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      04-15-2019, 12:27 PM   #1
Londonboy
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Open Flash reviews

Hi guys

I've tried searching but not much luck.

How many people on here have used Open Flash for their OTS maps and any reviews/horror stories?

I don't have a laptop and I want a stage 1 tune that I can easily install and remove (JB4 too hard for me to install as I'm crap at DIY).

I was an easy and simple install and removal.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
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      04-15-2019, 01:26 PM   #2
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I was all up for getting openflash to begin with, their tunes seemed to be very well rated. Their customer service has been on and off from the start from what I can gather. Now they appear to have disappeared altogether, or at least from the f10 m5 platform.

It's a good job I'm to tight to buy a tune yet otherwise I would have bought openflash already and most likely regretted it.
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      04-15-2019, 04:18 PM   #3
rgb129
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Their tunes seem to be great. I have had 1.2 and am now running the 2.0. They were very responsive for a while there, but then they seem to have disappeared. I am about to reach out to them for a couple of things so I will see first hand.
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      04-15-2019, 05:22 PM   #4
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I'm still super on the fence.. I'm just itching for stage one and honesty open flash seems the easiest. Everyone is raving about the 1.2 and 2.0 maps. That's what I'm lined up to get but still waiting on someone to respond that Shiv and his partner are back to being responsive.

For the price it looks like the best deal.
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      04-16-2019, 03:02 AM   #5
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I'm struggling to find a tune with a hand held device that is extremely simple to install and also remove. Cobb was super easy on my previous 335i
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      04-16-2019, 06:20 AM   #6
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C'mon MHD. They are talking later in the year.
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      04-16-2019, 06:37 AM   #7
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best bet is to go bm3 with their wifi agent then you can do it off your phone. I can build you a wifi agent if you like as its just a raspberry pi. With openflash you'll still need a pc to upload files etc
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      04-16-2019, 02:26 PM   #8
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Still doing some more reading on the options.

I got pc so not a problem on this side.
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      04-16-2019, 07:45 PM   #9
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I've been running OFT tune on my car for a while and it runs great! Highly recommend
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      04-17-2019, 08:47 AM   #10
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I have the OFT and I like it... I have the V2.0 but want to try V1.2 as well...
I need to do some 1/4 runs and/or go back to the dyno to see the difference but I can tell that it is faster/stronger (and it was running 11.57 qtr mile before tune).
I hope that Openflash gets back to responding because at some point I'll likely put DP's on and want an updated tune... I would hate to have to change tunes just to accommodate.
As a side note- if you get any tune, make sure you put fresh plugs (gapped .20-.22) and strong coils. my car went from fine "stock" to drivetrain malfunction/limp mode soon as I tried to make a WOT pass before I put fresh plugs/coils. my car has 49k miles. now it's super strong with no drivetrain issues... other than smoking my 305 Pilot Cup 2 tires every day :-) I'll be switching to R888R's very soon.
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      04-17-2019, 08:52 AM   #11
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Chiming in on MHD from comment above..... I'll endorse MHD also... I had tried several tunes on my previous 335i and the MHD was super! and I even ran a couple of tunes provided by a forum member to take advantage of my mods and e85 gas.. it was quite user friendly and lots of support. it also provided a cool supply of real time gauges that I had on the tablet in the car as well.
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      04-17-2019, 09:22 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tampaturbom3 View Post
I have the OFT and I like it... I have the V2.0 but want to try V1.2 as well...
I need to do some 1/4 runs and/or go back to the dyno to see the difference but I can tell that it is faster/stronger (and it was running 11.57 qtr mile before tune).
I hope that Openflash gets back to responding because at some point I'll likely put DP's on and want an updated tune... I would hate to have to change tunes just to accommodate.
As a side note- if you get any tune, make sure you put fresh plugs (gapped .20-.22) and strong coils. my car went from fine "stock" to drivetrain malfunction/limp mode soon as I tried to make a WOT pass before I put fresh plugs/coils. my car has 49k miles. now it's super strong with no drivetrain issues... other than smoking my 305 Pilot Cup 2 tires every day :-) I'll be switching to R888R's very soon.
Actually, Openflash has stated that altering the plug gapping isn't required for their tunes nor are any other ignition modifications needed. It's one of the reasons that drew me to this tune. Perhaps your dtmf was just a symptom of the need to perform some scheduled maintenance.
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      04-17-2019, 10:50 AM   #13
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Agree you shouldn't need to change plugs with a Stage 1
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      04-18-2019, 12:46 PM   #14
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Which plugs did you buy? I just flashed my car with the stage 2 v2.0 tune yesterday.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tampaturbom3 View Post
I have the OFT and I like it... I have the V2.0 but want to try V1.2 as well...
I need to do some 1/4 runs and/or go back to the dyno to see the difference but I can tell that it is faster/stronger (and it was running 11.57 qtr mile before tune).
I hope that Openflash gets back to responding because at some point I'll likely put DP's on and want an updated tune... I would hate to have to change tunes just to accommodate.
As a side note- if you get any tune, make sure you put fresh plugs (gapped .20-.22) and strong coils. my car went from fine "stock" to drivetrain malfunction/limp mode soon as I tried to make a WOT pass before I put fresh plugs/coils. my car has 49k miles. now it's super strong with no drivetrain issues... other than smoking my 305 Pilot Cup 2 tires every day :-) I'll be switching to R888R's very soon.
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      04-18-2019, 07:33 PM   #15
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I have 1.2 and 2. Happy with them but trying to get a hold of openflash within last month has been like pulling teeth...

