S38 Chip Tuners

[Mario L.]

Friends,
As time passes, I often miss out on new products or developments. Has anyone written a chip for an S38 3.5 using two aftermarket cams. Either Schrick or Cat Cams, staggered intake and exhaust. I have a project car where we need to retain the stock Motronics.

Lately we've done a lot of MAXX AN installs and our own full standalone engine management system which has COP, sequential injection, all controlled by a state of the art Emtron ECU.

Thank you,
Mario L.

[Preyupy]

The only user tunable chip for the 079 motronic I have found is the WAR chip from Miller Performance
https://www.millerperformancecars.com/store/war-chip

Just know that you need a computer that still talks in XP to use their software.

[kojo96]

Pretty sure they've closed up shop. Also, many weren't happy with the product for their M engines.

[Preyupy]

I have one in my E28 M5 and it took me quite a while to get it sorted on the dyno and driving around on the street. A major problem is the MAF sensor. It is in a 3” tube that is good for WOT high RPM power but the low speed resolution for around town driving is not very good. I have thought about going back to the AFM to try to even out the low speed driving. I have also thought about a 2.5” MAF sensor tube.

The tuning resolution on the Motronic system is crude by today’s standards and with no way to monitor or log it makes tuning very hit and miss.

[Mario L.]

Thank you for the input!
From all my research we come up dry with a plug and play chip for the S38 with larger cams.

Miller Performance was a nice attempt at trying to create a tuning system using the old Bosch Motronics, and it didn't work well. BTDT on an M88 and an S14.
So this leaves 2 options, the Maxx AN which we have done many times successfully, or our complete Emtron standalone system with COP, sequential injection, knock control, and all new sensors, eliminating the 2 crank position sensors, the AFM, and distributor cap and housing. I'll admit it's not a cheap solution, but it brings contemporary engine management to the S38.

Mario L.

[Preyupy]

I have a spare S38 sitting on a stand in the shop waiting to be rebuilt. I have a big set of cams and plans for some other mods. I am fairly certain that I will wind up with a stand alone ECU with COP (I have a S38 B36 valve cover to make that easier) The modern electronics are such a huge advance over the old Motronic system I just can't leave it alone.

[Chimi-Changa]

https://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=3 ... lit=tuning

I'm not sure which Motronic version your working with, but maybe the information Sam has offered above can help

[Mario L.]

Interesting science project, I can appreciate all of the hours invested in his work. Thank you for sharing.

And as we can all see the amount of time invested and required to create a different tune for a Motronic ECU is huge, and clearly why no one is doing this, there just is not enough volume and demand to support product development.

Mario L.

[LeiseyJr]

Korman might have something if you call, or possibly MarkD. I would be surprised if Korman didn't have something.

[slownrusty]

What about Jim C's chip available from Turner? It's a box tune / chip, so not sure how well it would work with an aftermarket cam set-up.

[Randomg]

Working on a megasquirt setup that is crammed into a hollowed out OEM ecu, but a lot of work so far to allow it to just easily swap out with the original ecu. Hopefully will have a thread in the next few months with a reliable set of steps for other people that are good with a soldering iron.