BuellTooth not recommended for IDS ECMs?

[nwguy]

I sent my IDS ECM back to IDS this morning. Tim there said they would bench test my ECM at no charge and then give me options depending on what they find. I told him I had ordered a BuellTooth ECM Interface:

https://www.rev-mo.com/product-page/ecm-interface

He said "We don’t use or recommend BuellTooth. You can check them out on the forums; mixed reviews at best." They make an alternative tool, the CMI Lite:

http://idspd.com/xcart/cmi-lite.html?category_id=42

which is more expensive and seems more limited in functionality. I'm a newbie to diagnosing/modifying ECMs. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Cooter]

A "Buelltooth" is simply a wireless bluetooth dongle. Thats it. It does nothing to anything. It does the same job as the cable does when connecting to a laptop.

What they mean is, they 'don't like anyone having access to their ECM's', and I can see why they would say that.

Compare it to an i-Phone. IDS makes an excellent product and doesn't want anyone messing with it then blaming the product, hurting their reputation. Your ECM is a very robust solid state unit and they rarely go bad. But even though the last carburetor to be using in a production car was easily 15 YEARS ago, the general public still isn't used to Fuel Injection and will blame that 'magic box' for their woes well before actually diagnosing what could be wrong.

IMO, I agree with them, but to a point. I wish they could lock their ECM's after programming them. They worked very hard to get the fuel mapping just right. If they could still allow access to the ECM parameters like fan settings, quickshifter activation, and simple things would be even better.

ECMDroid is the program that uses the Bluetooth wireless signal from your Buelltooth dongle. I feel it is a very valuable tool for diagnosing issues, datalogging, and adjusting the ECM Parameters to your liking 'my fan doesn't turn on when I stop at home':sleeping: . It will even swap fuel maps if you like, but I wouldn't mess with an IDS map.

TL;DR
Don't use your Buelltooth to access ECMDroid and change maps on an IDS ECM.

 

[outthere]

I do it all the time. I use the Deans exhaust for Sonoma and the Drummer for Thunderhill.

 

[Cooter]

Well if your PRO level I guess. Lol. I change maps all the time too. I'm just suggesting that someone new in the game with only one exhaust and a matching IDS ECM would be better off not messing with it. YMMV.

 

[outthere]

absolutely