Buying EAT chip today!!! After installation...

[e34.535i.sport]

Hey guys, I'm all excited I'm buying an EAT chip today for my 1990 535iM from Robert K (he sold his 535iA recently)... He's sent a message to Mark D to check compatibilty so hopefully he can get it on its way tomorrow! The only thing we're unsure of is his number ends in .... ... .... ..OR and the one on Marks site now ends in .... ... .... ..6K8. I know the R used to represent raised rev limit, but the current version is raised to 6800 with the inding 6K8 (which makes sense I suppose!).

I just have a couple of questions...

I know how to install the chip (looks to be a bit fiddly!), but is there anything I need to do once it is installed like the reset procedure or disconnect the battery or drive it a certain way or whatever? I've read SOOOOOO many threads on this but i'm still unclear. Should I expect it to run badly at first or should the benefits be noticible straight away? Should I take it on a long run after installation?

Also, when he sends it from US to UK, does it need to be in special packaging as i've heard of them being affected by certain things on the way - some say they get "zapped"?!!

Its funny because for a while I've been feeling like the car hasn't been performing that well... I done the fuel line replacement recently and decided to throw some fuel injector cleaner in and take it on a bit of a run. It was late and the Motorways were quiet and the car was flying. It felt amazing it really did. The power was there whenever I wanted it and when I didn't it just cruised effortlessly... It was so powerful it made me wonder whether I 'need' the EAT chip or not, so give me some positive words about yours to make me feel like its worth the spend!!!!!

[bubba966]

You don't have to disconnect the battery to change the chip, but I'd probably do it anyway. Unplug the battery, install new chip, plug battery back in and enjoy. Quite simple really.

And it would be a good idea if the chip was shipped inside a static electricity resistant/proof bag. The bubble wrap style static bags are usually red in color, while the plain (more common variety) type of static bag is a dark smoke colored plastic.

[e34.535i.sport]

x1
I dont know anything about the chip. But dont stuff it up with static before you start-make sure you are 'grounded' before you touch it. If you are worried about bar code readers, they wont affect it. Trust you are being a good citizen and paying duty, vat, and vat on the duty? No? Must be a friend sending you some socks then

Value Added Tax ay... Duty ay... VAT on Duty ay... Never heard of it.

I get taxed enough when they take £500 out of my wages every month then go shopping and pay VAT on that, and then go to the petrol station and pay ridiculous amounts of tax there, then pay an unbelieveable £185 in road tax... Which is going up to £200 in the next two years I might add and still have to drive over potholes and speedbumps everywhere I go which means I need to go and buy new bushings/balljoints more regularly and pay tax on them! I don't think I'm going to offer to pay anymore tax anytime soon. [Sorry for the rant!]

When you talk about grounding what do you mean... When I disconnect the battery or insert the chip or just touch the chip?! I've got no clue about electronics and whatnot.

[whiskychaser]

You don't have to disconnect the battery to change the chip, but I'd probably do it anyway. Unplug the battery, install new chip, plug battery back in and enjoy. Quite simple really.

And it would be a good idea if the chip was shipped inside a static electricity resistant/proof bag. The bubble wrap style static bags are usually red in color, while the plain (more common variety) type of static bag is a dark smoke colored plastic.

x1
I dont know anything about the chip. But dont stuff it up with static before you start-make sure you are 'grounded' before you touch it. If you are worried about bar code readers, they wont affect it. Trust you are being a good citizen and paying duty, vat, and vat on the duty? No? Must be a friend sending you some socks then

[repenttokyo]

When you break in the car with the new chip in, drive it like you normally would. The ECU is adaptive and it will respond to your driving style during the break in process. I decided to try driving super aggressively during my break-in for my EAT chip, and it resulted in an idle problem and some power loss at certain revs. I reset the ECU, broke the car in with normal driving, and the results were much better.

[whiskychaser]

Value Added Tax ay... Duty ay... VAT on Duty ay... Never heard of it.

I get taxed enough when they take £500 out of my wages every month then go shopping and pay VAT on that, and then go to the petrol station and pay ridiculous amounts of tax there, then pay an unbelieveable £185 in road tax... Which is going up to £200 in the next two years I might add and still have to drive over potholes and speedbumps everywhere I go which means I need to go and buy new bushings/balljoints more regularly and pay tax on them! I don't think I'm going to offer to pay anymore tax anytime soon. [Sorry for the rant!]

When you talk about grounding what do you mean... When I disconnect the battery or insert the chip or just touch the chip?! I've got no clue about electronics and whatnot.

When you import something from a non EEC country you pay duty eg 10%
So something you buy delivered UK at £100 you pay duty of £10
So VAT isnt £100 x 17.5%, its £110 x 17.5%. Clear? As for grounding, I mean its YOU that needs to be grounded. Thats why the guys who work on PCs stand on rubber mats and have wrist bands with earth leads

[bubba966]

Take the whole computer inside your house to swap chips. Before you open it up go over to the plumbing and hold that for a few seconds to discharge any static electricity you've built up on yourself. Try not to build up any static electricity before you swap chips. That should be enough to prevent any problems with static possibly toasting your chip. That's basically all I did, and because of EWS II on my car I ended up swapping the chip in my car 6 times trying to get it to work. Didn't toast either my OE or Dinan chips during any of that by just discharging the static buildup by grounding myself using the water pipes in the house as a ground. Sure, a wrist strap and other such grounding stuff would be a little better to use. But I don't have such toys.

Oh, and expect about 45 minutes or so for your first time chip swapping if you've never done it before and the computer hasn't been opened up yet. After the third or forth time I swapped mine I had it down to about 6 minutes.

[Sam-Son]

.. it made me wonder whether I 'need' the EAT chip or not...

you can never have to much money or too much Horsepower

[Robin-535im]

Like RT said, drive it in all sorts of conditions but not at wide-open throttle. What you want to do is fully explore the "load vs. RPM" space, going fast & slow up & down hills, etc. The timing is static but this gives the ECU a chance to learn what little tweaks of more/less fuel to add at each (load,RPM) point so the O2 sensor is right at the perfect ratio.

The difference with the chip, IMHO, is kind of subtle but grows as the fuel trim maps are re-learned.

The ECU doesn't "learn" at WOT it just applies the existing map plus extra fuel to get to the maximum-power air/fuel ratio. Not like you have to avoid WOT for any reason, just that the mid-throttle position is where the learning happens.

[e34.535i.sport]

Hey guys thnks for all that - a lot of stuff there I wouldn't have thought of.

So, disconnect the battery (-ve only I assume?), bring the computer inside, hold onto the radiator pipes for a few seconds, swap the chip over, put computer back in, connect battery, drive like normal - Like I stole it (only kidding ) in various conditions A-road, B-roads, Motorway etc up/down hill and so on with varied throttle postition and I'm done right?!

Sounds simple when you put it that way, lets hope it goes that well in reality!

Thanks again, anymore tips keep them coming!