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318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:42 pm
by sidewaysjack
I GOT A CHIP CALLED A PROFORMANCE CHIP, MY CAR RUNS FINE WITH THE STANDARD CHIP IN, BUT WHEN I PUT THE UPRATED CHIP IN THE CAR WONT IDLE PROPERLY AND SPLUTTERS UNTILL IT REACHES AROUND 4500 RMP, THEN ITS OK, THIS IS THE SECOND CHIP IV HAD OFF THE COMPANY AND THIS ONE HAD BEEN ROAD TESTED IN AMERICA, THE BLOKE SAID THE MAF ON THE CAR COULD BE OUT OF SYNC, AND SHOWING UP WHEN I PUT THE CHIP IN, WHAT IS MAF!? HE ALSO SAID A SENSOR COULD BE THE PROBLEM, ALTHOUGH THE CAR RUNS FINE WITH THE STOCK CHIP. ANY IDEAS BOYS?
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:44 pm
by maxfield
CAPITALS ARE HARD TO FUCKING READ!
Your car doesn't have a MAF, it has an AFM.
Do you let your car idle for 30mins before you drive it after fitting the chip.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:02 pm
by HairyScreech
try doing what maxfield said ^^ the ecu needs to relearn the idle air controll values.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:14 pm
by E30Mark
Chipping the 318iS is an art!
I went through a few before i found one that worked. From the description you made, the chip is not suitable for your car, if it's the correct chip to start with then it will run 'slightly' lumpy to start, but will drive fine after a few minutes.
Sorry bud, but throw it in the bin, or ask for your money back.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:39 pm
by M5pilot
The only thing the ECU needs to learn is the idle. If it's behaving like it is with the chip now then there is something very wrong.
Evo-S
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:52 pm
by marlon
Plug 'n Play chips mean the ECU has to relearn everything.
From fueling across the rev range and fueling across the engine temperature range.
Dealt a lot with these with my Alfa fetish.
In my experience it can take a couple of hundred miles of mixed driving for the ECU to relearn everything. Then you find out that you fitted the chip in the summer when it's warm and dry, then come the winter when the air is colder and damper, the car behaves badly for a few miles while it relearns settings the sensors are giving it.
Saying all that, something strikes me as a bit strange...
Firstly, fuel in the USA is rubbish compared to most of Europe. Also the engines in the good old US of A generally are detuned to use the crap fuel. I believe that their "Super" is a lower octane rating than standard unleaded in the UK. that's why they have massive V8's pushing relatively little power.
So, if the chip ran fine on a USA car, it was probably developed for USA engines which, as we know, are different from European engine tunings.
I don't think the chip will work on your car I'm afraid

Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:02 pm
by sidewaysjack
ok cheers for the replies boys, this chip is made fore europe cars and europe fuel, he specificly said that. and that i have to use 95 octane or above. secondly the car wont actually idle for twenty mins, thats how bad it is, but then it will tick over fine for a minute, then start going lumpy again, jst dont understand, when i fitted it i let the car idle for a few minutes, it started going lumpy so i took it round the block, the car was barly drivable, had no power at all untill i got in the high revs. the ecu numbers have also been matched with this chip and it says bmw m42 on it. iv had an email from the bloke saying that my engine has to be 100% for the chip to work, he says my afm might not be letting enough air in, or iv got a crack in one of my hoses, which is possible, i just thought this would show up on the standard chip aswell?
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:11 pm
by Kos
thats bollocks, us cars run on pony 91 octane fuel anyway, we're luck to get 98 even though it comes at a cost.
if your car was fine before, then the "chip" is at fault, one thing as a rule is NO 2 ENGINES ARE THE SAME !
send i back, and get one from a UK based company, i used chipped UK, and tested on of his viper 2 chips before i re mapped it, now my car had a coiple of mods, and made 149bhp on the origianl chip, 154bhp on viper 2 the 162bhp when it was re mapped. IS are hard work to get a chip that work for them, that why i'd pay the money for a re map.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 7:58 pm
by kidsinister
I can vouch for the Chipped UK ones as well; worked perfectly straight away, and not too expensive.
Sounds like you've been had.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 6:35 pm
by marlon
I agree with the 2 posts above.
They can't properly test a chip on a USA spec engine for the Euro market.
It would be impossible to tune chip for use with 95 or 98 Ron petrol on an engine running 91.
These chips won't give the power gains specified on every engine because, as said above, all engines are different. A chip from a UK/Euro company will tune it on engines running better fuel. How could they test it in the USA using rubbish fuel and then say it'll work using 95-98 Ron ??
The timing and ignition advance will be different for the types of fuel used, That's why a chip specifically designed for Sup Unleaded (97 Ron or above) should not be run with normal 95Ron. One reason is the engine will probably "pink" under load and when hot.
My thinking is the company have guessed what the timing etc might be for better fuel, but haven't got it right.
You say this is the 2nd chip they've sent you. They will all have the same mapping so none of them will work.