Lets go boys. Stand behind your product. It's a good one.
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      04-22-2019, 12:35 PM   #16
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I bought the NKG's recommended on here... I found my order... it was NGK 97506
and the coils were Bosch 0221504470

I ordered both from Rockauto.com
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      04-22-2019, 12:41 PM   #17
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Dont forget to gap the plugs
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      04-22-2019, 02:35 PM   #18
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Go BM3 instead
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      04-27-2019, 11:29 PM   #19
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Alright, here's my initial day one review of the OFT after taking a chance in purchasing one this month.

Mods:
* OEM gutted cats
* Resonator delete
* Charcoal filter delete
* K&N air filters, but I'll be going back to stock paper soon.

Tune used: 660whp_600lbft 2x1 to 530 Stg 2 v2.0 93oct_CSoff_CMoff...

The first initial flash of the ECU took about 30-35 mins. I'm approximating because it seemed to take a long time as I was browsing forums to kill time. It did appear to be done after a "verify" phase when I was about 15 minutes in, but then it started writing again to the ECU. Silly me, I have two ECUs. Glad I didn't panic.

Onto starting it up. The cold start delete is very underrated. I absolutely HATE the way this car starts up cold without cats. Now it sounds normal again.

Driving. I am extremely pleased with throttle response and feel. Stock feeling always felt like crap to me. It's just something about BMW turbo cars that don't feel right in the throttle response department. I don't get that feeling on AMGs or Porsche. With the tune there is an improvement. Not too dramatic in terms of how I like it, but I would hate it if I went back to stock.

Is the car faster? Oh yes. Especially in 3rd gear where there is just a wallop of power smoothly delivered from out of nowhere. 1st and 2nd gear are actually pretty tame and refined. Openflash states that they "...limited permissible torque output in 1st gear by nearly 40%, second gear by 30% and 3rd gear by 10%. Full torque from 4th gear and up". I believe it because that's what I can feel. It gives the feeling that you can beat on this car all day long and you'll be fine. However, I am on my second S63 so we'll see this time. lol

I am happy with the performance of the tune. It's exactly what I hoped for. Limited and flat torque with increased power and smoothness. Gear changes at higher revs are even better now.

Now, onto what I don't like.

