1.9 tdi 105 BKC remap by ECU swap.

[J.R.]

I moved from a 110 hp MK1 to a 105 hp MK2 and whilst I usually drive slowly for economy on the couple of occasions on a long overtake the 5hp less working against a significantly heavier vehicle has been noticeable so I have been looking into a basic remap only, no turbos or intercoolers etc.

 

Hard to find prices but I get the impression to go to a tuning company for a reflash of the ECU is likely to cost around £300 and there is the logistic problem of me being in France.

 

Then I saw this on E-bay and wanted to ask for peoples views or preferably experiences.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OCTAVIA-1-9-TDI-BXE-BKC-105-TUNED-ECU-145HP-REMAP-IMMO-OFF-PLUG-PLAY-03G906016K/332838364383?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

I see not only a logistical and cost advantage to me but being able to keep the original ECU as a spare would be a bonus if there were problems or were the ECU to fail, unlikely I know.

 

So what would be the downside or potential problems?

 

I am not overly concerned with the loss of the immobiliser, the ECU has the same part number as mine but surely there will have been myriad software and coding changes during the production life?

 

Anybody done it this way? Those of you with a dealer installed remap on this engine how do you find the difference? Is there anything lost from the original mapping?

[SuperbTWM]

Some places such as Celtic Tuning will sell you an OBD reader as well as a remap.

 

You take the current map off the car with the device, send it to them, they modify it, you put it on the car. If ever you want to revert back you can do so easily.

 

Obviously Celtic Tuning are a uk based company but surely somebody may do similar in France?

 

I know this doesn't answer your question but its another route you could think about.

[J.R.]

Yes another option, thats exactly the sort of info I was hoping for.

 

After 14 years in France I have long since given up saying surely someone must do (something very obvious and money making) in France.

 

The sort of services that I would have a choice of several within a 10 mile radius in the UK I would have to travel 100's of kms to find if they even existed.

 

To give just one example, "Chips Away" type body repairs, great idea, did not exist at one time but took off and now there are loads of competitively priced independants in the UK, I run an apparthôtel and I had a Spanish guy staying doing just that, he specialised in hailstone damage which is really prevalent in France, he comes over for 3 months at a time, stays in hôtels like mine every night and is fully booked every day working for garages at a very good rate but who then charge the customers far more, he makes so much even after all his travelling and accomodation costs that he only needs to work 3 months a year, the guy does not even speak French, so there is a huge untapped market paying well over the odds and not one single person after all these years has decided to give it a go.

 

There are hundreds of other trades/services just like that one example.

[MarkyG82]

I had a 2005 1.9.  Probably the same engine.  had it mapped at a local VAG tuning specialist and transformed the car.  The 1.9 is quite robust and can handle allsorts.  I'd say contact someone like Celtic to see if they will send you a device to play with.

[Breezy_Pete]

You may or may not care, and you may or may not know, but mods like this are now illegal in France, as I understand it.

If you don't care though, I would've thought that ebay ECU would do it.

[J.R.]

Now illegal?

 

This is a country that has never even allowed people to change their steering wheels or road wheels, magazines with features on Escorts with bubble arches have the pages stuck together

 

You can probably guess that je m'en foute!

[Breezy_Pete]

Yeah, read something about a Jan 2018 implementation of something or other.  (Ah, it was enforcement by immobilising the vehicle that came in then https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=1666113) Edit 2, scrolling down, it looks like that may even be  in the category of 'fake news'.

 

Yes, I did expect your attitude to be casual on the matter.

Edited 6 November, 2018 by Wino

[J.R.]

Interesting to know nonetheless, I will look it out.

 

"Tuning" in this country means making a Kevmobile and wearing a baseball cap backwards absolutely nothing to do with increasing performance or handling, the laws have prohibited pretty much everything since time began.

 

Furry dice and a sunstrip is about as far as anyone would go and most would not even dare the latter.

[J.R.]

Swapped out the ECU today, removed the shear bolts then fought for ages to remove the security cage, then fought for ages to remove the ECU itself, if they are that hard there is no need for the security cage!!!!

 

Goes like stink now and yet feels better when driven moderately for economy, cant explain why it just feels like the engine is running smoother.

 

Dashboard lit up like a christmas tree and it was fault code city when connected to VCDS but they all erased OK so we will see if any return, most were non comms with various modules but there was an EGR implausible value.

 

Car has no immobiliser now but TBH thats just one less thing to cause me problems in the future!!

 

It will be interesting to see what it does for the fuel economy, the dash display says I have 250 miles left on 3/4 of a tank whereas it was probably 600 miles before the swap but I guess it just needs to recalculate once I start driving normally again.

 

I dont know if the companies that mod these have to remove the sealed cover or maybe mine had been opened before but it had not been resealed so I did so myself because the cover plate is on the upper face and there is a nice channel for any water to be retained in while it tries to get inside, surprised that they are not mounted the other way up.

[Skodanocty]

On 12/11/2018 at 17:13, J.R. said:

Swapped out the ECU today, removed the shear bolts then fought for ages to remove the security cage, then fought for ages to remove the ECU itself, if they are that hard there is no need for the security cage!!!!

 

Goes like stink now and yet feels better when driven moderately for economy, cant explain why it just feels like the engine is running smoother.

 

Dashboard lit up like a christmas tree and it was fault code city when connected to VCDS but they all erased OK so we will see if any return, most were non comms with various modules but there was an EGR implausible value.

 

Car has no immobiliser now but TBH thats just one less thing to cause me problems in the future!!

 

It will be interesting to see what it does for the fuel economy, the dash display says I have 250 miles left on 3/4 of a tank whereas it was probably 600 miles before the swap but I guess it just needs to recalculate once I start driving normally again.

 

I dont know if the companies that mod these have to remove the sealed cover or maybe mine had been opened before but it had not been resealed so I did so myself because the cover plate is on the upper face and there is a nice channel for any water to be retained in while it tries to get inside, surprised that they are not mounted the other way up.

Any updates? Thinking of doing this and sending her out with a bang

[J.R.]

Yes, it drives really nicely, pulls stronger and vibrates less at low revs, 50kph in town even uphill in 5th gear is now no problem, dont need to change down on certain hills like I did before, other than that I would never know it has been remapped, - until that is I pull out to overtake when the difference is very apparent.

 

Overall its exactly what I hoped it would be, unchanged apart from the overtaking grunt and very low down torque.

 

Coming to the end of a tank of fuel so can check the fuel economy, dash display shows the same but I no longer trust it, will need to refuel at the same odometer reading so think economy is unchanged but I am driving it faster pretty much everywhere, its hard not to!