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      04-21-2022, 02:55 AM   #107
Joe-BMW33
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Drives: '18 M550i|'21 X5|'03 540i
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Boston

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2013 VW Tiguan  [0.00]
2015 Infiniti QX60  [0.00]
2021 BMW X5  [0.00]
2003 BMW 540i  [0.00]
2018 BMW M550  [10.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by NGT2 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by PPMKING View Post
Piggybacks are marketed as untraceable, but we're being naive or in denial if we think BMW doesn't data log the car operations regardless if stock parameters were changed or not. It comes across like BMW is not aware of piggybacks lol. Would they pull data logs? As mentioned earlier, probably depends on what the repair is. Injectors, sensors, fuel pump? Probably be fixed no issues. Engine replacement? I would think so. Why would anyone logically think BMW would just pay $30k without pulling data logs to determine the engine failure? Increased boost, timing - easy for BMW to point to a tune.

That being said, piggyback tunes, including Dinan are not known to cause major engine failure based on anecdotal evidence from forums.
It's absolutely in the tune manufacturers' best interests to make sure their product doesn't cause an engine failure. If that was a regular occurrence, or even something like 10-15% occurrence, it would become hard for them to market. Especially with competition.

But of course the premise of this whole conversation is "yeah but what if I'm THE guy it happens to?"

Anecdotally, I had the chance to buy a 2016 535i before I settled on my '18 540. I probably would have bought it, but I found out through talking to the tech that it'd just had its engine replaced upon trade in. It only had around 50k miles on it. They said it had a rod knocking and no one figured it out until after the trade occurred. I have no clue if that car was ever tuned, but it shows that catastrophes do happen, even on relatively low mileage engines.

I think I'd take the risk on the engine failure, after my warranty is up. I have lots of time, but I'm thinking I could pocket the cash I'd spend on the warranty and use that for the run of the mill repair that ultimately comes up. No reason to pay for extended CPO if you're getting an ECU tune.
I'll be buying another two years of CPO at the end of this year. There's a lot that could go wrong with these cars that isn't related to internal engine related combustion failures.

That said, another school of thought I've seen (not mine) is if you bought a third party extended warranty, you don't have to bring it to the dealer for repair as they aren't footing the bill. You could bring it to your trusted Indy who has zero motivation to report your tune to the third party company. Now would the third party company send out a forensic specialist for $30k claim, you would think so.
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2018 M550ix|Carbon Black|Dinan Modifications|2003 540i|Jet Black|M-Sport|2021 X5 Mineral White
Prior BMW's: 1987 325e|1993 740i|1998 740il|2001 530i|2002 745li|2007 750li|2006 750li|2001 530i|2012 535xi|
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