Are the motronic 1.1 and 1.3 ecu's adaptive

[nitro325is]

I was reading a bit about this on another board but that board is not known for its knowledege.So I post the question here to get a clear concise answer.Are our ecus able to learn and adapt to new AFM, injectors, chips, faulty sensors, etc.

Do they save these adaptations or do they perform according to present conditions on every start?

Lets post facts not opinions that lead to another useless thread.

[AdamF 88iS]

They are, but to a very very limited extent. Being that they don't have knock sensors, they can only really go by the O2 sensor. They do adapt the idle a bit too.

[Jordan]

I know that 1.3 is adaptive to a point. 1.1 is not, or is much much less so.

[Saul325is]

Re: Are the motronic 1.1 and 1.3 ecu's adaptive

I was reading a bit about this on another board but that board is not known for its knowledege.So I post the question here to get a clear concise answer.Are our ecus able to learn and adapt to new AFM, injectors, chips, faulty sensors, etc.

Do they save these adaptations or do they perform according to present conditions on every start?

Lets post facts not opinions that lead to another useless thread.

It takes a while to adapt, especially when doing the M30AFM conversion. It took my car at least 200 miles in order to get its full adaptation.

-Saul

[Chris E30 Cab]

Adam, when I did my 3.0L stroker conversion from my previous non-cat M20B20 engine I replaced the wiring harness with a 1.3 Motronic and I'm still not running a cat or O2 sensor. My engine seems to be fine but I wonder what an E30 runs like in the US when the O2 sensor is removed? As far as I know the 1.3 Motronic is for a cat/O2 sensor setup. Perhaps if I install an O2 sensor there would be a benefit?

BTW, my emissions are fine for a non-cat car. Where I live cat's were not mandatory until '91 or '92 :)

[mikeedler]

My engine seems to be fine but I wonder what an E30 runs like in the US when the O2 sensor is removed?

the computer goes to a fault status and runs fine, it has a "default" program that it sets itself to. On mine it tended to run quite a bit rich and got terrible gas milege though.

[Chris E30 Cab]

Thanks for the reply Mike....I guess I'll have one fitted just to see if there is a difference in the gas mileage....fuel is quite expensive out here :(

[nando]

I've read that the 1.3 ecu will adapt to your driving style; ie granny driving vs a ferrari tuneup, similar to the way the SI indicators work.

I know when I first put in my 19# injectors, the car ran a little rich, but a couple redlines of the engine and a pull in 3rd to 120 fixed that :) I get the a little better fuel mileage than before so it's definetly not running rich. of course if you drown the motor in 30# injectors you better have an SMT6 or something cause the ECU will lose it! ;)

[AdamF 88iS]

If you unplug the O2 sensor on a US spec car it sets a check engine light and just runs a fail safe preset setup. No biggie.

[TCD]

Yes, they are both adaptive. We have run up to 30lb injectors in the 535i with 1.0 and 24lbers in the 325i with 1.3 and the ecus adapted within seconds.
Todd

[Saul325is]

I've read that the 1.3 ecu will adapt to your driving style; ie granny driving vs a ferrari tuneup, similar to the way the SI indicators work.

I know when I first put in my 19# injectors, the car ran a little rich, but a couple redlines of the engine and a pull in 3rd to 120 fixed that :) I get the a little better fuel mileage than before so it's definetly not running rich. of course if you drown the motor in 30# injectors you better have an SMT6 or something cause the ECU will lose it! ;)

Damn, Are you sure your getting better gas millage? I installed my 19lb injectors and my AVG mpg jumped from 19mpg to 26mpg. I know its wrong, because I have to fill my tank up a whole lot more often :evil: . I think the OBC is just tweaked, because its not use to the 19lb injectors.

-Saul

[nando]

I don't go by the computer (it's worthless IMO), I calculate it by dividing the amount of miles I drive by the amount of gas I use (and I come up with about 21-22mpg every time)

I think the fuel economy meter and OBC measure injector duty cycle for their fuel mileage, which is probably calibrated for a value of 14# for the fuel injectors, so when you put in the newer injectors (19#, duty cycle reduced to get same flow as 14#), it sees that the injectors are running less, and assumes you are using less fuel than you really are.

in short, never trust a computer to do your math for you :P

[Saul325is]

I don't go by the computer (it's worthless IMO), I calculate it by dividing the amount of miles I drive by the amount of gas I use (and I come up with about 21-22mpg every time)

I think the fuel economy meter and OBC measure injector duty cycle for their fuel mileage, which is probably calibrated for a value of 14# for the fuel injectors, so when you put in the newer injectors (19#, duty cycle reduced to get same flow as 14#), it sees that the injectors are running less, and assumes you are using less fuel than you really are.

in short, never trust a computer to do your math for you :P

Yeah before I put in my injectors I did somewhat trust the OBC, hell I was down to 6miles left of gas(according to my OBC) and still cruisin. :mrgreen:

-Saul

[rwh11385]

So they are both adaptive, or is the 1.3 more so. btw, Which is ECU 173? 1.3?

I've noticed since a tank after installing my JC chip my car has begun running better and the gas mileage has slightly improved.

Still wish the Motronic was like the ECU my SR20 had in the G20.....I got wood reading about how adaptive that ECU was...... :)

[AdamF 88iS]

90% of 325i cars are 1.3 with ECU #s like 173, 325, 525, and a bunch more.

The only 1.1 ECU is the 153 for the i cars. And the 154 unit for the supereta is 1.1 also.

Regular e cars and E30 M3s are 1.0.

M42 cars are 1.7.

M10 cars are L-jet.