Review on my MarkD M50NV Chip.

[N2MYE30]

All that I have read was that this was the one to get for my M50NV. Asked questions on his spring FS thread with no answer to my specifics. I just decided to call him directly. Very informative and helpful on the phone. I felt comfortable about purchasing it so I did with rev-limited. To prepare for its arrival, I started putting 93 in the tank.

Since he is based out of Canada, he has someone in Ohio to send out his stuff but for some reason, he was "busy". Unaware to Mark, this delayed its arrival. Maybe a rare occurance but I expected it 2 weeks earlier. None the less, it did finally get here by USPS.

A priority sealed envelope with just a chip holder (and chip). I was expecting some instructions but I guess its that easy. Well, it wasnt. I just parked my car in front of backup car and took out the ECU. Here I am, fiddling with the brain of my car as I didnt want to fubar it and lock in my backup up. Ok, bend the 6 tabs off the cover (5 on mine since someone has fiddled with it already) and pop it off. Remove the plastic cover under it...easy enough. Now, I see 2 boards on top of each other. Wanting to usually figure it out, I caved as I know it would take some time to find a backup ECU. I called Mark and to my surprise, he answered (past business hours). He seemed surprised that no instructions were with the chip). He said he would send it after he was done with dinner. Cool. I waited for 5 min and looked on youtube.


Once I wrestled the top board off, it was easy after that. The video helped alot. Mark sent the BavAuto instructions the next moring. :sad: Anyways, Here is where Im at.


Boards pulled apart.


Swapped!


At first I was just like yeah, maybe a little better. The next morning, yeah in is better. By the afternoon, I was giving it the beans and saying..."im going to need new tires soon." My check panel cover kept on popping off. Im not going to be setting any records but it is better in the lower revs and all the way up.

Aside from the delays, im happy with my purchase. Call Mark for your questions or concerns and dont rely on the forum for answers. It was the finsihing touch to my swap as its been close to 1 year now. Now if I can just sort out that AC...

Cheers!

[nwe30]

how difficult was the install and how long did it take you? Also, can you run anything else besides 93 octane?

[MaksV]

I have a dinan chip in mine. Very good stuff. You can definitely feel the difference but I have a lot of supporting mods. How did you get the top board out? I tried and then just took some needle nose and put the new chip in without pulling the top board.

[N2MYE30]

I could run 91 but no one around me has it. It's either 89 or 93.

I had it out and back in the car in ~20 min. That top board just took some fiddling. The vid makes it look easier than it was, at least for me. I have heard of others reaching under to swap the chip but looked like the hard way. Then I searched some more and bumped into the posted video. Putting a small flathead on the sides just doesn't make it pop off, it too some pursuading. I was just about to give up for a bit, then one side pulled out. The other right after. Just know the limits of a board.

Btw, I just noticed that I forgot to add the video link. Added.

[Fusion]

Iirc, I put my scrawny fingers in between the two rows of harness pins, carefull not to bend them. The trick is to lift and push the board out. The only way you can lift it is by the pins.
It's a real bitch but once you understand it, you'll be surprised how easy it was.