Cash cow chip tuning?

Cash cow chip tuning?

According to the manufacturer, the BMW 114i has a nominal output of 102 hp. Jean Pierre Kraemer from JP Performance (known from German TV series) tunes exactly this model to over 200 hp via a software update. Cost: 800 euros. A YouTube video with almost 400,000 clicks serves as evidence. There is heated discussion in over 1200 comments. What does this show us? On the one hand, chip tuning (or software tuning) can achieve immense things and that there is a large tuning community. Or, to quote ÖAMTC technician Steffan Kerbl: “If the demand wasn’t so great, there wouldn’t be so many chip tuning providers.” At the same time, the car manufacturers and importers tell us on a tour about the great profit potential in the aftersales business. We wanted to know: Can chip tuning be a profitable additional business for dealers and workshops? Our first address: Chipupdate in Amstetten. Gerhard Hofmarcher runs the business together with his son, which specializes in improving the performance of motor vehicles - primarily through software modification. 

High investment costs

There are many prejudices attached to chip tuning: it is illegal, would lead to engine damage, would void the guarantee, warranty and operating license and it actually doesn't do much good. On the other hand, there are the supposedly positive effects: lower consumption with the same driving style, higher power and torque. Depending on the provider and the scope, the costs are between 200 and 1000 euros for the software adaptation. This price range alone makes you skeptical. How can this be explained, we ask Hofmarcher: "Today, for a few hundred euros, you can get Chinese flashers on Ebay with the corresponding data CDs that contain hundreds of pre-programmed tuning files. You plug in the flasher, play the new software into the control unit and the car is chip-tuned." This is of course the most dangerous and unprofessional option, since you don't know what the programs in the engine are really doing, but it would happen much more often than you might think. “If you do it professionally, you need a test chamber consisting of a dynamometer, air supply and appropriate hardware,” says Hofmarcher. The test chamber alone can easily cost 100,000 euros or more. The devices for re-describing the control units cost around 5,000 euros per car brand. These are enormous investment costs. What's the point of all this? To do the tuning
to make results visible and controllable. It is only possible to check the effects of software modifications with a calibrated performance test bench and the appropriate reading devices. With modern chip tuning, the tuner sees the engine data live on a monitor and can check even the smallest changes, such as the boost pressure, the throttle valve position or the ignition timing. Everything else is botch. If the tuner goes into his small office and simply installs software, the suspicion is that he has ended up with a less reputable provider. 

Broad customer base

The high investment costs are a deterrent. But what about customer demand and market potential? Hofmarcher: "I've been doing this since 2000, and it's definitely increased, but customers have changed. It used to be all about increased performance, but today eco-tuning for lower consumption is also in demand - even among truck drivers." According to Hofmarcher, 0.5 to 1 liter savings per 100 kilometers are possible for a car. In some cases even more. For trucks, around 4-5 liters are possible. But there are also motorhome drivers who simply still want to achieve 100km/h when driving uphill. "Today's customer is between 18 and 80 years old, tends to drive a used car, but new car drivers also come to us. It's good business for us," says Gerhard Hofmarcher. As a software expert, you can also solve other problems, such as immobilizers, top speed limits, deactivating assistance systems or solving other electronic problems. Customers also ask the chip tuner about this.

Myths and truth

Steffan Kerbl points out: "The law stipulates that a five percent deviation from the standard performance is not reportable. Everything above that must be reported." If the changes require a retyping, then it would be expensive, as a new emissions test would cost several thousand euros, Kerbl knows. This makes the tuning – if you want to do it legally – very cost-intensive for the end customer. What about the guarantee or warranty? “If damage occurs to the engine, transmission, drive train and chassis that has a causal connection to the tuning measure, the guarantee and warranty are void,” says Johann Schmidinger, Head of Service Technology at Porsche Austria, and adds: “With most engines, it is possible to use the engine control unit software to determine whether the vehicle is tuned.”
Engines from the VW Group are very popular with chip tuners due to their high market penetration. What about the stability of software-optimized engines? Is 200 HP really possible in a 100 HP car? "Yes, it's possible, we tried it ourselves with the BMW 114i. The question is whether the engine can withstand the constant load like on the German motorway - and I'm rather skeptical about that," says tuner Hofmarcher. The myth goes that the same parts are installed in weaker models with the same engine. But both Hofmarcher and Kerbl deny this. Connecting rods, pistons or valves can have different materials and manufacturing tolerances. Turbos or intercoolers can be sized differently. All of this could lead to problems with increased performance and under continuous load.
Schmidinger from Porsche Austria also sees it this way: "Basically, chip tuning is not recommended from the manufacturer's point of view. The engines are designed for the nominal power and not for higher power and torque. The service life of the engine and the drive train is definitely shortened." 

Hardly any engine damage

Steffan Kerbl has no representative statistics on members' engine damage that can be causally attributed to chip tuning or other performance improvements. Tuner Hofmarcher also hardly knows of any cases where mechanical problems have occurred. Although conventional software modifications allow you to tap into the engine's performance reserves, you would never exhaust them, emphasizes Hofmarcher, who offers his customers a 12-month warranty on his tuning if the vehicles are still within the manufacturer's warranty period. At Porsche Austria, Schmidinger reports that there were isolated cases of damage to engines and drive trains that were due to tuning.
In summary, it can be said that there is obviously a larger number of customers who would like to have their car adjusted via software - regardless of whether they are asking for more performance or less consumption. Legally, you are entering a gray area that tends to involve high additional costs when retyping and undermines manufacturer guarantees and warranties. Basically, the business model behind it is only viable for specialists. But what could be interesting for dealers and workshops is to send the control units to professional software tuners and outsource this work. But of course only if you inform your customers in advance about the specific risks and effects.