Are re-maps detectable by the manufacturer, for .........

[VARSITY]

.....warranty purposes.

There seems to be some confussion over re-mapping your car.

What we would like to do is gather some opnions and mix in some facts and experiences from those of who care and would be interested in the comments.

The questions are,

Have you had a re-map detected.
Have you ever had any warranty problems after the re-map work refused due to the re-map.
Would you elect not to have the remap done because of the worry of the re-map being detected and the possibility of the warranty being void.

As the B7 is reasonably new, it would be good to hear from B5 owners with any experiences they have also had.

[W8PMC]

No, no & no.

Had over £10000 of warranty work done on my AmD/Sportec Stage III RS6 (including complete new Gearbox). The funniest part was the dealer had to ring Sportec to get instruction on how to re-connect the Intercoolers as the gearbox replace was a full engine out.

In my E60 M5 (DMS) i had an SMG replaced & again no quibble about warranty of software changes. My view is all re-maps can possibly be detected if a dealer wanted to ship the ECU back to the ECU's manufacturer, as i'm led to believe that's the only way to get a non overly aggresive map found.

Sure some maps are easier to spot than others, depending where/how the code is written.

[VARSITY]

It would be interesting to hear from the Tuners in this discussion too.

Obviously not AMD as they no longer exist, for one reason or another.

[shineydave]

surely any map could be detected by comparing the AFR, timing etc with a standard car

[DavidT]

My post in the other thread:

You must also assume that anything you post on a web forum is read by Audi UK, the tuners, the dealerships etc.

I see no point in emailing Audi. What SimonH says above is correct.

Most of the mods/warranty/forum posts debate is covered by common sense as Paul says. Do Audi have a reason to look for mods? if they have a decent one, they will find all the mods easily, they did build the car after all is said and done !

[S2tuner]

My reply from the other thread:

What Paul doesn't seem to understand is that newer Audi ECU types have and display on any diagnostic tool what is called a CVN (calibration verification number). Any dealership has access to an online database of CVNs for each ECU and software revision that supports this identification. The CVN is simply a checksum over a defined area in the code (emissions and power output relevant maps all added together and their sum is the CVN).

When you make changes to any of these maps, the CVN changes and it can be very easily checked against the original without even opening the ECU or removing it from the car.

So far, no tuner can modify any of those maps and make the CVN look stock, I guess when someone will be able to do so, then they'll also be able to make claims of invisible maps. But until then, you do have to realize that it can only take 10 seconds to spot a modified ECU from a non modified one, and that it doesn't take manufacturer's skills to do so, even the dumbest mechanic in a dealership can do it.

Mihnea

Up to anyone to think whatever they want, but just stories of undetected maps doesn't mean anything and it doesn't mean that Audi cannot detect a tuned ECU. On an RS6 the ECU doesn't support CVN and it won't display it, but on a B7 RS4 it definitely does, as it does on S3 TFSIs and 2.0 TDI engines/ECUs.

I hope this discussion comes to an end soon because I'm tired of typing the same thing over and over.

[MarkB]

By the fact that the ECU does different things to original is that not enough to say a change has been made?

I think it is.

[S2tuner]

Agreed Mark, but on a normally aspirated ECU, you can't check requested boost for instance

[W8PMC]

Mihnea,

Should have read your post here 1st & saved myself typing a response on the other thread.

If true & the B7 RS4 ECU is of very different make-up to all previous Audi's & BMW's etc, then i'm happy to accept the re-map may be more visible that i thought. I will be contacting certain sources to verify this & of course call DMS for their comment.

[S2tuner]

Paul, one thing you should consider is that Audi and BMW ECUs only have the "ECU" in common. not the same manufacturer, not the same anything apart from their names...