Editing this post - I want this to be as fair of a review as possible, and beyond all just want to share my experiences. In my initial post, I primarily listed negatives. This was a mistake and I came off a bit too strong, as there are several redeeming factors to Hassan’s tune as well. I ultimately just want as much information to be out there as possible, and want the aftermarket scene for these cars to advance as much as possible. This is partially what the forums are for 
Upsides of HTE’s tune:
- The cost - HTE tunes are extremely competitively priced.
- Dyno tuning at no additional charge. Quite honestly, this is insane, not aware of any other tuners who do this.
- No partial throttle bucking in lower RPMs - this is a fairly common issue with CSL airbox’s. My last E46 also had a Karbonius airbox for a short while with a Paul Claude tune. It was pretty horrible, partial throttle pulls felt like my clutch was slipping. This is NOT the case with my current HTE tune.
- Full throttle pulls feel VERY strong. The car is making solid numbers, and the dyno chart looks great.
Wanted to write an ‘official’ review. In the broader E46 M3 community, I would say HTE is currently one of the more popular tuners for our cars. If you ask what tune you should get on the forums/FB, odds are you’ll have at least a couple people suggesting HTE.
At this point, I’ve had HTE tunes on two of my E46 M3s. One with stock intake and CPI headers, then my current car with stock headers, and a Karbonius CSL airbox. Both tunes were installed by EAS, with adjustments made on their dyno.
I’ll cut to the chase: both tunes weren’t great. I feel like he doesn’t warrant the hype he has amassed, so wanted to chime in with my .02.
See below for a list of complaints:
- Full throttle, high in the rev range, then changing gears, when you get back onto throttle there is a ‘buck’/hiccup … this happens on my current car with a CSL intake, but did not happen on my previous car with stock intake. It’s extremely annoying however, partially when you’re driving hard on track / on twisty roads … you kind of have to drive around this phenomenon so as to not upset the car, which is extremely annoying.
- Partial throttle pulls don’t feel great. They’re okay, I’ll rarely get ‘bucking’ on partial throttle - however, partial throttle pulls do not feel NEARLY as smooth as the car did with the OE tune and airbox. Around town drivability has suffered, noticeably.
- On my most recent tune, I requested CSL shift lights. They don’t really work. When I’m high in the rev range, all the lights on the tacho will light up - when I shift into the next gear, all the lights continue to stay illuminated. I’m talking ALL the lights, from 4k RPM onwards…it can get a bit distracting.
Onto the worst thing - the car will now randomly stall/die completely when coming to a stop!!! This has happened with BOTH of my cars with HTE tunes, and did not occur before hand. This happens most frequently when I’m either pulling into a parking spot, or coming to a red traffic light. I’m in first, I will clutch in and begin braking to come to a stop, and with the clutch in, the car will stall. Again, this has happened on both of my cars with HTE tunes, and had not occurred beforehand with OE/other aftermarket tunes.
Ultimately, the drivability of my car has suffered quite a bit. It no longer feels like the refined product it once was. I now have to drive “around the tune” in more ways than just one.
Before someone says, “you should’ve just gotten the mullet tune!” … I tried, but Bryson didn’t want to give EAS access to his file, and I didn’t/don’t have a windows laptop to flash the tune myself. Ultimately I’m out close to $1,000 on this tune (tune + dyno time), as I will not be keeping it for long. When I figure out a way to flash the mullet tune, I’ll provide a direct comparison.
I also have a few gripes with EAS, but that’s for another day aha.
Upsides of HTE’s tune:
- The cost - HTE tunes are extremely competitively priced.
- Dyno tuning at no additional charge. Quite honestly, this is insane, not aware of any other tuners who do this.
- No partial throttle bucking in lower RPMs - this is a fairly common issue with CSL airbox’s. My last E46 also had a Karbonius airbox for a short while with a Paul Claude tune. It was pretty horrible, partial throttle pulls felt like my clutch was slipping. This is NOT the case with my current HTE tune.
- Full throttle pulls feel VERY strong. The car is making solid numbers, and the dyno chart looks great.
Wanted to write an ‘official’ review. In the broader E46 M3 community, I would say HTE is currently one of the more popular tuners for our cars. If you ask what tune you should get on the forums/FB, odds are you’ll have at least a couple people suggesting HTE.
At this point, I’ve had HTE tunes on two of my E46 M3s. One with stock intake and CPI headers, then my current car with stock headers, and a Karbonius CSL airbox. Both tunes were installed by EAS, with adjustments made on their dyno.
I’ll cut to the chase: both tunes weren’t great. I feel like he doesn’t warrant the hype he has amassed, so wanted to chime in with my .02.
See below for a list of complaints:
- Full throttle, high in the rev range, then changing gears, when you get back onto throttle there is a ‘buck’/hiccup … this happens on my current car with a CSL intake, but did not happen on my previous car with stock intake. It’s extremely annoying however, partially when you’re driving hard on track / on twisty roads … you kind of have to drive around this phenomenon so as to not upset the car, which is extremely annoying.
- Partial throttle pulls don’t feel great. They’re okay, I’ll rarely get ‘bucking’ on partial throttle - however, partial throttle pulls do not feel NEARLY as smooth as the car did with the OE tune and airbox. Around town drivability has suffered, noticeably.
- On my most recent tune, I requested CSL shift lights. They don’t really work. When I’m high in the rev range, all the lights on the tacho will light up - when I shift into the next gear, all the lights continue to stay illuminated. I’m talking ALL the lights, from 4k RPM onwards…it can get a bit distracting.
Onto the worst thing - the car will now randomly stall/die completely when coming to a stop!!! This has happened with BOTH of my cars with HTE tunes, and did not occur before hand. This happens most frequently when I’m either pulling into a parking spot, or coming to a red traffic light. I’m in first, I will clutch in and begin braking to come to a stop, and with the clutch in, the car will stall. Again, this has happened on both of my cars with HTE tunes, and had not occurred beforehand with OE/other aftermarket tunes.
Ultimately, the drivability of my car has suffered quite a bit. It no longer feels like the refined product it once was. I now have to drive “around the tune” in more ways than just one.
Before someone says, “you should’ve just gotten the mullet tune!” … I tried, but Bryson didn’t want to give EAS access to his file, and I didn’t/don’t have a windows laptop to flash the tune myself. Ultimately I’m out close to $1,000 on this tune (tune + dyno time), as I will not be keeping it for long. When I figure out a way to flash the mullet tune, I’ll provide a direct comparison.
I also have a few gripes with EAS, but that’s for another day aha.
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