chris@revotechnik
Vendor , w/Business number
Hey guys, someone mentioned this thread to me yesterday so I wanted to just check in and clarify a few things.
First general information on the 2009s, security, reading updated files, recalls etc.
The 2009s that we have seen even with the updates do not have the updated security measures. Or to better explain they are no more secure than they were in 2009. Like the later gas engines the ecus in the 2.0 CR engines cannot be fully read through the obd 2 port. You can get about 256K of the full 2 meg file. If you have a file already and the update is minor you can simply construct the new file from that small bit that you were able to read out using the old file as the base. Unfortunately the updates in this case were more involved and require a full file.
There are really only 3 ways to get these files, buy them on the black market (yes there is an underground network to buy these files), hope VW puts it on an update CD for the dealer diagnostic equipment, or open the ecu and read it out once it is in booth mode. The first option isn't really an option for most it is extremely costly and people like to talk smack about anyone found doing it even though most have bought a file here and there. The second is no longer something VW does. Our head office in the UK is a licensed VW repair facility, we are legally authorized to perform warranty work on VWs and other vehicles because we own the proper equipment which includes a vas5052 along with the necessary subscription. We used to get CDs every few weeks and VW no longer sends them out. So we are left with the final option of for each ecu ID and software level we must have at least one ecu provided to us or read through a dealer by removing it and opening it to be read out via boot mode on the bench.
This read out procedure is the same for 2009 through current 2.0cr ecus as well as many others.
Now about recalls. The recalls and any update to the ecu itself 100% overwrites any software you may have in the car. This does not change regardless of tuner. If you have any work done that updates the ecu software your aftermarket software is gone. If a dealer says they performed the recall/update and you still have your aftermarket software after they they did not update anything.
In regards to VW instructing dealers to overwrite vehicles with any performance software, this is actually completely against VWs policy. While VW does not necessarily want you to modify your car they have no legal right to overwrite the performance software you have paid for. If there is no update to be done a dealer cannot even write to the ecu the system simply will not allow it. Basically if you have for example the 03L 907 019CM with a software level of S8060 (made that up) which is the highest available version to date the system simply will not allow a flash to be performed without someone from the tech center remotely forcing the flash. I saw that once in my years of working for Vw/Audi dealers and it was only done to undo an update they thought would correct a problem but made it worse.
All VW recall and ecu updates require your dealer to inform you verbally that this will be done as well as provide you with documentation to sign authorizing to do so and states specifically the ecu will be overwritten and that they are letting you know ahead of time that if it was modified you will lose that software. Unfortunately most dealers do not do this and simply overwrite any car that shows an open bulletin or campaign. Even when dealers do inform the customers of this they often think it is an attempt to void your warranty (dealer does not have that authority) so the customer denies having software or is afraid to refuse the update.
For the 2009s to the best of what I can tell there were 6 different ecu Ids in North America that all superseded to 2 and then the update was applied to those two IDs. The 2010s are simply just a software level update and the 2011s are just an update to the software level as well.
There are times when a tuner may believe they have a file completed but not yet be aware of an update that was recently released to the world. With the recent updates on the 2.0CR engines this happened numerous times. In some cases by the time we read out and updated one file we found out there was yet another update.
Currently I would suggest anyone looking for performance software visit their local VW dealer to have all updates performed before getting flashed. This will save you the time and hassle of having to deal with being updated. Obviously if they release another update in 6 months there is nothing anyone can do to prevent you from needing to be reflashed but since we are aware of the current updates it isn't worth flashing cars that everyone knows will just be overwritten at the next service. If your tuner has the updated software they should have no problem performing the update for you however this can be a red flag at a dealer that you have software since their system will show you are due for an update that your ecu shows you have.
First general information on the 2009s, security, reading updated files, recalls etc.
The 2009s that we have seen even with the updates do not have the updated security measures. Or to better explain they are no more secure than they were in 2009. Like the later gas engines the ecus in the 2.0 CR engines cannot be fully read through the obd 2 port. You can get about 256K of the full 2 meg file. If you have a file already and the update is minor you can simply construct the new file from that small bit that you were able to read out using the old file as the base. Unfortunately the updates in this case were more involved and require a full file.
There are really only 3 ways to get these files, buy them on the black market (yes there is an underground network to buy these files), hope VW puts it on an update CD for the dealer diagnostic equipment, or open the ecu and read it out once it is in booth mode. The first option isn't really an option for most it is extremely costly and people like to talk smack about anyone found doing it even though most have bought a file here and there. The second is no longer something VW does. Our head office in the UK is a licensed VW repair facility, we are legally authorized to perform warranty work on VWs and other vehicles because we own the proper equipment which includes a vas5052 along with the necessary subscription. We used to get CDs every few weeks and VW no longer sends them out. So we are left with the final option of for each ecu ID and software level we must have at least one ecu provided to us or read through a dealer by removing it and opening it to be read out via boot mode on the bench.
This read out procedure is the same for 2009 through current 2.0cr ecus as well as many others.
Now about recalls. The recalls and any update to the ecu itself 100% overwrites any software you may have in the car. This does not change regardless of tuner. If you have any work done that updates the ecu software your aftermarket software is gone. If a dealer says they performed the recall/update and you still have your aftermarket software after they they did not update anything.
In regards to VW instructing dealers to overwrite vehicles with any performance software, this is actually completely against VWs policy. While VW does not necessarily want you to modify your car they have no legal right to overwrite the performance software you have paid for. If there is no update to be done a dealer cannot even write to the ecu the system simply will not allow it. Basically if you have for example the 03L 907 019CM with a software level of S8060 (made that up) which is the highest available version to date the system simply will not allow a flash to be performed without someone from the tech center remotely forcing the flash. I saw that once in my years of working for Vw/Audi dealers and it was only done to undo an update they thought would correct a problem but made it worse.
All VW recall and ecu updates require your dealer to inform you verbally that this will be done as well as provide you with documentation to sign authorizing to do so and states specifically the ecu will be overwritten and that they are letting you know ahead of time that if it was modified you will lose that software. Unfortunately most dealers do not do this and simply overwrite any car that shows an open bulletin or campaign. Even when dealers do inform the customers of this they often think it is an attempt to void your warranty (dealer does not have that authority) so the customer denies having software or is afraid to refuse the update.
For the 2009s to the best of what I can tell there were 6 different ecu Ids in North America that all superseded to 2 and then the update was applied to those two IDs. The 2010s are simply just a software level update and the 2011s are just an update to the software level as well.
There are times when a tuner may believe they have a file completed but not yet be aware of an update that was recently released to the world. With the recent updates on the 2.0CR engines this happened numerous times. In some cases by the time we read out and updated one file we found out there was yet another update.
Currently I would suggest anyone looking for performance software visit their local VW dealer to have all updates performed before getting flashed. This will save you the time and hassle of having to deal with being updated. Obviously if they release another update in 6 months there is nothing anyone can do to prevent you from needing to be reflashed but since we are aware of the current updates it isn't worth flashing cars that everyone knows will just be overwritten at the next service. If your tuner has the updated software they should have no problem performing the update for you however this can be a red flag at a dealer that you have software since their system will show you are due for an update that your ecu shows you have.
