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Power commander for K13GT. Autotune or not?

6K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  botus 
#1 ·
Greetings,

I think I want a power commander to help with performance in around 3k RPM. I'm 100% sure it is too lean.

I live at 5,500 feet in Colorado, and ride to 8,000ft frequently, and 12,000 once in a while. Should I be planning on the autotune option? I am not sure how quickly it applies corrections.

The alternative would be to either experiment/fool around myself, or get it dyno tuned. I am mechanically competent, but have never worked with the power commander system before.

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks
Doug
 
#2 · (Edited)
don't forget the higher up the lower u need the octane rating

in euro world it takes 98 at sea level (Europe using a proper measure of octane, not the US version) so 95 would be better suited to being up in the air
power commander is a rough and ready bodge....a remap would be better idea, but yes far to lean (at sea level)

you could try these guys but not cheap

https://brentuningmoto.com/product/bmw-k1300-2005-bmsk/
 
#3 ·
Yes, that is a pricey approach, but the PC V and autotune is pricey too...
I guess I hadn't really thought of the PCV as a bodge given the access to wide-band O2 data, but I guess it is limited because it doesn't have the ability change ignition timing.

That's an in interesting, thought expensive, option. Have you used the BrenTuning system?

Doug
 
#4 ·
I'd want to be dead nuts certain that if I messed with the BMS-KP tuning maps, I could reset it to factory at any time if I had any hint of having effed up. And I'd want to be able to save the last map, so that if I took it up later, I could reload and proceed to adjust further. That's not much to ask.

But, do you have the knowledge to realize not only what you're after, but the complexity, consequences and interactions of you changes with the overall function of the injection system? If you're not willing to accept complete responsibility, then overall you'd be better off taking it somewhere that is knowledgeable and has a database of satisfied customers. I don't give a rip for testimonials online, they are meaningless. You want personal honest substantiation that "they did this, and it improved my bike by such-and-so".

BTW, if you're convinced the system is too lean (I'm not arguing) and make it richer somewhere on the map, you're inescapably gonna pay in lost mpg. Extent of such is to be determined, as is your tolerance for turning into the next gas station more frequently.
 
#5 ·
Yes, I realize that making the bike richer could affect gas mileage, but I think it's not clear that that would be the effect in real life for me.

Here's a better description of the situation. The bike starts instantly and runs without bad problems at all temperatures and altitudes. I don't think there is anything really "wrong" with the bike. It has stacks of power at higher rpm.

But, if I roll on the throttle too quickly in around the 3000 to 4000 rpm range the bike hesitates, pretty significantly. If I really slam the throttle open (not what I do, other than for experiments), then it really struggles.

I added an AF-XIED device which, if you are not familiar with it, spoofs the signal from the O2 sensor to make the BMSK system run a little richer overall. This absolutely helps the roll-on problem but is an ugly bodge because the bike doesn't need to be richer everywhere, so I've dialed that back a bit to help the roll-on but only cost a couple of mpg. Back in the stone age I would have adjusted the accelerator pump, (I'm so glad we're beyond that!).

The bike has gobs of power, but because the tuning is (IMHO) off a bit, I'm not accessing any fun at 3k to 4k rpm, meaning that I'm tending to run at higher rpm which seems unnecessary on a commute! (And I'm sure is using more gas).

Certainly a removable "piggyback" device like an AF-xied or Power Commander is less intrusive, but it seems that it should be possible to make adjustments to do things "properly" using the existing very capable hardware. Screwing up and "bricking" the BMSK would not be fun, so I take the idea of reflashing thing thing quite seriously.

cheers,
Doug
 
#19 ·
Bazzaz

But, if I roll on the throttle too quickly in around the 3000 to 4000 rpm range the bike hesitates, pretty significantly. If I really slam the throttle open (not what I do, other than for experiments), then it really struggles.
Just in case anyone is stumbling across this topic. I was really interested in getting a PCV but was looking into all alternatives. I came across https://bazzaz.net/product/bmw-k1300s-09-15/ & after several conversations with them & the sales guy was awesome/honest in telling me that the low end RPMs would not be altered. So, just in case anyone is thinking of buying a Bazzaz for this reason; it's not going to help with the low RPMs. Also, I live at sea level & have this issue.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I wouldn't get excited by BMW maps, yes they are complex (which is why no one ever actually remaps the physical map), but the quality of workmanship is awful. Rough, overly lean, a quick bodge disaster to get it running, is far closer to the mark. Yes, they pretend to care about emissions, but you could see for yourself with a power commander and an afternoon playing with your laptop "guessing at the mixture settings" would actually give a far smoother, more powerful, better and safer map.

