[serrated]

On VF's webpage, they have a dropdown box for stage 1 or stage 2 for their hex tune for the m235i. (about $100 price difference IIRC)

Nowhere on the page does it mention stage 2 needing any additional hardware, so I went ahead and bought it with the 20% off black friday discount code.

My question though: will it work with a completely stock n55? I do eventually plan on getting a catted downpipe, but not until spring most likely. I just want to make sure I'm good to go. If not, I should be able to contact them and switch to stage 1 tune before they ship it hopefully.

Thanks!

[aschmitty6]

Stage 2 is usually for cars that are FBO. Might work, but you wont build as much boost w/ that cat backing up the air flow.

[serrated]

I only ask because for the 335i page it shows needing a downpipe for stage 2 but it doesn't for the m235i page

[aschmitty6]

M235 s2 needs FMIC and DP brotha

[serrated]

For hex tune? Why wouldn't they mention that then on their page. That's annoying. I guess I could order a DP and wait to flash it

[Taskmaster]

What is the difference between the m235i tune and the 335i? Their page has a huge difference in power.

[bryan_G01]

any stage 2 implies you have the hard parts.

Downpipe, a drop in filter or intake, a high flow muffler, intercooler, etc...

Why would you choose some random tuner instead of the ones we know have done the R&d and spent time ie: bm3, mhd, or a straight enzo flash?



There page also has DCT as transmission option for a m235. It never came with a dct. Their webpage is wonky.

[serrated]

Originally Posted by bryan_f22

any stage 2 implies you have the hard parts.

Downpipe, a drop in filter or intake, a high flow muffler, intercooler, etc...

Why would you choose some random tuner instead of the ones we know have done the R&d and spent time ie: bm3, mhd, or a straight enzo flash?



There page also has DCT as transmission option for a m235. It never came with a dct. Their webpage is wonky.

it seemed easiest. this is my daily and I'm not wanting to go full turbo/ic/i/e like i did with my m2. i just want to plug a cable in and click go and the hex tune seemed like the closest to that and I know flash tunes are always better than the cheap piggy back tunes (or at least they feel smoother to my butt dyno)

[ghost.M]

Originally Posted by serrated

it seemed easiest. this is my daily and I'm not wanting to go full turbo/ic/i/e like i did with my m2. i just want to plug a cable in and click go and the hex tune seemed like the closest to that and I know flash tunes are always better than the cheap piggy back tunes (or at least they feel smoother to my butt dyno)

This is exactly why I wanted the Hex Stg 2 and I blew the OEM charge pipe in 1 week. To be fair, I took it to an evening track event and womped on it pretty hard. The power with this tune is awesome but but you NEED to at least get charge pipes with the Hex Stg 2. You won't get full power without a DP, and you'll probably want an FMIC and DV upgrade if you plan on tracking it. I've done all of the above since I plan to run HPDE's next summer.

FWIW, my car got a CEL a few weeks after installing the tune. I have emails, phone calls, and a support ticket with VF going back over 2 months now with no resolution or evidence of them taking my claim seriously. They just blamed the CEL on the shop who installed my supporting mods and then ghosted me. Poor support for an $800 flash tune is very frustrating to say the least.

I'd go with BM3 or MHD if I could do it all over again, and will probably do so soon if VF can't fix an issue with their own tune. Like Bryan said - it's probably better to go with something proven.

[serrated]

Originally Posted by ghost.M

This is exactly why I wanted the Hex Stg 2 and I blew the OEM charge pipe in 1 week. To be fair, I took it to an evening track event and womped on it pretty hard. The power with this tune is awesome but but you NEED to at least get charge pipes with the Hex Stg 2. You won't get full power without a DP, and you'll probably want an FMIC and DV upgrade if you plan on tracking it. I've done all of the above since I plan to run HPDE's next summer.

FWIW, my car got a CEL a few weeks after installing the tune. I have emails, phone calls, and a support ticket with VF going back over 2 months now with no resolution or evidence of them taking my claim seriously. They just blamed the CEL on the shop who installed my supporting mods and then ghosted me. Poor support for an $800 flash tune is very frustrating to say the least.

I'd go with BM3 or MHD if I could do it all over again, and will probably do so soon if VF can't fix an issue with their own tune. Like Bryan said - it's probably better to go with something proven.

dang, sorry to hear that. I just ordered the GFB DV+. I'm still shopping for a dp

[VF-Engineering]

Originally Posted by ghost.M

This is exactly why I wanted the Hex Stg 2 and I blew the OEM charge pipe in 1 week. To be fair, I took it to an evening track event and womped on it pretty hard. The power with this tune is awesome but but you NEED to at least get charge pipes with the Hex Stg 2...

