Purchased CPO car, found it has JB4 AND AccessPort - UGH

[Cursed1]

My story goes like this...

Found the car, 2100 miles away from my home. The car, a 2011 BSM 1M advertised in stock condition, Cpo'd by the dealer, new tires and up to date on maintenance. We flew up, picked it up. It felt great on the drive home. Everything was nearly perfect. The car is a little inconsistent on the power which I assumed based on reading is related to the inefficient intercooler setup these cars came with. But none the less, the low end power was great, breaking tires loose in 2nd anytime I wanted.

I decided to buy a Cobb Accessport and intercooler, thanks to Nevin who kindly made me a great deal on used parts here on the forum. I assumed this would "wake" up the car a little and make its performance a little more consistent.

I go to flash the car with the AP last night, I get a warning, "this vehicle currently has a Cobb flash" or something to that nature. For unknown reasons, likely excitement of my new toys, I allow the AP to flash, permanently removing the prior tune.

I take the car out on a cruse and it's results are pitiful. No boost, the cars dash was doing odd things and the car was powerless. I change maps, it got worse. I then, second guessing myself, validate via visual inspection that the car is stock, no CP, factory connections on a stock IC, stock filter, stock exhaust and so on... After 5 hours of being angry and having a car that makes no power I call it a night

I call Cobb first thing this morning and talk to a gent named John. He instantly knew what I was up against and said, "you likely have a JB4 installed as it hijacks the dash like your describing"... I tell him confidently, no way... this is a cpo car, no way that would slip by BMW (as did the cobb flash)... Well, it does in fact have the JB4 but it was set on the -0- map rendering it bypassed. Ps, John at Cobb was awesome, even called me back later in the day after I found the JB4, awesome customer service!!

I spent the morning learning about it, how to use it, make changes and so on. I set it to the 5th map, or the more aggressive of OTS maps where it learns and gives you the max performance based on engine parameters. The car feels very similar as it did prior to the flash of the AP which erased what ever map the car has been on (or combo with the JB4) so I assume the cobb flash provided a similar power gain.

It appears the prior owner, or owners added a JB4 and then an AP. It's not clear if they worked with each other or if the JB4 was disabled and the cobb was doing the tune? I'm not sure if overwriting the ECM with the new AP reset the JB4, but the first time I accessed it, I found on the -0- map so I'm unsure if I was reaping the benefits of it or not. I am reluctant to use the cobb AP without physically removing the JB4.

So here I sit, a man who had a plan but is now unsure.

Do I....
1. Keep the AP, remove the JB?
2. Keep the JB, sell the AP?
3. Apparently, some people run them together with a protune. (John at Cobb indicated their OTS maps leave a fairly large amount of room to push the tune to ensure safety, which can be opened up by a protune)

Either way, I am installing the more efficient intercooler and air filter this weekend.

Any feedback from the 1M owners who have gone through this in the past? I've read hundreds of posts, but the feedback is ALL OVER THE MAP.

Thanks,
Adam

[135TX]

I'm not a 1m owner but I vote for number 1, ap uses flash and jb a piggy back. I don't think you really need both unless you want to run meth, even then it can be done solely on JB. I personally have AP and am pretty happy (just running OTS map although after I install the intercooler I'll take my car to Cobb Plano for a dyno pro tune...) My 2c

Good luck

[drunkenup]

I think the only great reason to keep the JB4 is if you were planning on running ethanol mixtures often, so that you could just slap it on map 5 and not worry about needing an exact proportion in the tank. Also justifiable if you had some need to often change boost levels.. like if you were running an aggressive protune on the AP you didn't want to run every day.. JB4 lets you get real creative. Its super versatile hardware

[dbronnik]

Sell Cobb and just use JB4. If you ever need/want a backend flash/protune, you can use MHD Flasher (http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29236). If you use MHD Flasher, you can use it stacked with JB4 or just use it standalone and get rid of the JB4 too.

No reason to keep the Cobb now that we have a better and cheaper android based flashing tool (MHD Flasher).

[Venom]

The only feasible reason is it was backend flashed using the Cobb. I'm really surprised that the car didn't come with the flashloader. I am not too knowledgeable regarding backendflash with Cobb.
If you are just looking for a mild gain, the Cobb OTS maps are your best bet.
If you want more there's a ton of options depending on how technical you are or how much you are willing to pay for a protune.

[drunkenup]

so after having overwritten the previous Cobb install, did you lose cruise control?

[Cursed1]

Originally Posted by drunkenup

so after having overwritten the previous Cobb install, did you lose cruise control?

As far as I can tell, everything works including the cruise control.

The cobb ap has a BMW base rom that gets put back on the car in these instances. Cobb told me somethings may not work as they would from bmw but I have yet to see any issues. I plan on having the car reflashed at the dealer when the oil change is required next.

On a side note, I'm am very happy with the JB4 on map 5. The car does not fall off as it increases in rpm as it did before.

My plan is to install the replacement air filter and intercooler and dyno both the BJ and cobb on the 1+map with IC. Which every provides a better result will stay.

Adam

[1&done]

My vote is keep the Cobb and call Wedge Performance for a protune. Ken and Dimitri are great!

http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23379