Bootmod3 Flash to stock and other questions

[theweebabySeamus]

Originally Posted by AlmondJayRoM3

A quick search shows a few people who have passed that were tuned. Found some that have failed due to not locking. Found one that says it didn’t pass after locking.

The official verbiage from the instruction is not only do you need a matching cvn and calid, they also have to be registered with CARB by the automotive companies, which means only stock DME software. For whatever reason people were flagging. If one were to have a stock tune but for whatever reason wasn’t registered with CARB, there are provisions to fix this but usually involve going to a referee to get clarification and verification that it is a stock tune or a modified one that is carb approved (ie some Dinan tunes).

Thanks, I searched for a couple of hours (trying to see if MHD is really the way to go for emissions in CA) but couldn't find any definitive 'I did this and I passed successfully.' Good to know there are some out there. Also, i have a somewhat difficult time thinking several people failed JUST because they didn't relock, even though I understand what the relock does.

[AlmondJayRoM3]

Originally Posted by 2sporty

Isn't this conflicting information with what is mentioned on the first page of this thread? The whole thread is about how OP had BM3, re-flashed to stock, and failed smog because the CVN/CALID did not match.

Nope. OP tried relocking and the process hung up. Continued with only a stock but no relock. Excerpt below:

So I tried hellokitty's method this morning to re-lock DME and it got an error. Tried again and it still errored. Then when I saw TopJimmy's post, I tried just the flash without re-locking DME and it successfully went back to stock. Thanks, guys!
Also, by the way, do I have to drive the vehicle a certain number of miles so that it'll be cleared or ready before the inspection?

[hellokitty]

Originally Posted by AlmondJayRoM3

Nope. OP tried relocking and the process hung up. Continued with only a stock but no relock. Excerpt below:

So I tried hellokitty's method this morning to re-lock DME and it got an error. Tried again and it still errored. Then when I saw TopJimmy's post, I tried just the flash without re-locking DME and it successfully went back to stock. Thanks, guys!
Also, by the way, do I have to drive the vehicle a certain number of miles so that it'll be cleared or ready before the inspection?

Here is the drive cycle procedure.

[2sporty]

Originally Posted by AlmondJayRoM3

Nope. OP tried relocking and the process hung up. Continued with only a stock but no relock. Excerpt below:

So I tried hellokitty's method this morning to re-lock DME and it got an error. Tried again and it still errored. Then when I saw TopJimmy's post, I tried just the flash without re-locking DME and it successfully went back to stock. Thanks, guys!
Also, by the way, do I have to drive the vehicle a certain number of miles so that it'll be cleared or ready before the inspection?

not sure what you're trying to do. You're saying you re-flashed to stock without a re-lock and now you're going to go smog it after a drive cycle? How is this different from what the others tried? Are you doing this in California?

[AlmondJayRoM3]

Originally Posted by 2sporty

not sure what you're trying to do. You're saying you re-flashed to stock without a re-lock and now you're going to go smog it after a drive cycle? How is this different from what the others tried? Are you doing this in California?

Just replying to someone saying OP tried to smog after going back to a stock tune and me saying that he didn’t relock. Of course the OP would go on to fail smog.

[2sporty]

Originally Posted by AlmondJayRoM3

Just replying to someone saying OP tried to smog after going back to a stock tune and me saying that he didn’t relock. Of course the OP would go on to fail smog.

Understood. So the consensus is that we're screwed and we have to get that hacker guy or the dealer to re-flash to stock if we're in CA and have to smog. This is until protuningfreaks decides to get competitive and come out with a solution that actually saves the stock settings.

[theweebabySeamus]

PTF did confirm with me that they go 100% stock if you flash stock and relock. They did not say if it would pass smog. Whether that was an intentional omission or not I couldn’t say.

But, again, I’d like to see a person come on here and say they did it. Leaning towards MHD personally.

[chmura]

Originally Posted by theweebabySeamus

PTF did confirm with me that they go 100% stock if you flash stock and relock. They did not say if it would pass smog. Whether that was an intentional omission or not I couldn’t say.

But, again, I’d like to see a person come on here and say they did it. Leaning towards MHD personally.

I keep going back and forth between MHD and BM3.

Seems like MHD is a European company. Not sure how good their support is if you have issues? I’m leaning towards BM3 since it’s a proven platform and support is quick.

[theweebabySeamus]

Originally Posted by chmura

I keep going back and forth between MHD and BM3.

Seems like MHD is a European company. Not sure how good their support is if you have issues? I’m leaning towards BM3 since it’s a proven platform and support is quick.

I like MHD because it seems most likely, at this point, to be able to flash to stock to pass CA smog. Also, I really dislike cloud-based flashing clients even if BM3 does have great support.

I’ve read somewhere that MHD uses a newer version of the GTS/CS TCU files, which would be a definite benefit but I’m far from confident it’s true.

EDIT: also nice that MHD includes e30 and e85 maps in their map pack.

[TopJimmy]

So here is the deal, straight from my PTF Boyz:

"
Flashing stock and lock means you flash an original bootloader, data area and calibration area.

CVN remains stock as there are no changes to the files.

CVN and CAL-ID only changes when you change the software version e.g. if you have an update done to your car. But it is still the correct one for that particular software version.
"

Looks like our Cali friends are good to PASS with stock and lock

[2sporty]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

So here is the deal, straight from my PTF Boyz:

"
Flashing stock and lock means you flash an original bootloader, data area and calibration area.

CVN remains stock as there are no changes to the files.