FWIW, my car got a CEL a few weeks after installing the tune. I have emails, phone calls, and a support ticket with VF going back over 2 months now with no resolution or evidence of them taking my claim seriously. They just blamed the CEL on the shop who installed my supporting mods and then ghosted me. Poor support for an $800 flash tune is very frustrating to say the least.

Just wanted to add some clarification to this post, and check in
to see if you have had the opportunity to solve this issue yet.


The fault code which was shared with our technical department
points almost definitively towards an air leak. You did receive
constant and immediate replies to your e-mails until the point
of sharing that your workshop "checked over all of their work"
and stated that they did not find any leaks.

At that point our technical department ran an audit for your
specific file version and have found no other cases of CEL's or
drivability issues, meaning it still does not appear to be S/W
related.


The N55 is a common application for us across many different
model variants, and our recommendation at this point is to run
a proper smoke test to check for air leaks that are not going to
be identified by a simple visual check.

We do understand that trouble shooting these sorts of issues
can be frustrating, but there are ways to work through it, and
I'm certain we can help you find a resolution. A simple visual
check, and even flashing the car back to stock to show that the
CEL does not come back in "stock mode", is not always sufficient
as the air leak could be such that it is only apparent under the
increased boost levels when the tuned file is used.

[ghost.M]

Originally Posted by VF-Engineering

[COLOR="Blue"]

Just wanted to add some clarification to this post, and check in
to see if you have had the opportunity to solve this issue yet.


The fault code which was shared with our technical department
points almost definitively towards an air leak. You did receive
constant and immediate replies to your e-mails until the point
of sharing that your workshop "checked over all of their work"
and stated that they did not find any leaks.

At that point our technical department ran an audit for your
specific file version and have found no other cases of CEL's or
drivability issues, meaning it still does not appear to be S/W
related.


The N55 is a common application for us across many different
model variants, and our recommendation at this point is to run
a proper smoke test to check for air leaks that are not going to
be identified by a simple visual check.

We do understand that trouble shooting these sorts of issues
can be frustrating, but there are ways to work through it, and
I'm certain we can help you find a resolution. A simple visual
check, and even flashing the car back to stock to show that the
CEL does not come back in "stock mode", is not always sufficient
as the air leak could be such that it is only apparent under the
increased boost levels when the tuned file is used.

[/COLOR]

Honestly there were literally weeks between responses, Abe even apologized during one of my many calls stating the support ticket had gotten "lost in the shuffle"...

I spoke with my shop again over the holiday and they confirmed a proper boost leak test was done in addition to the visual/manual check they did when the DV was installed.

This evening I purchased the the MHD Monitor module and logged three 3rd gear pulls on the stock flash - the car holds 5-8 PSI steadily peaking around 5000 RPM and tapering off to the red line which seems very normal (see logs attached). My VF Hex Flasher version is "expired" and the most up to date version isn't available on the website but I'd be happy to log with the tune back on when newest flasher version is made available.

***There actually was a boost leak, I got it fixed as the car runs really strong now. Just make sure to reuse oem charge pipe o-rings if you upgrade them.***

[VF-Engineering]

Originally Posted by ghost.M

To close the loop, I data logged with MHD and sent the logs to a local tuner who immediately diagnosed the issue causing the boost leak.

I got it fixed last weekend and it runs much stronger than before!

So no issues with the VF tune, just make sure to reuse the OEM O-rings or get some aftermarket ones when installing upgraded charge pipes.

Thanks for posting the update!

All's well that ends well, is how the saying goes.

...and our apologies again for the lapse in communication
during the trouble shooting process.



Our technical department's first assessment is typically spot
on, and I'm glad you had a local workshop that was able to
properly diagnose the root cause.

[ghost.M]

Originally Posted by VF-Engineering

[COLOR="Blue"]

Thanks for posting the update!

All's well that ends well, is how the saying goes.

...and our apologies again for the lapse in communication
during the trouble shooting process.



Our technical department's first assessment is typically spot
on, and I'm glad you had a local workshop that was able to
properly diagnose the root cause.

[/COLOR]

Agreed - thanks guys! Very happy with the tune now that it's running right.