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      10-04-2012, 10:25 PM   #17
DennisCAN
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Drives: 2011 M3 E90, 2018 X3 M40i
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Canada

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Ok, here is my story about the software upgrade which supposed to upgrade the gear box.

I printed out the reference number provided here from my Canadian fellows and went to a bmw dealer. They were not familiar with the fix so they "reprogrammed the complete vehicle including the CAS module". At the end of the day I got my car back (2011 X3) and was happy to notice that the car behaved differently.

First of all, the steering wheel and suspension felt stiffer which I loved.

Sport Mode was enabled in my iDrive, but I didn't feel any difference by changing the modes. I didn't really care as I loved the mode that the car stuck with.

Also, the throttle response issue was gone.

But ....
After few days I realize that my Nav was disabled so I went back to the dealer ans asked them to fix it. So here what they did: "REmote Programming performed by BMW Cnanda, As per PUMA. Coded entiere vehicle again. Checked. Nav ok."

Well guess what, the software brought my Nav back but the car was having the same throttle issue and didn't feel stiff any more, back to square zero.

So I go back to the dealer again, and after another day without a car, I get this explanation from the bmw rep...

"the second software install overwrote the patch which fixed the problem during my first visit so now the throttle response should be fine" ...BUT ...the reason that I felt a stiffer suspension and the heavier steering wheel after my first visit is because the power assistance module failed. So, now that everything is working the car will not feel as stiff as before but the Sport mode should still work".

Power assistance module failed!!!!!??? ...WTF!!! How come they didn't notice that during the testing after the upgrade? I am actually not sure that's true. If that's the case my car would have felt lot more stiffer then it was!? Can it be that they forgot to activate the DSC which makes car stiffer as jdavid2 mentioned earlier.

Also, saying that the Sport Mode should work even if you didn't have it before on your car is not true. I asked around on couple of forums and several people confirmed that if you didn't have the Adaptive Drive option, it will not work just by upgrading the software. Yes you might see it in your menu but it will not change anything. And that's what I felt the first time I got my car back. The car was stiffer but it stayed like that even when I switched between different modes.

So question to Dechy and Billb12:

Did you guys have the adaptive drive option (or whatever it's called) on your car prior to software upgrade? If not, your Sport Mode is just a dummy entry in the car.

Do you still feel difference in throttle response several months after the software upgrade, or the car went back to the factory default.

Do you feel any significant change to steering wheel feel or suspension by playing with the Sport Mode, assuming you don't have the Adaptive Drive option?

I really don't know what to do.
Don't want to go to the same dealer as they will just waste my time and keep upgrading software on my X3 without fixing the problem. But at the same time I would love to get back to that stiffer mode that I had after my first visit.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
D.

Last edited by DennisCAN; 10-04-2012 at 11:07 PM..
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