I believe that I've seen an article somewhere on how the dealers can detect if car was chipped, anyone knows?

my dealer looked at the bonnet, to see if there was any slight indentations in the paintwork


But to find out about the ecu, then they would have to look for indicators, such as the ECU been opened, check predefined values on the ecu to see if anything had changed,

most things not normally done, unless they were trying to get out of a warranty claim etc

why you ask?

Just bought a car and would like to know if it has been previously (cheaply) re-mapped.

Best option is to have someone read the map file, and have it checked that way

Have taken a few dodgy maps off in my time, to be replaced with an Alive map, my own car included

Is the IIDTool of an help?

redamo wrote:

I believe that I've seen an article somewhere on how the dealers can detect if car was chipped, anyone knows?

Hardly sciencetific, Mine smokes like a bastard and hasnt been chipped 07,TDV8,Black, Black Heated leather all round, Rear Entertainment with Headpones & Remote, TV, DVD, Pure Dab Digital Radio, Sidesteps, Adaptive Headlights, sunroof, now working fuel burning heater )))

And mine has been chipped, but doesn't kick out a load of black smoke...

Ditto.

I do wish I knew who'd mapped mine, but Pete Bell determined that he couldn't do much/anything to improve it, so from that I, at least, have piece of mind that it's safe. Visiting from DISCO3.CO.UK
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto HSE Zambezi Silver

OK, so it looks like the consensus around is that it is very difficult to impossible to determine if a car has been chipped. Should I, as a safety measure look into flashing an original map? I believe that the dealer will quote around £900 for that, anywhere cheaper?

Why would you spend £900 on that, when you could have a good remap done for about half? The site sponsors etc. have access to the engine management files, so there's no need to go to a dealer, but even then, why?  Visiting from DISCO3.CO.UK
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto HSE Zambezi Silver

The way I look at performance part (including remapping) is when you have a sports car, that you drive over the weekends, and would like to squeeze all possible performance out of it and you do air induction kits, sport exhausts, remap, bigger turbos etc.

However, RRS (SC and TDV8 at least) is a well balanced car and I would like it to be as reliable as possible, without introducing premature wear in some components, or reasons for instability. I'm sure that all the highly paid engineers working for LR did their best to research and find the best possible compromise when coming to designing the car. I don't want to be concerned, when I'm out in the mountains, in a remote location, that I don't have that specific fuel available, or I don't know... Does it make sense?

C.

A good remap is designed within the limits of the mechanical components and based on the on the car's original file. LR do a good job of mapping for their requirements, which is a time-restricted compromise for different markets, climates fuel qualities etc. A remap simply takes a little more time to improve on the map and, on a presently healthy car, there should be no concern. Bad maps can cause havoc, but a good one is very reliable and safe.  Visiting from DISCO3.CO.UK
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto HSE Zambezi Silver

That's exactly my point. That only assurance that you have a 100% healthy car is if you have bought it new, always treat it very well, service on time, quality parts, quality fuel, all necessary repairs without delays etc. Not sure that these will guarantee the "100% health" but probably is as close as possible. If you buy a car, and plan on keeping it for a year or two then yes, might be worth biting the bullet and remap it just for fun.

Then, a second point is about "a good quality map". Respectful tuners like JE, Overfinch, Kahn, etc that have tuned hundreds of car would classify. However, with all due respect, without at least 10 years of professional experience in the automotive industry (surfing forums, and download maps from the Internet do not count) I would not accept someone's remap.

At least that's my point, hope not to offend anyone.

No offence taken, Bell Autos (BAS) have no been tuning LandRovers fir many many years.
I wouldn't say that Kahn and Overfinch are tuning specialists at all, style (well each to their own) perhaps, but not tuning specialists. Bodsys Brake Bible
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