Hi everyone I just wanted to post a heads up on my poor RMW tune experience. I first contacted Jan about a possible tune in March for my 2005 Mini Cooper S that I was currently doing mods on and wanted to top it off with a RMH tune since there were so many positive posts about Jan at RMW. Once I started finishing my mods are started to get some pinging and Jan assured me he could correct that in my tune. My tune was to be without a dyno and we would tune until we got it right. He told me he doesn’t charge for multiple tunes like others and that I would have access to some canned tunes through login information on his website. I was excited to finally get my pinging stopped and my car tuned by RMH.

I spoke with Jan multiple times and went a head and ordered the remote tool and tune. I downloaded the existing ECU and sent it to Jan and had the 1st mod sent to me immediately. I uploaded the 1st tune and still had pinging and a 900 RPM, stock map was at 750 RPM. He asked for some additional information about at what point it pings and he sent me mod 2 which helped the ping quite a bit but with still a 900 RPM issue. He then sent me Mod 3 which fixed the idle back to 750 and fixed the pinging problem but then the car lacked power badly. Shortly after the last mod was sent I had fixed my pinging completely with octane boost and let him know that immediately. I went back to Mod 2 that was pinging slightly before but now was completely gone. I also tested the pinging problem with the original mini ecu map and still no pinging what used to ping a lot. I then went back to my Mod 2 which was the best of all three but still had the 900 RPM problem but would be satisfied as long as he fixed the idle issue and gave me normal timing.

I emailed Jan to request a fix to Mod 2 and if possible, I wanted to try a JCW equivalent canned tune as well. I never heard back, so I emailed a few more times, still nothing. I then started a series of phone calls and still nothing. I emailed and emailed and absolutely nothing. I wondered if he was just busy and hadn’t got back to me but this had been going on for almost a month, not even a quick reply. I then left a final voicemail and sent an email regarding a PayPal dispute. I filed a dispute with PayPal and so he should have received the notification from PayPal. Still no response. Obviously he is avoiding me and probably thinks he spent enough time on me even after he said we would tune until it’s right. All I really wanted is my Mod 2 adjusted slightly(Idle speed fixed and removing the backing of the timing, since I no longer ping) and I would be satisfied. I’m now escalating my PayPal dispute to a claim to recover the cost of the tune. I don’t want to trash Jan because I know he’s popular on the forums and others have had very good luck with him. I just don’t want to pay for an incomplete tune. I sent him adequate notice of my intent to file a PayPal dispute and share my experience on the forums so others don't have to have the same experience. Still haven’t heard from him but wasn’t surprised.


My Final Email to Jan:

Jan,

It's obvious you have blown me off after sending a dozen emails and multiple voice mails on your phone. I have no idea why you left me hanging with my tune? I came to you because of all the good recommendations on the forums and was pleased with the initial process of tune, I felt we were getting somewhere with my pinging problem. When I first contacted you, you told me I would be able to try canned tunes with login information on your website. I never got access to those. You also told me unlike other tuners we would keep tuning until we got it right at no extra charge. Well, I still don't have it right. I told you shortly after the last mod I fixed my pinging with ocatane boost and wanted to try a stock JCW canned tune and most importantly I wanted my Mod 2 idle fixed since I now idle at 900 RPM. I have not heard from you at all, not even a quick little email response. At this point I will be starting a dispute with paypal for a full refund and will be posting my RMW experience on the mini forums. This has been going on for weeks and so far I'm not impressed. Good thing I didn't book a Dyno My car would still be there waiting for you. I understand you are busy but this is getting ridiculous.

Wow , not the best situation.

I know it's a little late but if you contact the guys at my news performance you could of made the changes yourself with there full access system.

If you got real stuck buy the full access from them and Ill help you.

Canned tunes on a r53 aren't the greatest in my opinion.

Sorry to hear of your troubles...

You may be able to contact Jan on the MiniTorque forum, he posts quite a lot & is a sponsor on there

MiniTorque.com (http://www.minitorque.com/forum/forum.php)

I can understand the frustration of everything thats happened and wanting to get it sorted, but you have to be very careful what you say on a forum like this that can be viewed by anyone, Ive known it in the past where such an episode occurred and the writer was threatened with legal action not only against themselves but also the club site that allowed it to be published who were then in a position where they might be closed down too.
One of the other clubs Im in monitors such replies and quickly removed them if it was regarded it might create trouble or friction, giving the reason why it had been removed.
We all say things in the heat of the moment that later we might wish we hadnt.
Just something to consider, just in case it all backfires :frown:

I do feel for your situation and have been in this situation myself but i learnt from it and reading through your post it does sound like you were asking a tuner to resolve an issue remotely which cannot be properly rectified in that manner.

Tuning an engine will NEVER help to overcome issues, it might mask them or even change them into other issues but it wont remove the route cause. If your backing off the ignition timing to prevent pinking then you are never going to get satisfactory power, perhapse the stock map is a little far advanced for your undisclosed mods but you cant keep retarding the ignition unless the tuner is there and can see all of the logged data to know the effect it is having elsewhere, especially on temps, your Cat may well have been glowing like a lamp.

In your situation it needed a rolling road to identify the issue first, fix the issue then tune a healthy engine for power, have a look around, almost all tuners will do a health check on all engine runctions under load before setting to work mapping. I can understand why you did what you did, if i were you now i would go back to him cap in hand and ask him nicely rather than out of obligation to resolve it.