However a PCV is just a joke bodge too. What I now believe is going on with most "professional remaps" - (the next stage on from PCV bodge) is messing about tweaking the spare bit on the stock map designed for "adaptions".

Adaptions are stored extra tweaks to software on modern vehicles. It works by adding a new layer (and thus minor changes) to the stock map, based on learnt fixes, refinements and workarounds for poor sensor data, wear and tear and cheap manufacturing at build. These enhancements (AKA adaptions) are based on how badly its running and tiny modification to individual ignition and fuel maps per cylinder to help make it less bad.

What we get these days is new bodge on tuning shops (who aren't prepared to pay for the software and checksums to do it properly). So they now over egg the adaption data to bring a bit extra to the party. Best seen where a turbo can be wound up by the stock map. Its also why so many are "not seen when plugged into diagnostic equipment…." nothing had been reprogrammed - most are just livelier assistance from the systems own engine management !!!

These guys appear to write the original BMW maps https://www.evc.de/en/product/ols/software/ I came across it hacking a copy of the stock map the bike came with using a hex editor.... turns out the stock BMW maps contain these guys info. I'm only looking because my R1200GS got a software update by BMW and it ended up much slower.... Smoother till 4k then flat and useless afterwards.

I think this is the same brentuning mapping at 1/3rd the cost https://www.remapper.co.uk/buy-remapper/ and in reality its just playstation tuning. Buy this, the computer says these settings work - now give me $800. The reality is the Chinese box is worth less then $40 and the map software is worth about 3 cents - its just computer generated crap.

Sadly these guys don't touch the overly complicated (for no good reason) maps BMW and KTM dabble with https://youtu.be/9WYjZrpa-ZU

a resource where the best chip tuning guys really buy the gear they use https://amtcartech.com/

Don't forget the PCV for the K1300 only bodges the fueling (unlike some, this bike doesn't get any ignition tweaks) and can only work after you disconnect the Lambda sensor. So it reverts to the stock BM map and adds or subtracts tiny amounts of fuel based on a map you can write yourself. I know the old UK importer of this gear and he thinks the autotune is a joke and is really only for people desperate to play who have zero access to a dyno. If you want the auto tune to build a good map you need lots of time and a set of progressive hills, then go up and down thousands of times on every load and throttle setting you can imagine.
 
#7 ·
These guys appear to write the original BMW maps https://www.evc.de/en/product/ols/software/ I came across it hacking a copy of the stock map the bike came with using a hex editor.... turns out the stock BMW maps contain these guys info. I'm only looking because my R1200GS got a software update by BMW and it ended up much slower.... Smoother till 4k then flat and useless afterwards.
Botus, how did you download the stock map? What interface system did you use? I'm not afraid of diving in with a hex editor or even writing some code if I could understand the format of the data and what the values mean. That's probably one of the main hassles of trying to figure this out, I suppose. (BTW, I have an R1200GS too).

I'm interesting in thinking about this a bit more, though I'm really too busy to take on another "spare time" project. The PCV seems more of a bodge than I'd thought. The Brentuning approach seems very expensive, though I might be willing to pay that if I was 100% happy. Brentuning uses the Alientech system and while you can buy that handset quite cheaply, I don't know what software is required, and it may be that Alientech use encryption to make it hard/impossible to use the handset outside their network.
Thx, Doug
 
#9 · (Edited)
my ramblings from another forum on the BM map update for my GS

K25 R1200GS 0307, Jul 2007 build, got an engine flash when sold new in Jan 2008 and for 10 years it had engine map 07717143, this was very quick everywhere, but gets knock under abuse at high temperatures around 6300 rpm and has awful fueling below 3250 rpm (without a power commander)

I subsequently found out 6 months after mine was updated when sold new, they "developed" engine map 07719873 to "reduce knock, enhance idle stability and improve cold temp running" - this went on the bike recently (by BM main dealer) and it has ruined the bike completely. Its now gutless everywhere, with a flat spot from hell around 4500 rpm, and cold temp fueling is over rich by miles

bike was stock and was always quick, I took out a number of 2010 bikes with the noisy flap valve in the exhaust and they were always very slow. Mine over the same stretch of uphill country lane would pull 110 mph quite easily where the later engines couldn't make 100mph. And through the gears mine was always much faster and more lively.

