Here's the email i sent to Turner motorsports: Dear TMS,
Here’s the story, last year my 93’ 325i with 95’ M3 motor was taken off the road for winter because my rear suspension basically fell out from under the car. The car sat there for about 7 months until I finally fixed it. Meanwhile the battery was without surprise dead, I charged it up and when the time came to finally start my car up for the first time it wouldn’t idle. Idle was very erratic and rough. I figured that was normal since it sat for so long. I figured that it just needed to warm up and it would be fine. After driving up and down the highway briefly, I pulled the car in my driveway and it seemed to idle better but not quite right. I only drove it for a few days after this and nine times out of ten when I stopped at a traffic light the car would stall which made me now learn to feather the gas pedal at every light or stop sign. I brought the my car to Stephan to take a look at it, he has always been very helpful in the past. I popped the hood and the idle was the same, very erratic. Then strangely it idled fine??? That’s weird, Dave seemed confused and no one could see to figure out what was wrong with it. After that day I gave up. I did a little research online and found out how to do a self diagnostic test. The test came up with a 1281 code, which is a DME memory unit supply. This is the info. I found out about it: (This indicates a fault with the internal memory of the DME computer. This is sometimes caused by low battery voltage. Delete the codes, and disconnect the DME for 15 minutes. Then reconnect, let the car idle for five minutes, and then drive over 30 mph for more than five minutes. Recheck the codes - if it occurs again, the DME is faulty and should be replaced.)
So I tried to reset the DME, but had no luck. So now I think I have a bad ecu. My wife has the same ECU that I have, so I take hers with the TMS 325i chip still in it and put it in my car. It idles great! This leaves me to believe that maybe my ecu is crap. So I take the stock chip from the 325i and put it into my ecu, the car still idles great! I put my chip (3.5” HFM, 24lb inj. 95’ M3 chip) into her car and there’s the same erratic idle and then stall. Great, now I know it must be the chip. So I bring it down to Drew and he checks it against your files and he says it’s fine.... i convinced them to give me a new chip but i still have the same exact problem??? even the 1281 code still pops up and i'm using my wifes ecu and she drives her car with mine everyday. if i pop in the stock 325i chip it idles great??? i thought it might be a coolant sensor but why not stall with other chips?
Here’s the story, last year my 93’ 325i with 95’ M3 motor was taken off the road for winter because my rear suspension basically fell out from under the car. The car sat there for about 7 months until I finally fixed it. Meanwhile the battery was without surprise dead, I charged it up and when the time came to finally start my car up for the first time it wouldn’t idle. Idle was very erratic and rough. I figured that was normal since it sat for so long. I figured that it just needed to warm up and it would be fine. After driving up and down the highway briefly, I pulled the car in my driveway and it seemed to idle better but not quite right. I only drove it for a few days after this and nine times out of ten when I stopped at a traffic light the car would stall which made me now learn to feather the gas pedal at every light or stop sign. I brought the my car to Stephan to take a look at it, he has always been very helpful in the past. I popped the hood and the idle was the same, very erratic. Then strangely it idled fine??? That’s weird, Dave seemed confused and no one could see to figure out what was wrong with it. After that day I gave up. I did a little research online and found out how to do a self diagnostic test. The test came up with a 1281 code, which is a DME memory unit supply. This is the info. I found out about it: (This indicates a fault with the internal memory of the DME computer. This is sometimes caused by low battery voltage. Delete the codes, and disconnect the DME for 15 minutes. Then reconnect, let the car idle for five minutes, and then drive over 30 mph for more than five minutes. Recheck the codes - if it occurs again, the DME is faulty and should be replaced.)
So I tried to reset the DME, but had no luck. So now I think I have a bad ecu. My wife has the same ECU that I have, so I take hers with the TMS 325i chip still in it and put it in my car. It idles great! This leaves me to believe that maybe my ecu is crap. So I take the stock chip from the 325i and put it into my ecu, the car still idles great! I put my chip (3.5” HFM, 24lb inj. 95’ M3 chip) into her car and there’s the same erratic idle and then stall. Great, now I know it must be the chip. So I bring it down to Drew and he checks it against your files and he says it’s fine.... i convinced them to give me a new chip but i still have the same exact problem??? even the 1281 code still pops up and i'm using my wifes ecu and she drives her car with mine everyday. if i pop in the stock 325i chip it idles great??? i thought it might be a coolant sensor but why not stall with other chips?