Looking to buy a 2017+ 230i. Should I stay under 2020 model if I want to tune it?

soilent · 04-22-2024, 10:03 PM

Title says it all. I've been researching which year to get because I've read some things about the ECU being locked on 2020+ cars. Is this still true? If so, which years should I look at getting? Could I still get a 2020 car as long as it was made before a certain date?

I'd like to do a stage 1 or 2 tune on it eventually. Nothing crazy though. Just charge pipe, down pipe and E85. Ideally I'd like to get a 10 to 1 weight to horse power ratio, so somewhere around 300 or more to the wheels.

Also, apologies if this has been asked too much, but what are the best tunes to get? I'm only aware of BM3 at the moment, but I'm certainly open to other options. Thanks!

freakystyly · 04-23-2024, 08:41 AM

That's right, somewhere around 2020 they switched DMEs and those require a 3rd party unlocker by a company overseas.

If the car is running the latest software, or had been to the dealer for updates, it will be locked. The software lock of older DMEs can be unlocked by a "bench unlock". There may be other software solutions to unlock the older style DMEs these days. I'm not up to date on all the details as my '17 was unlocked.

BM3 and MHD are two of the common off the shelf tuners around here but there's more out there. Dinan, MG flasher, alpine, celtic... there's dozens.

04-22-2024, 10:03 PM	#1
soilent Registered 2 Rep 4 Posts Drives: 2022 BRZ Premium Join Date: Mar 2022 Location: New Orleans iTrader: (0)	Looking to buy a 2017+ 230i. Should I stay under 2020 model if I want to tune it? Title says it all. I've been researching which year to get because I've read some things about the ECU being locked on 2020+ cars. Is this still true? If so, which years should I look at getting? Could I still get a 2020 car as long as it was made before a certain date? I'd like to do a stage 1 or 2 tune on it eventually. Nothing crazy though. Just charge pipe, down pipe and E85. Ideally I'd like to get a 10 to 1 weight to horse power ratio, so somewhere around 300 or more to the wheels. Also, apologies if this has been asked too much, but what are the best tunes to get? I'm only aware of BM3 at the moment, but I'm certainly open to other options. Thanks!
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04-23-2024, 08:41 AM	#2
freakystyly Lieutenant Colonel 3031 Rep 1,811 Posts Drives: F22 B58 6MT Join Date: May 2016 Location: Ontario iTrader: (0)	That's right, somewhere around 2020 they switched DMEs and those require a 3rd party unlocker by a company overseas. If the car is running the latest software, or had been to the dealer for updates, it will be locked. The software lock of older DMEs can be unlocked by a "bench unlock". There may be other software solutions to unlock the older style DMEs these days. I'm not up to date on all the details as my '17 was unlocked. BM3 and MHD are two of the common off the shelf tuners around here but there's more out there. Dinan, MG flasher, alpine, celtic... there's dozens.
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