However when I went to road tyres I wanted more acceleration and thus went lower profile. This reduced the impact of intermittent lag at 6300 rpm, but that had coincided with fitting a PC3 where I did as per instructions and disconnected the lambda sensors. Then set about creating a map to cure three issues.

1) instrument cluster trying to fall off the dash and the rear bevel chattering like it had spent the winter in Antarctica, when the revs were below 3250 rpm
2) nasty rough spot between 4600 and 4900 rpm
3) 6200 to 6600 rpm ignition off and sleep for 2 seconds lag in hot weather 70% + throttle application

The PC3 was very successful, making great power and flexibility from 1800 to 7800 rpm most of the time. It would lift the front from 3000 rpm and get on with things nicely, the 6300 rpm issue was seldom an issue and the stretchy throttle cable sensation (when it detected knock) mostly went away.

after 15k miles I realised the shorter gearing had clocked 1k miles extra and by then the bigger tyre sizes to suit the LC GS where about in road fitment, so I went back to almost stock gearing. This brought back the 6300 rpm issue big time. So it turns out it was more the gearing reduction rather than the PC3 that had cured the poor throttle response. I was considering water meth injection triggered by the PC3 (switching of such a device being supported). But got enticed by a late 2017 LC adventure. Not planning on letting go of the 2007 one I realised the below 2k rpm mapping I had on the air cooled bike was still rather rudimentary and so I leaned it out a bit more (over the significant enrichment most use) not really impacting power, but I couldn't get low rev stability and on off a closed throttle response, anywhere near the LC bike.

I'd added a booster plug on the LC and it helped fractionally, but the electronics undefeatable for use with cruise control was on another level of performance loss. Combined with the fact even when the electronic nannies allowed it to actually try and run, it was always far SLOWER than my air cooled GS was everywhere. The demo bike went hard after 8k but my LC did nothing anywhere. So I off loaded it very quickly.

So now I needed to sort the air cooled bikes issues. Unable to find anyone sensible to tackle the bugs in the ignition curve, I found in June 2008 BMW had released a little known bunch if "fixes" to most of the ills it had and remains the standard map the bikes are supposed to be running. The fixes where:

1) low speed idle stability
2) improved low temperature fuelling
3) resolving customer complaints of pinging by "improving knock sensitivity"

It took a whole £25 pounds and 15 mins to achieve at my local BMW dealer in Jan 2018, adding a map that was available some 18 month before I'd ever bought the bike (second hand at 2 years old) - making the 9 years I been waiting, seem a bit over the top, especailly as they had always claimed there was nothing they could change !!!

I had it done in the middle of a winter and superficially it felt smoother down the bottom end.

point 1) is better
point 2) is wrong, its far too rich when temps are below 10C. And I can't sort with the PC3 as it would be more wrong when warmer
point 3) is different. Instead of making proper power and holding back now and then for a fraction at 6300 rpm if it detects knock, it now make NO power at all anywhere and its awful

But those are only a few mistakes this hideous currently official BMW remap has caused. A far bigger issue is now impacting drivability in an RPM band you notice every ride. The inherent rough spot of the bike at 4600 rpm is still as rough as it was, but instead of still making serious power and torque through this engine frequency vibe, its now flatter than a squashed hedgehog. With the bike actually struggling to rev through 4 to 5 k at all and then making the old 5500 rpm levels of grunt from 6000 to 7800 rpm - whereas it used to pull hard and rev out cleanly from 3k rpm all the way to the red line on the original map it had when I bought it !!!!

