Can i drive my car without my DME in?

g80_nick · 08-04-2021, 07:10 AM

Hey guys so i have to send my DME in to RKTunes for a tune i bought and i was wondering if i'm able to drive my car without the DME in since it's my daily?

Let me know!

Thank you!

KennyFSU · 08-04-2021, 07:27 AM

No.

aerobod · 08-04-2021, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by white_f22

Hey guys so i have to send my DME in to RKTunes for a tune i bought and i was wondering if i'm able to drive my car without the DME in since it's my daily?

Let me know!

Thank you!

Flintstone-style it would work, do the "hatch" mod (hole in floor with removable plywood to allow feet to drop down). Works best with 3 passengers for that extra 'go'

celsdogg · 08-04-2021, 08:51 PM

your dme controls the motor. won't even crank without it.

KennyFSU · 08-05-2021, 07:15 AM

Reminds me of the meme where a girl was asking about a car for sale with a broken transmission and she asks if it would be bad if she drove it without the transmission...

TwoTonic · 08-05-2021, 11:33 AM

OP, you might consider doing some reading or taking some classes on how cars work. Especially before you spend a lot of time and money modding yours. New cars are complicated and changing stuff without really understanding what’s going on is going to bite you at some point. Good luck!

pikcachu · 08-05-2021, 06:46 PM

you can as long as you daily-push it

XutvJet · 08-06-2021, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoTonic

OP, you might consider doing some reading or taking some classes on how cars work. Especially before you spend a lot of time and money modding yours. New cars are complicated and changing stuff without really understanding what’s going on is going to bite you at some point. Good luck!

Amen. Research this forum and Google before posting.

It's astounding to me that people with little to no automotive experience/knowledge jump in head first with Stage 2 mods, ethanol, etc. on very expensive to repair turbo BMWs. I'm not saying that you need to be an expert at all, but you should do your due diligence before jumping in. The more you mod a car, the higher the potential you risk issues. If you're not a DIYer, you're in for a world of financial hurt having others troubleshoot the issues.

Efftooto · 08-12-2021, 07:30 AM

I got my M235i as a second owner; it had 11,000km on it. Drove it for 3 years while still under warranty, and studied these forums and various YouTube videos to learn about modding, performance, maintenance and so forth. Once the warranty was up, I changed out the charge pipe and went with a Stage 1 bm3 tune. Drove that around for a year before upgrading to Stage 2 (with IC and DP). I have learned an awful lot thanks to these forums and can agree 100% with the above posts about learn your car.

Chris

cooolone2 · 08-13-2021, 10:30 AM

I get a kick out of modding when the warranty is expired! You've wasted and given up a few years of good mileage and quite frankly unless you do something really stupid, you're not going to have a problem. And yes, here in the U.S. they could "flag" your ECU as being touched, but they would have to provide that whatever was put in there was a causation of the failure and therefore excluded from warranty! It's not just, hey, you had a tune, we are not fixing your AC!

So if you're going to tune, or plan to tune, just do it! Just make sure you use a reputable tune or tuner and that you keep things within safe margins! There's a golden rule to modding, goes like this...

CHEAP/FAST/RELIABLE

Ok, so... You can ONLY have 2 out of the 3, so pick wisely! Example, cheap and fast ISN'T reliable! Cheap and reliable ISN'T fast! And lastly, Fast and Reliable ISN'T Cheap!

That be the rules! You gotta pay to play! But waiting for a warranty to expire puts you right were you were worried about when you had a warranty! Ie, NO warranty! So why wait? I don't get it! Lol

Personally, and I haven't done it, but I would think a replacement ECU that hasn't been tuned would be great to have on hand. But I've been told that there's a lot of data stored in many of the modules that the dealership might be able to read. I don't know and nobody has fully expressed exactly what the data is that would be outside the main ECU. But they're almost impossible to come by anyways. Except maybe a visit to a pick & pull

Have fun!

