Yes. The download of xHP is completely free. You can do a full read out of your TCU and read/delete fault codes without any license.
xHP downloads a full backup from our Servers, before attempting any flash procedure. You can flash back your original file at any time.
The “xHP Flash License” is mandatory for flashing your car. With the Flash License you can already use all the Customization Features, and it enables you to flash our OTS Maps. Therefore, you can use the Flash License standalone, but not the Map Pack. If you buy a Map-Pack, you also need to buy the Flash License to use the OTS Maps.
You do need at least the "xHP Flash License" to flash your car and have access to the customization module. With this module, you can alter all maps purchased (no “map pack” means only altering the stock calibration). More on the Custom Module can be found in the chapter Custom Functions.
The “xHP Map Pack” gives you all OTS maps available for your car (most the time stage 1/2/3) which includes faster shifting, bespoke mapping for your cars type code and raised torque limits for example. More details on what the OTS maps do, can be found on our homepage, by using our "Check support" feature. Just browse for your Typecode (4th to 7th digit of your VIN) and click on the “Details” Button below.
If you want to have all the benefits, you need to purchase both (Flash License and Map Pack) in our web-shop.
If you want to have all the benefits, you need to purchase both (Flash License and Map Pack) in our web-shop.
As supporting a vehicle requires a great deal of development effort, there are varying reasons why a specific vehicle or powertrain is not supported. Current developments are announced on our social media channels and updates on the development status can be followed there. We are not able to do custom mappings for not supported vehicles.
No, xHP does not support any “mules”. We only support transmission & vehicle combinations, which have existed from factory. You can swap your transmission, but make sure it is the correct type for your car. Eventually you need to contact us afterwards to re-new your License.
How do I check if my vehicle is supported?
Download the xHP app, connect to your vehicle and click on the “connect” button. xHP will now tell you, if your car is supported.
Should you not have bought a working adapter yet, you can use the app internal “Support Check” feature, where you can look via your cars type-code or drop-down menu.
Alternatively, you can also look at our vehicle list under www.xhpflashtool.com. We do our best to keep this list as correct and up-to-date as possible. However, BMW changed TCUs regularly during the production lifecycle and there may be cases where your vehicle is on the list but still not supported. These cases are rare, but cannot be avoided 100%. If you are unsure, contact us through e-mail or on Facebook.
Please make sure you have to correct hardware for your car, by checking our Connect-Diagram! Some adapter/phone combinations require some setup to work more information regarding this, can be found under supported flashing hardware. Make also sure to follow the instructions on how to connect to your car.
None of the setups will have any general detrimental effect on the lifetime of transmission components. Not on the TCU, nor on the shafts or clutches. Keep in mind, that automatic transmissions are highly complicated units, with a few hundred components inside. Some of these components are designed to wear out (like clutches) through making use of them. Your driving style and proper maintenance have the biggest impact on the life-time of transmission components.
Obey these simple rules:
Let your transmission warmup on each drive before applying heavy throttle. You will notice some amount of slip in the warmup phase, which is intentionally to heat up the oil inside. Basic Rule: Your transmission needs about the same time to heat up as your engine oil.
Don’t “pump-up” your vehicle on standing starts with brake/throttle applied at the same time.
Flush/change your transmission oil regularly. (approx. every 50k – 75k miles) BMW does not want you to do it, but ZF wants you. Trust ZF, who have built this transmission.
S and M modes are designed to facilitate sporty and fun driving. Shift times are cut and clutches get
applied more aggressive. Use these modes when necessary and not as standard. The TCU records the amount of time you spend in each mode. BMW uses this data to judge on warranty cases.
Your transmission may behave weird, right after flash, e.g. starting in 3rd. gear. This issue should clear within a few hundred meters of driving. The transmission has extensive adaption-algorithms, to keep shift quality in check over a full life time and even with heavily worn out clutches. The adaptions applied are very sensitive to abrupt changes, as they operate in a narrow window. Therefore, shift quality can suffer in the first few hundred miles, after doing an oil-change, replacing transmission hardware, or changing the TCU software, like with xHP. Don’toverstress your transmission during this adaption phase. The best way to adapt your transmission, is just normal driving in D mode with lots of varying speeds and shifts. We DO NOT advise anybody to clear the adaption values to speed up the process. Depending on the current wear state of your transmission, this can lead to unwanted and permanent bad results.
For MHD N54 use the xHP transmission setting, for MHD N55 and cars with DCT transmissions use the “Manual” setting.
A lot of the maps in the TCU use the PPS (Pedal Position Sensor) as primary input. For example, the Shift point – maps and the TCC (Torque Converter Clutch) Maps. Therefore, it is recommended, to use the stock throttle mapping. This gives you greater control over the transmission’s reactions. Having too much TQ on very low throttle will lead to an undesirable shifting behaviour. This is not special to xHP. The same applies to the stock transmission software. As general advice: Do not use altered throttle maps in AT cars.