1) Customer response time. When $800 USD changes hands the expectation is that you'll be there when you say you'll be there. Openflash's posted hours are: 10am to 4pm M-F Excluding All Major Holidays. I only wish that were true!

2) I was disappointed at how "connected" I had to be to read and write flashes. One of the touted features were: "Vehicle and DATA security! — You have all files present on your device. No cloud systems or databases that can be hacked and manipulated!"

While true, your files are on your OFT device, but in order to get them there the OFT Manager software has to go through its gyrations of self licking and updating every time you use it which requires the Internet. Only after you load all your tunes onto your device are you truly free.

3) Technical requirements of using the OFT attached to your Windows laptop. For starters, you will run into checksum problems if you connect using a USB 3.0 port. Of course I didn't read all the way through the FAQs, but this is a non starter until you resolve this issue. Hope that your laptop or device has a USB 2.0 port instead. The two laptops in my possession (which are 6+ years old) only have USB 3.0 ports. As a workaround I had to find a local Best Buy that had a USB 2.0 hub that I could purchase. Fortunately I found ONE USB hub in my immediate area.

Finally, after you successfully get Windows 10 to stop turning "Realtime Protection" back on will you obtain ultimate success in flashing your tune.

I hated these technical issues. Mostly attributed to the architecture that Windows is, and the other issue with having a USB 2.0 dependency. I have to admit that I became very frustrated after waiting for so long for this tune to ultimately be held up by stupid stuff like this.


So to wrap it up. Does Openflash have a solid tune? YES

Does the Openflash tablet provide additional value? YES. You can datalog, read ECU codes, and other nice things. I wish it could reset DCT Adaptations! Extra value can be had if you bought another car like a 911 and Openflash released OTS tunes for it. You could have those tunes for free by requesting them. No extra cost. Kind of nice I think.

Would I purchase from Openflash again? NO (maybe) They are resource and customer service challenged. So much so that it's probably enough to have a permanent negative reputation amongst certain enthusiasts.

Stay away if you don't have the patience. Give it a try if you do.

Last edited by mister2d; 04-28-2019 at 02:08 PM..
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      05-02-2019, 12:45 PM   #20
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Thanks for the feedback mister2d

Your review is spot-on, transparent, and fairly presented.

We do have mod-file database's create in-use that eliminates the need to use a PC when initially installing the OFT, now. This removes the need to use a PC, unless you want to upload and use a new/different tune file vs. what will be auto-generated.

Thanks again!

~Anthony
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      05-02-2019, 01:13 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenFlash View Post
Thanks for the feedback mister2d

Your review is spot-on, transparent, and fairly presented.

We do have mod-file database's create in-use that eliminates the need to use a PC when initially installing the OFT, now. This removes the need to use a PC, unless you want to upload and use a new/different tune file vs. what will be auto-generated.

Thanks again!

~Anthony
Don't mean to sound like a knob but where have you been all this time? I know I am not a customer of yours and I don't think I will be now. People have been having trouble for a while and you had disappeared. Your tune seems absolutely perfect and ticks every box for me, however, not knowing if your going to be there for support should I need it I doubt I would purchase your product, despite having my heart set on it at one point.
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      05-02-2019, 01:19 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dwaynos View Post
Don't mean to sound like a knob but where have you been all this time? I know I am not a customer of yours and I don't think I will be now. People have been having trouble for a while and you had disappeared. Your tune seems absolutely perfect and ticks every box for me, however, not knowing if your going to be there for support should I need it I doubt I would purchase your product, despite having my heart set on it at one point.
We're here! On the dyno, or track, (at this point) daily. Always working on development and testing.

We are currently building out/developing tune files for the new G Series platform, and working to deliver ECU reading/writing eminently.

We find ourselves in the office at night/evenings typically.

We're on the forums somewhat infrequently because of the reasons stated above - but we do give direct contact information to customers to reach us whenever necessary.

~Anthony
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