Euro Header + US Section 1 work?

[Slideways]

Need to hear this!

Basically same setup as this -

[Ngr2001]

I just got a set of euro headers for my US spec e46 m3. The rest of the exhaust is stock.

you mentioned that the EGT sensor and post O2s should be coded out to avoid the error codes.

Could you point me in the right direction to do that. Is this a simple ista+ edit ?

If it matters I have a custom tune from ESS and their G540 Supercharger installed.

[Cubieman]

I just got a set of euro headers for my US spec e46 m3. The rest of the exhaust is stock.

you mentioned that the EGT sensor and post O2s should be coded out to avoid the error codes.

Could you point me in the right direction to do that. Is this a simple ista+ edit ?

If it matters I have a custom tune from ESS and their G540 Supercharger installed.

Buy the binary modification tool from ecuworx.co.uk, read the instructions and buy the recommended cable. With that program you can rather easily do what you are trying to do.

[Ngr2001]

Thank you, this looks exactly like what I needed. I have a cable that works well with ISTA+ and BMW Scanner already, I guess those tools are not up to the challenge. Would I be correct in stating that the E46 ECU is no encrypted, thus I should be able to download a full read of my current tune and store as a backup in case I mess something up.

[Ngr2001]

In terms of the ideal setup. If I go with EURO Headers and stock US everything else... (E46 M3)

Should I disable both the "Cat Efficiency DTCs" & "Rear O2 DTCs" ?

Is there anything else applicable to my E46 M3 use case above such as "Disable Cat Protection" ?

Last, which if any O2 sensors do I need to keep, and / or, do O2 sensors do anything on these cars except handle emissions ? I guess what I am asking here is if the car will run better with specific O2 sensors in place, i.e. are they used to control engine performance parameters or safety in any way ? I am more familiar with Street Bike tuning with gear such as the Woolich, where in my bikes do not have any O2 sensors, just 1 Wideband O2 sensor that is used to collect data for manual offline / autotuning. I.e. sport bikes are not making live corrections they just run the tune given and that's it, no idea if the concept is the same on the E46 M3. Thus should I just cap the O2 bungs and if so which ones ? Even the EURO headers have O2 bungs.

Sorry for the noob questions.

[Cubieman]

You want to check both those boxes if the 02 sensors are physically removed, the upper box is if you don't have catalytic converters (or bad cats) and the lower box is if the 02 sensors are disconnected completely.

You need the 02 sensors in the headers as they determine air fuel ratio, the 02 sensors in section 1 are for emissions only.

That said you can either check both those boxes OR reroute your rear 02's/EGT to the euro section 1 and if the cats are still good you should be fine.

Also, yes, make sure and backup your stock vehicle tube, I usually have it on at least 1 computer and a USB stick as well just in case.

[Ngr2001]

In my application, E46 M3 Track Car, EURO Headers (Cat-less) + Stock US Section 1 (No-Cats) + Stock US Sec 2 + Axle back exhaust, i.e. a cat-less setup, should I be considering any other tweaks such as...

"Disable SAP / CAT Heating Sequence"
"Disable Cat Protection (Disables enrichment)"

Seems to me that if I did not have Cats these features would be of no value and / or could cause issues ?


Thanks.

[discoelk]

Yes, that will work fine. Those features become useless when catless anyway.

[Barracooda]

Yes, that will work fine. Those features become useless when catless anyway.

Am I correct in thinking those features are worse than useless in a car without cats? Seems like the car would be adding extra fuel on cold starts and running rich to heat up the non existent cats.

[Ngr2001]

I just dumped my ECU and I was surprised as to what I found.


My concern and goal is add EURO Cat-less headers to my otherwise stock but ESS G540 Supercharged E46 M3. This sent me down the rabbit hole of contacting ESS asking for guidance and they kept stating they will not disable emissions equipment etc. not even for a track car.

That said, I loaded my partial ecu dump to MSS5X_Binary and all the CAT and O2 disablement flags we discussed are already checked off, also the region shows "Europe".

This leads me to believe that I should be able to install these headers, run completely cat-less and have zero issues or check engine lights, am I missing anything here ??


Thanks.

[Cubieman]

I just dumped my ECU and I was surprised as to what I found.


My concern and goal is add EURO Cat-less headers to my otherwise stock but ESS G540 Supercharged E46 M3. This sent me down the rabbit hole of contacting ESS asking for guidance and they kept stating they will not disable emissions equipment etc. not even for a track car.

That said, I loaded my partial ecu dump to MSS5X_Binary and all the CAT and O2 disablement flags we discussed are already checked off, also the region shows "Europe".

This leads me to believe that I should be able to install these headers, run completely cat-less and have zero issues or check engine lights, am I missing anything here ??


Thanks.

As long as you can make the necessary changes in the binary modification tool you should be fine. Usually if a tune is "locked" you cannot even read it, but if for some reason your tune is locked and you can't make those changes you will have a check engine light.

It sounds like ESS won't tune out the 02's for legal reasons, which is smart for them, there are other options if you need another supercharger tune and 02's off.

That said, hopefully you can just make the modifications to your current tune, much easier/cheaper.

[Ngr2001]

Maybe I was not clear enough in my ?,

I successfully dumped my ECU and opened in MSS5X Binary. According to the FAQ, all the current settings / values should load with their current values. To my surprise, the ECU dump I just took of my car already shows that the CAT and O2 checks are disabled. I just found this rather suspicious when ESS gave me the round around on this. Not sure what to make of this, seems as though I dont need to flash any changes.

[Cubieman]

Were you able to write the changes made with the program onto the DME?

Edit: Got it, sounds like you were good to go from the start.

[Ngr2001]

I did not attempt to "Write" any changes yet. I'm holding off for a hot second because my gut says I have been good to go from the start, just like you said.

I was hoping someone with more experience than I could confirm.


Sample from the FAQ: Unless I have a false positive here, I feel like I may be good to go ?

[Ngr2001]

Martyn from ECUWorx emailed me back. He confirmed what I thought. The tune I have is already configured to disable to the cats and rear 02 per my screenshot. I dont need any tweaking and should be good to go with my install. At least I learned something new this week. Thanks for all the help pointing me in the correct direction to figure all this out, this forum has been the most helpful of any I have joined, I will be hanging out here from now on.