No. xHP has no direct effect on your existing Engine tune.
Yes, xHP will work on JB4 equipped cars, but you have to remove it before flash and install again. On our test cars setting JB4 to Map 0 was not enough, as JB4 was still disturbing communication to the TCU. This possibly depends on the JB4 revision you are using.
xHP changes the calibration file on your TCU. Like every other tune on your vehicle, this will very likely void your OEM or dealer warranty, depending on your Country and/or guarantee contract. However, dealer testers are unable to detect xHP. You don’t need to remove xHP, before visiting a dealer.
You can switch between tunes as often as you like and you are allowed to buy multiple OTS tunes and manage them on the same device.
Simply install xHP Flashtool on to your new device and use the “Login with Google” feature, when you used a Gmail account before for example. Now your existing licenses should be synced with your new device, either Android or iOS.
To move an existing xHP license to another vehicle of yours, please follow these steps:
Uninstall xHP from the transmission. You can find the function “Full Uninstall” in the “Flash menu” inside the “Stock” calibration.
Only uninstalling the app from your phone or flashing the “Stock” map is not enough!
After successfully uninstalling xHP from the transmission, please make sure the app is connected to the internet.
Connect the phone once with your new car, so both cars are stored on your device.
Please contact us at support@rbttuning.com with your old and new VIN, so we are able to check for a successful uninstall. Afterwards your License can be transferred from your old VIN to your new VIN.
Licenses cannot be transferred to other users. |
This most likely means, that you are not logged in with the correct account email.
Please make sure to download the latest iOS version in the app store, or new Android version of the xHP Flashtool app from the Google Play Store, click on Login, there choose "Continue with Google" and use the Google Play store account email, you have set up xHP with originally.
Alternatively, if you used a different social Login or you created an internal account, use this one instead.
Now your existing license should be synced to this device and also can be used with other devices with this Login as well.
Should you not be sure, what account you have been using, when you created your xHP Account, please write us directly at support@rbttuning.com and provide the full VIN, so we help you as fast as possible.
You very likely refer to videos with a 5-Series car with Sport Automatic Option. BMW uses the same transmission on these cars, but they trick human perception by changing the behaviour of the rev-counter. Dampening is removed and the needle jumps instantly to the target value, before the shift of the transmission is even completed. The shift itself is in fact slower compared to xHP Stage 3 Maps. This “Sport Option” is a handshake between the ECU and the TCU controller. xHP activates the sport mode in the TCU on all vehicles, but it depends on your ECU, if it has this mode built in from factory. For example, 335i N54 cars do not have it, whereas 135i and 335i N55 do have it. Diesel 3-Series do not have this mode at all.
Before doing a software update at the dealer, you MUST uninstall xHP. If the xHP configuration gets overwritten through a dealer update, the App will have no way, to check for proper installation and will therefore refuse to flash the car again. Generally speaking, xHP will always flash the newest available calibration on to your TCU, so there’s no need to update it at the dealer.
Please follow everything from how to connect to your car precisely and then try again. If you are flashing with a Wi-Fi-Adapter make absolutely sure cellular data and Bluetooth are turned off! If you continue to have issues despite following all rules in the Manual, use the “Send Logs” function inside the App and contact us at support@rbttuning.com with your VIN!
The BMW Dynamic Drive system is pretty picky, when there is no CAN Bus communication for some time. On every flash, the CAN Bus has to be shut down for all other units in the car, so you can use the whole bandwidth for the flash operation and maintain a stable flash. After all, returning to normal, the BMW dynamic drive has to recalibrate and re-align the position on all 4 wheels. During this procedure the system is inactive and will throw all kind of fault messages. Those errors can’t be cleared manually, you just have to wait for the system, to settle in again, which can take some miles/time. (up to 1 hour of driving, dependent on road surface) If you want to speed that up and have the knowledge, you may also relearn the units through the known BMW Tools.
This means your TCU is refusing to enter programming mode, because certain pre-conditions are not met. This usually can be solved by letting the car go to sleep for 20 minutes, while on a battery charger.
Most of the 5 and 6-Series cars (E6x-Series, Pre-Facelift) where equipped with a faulty dash software, which is unable to display a gear number in S-Mode. When S-Mode is engaged, most of these cars display a red gearbox- error sign in the dash. Therefore, the Gear-Display is not active in the xHP Maps for those cars.
You can try to activate it by yourself through the Gear Display Feature xHP’s Customization Module, but we can’t guarantee it will work. Unfortunately, there is no way of checking upfront if a certain car is affected by that or not.
The only way to fix this error, is to install an LCI instrument cluster.
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