I'd actually say its a flat as standard 2010 bikes are now, whereas it had been far quicker
 
#11 ·
as for a cable.... I'm reading great stuff about this multiplexing unit.... tieCAR.net Company - Products great development of features and bug fixes, more capable than the single manufacturer's feature limited ones and way more affordable at 1/8 of the cost of what BM think you need

I don't think you'll get anywhere looking at the map... its seems to have multiple layers of outright confusion going on to trick the unwary
 
#15 ·
just say you want an I-level update. And only bother to give your business to one that's happy to do it. As you can see in that video its literally 27 minutes

they are just idiots probably don't know how to do it... the world moved its normal to update stuff these days.... BM just want to sell a new designed to fail in 4 years bike

remapping an old map that was superseded 5 years ago is an odd way to go


ONLY caveat as BM are still backward / criminals... a dealer is supposed to write up what work they did on two systems (most car places are the same) the dealer groups own database so they know exactly all the work they did... and the official BM one they charge you the privilege of updating (but they often can't be bothered) so ANY BMW dealer can access details / history of main work completed. This is about to change with model year 2020 bikes that at last get the intelligent key the cars have had since 2005 !!! Which records all the adaption settings and service history... therefore a dealer MIGHT deliberately blow the brains out of your ABS module because they can see (or can't see) you didn't change the brake fluid at a dealer in last 2 years.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I get the sentiment here, almost ANYTHING is better than what BMW provide. The earlier post about a PC being a disaster is not accurate (there may have been other issues with the bike and or a terrible map / installation issues).

My point around PC being a nasty bodge is exactly that. No doubt even done 50% right, it with transform the rideability over the joke mapping BMW offer (with virtually no measurable impact on fuel consumption). But the oil will get dirty quicker, the emissions will be higher than we need and on this bike there is no ignition fix which is the big win.

If we look at ALL the bodge on adaption tweaked remaps (even the Hillside or Brentuning ones !) they still don't rewrite the physical map. Its clearly displayed in all the dyno charts, where we still have the massive chasm in the power curve (where the designed in bodge for a accountant led cheap silencer) works around the noise regs by introducing a deliberate flat spot. This ruins the rideability, comfort, safety and enjoyment we were supposed to have after all the real dev work the engineers put in at the factory.

A significant issue with resolving these faults is owners who believe the world is full of nice people doing a good job and not knowing what's really possible. Thus the fault / blame lies with marketing and communication issues. We need to get owners to understand their enjoyment and safety is impacted by accountants and incompetent senior leaders who only care about their pay packet and fiddling the bonus scheme. (However its wont be easy, as the ones running and others buying BMs new, are the very same incompetent fools underpaying people who could do the job right).
 
#18 ·
had puncture so was in having a chat.... allegedly this will be available for other bikes soon

https://dynojet.co.uk/power-vision/power-vision

Capabilities

Power Vision downloads and stores the stock calibration, and lets you select up to 8 different tunes that are stored on the device, and can be flashed to your bike. The types of tunes include:
•Dynojet Preconfigured Tunes - Tunes for YOUR bike pre-loaded on the device... ready to go, right out of the box. Power Vision identifies your bike’s information and automatically sorts hundreds of applicable dyno proven tunes for you to choose from.
•Custom Tunes – loaded by a custom tuning shop, or received via email and loaded on the device.
•Copy of Original or Copy of Current - a version of the Original calibration that was saved when the Power Vision was married to the ECM. Or a version of the Current calibration that is currently saved in the ECM.

Power Vision provides insightful, valuable information on how your bike is running:
•Display all J1850 and CAN H-D vehicle data as well as wide band air/fuel ratio1and various channels (such as MPG instant and trip MPG)
•AutoTune2 Basic and Pro– AutoTune is built into the Power Vision so you can modify your tune as you ride without using a computer
•Check and clear diagnostic codes
•Reset adaptive fuel trims and idle offset (with bike running)

1When fitted with AutoTune Pro

2AutoTune Basic is included in the Power Vision for use with bikes equipped with stock narrow-band O2 sensors. AutoTune Pro utilizes wideband O2 sensors and requires the AutoTune Pro accessory
 
#20 · (Edited)
the dealer I know, was offered the same franchise as the product the USA guy has that charges $800 - (but in a different country), it looks like its a Spanish product (although I thought Italian) and the "re map" come from a bunch of blokes who sit in front of a computer receive your map via email and use some basic maths/algorithms to bodge on a quick 20 second fix / enhancement and post it back.

my dealer said but we won't do that, we'd want to dyno the bike and check its OK / tweak more, the franchiser wasn't interested and they didn't get further

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://www.car-tec.es/&prev=search and whilst one says they do bikes, the uk lot here don't as they didn't get someone to buy the franchise

same product 50% off the USA price https://www.remapper.co.uk/buy-remapper/ yes, "exactly" the same company address is down the road just as my dealer was telling me

another player in the hack your ecu http://alientechsales.co.uk/product-category/k-tag/k-tag-master/
 
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