock traction control. Most aftermarket engine management systems offer traction control options, but you will have a hard time matching the stock one in terms of safety on the street. Most aftermarket traction control setups rely on wheel speed data alone, whereas the stock traction control uses a yaw sensor as well. That said, the stock traction control system sucks on a race track. This is one area that there are huge potential gains to be made if you have a good engine management system. Motec and AEM come to mind...as well as a couple of others.

3.) There are a number of "computers" in the E46 that are linked together. There is one piece of crucial data shared by a number of these computers that keep a special light on the dash off, and that is the vehicle milage. The DME, dash display, and the light switch believe it or not all have this data stored in them. Remove one of these, and the dash will trigger a light that can not be turned off. This light is there to indicate that the odometer reading may have, or has been tampered with. When this light comes on, all vehicle warrantee is voided, and deppending on where you live, your car may be rendered not legal for sale. (Similar to a salvage title)

4.) Different after market engine management systems are able to accept different sensor types. Be aware that in some cases, you may need to purchase new engine sensors that are compatible with the new engine management system.

5.) You can still start your car with a key, but moving to a stand alone exposes you to being easily "hot wired". All of the factory security features tied to the ECU will be disabled. You might want to think about putting an "extra" switch in the car Mad Max style....:P

I'm not going to comment on tuning, because that's a subject that would need a thread of it's own.

There is one piggyback that I know works on the e46, and it's reasonably priced. The only drawback is that you have to hard wire it into your existing engine management system. It allows you to continue to use your stock system with all of it's features, and adds the ability to change fuel and spark with a laptop. There are some drawbacks to the "quality" of it's tunning ability, but if you really need this type of device, it's better than running without it.

A true stand alone unit is going to be a PITA on our car's. Double Vanos would most likely need to be locked, unless ALOT of time is spent to make it right with the stand alone. It is true you CAN lose alot of the features the car came with and this should really be done on a car that doesnt see the street daily. My understanding is that stand alone units can function with ABS features very well pretty easily. Once again a stand alone is a complete ***** for our car's and it should not be taken lightly, especially on street cars.

Now for the cars that really need total control over certain things a well wired piggyback system might be good. Certain piggybacks can work wonders, its gotta be wired correctly and its up to you how many things you want to control.

For example with an extensive piggyback ex. AEM, you can wire almost everything except the dash, vanos, ABS, traction control leaving those to be still controlled by the OEM ECU. This is difficult and needs a good mechanic with experience in wiring harnesses.

[M54B25]

Try checking some info about a Race M3, that went standalone vs. DME:

http://www.marinmotorsports.com/e46m3.htm

[pei330ci]

Try checking some info about a Race M3, that went standalone vs. DME:

http://www.marinmotorsports.com/e46m3.htm

Yup...that's a race car. :) It just goes to show that there's a big jump from stock engine management to truely tunable engine management.

I forgot to add that when you go to a true stand alone setup, you usually have to get a new dash display. I'm a "bells and whistles" kind of guy, so add $3K. :D

[pei330ci]

A true stand alone unit is going to be a PITA on our car's. Double Vanos would most likely need to be locked, unless ALOT of time is spent to make it right with the stand alone. It is true you CAN lose alot of the features the car came with and this should really be done on a car that doesnt see the street daily. My understanding is that stand alone units can function with ABS features very well pretty easily. Once again a stand alone is a complete ***** for our car's and it should not be taken lightly, especially on street cars.

Now for the cars that really need total control over certain things a well wired piggyback system might be good. Certain piggybacks can work wonders, its gotta be wired correctly and its up to you how many things you want to control.

For example with an extensive piggyback ex. AEM, you can wire almost everything except the dash, vanos, ABS, traction control leaving those to be still controlled by the OEM ECU. This is difficult and needs a good mechanic with experience in wiring harnesses.

Yes, you can use the stock ABS system. It's not a problem, it just takes a custom wiring harness. Turner Motorsport sells them for $2500. There are some cheaper options initially, but you usually want to interface the ABS system to your new engine management's traction control system (eliminates duplicate sensors) and that brings the cost back towards $2500. This still doesn't give you bias adjustability though. As a result, a lot of people forgo ABS and jump to a Tilton setup. Personally, I'm still on the fence on this one...

I know for your S54, Vanos is a big deal. (Especially with a turbo) There are a few more options than Electromotive, AEM, and Motec for the S54, wander the Champ car grid and you'll find them.:) Yet another option is getting a Bosch Motorsport ECU, they range in price from 3500 Euros to 52,000 Euros. (That wasn't a typo)

After my experiences with my car, I'd recomend an experienced tech to wire in a piggyback or stand alone engine management. Yes, it can be done with the correct wiring diagrams, but mistakes are incredibly difficult to troubleshoot without a solid knowledge of the car to start with. (And yes...there will be mistakes...even by the experienced tech)

I think you have to be a very patient person to consider replacing the stock engine management system.

[ritos530i]

Only true professional racers would go this route (standalone setup) The car would have to be stripped of most of the commodidies it come with because there would be no use. ie power window switches, electric seats, power steering wheel, you name it. Any thing that draws an electrical current has to go. just my stuppid way of explainning. Any of your guys know what a mopar is?

[pei330ci]

Any of your guys know what a mopar is?

Yup I do! Smoke them all the time at the track. :D

[icosaca]

ok, so after all the reading on the valuable info of you guys, i decided it is NOT good to change the engine management system on my car.
i recently found an m3 engine to do a transplant on my car, and then just install a supercharger on that, or im sure by the time im done, one of the leading companies will be ofering a turbo KIT. instead of going through all this problem...
what do oyu think???
also, does one know what exactly i need to order from the wrecked M3????THANKS
jorge saca

[M54B25]

There might me another option, XEDE system from Vishnu...as used in the 335i. But, now it take time to see if there enough interested to have the XEDE system tested on the E46 M3 (2001-2003 & 2004-2006)

http://www.vishnutuning.com/bmw_335i.htm