08-04-2021, 07:10 AM	#1
g80_nick Private 21 Rep 93 Posts Drives: BMW M3 Competition Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: Scottsdale, AZ iTrader: (0)	Can i drive my car without my DME in? Hey guys so i have to send my DME in to RKTunes for a tune i bought and i was wondering if i'm able to drive my car without the DME in since it's my daily? Let me know! Thank you!
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08-04-2021, 07:27 AM	#2
KennyFSU Captain 1104 Rep 736 Posts Drives: Lexus RC F Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Florida iTrader: (0) Garage List 2016 BMW F22 M235xi [0.00] 1991 Suzuki Intrude ... [0.00]	No. __________________ Estoril Blue E36M3 Mineral Grey M235ix/12.02 @ 115 Ultra White Lexus RC F
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08-04-2021, 08:51 PM	#4
celsdogg E4 Mafia 323 Rep 412 Posts Drives: E30, E36/5, E46, F22, F30 Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: MD iTrader: (0) Garage List 1990 BMW 325i [0.00] 1998 BMW 318ti [0.00] 2003 BMW 325i [0.00] 2015 BMW 335i [0.00] 2015 BMW M235i [0.00]	your dme controls the motor. won't even crank without it. __________________ Squad - '90 E30 325i MT (225k) \| '98 E36/5 318ti MT (153k) \| '03 E46 325i MT (152k)\| '15 F22 M235i MT (60k) \| '15 F30 335i MT (80k) KIA - '91 E30 325i AT (146k) \| '02 E46 325i MT (212k) Bring back the purple M stripe
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08-05-2021, 07:15 AM	#5
KennyFSU Captain 1104 Rep 736 Posts Drives: Lexus RC F Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Florida iTrader: (0) Garage List 2016 BMW F22 M235xi [0.00] 1991 Suzuki Intrude ... [0.00]	Reminds me of the meme where a girl was asking about a car for sale with a broken transmission and she asks if it would be bad if she drove it without the transmission... __________________ Estoril Blue E36M3 Mineral Grey M235ix/12.02 @ 115 Ultra White Lexus RC F
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08-05-2021, 11:33 AM	#6
TwoTonic Enlisted Member 47 Rep 46 Posts Drives: '14 M235i Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: NorCal iTrader: (0)	OP, you might consider doing some reading or taking some classes on how cars work. Especially before you spend a lot of time and money modding yours. New cars are complicated and changing stuff without really understanding what’s going on is going to bite you at some point. Good luck!
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08-05-2021, 06:46 PM	#7
pikcachu Major General 1399 Rep 5,262 Posts Drives: M235i (F22 Red angel) Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: undisclosed iTrader: (1)	you can as long as you daily-push it
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08-12-2021, 07:30 AM	#9
Efftooto Private 44 Rep 87 Posts Drives: '16 M235i Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0)	I got my M235i as a second owner; it had 11,000km on it. Drove it for 3 years while still under warranty, and studied these forums and various YouTube videos to learn about modding, performance, maintenance and so forth. Once the warranty was up, I changed out the charge pipe and went with a Stage 1 bm3 tune. Drove that around for a year before upgrading to Stage 2 (with IC and DP). I have learned an awful lot thanks to these forums and can agree 100% with the above posts about learn your car. Chris
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08-13-2021, 10:30 AM	#10
cooolone2 Captain 625 Rep 706 Posts Drives: 20' M240iX B58, 01' 330XI E46 Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: NY, USA iTrader: (0)	I get a kick out of modding when the warranty is expired! You've wasted and given up a few years of good mileage and quite frankly unless you do something really stupid, you're not going to have a problem. And yes, here in the U.S. they could "flag" your ECU as being touched, but they would have to provide that whatever was put in there was a causation of the failure and therefore excluded from warranty! It's not just, hey, you had a tune, we are not fixing your AC! So if you're going to tune, or plan to tune, just do it! Just make sure you use a reputable tune or tuner and that you keep things within safe margins! There's a golden rule to modding, goes like this... CHEAP/FAST/RELIABLE Ok, so... You can ONLY have 2 out of the 3, so pick wisely! Example, cheap and fast ISN'T reliable! Cheap and reliable ISN'T fast! And lastly, Fast and Reliable ISN'T Cheap! That be the rules! You gotta pay to play! But waiting for a warranty to expire puts you right were you were worried about when you had a warranty! Ie, NO warranty! So why wait? I don't get it! Lol Personally, and I haven't done it, but I would think a replacement ECU that hasn't been tuned would be great to have on hand. But I've been told that there's a lot of data stored in many of the modules that the dealership might be able to read. I don't know and nobody has fully expressed exactly what the data is that would be outside the main ECU. But they're almost impossible to come by anyways. Except maybe a visit to a pick & pull Have fun!
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