Chip lifespan?

Need technical Q/A then you're in the right place

Moderator: martauto

User avatar
jcm325
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 185
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:00 pm
Location: Devon

Post Tue Jul 19, 2016 11:17 pm

Hi all, I had a chip fitted to my 325i many years ago it was a 'superchip'.....I was just wondering if these can degrade in any way? And would it be worth replacing? For info the car runs well but doesn't feel as quick as my previous tech 1 325i? Any thoughts anyone?
Cheers. ......
User avatar
Brianmoooore
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 49359
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm

Post Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:59 pm

Software can be corrupted by voltage spikes, etc., but that's very unlikely to happen with a fitted chip.
Worse performance doesn't necessarily mean there's either anything wrong with the chip or your engine. Some 'chips' achieve a good proportion of their gains by assuming the engine they are being fitted to is in far from perfect order, especially the condition of the injectors, and simply drive the worn injectors harder to compensate. If the 'chip' is fitted to an engine with injectors in good order, it will overfuel, and may well produce less power.
Beware of 'chips' in general, claiming gains of more than a couple of bhp or so, on non turbocharged petrol engines. If it were that simple to gain improvements, BMW would have done it.
User avatar
jcm325
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 185
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:00 pm
Location: Devon

Post Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:46 am

Thanks Brian, food for thought. ....like I said car runs well but just not as lively as my other 325i is there a difference between high compression and low compression maybe that's that's the difference i can feel?
I may put it on a rolling road and get a power output indication and go from there. ...