CVN and CAL-ID only changes when you change the software version e.g. if you have an update done to your car. But it is still the correct one for that particular software version.
"

Looks like our Cali friends are good to PASS with stock and lock

This is interesting because https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1&postcount=21 is in direct conflict with this and it seems like he tried it.

[TopJimmy]

Hey
hellokitty and
WordOnRoad

PTF emailed me back saying their Stock+Lock restores the SW and IDs as original before BM3. See above.

Seems like if you do a SW update outside of the dealership that Cali isn't informed of then you fail SMOG due to mismatch…

Can you comment on those details?

-TJ

[WordOnRoad]

I can't speak to SW updates outside of the dealer, but I'm pretty sure OP had his update done via Kubax and he was able to pass without issue.

Nick7700 you had BM3; did you have your DME relocked as well?

I'm due for inspection early next year, so I'll be flashing back to "stock", checking CVNs/IDs, and then determining if I need a SW on top of that.

[hellokitty]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Hey
hellokitty and
WordOnRoad

PTF emailed me back saying their Stock+Lock restores the SW and IDs as original before BM3. See above.

Seems like if you do a SW update outside of the dealership that Cali isn't informed of then you fail SMOG due to mismatch…

Can you comment on those details?

-TJ

https://tiremeetsroad.com/2021/07/13...led-smog-test/

It depends on whether the flash back to stock and lock data points match up to the BAR database.

Generally speaking, if all your emission sensors are ready, I would take it in for smog.

Your emissions sensors will not "set" if your DME software is mismatched. You can drive the car thousands of miles and the monitors will not become ready. This is a sign that you need to go to the dealer for a DME reflash.

[2sporty]

Originally Posted by hellokitty

It depends on whether the flash back to stock and lock data points match up to the BAR database.

This is strange because you make it sound like there is random result from flashing back to stock and locking.

I am assuming you never were able to get all of your emissions sensors ready after you tried flashing back to stock and locking, so you had to have the dealer do it?

This whole thing is a black box for most of us, and only PTF and the people who have programmed the flashes actually understand what is actually going on with the software when flashing and then going back to stock and locking.

[TopJimmy]

Guys, (for BM3) I confirmed through Halim that your original loader, SW code and checksum (cvn) are restored when you Stock+Lock. It's the +Lock that causes the original values to be restored.

If you didn't +Lock, OR if the SW was updated outside of the dealership network (where they notify CARB of your new SW+CVN) then you need a dealer visit before you can Pass the OBD emissions test.

(Further down the thread we see that using browsers other than Chrome can cause the Lock to fail.)

[WordOnRoad]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Guys, I confirmed through Halim that your original loader, SW code and checksum (cvn) are restored when you Stock+Lock. It's the +Lock that causes the original values to be restored.

If you didn't +Lock, OR if the SW was updated outside of the dealership network (where they notify CARB of your new SW+CVN) then you need a dealer visit before you can Pass the OBD emissions test.

This is BM3, correct? Can anyone chime in about MHD?

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by WordOnRoad

This is BM3, correct? Can anyone chime in about MHD?

WoR,

Yes, my info is BM3.

-TJ

[hellokitty]

Originally Posted by 2sporty

This is strange because you make it sound like there is random result from flashing back to stock and locking.

I am assuming you never were able to get all of your emissions sensors ready after you tried flashing back to stock and locking, so you had to have the dealer do it?

This whole thing is a black box for most of us, and only PTF and the people who have programmed the flashes actually understand what is actually going on with the software when flashing and then going back to stock and locking.

My emissions monitors were ready after flashing back to stock and relock. I went in for smog and failed checksum and got sent to the referee for further inspection.

I took the fail notice to the dealer based on my smog tech's recommendation and the dealer said my car needed an update since there was a mismatch on the software I had vs what was allowed for my car. The dealer reflashed it and did the drive cycle to get my monitors ready again.

After this, I went to the referee station, they took a DME readout and uploaded it to their database. I was notified that I passed a few days later by checking online. That basically summarizes my experience.

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by hellokitty

My emissions monitors were ready after flashing back to stock and relock. I went in for smog and failed checksum and got sent to the referee for further inspection.

I took the fail notice to the dealer based on my smog tech's recommendation and the dealer said my car needed an update since there was a mismatch on the software I had vs what was allowed for my car. The dealer reflashed it and did the drive cycle to get my monitors ready again.

After this, I went to the referee station, they took a DME readout and uploaded it to their database. I was notified that I passed a few days later by checking online. That basically summarizes my experience.

Please confirm…that you updated your software outside of the dealership, and that's why you had a mismatch?

[hellokitty]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Please confirm…that you updated your software outside of the dealership, and that's why you had a mismatch?

Nope, never did any software updates outside of the dealership. I just flashed over the original software that came with the car.

Keep in mind this is general advice as this was on my old 335is that I sold last year. The car was running on MHD.

Since I bought the F80 new, I don't have the smog this car for another 3 years.

My info was intended to help in the event of flashing your car and returning back to stock. It seems like this issue is impacting the whole tuning community and my failure could happen to anyone who flashes their DME regardless of BM3, MHD, etc.

The "black box" is the database of all DME information that is collected by the state to determine whether you pass or fail.

[hellokitty]

Another thing to keep in mind, I went through all of this when the CA BAR released their checksum procedure last year unbeknownst to a lot of people and tuning companies.

Maybe BM3 and MHD resolved all of this by now. I suppose that's the million dollar question.