I've spent too much time on Rolling Roads and playing with chips, remaps, induction kits etc on many different cars (not all my own) and seen some really bad tuning chips on some cars which actually make the engine perform worse than standard. Same for Cone filters, but that's a story for another day ;)
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 6:53 pm
by DIBLY
Went through this one myself, got a chip from guy in birmingham (chippeduk) seems he used a map from a usa chip and sadly they do not work over here in uk, in fact he swore blind that I had damaged the chip! after a few months he changed his advert on ebay. saying dont confuse these chips with american spec ones which dont work over here (after he changed his mapping. Twat)
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 6:56 pm
by DIBLY
Yes it was Chipped uk before he knew what he was doing.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 6:59 pm
by Kos
DIBLY wrote:Went through this one myself, got a chip from guy in birmingham (*plug*) seems he used a map from a usa chip and sadly they do not work over here in uk, in fact he swore blind that I had damaged the chip! after a few months he changed his advert on ebay. saying dont confuse these chips with american spec ones which dont work over here (after he changed his mapping. ****)
some IS chips were wrong with chipped uk, but when he him self fitted on to my IS it worked fine, he then re mapped it and it was better.
there are many variation in ecu codes, this is where the cock ups happen. same applies to m20 ecu's
as rule US spec chips will not work at all over here in the UK
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 9:42 pm
by tomstickland
As far as I was aware, the 318iS M42 has no lambda sensing. Hence it is an open loop control. ie: just a look up table for ignition and injector pulse length based on air flow flap position, engine temp, air temp and rpm.
Hence I cannot see that it has anything to learn except the idle control.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:19 pm
by marlon
That means, at minimum, the ECU still has to learn the fueling for across the rev range, not just at idle. And as you say, it also has to learn the fueling according to engine temp AND according to air temp.
The sensors all act together as you know, so the ECU has to learn fueling for all sorts of combinations of air flow, engine temp and air temp.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:41 pm
by tomstickland
There's nothing for it to learn though. It can't monitor the exhaust gas, so it just looks up the values in the tables based on the input data.
ie: the ECU already contains the values for the normal operating ranges and tolerances.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:55 pm
by marlon
OK I understand what you mean now, but then it wouldn't have to "learn" anything for idle either, as it would just take the readings from the sensors and apply the fueling according to the map on the chip.
Admittedly I've only dealt with cars with lambda probes and what you say makes sense to me, now that I've thought about it. But as I say, why would it need to learn anything at all then ??
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:56 pm
by tomstickland
Well, it might be able to learn something about the the idle control valve versus required idle speed.
ie: it could monitor rpm versus icv voltage and learn where the value should be.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:04 pm
by marlon
Hmmm..OK.
I don't think it would be able to learn information like that, as it could then compensate for a dodgy ICV. If that was the case you'd never have to replace a broken ICV, just reset the ECU and it'd dial out the fault if you see what I mean.
But as I say, I'm no expert on the e30 or it's engines. My limited knowledge of tuning is based around 8 years of playing with Alfas, all of which have had lambda probes.
So basically I have no right to say you are wrong, which I'm not, just I don't quite understand why it'd have to learn anything. But there you go.
I'll say to anyone reading this that you are more likely to know what's what on these cars than me.
Peace out

Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:11 pm
by stratos
sidewaysjack wrote:I GOT A CHIP CALLED A PROFORMANCE CHIP, MY CAR RUNS FINE WITH THE STANDARD CHIP IN, BUT WHEN I PUT THE UPRATED CHIP IN THE CAR WONT IDLE PROPERLY AND SPLUTTERS UNTILL IT REACHES AROUND 4500 RMP, THEN ITS OK, THIS IS THE SECOND CHIP IV HAD OFF THE COMPANY AND THIS ONE HAD BEEN ROAD TESTED IN AMERICA, THE BLOKE SAID THE MAF ON THE CAR COULD BE OUT OF SYNC, AND SHOWING UP WHEN I PUT THE CHIP IN, WHAT IS MAF!? HE ALSO SAID A SENSOR COULD BE THE PROBLEM, ALTHOUGH THE CAR RUNS FINE WITH THE STOCK CHIP. ANY IDEAS BOYS?
Name the company please.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:20 pm
by tomstickland
I don't quite understand why it'd have to learn anything. But there you go.
I don't think it'll learn anything either.
Regarding the OP, clearly not a performance enhancing chip.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:35 pm
by sidewaysjack
company was proformance chips usa, iv sent it back now and im getting a refund, whats the chip to go for out of chipped uk and viper 2? and i no im getting off the subject but what are the benifits of removing the 'heater plate' from the throttle body on an m42?
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:41 pm
by agreen
for the last comment search a thread call getting the mst from my m42 all the answers and more on that a1 thread fella
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 8:33 pm
by Bob_S
personally i think you have been sent an m44 chip which use maf and its missing data so doesnt know how to idle
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:46 pm
by DrBen
I also bought one of these brand chips, but for my m20 325i. It seems ok for me. I let the car idle for 20 mins and took it for a half hour drive. there seems to be not a lot of difference. I've only had it in the car for a few days now though.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:58 pm
by EndaW
If you give chippeduk a call, tell him of your problem and im sure he will send you a chip on trial or return, you would have nothing to lose.
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:58 pm
by EndaW
c h i p p e d u k
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:02 pm
by Kos
chipped uk, give them a call
Re: 318 IS, PERFORMANCE CHIP, NOT RIGHT!
Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 10:01 am
by Demlotcrew
I also liked the viper2 chip it worked well on my 'IS' when i had it.
But look out for a BBR chip made for 'IS' its pretty radical for road use!
