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      01-22-2023, 08:54 AM   #1
Dalbelice
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Racechip Black GTS and Drivetrain Malfunction

Hey guys,

I'm very green when it comes to the world of car modding, tunes, repairs and anything that could be labeled as useful when it comes to mechanical knowledge of cars. But long story short, I purchased a 2015 BMW M4 a little over a year ago, shortly after I added the following:

-Racechip Black GTS
-Downcast Pipes
-Replaced spark plugs
-Dinan carbon cold air intake

I had the shop do the install, most was based off of their recommendations. I went to pick the car up and it was working great, about a week or so later I started getting this Drivetrain Malfunction error when I would accelerate pretty quickly, but not when just driving normally. I intended to bring the car back to the shop, but that week my 5 year old son relapsed with leukemia so it all took a back seat.

The car is still doing the drivetrain malfunction, and now just recently it's started popping up all of these other crazy errors such as chasis stabilization, pedestrian front something (sorry I forgot to record that error) and a couple of others that I can just click "ok" on the dash to clear them out. My main concern has been the drivetrain because it effects performance.

I've been searching on the thread about checking the harness, connection, etc. and I've looked and everything seems ok. I don't have a dummy plug because the shop that did the work kept the box and the dummy plug.

I'm a little lost on where to even start to try to fix this issue, from what I read it seems like I should get an OBD adaptor and the Bimmerlink app to see what codes are coming up. Could the fix be as simple as clearing those codes with the app or should I do something else? I took it to my dealer a while back and they wouldn't work on it because it has no cats.
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      01-22-2023, 09:41 AM   #2
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If the car ran fine after the work was done then your plugs, pipes and intake are not likely culprits. If the intake MAFs were having a problem you’d get a CEL, not drivetrain malfunction.

I would go back to the shop where your chip was installed and have them disconnect the plugs for testing (full bypass, make OEM). If your car runs fine without the chip then return the chip as not working properly.

When these “boxes” intercept signals and feed altered values (like boost, etc) back to the DME you can easily get drivetrain malfunctions.
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      01-22-2023, 10:35 AM   #3
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If you have EDC, check the connections under the boots to make sure the connectors were clicked into place. Since you got downpipes, they may have disconnected them and didn’t put them together properly.
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      01-23-2023, 07:41 AM   #4
Dalbelice
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Thanks guys for the response! I contacted the shop and asked them to do the above and they're quoting me about $1,000 in labor to test the issue out. Are these areas difficult to access on your own?
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      01-23-2023, 09:25 AM   #5
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The EDC connectors are not. Do you have EDC? Should be a button inside that controls suspension setting. If not, don’t even bother checking.

If you do, there are two black covers in your engine bay where the shocks are. Remove the pins around the rubber cap, remove rubber cap, and then pop the cover up gently.

Check to see if the pins are seated properly. Be careful so you don’t break them either lol. You can use these pictures below for reference.

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1401532
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      01-23-2023, 04:09 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalbelice View Post
Thanks guys for the response! I contacted the shop and asked them to do the above and they're quoting me about $1,000 in labor to test the issue out. Are these areas difficult to access on your own?
That’s why these “wannabe tuner shops” sell chip boxes. It’s a moneymaker to do the work.
Get the manual, or watch some vids, and find out which connectors were involved. Then disconnect it yourself, and save a grand.

Foe $350 you buy a used Bootmod3 license off this forum and we tune you on that. You can use your phone and a cable. Easy peasy…horsepower!
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      01-24-2023, 02:50 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BzsBimmer View Post
The EDC connectors are not. Do you have EDC? Should be a button inside that controls suspension setting. If not, don’t even bother checking.

If you do, there are two black covers in your engine bay where the shocks are. Remove the pins around the rubber cap, remove rubber cap, and then pop the cover up gently.

Check to see if the pins are seated properly. Be careful so you don’t break them either lol. You can use these pictures below for reference.

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1401532
I’m just wondering…why do you ask about his EDC and the wheel sensors? To install the parts he has added no one needed to dismount the wheels or play with the dampers.
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      01-24-2023, 03:05 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TopJimmy View Post
I’m just wondering…why do you ask about his EDC and the wheel sensors? To install the parts he has added no one needed to dismount the wheels or play with the dampers.
I thought I saw downpipes were installed. They may have disconnected the pins when removing the cross brace. Not sure about the wheel sensors, just the EDC connectors. I know you get chassis malfunction when EDC connectors are not seated.
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      03-07-2023, 08:39 AM   #9
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No EDC button for suspension that I can find.

How difficult is it to set this car back to stock as far removing the Racechip? I unplugged the racechip (though the shop kept my dummy plug so I don't have one for it) but the drivetrain error was still there. Is there more to it than simply unplugging the cable in the Racechip?
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      03-07-2023, 02:18 PM   #10
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Don’t race chip the car that’s possibly the worst thing you could do is add a piggyback tune.

Get either bootmod3 or mhd, the only thing race chips do is increase turbo pressure like jb4 tunes and could possible cause more damage than a reputable tune company.
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