CAR NINJA! Junk "PERFORMANCE CHIP" Equals FIRE!

[@Mike_Costello]

I could feel my back muscles hardening as I watched you about to work through all those wires!

[@peterbustin2683]

I felt my muscles tighten but not the ones in my back...

[@rickb6694]

I swear I felt sympathy pain too lol

[@lancenutter1067]

Love your attention to detail, and patience. Good channel!

[@mgrsdgfsdafsdgrsdgfsdg6980]

Wait, so youre saying we should trust highly educated, highly experienced engineers over some kid and a Chinese hack? Couldve fooled me.

[@rogersmith7396]

Go figure.

[@okeyezeilo6187]

😄

[@OmarGarciaElDeLa_O]

Well, everything you use an enjoy is made in CHINA. Go figure that out……

[@mgrsdgfsdafsdgrsdgfsdg6980]

@@OmarGarciaElDeLa_O my 2001 m3 was made in Munich along with its parts. Go suck on that.

[@tbthedozer]

Like a wise website once said these companies spend millions on R&D. Do you suppose they left 50% of the power untapped? Probably not.. big gains are going to be big changes and a lot of work.

[@OB928]

Wish “The Car Ninja” was closer. Nice to have a dependable and knowledgeable mechanic available in your area. Also seems a like a solid guy that I could have a beer with.

[@007JHS]

Luckily... I have a motor engineer who is just that... Will teast and ask himself 'why?' before replacing any modules etc 9 times out of 10 it turns out to be a bad earth, dry connection or whatever and the module is fine...

[@coolerthansteven]

The production quality on this channel has been getting better and better, this channel really deserves more subscribers!

[@jimmcculloch3786]

Wow! Your attention to detail and patience!! It is a joy to watch you and the guys! Thanks, great start to my weekend :))

[@chiluco2000]

"I have nothing but time and patience" that's an incredible mindset from a professional mechanic where normally they want to rush every job 👍

[@Alex-rj6sv]

Alright guys he isn't talking about big companies that provide tuning (like Unitronic, Jb4, etc) he's talking about a kid selling a chip on eBay. big difference.

[@Maroco918]

Jb4 is trash. It tricks sensors too. Junk

[@houseofno]

Chances are, if you have never heard of the company, neither will anyone else when your engine is destroyed and you go trying to make a damage claim against the company.

[@hbhamilton3410]

JB4 works great. I had one in a 2008 BMW 335i I used to own. Never had an issue with it.

[@redditmanllegnisthebirdofh9887]

@@houseofno does this apply to racechip?

[@ChrisMiller-qc7yy]

Agree. Car companies do much more testing than the aftermarket companies that don't have as many resources as the OE company

[@Beer_Dad1975]

There are exceptions - e.g. Haltech - but they aren't cheap and they have a pile of real boffins working for them - you gets what you pays for.

[@kimchipig]

APR Performance products are top shelf but don't come cheap.

[@rogersmith7396]

They have to meet government polution regs or no sale costing the company billions. Look at what happened to VW. They were almost put out of business with faulty chips.

[@Recklessness97]

@@Top_g80comp Dinan is good. They are actually approved and recommend by BMW, so much that most dealerships will order and install Dinan products on your car, obviously for a fee. Dinan products wont void your new car warranty like many other aftermarket mods. At least that is how it was back in the early 2000's.

[@AI-qd4vb]

@@rogersmith7396 What? Dieselgate was not about faulty chips... And VW was not even close to be put out of business.

[@Chris-wp3ew]

I've used APR performance software on my Audi(s) for over a decade. Very happy with APR.

[@joes.7536]

Yea I’ve had vag tunes from many of them. Unitronic being my favorite and the software currently on my vw. The only software that struggles for traction at 40 mph in second gear with warm tires. And honestly it runs about the same boost as APR I assume all the extra power comes from ignition timing or fueling. Apr tune is probably a bit easier on stock parts though.

[@Manu-Official]

APR is good, but a proper custom tune from a specialist will give better results...

[@hadtopicausername]

Attention to detail and patience. Qualities in a mechanic that are worth gold and then some.

[@Robinmuk]

Speaking as an electrician I'd be lost without my wire strippers, I use them every day. They are the sort that clamps the cable both sides and removes a set amount of insulation all in one move. Mine were £60 although much cheaper ones are available. A big pair of side cutters is not ideal for the job IMO. Great content though, always enjoy your videos.

[@DulceSeeker]

I was asking myself aswell as that could lead to few strains missing possibly for voltage drops increased resistance under a load hopefully manufacturer having little bit of reserve even when you put few strains a way with a sidecutter...

[@dedskin1]

To silverback , i would think all of those Black wires are the same , its just ground doesn't matter where each goes .. as someone that knows electronics i know it is mandatory for a device , whatever it is to be grounded always , so you cant cut ground for switching , hence all of grounds are always connected to each device , meaning that it doesnt matter where each one goes . That is what i would say as electrician . But you say Wire Clippers , those are not your weak electronic wires , and isolation is not the same , hence simple clamps work . I know what you are talking about i ahve those the same , but its not what you use in cars becasue those are for strained wires ,soft wires , to protect them . On these automotive ones Knife works as good as anything To DolceSeeker ... Those wires are not Strained wires , its a full body wire , hence there are no strains missing even if you cut it 10 times in the same place just for jokes .

[@paulp96275]

When I was working we would be in traffic when this loud noise would come along side ,a boy racer loud music big exhaust and in unison the lads on the Fire appliance would say there’s our next job because the amps would be wired with cheap wire the engine would be chipped and most of the work would be rubbish resulting in a burned out vehicle on its way to the breakers Engineers like Jonny are the saviour of probably many of the DIY tuners stay safe 👍👨🏻‍🏭🇬🇧

[@raymondrizzuto7997]

I guess the other option would be to de-pin the connectors, and transfer the pins into the new housing. Assuming the pins weren't damaged by the heat.

[@cobalttrex]

Even if some of the pins or wires were damaged just splice those wires. De-pin is a far preferred method

[@markprice8979]

Even if the pins are damaged, you can usually get new pins.

[@AnontheGOAT]

Ya I kind of was wondering why he took the splice route instead of the de-pin. 🤔

[@borutgoli840]

this is how it should be done. de pin is not a good solution since plastic connector could easily be damaged and some pins could just fell off. as for spare parts there is no connector housing to be bought. also some wires were melted, destroyed only way to repair is to do what he done.

[@street-level]

Assumptions are the mother and father of all screw-ups.

[@007JHS]

I really like the little gas torch you used... small easy to use and... very useful.

[@dB_944]

I had a British friend who was an electronics technician teach me the same way to twist the wires together. 👍

[@Simon_Said]

I've never seen lack of a check engine light being used as a diagnostic sign before - these tiny things that only experience can bring, kudos Ninja! Ebay parts aside, what an absolutely beautiful car, good luck to the owner :)

[@crazeguy26]

All the lights in the cluster poof out. When a car goes in for emissions testing if they see the light is does not light up it fails.

[@VincentVader]

Scotty Kilmer couldn't have said it better. The engineers know more than we do.

[@TheAplhabeta]

As a tech I just wanna say props to Bob! I hate when I get stuff from salvage all chopped up, wiring harnesses are so hard to repair and expensive to get

[@dominiquegarcia9218]

For real! I would’ve just sold them a whole new harness

[@rickgalla3377]

Great splice I'm also against performance chips, nothing but problems, but kids don't listen, I replaced many burnt harnesses plus other problems, thank you from nyc, appreciate your videos very much,

[@divides_by_zero]

To add to what someone else mentioned, it may have been possible to extract the terminal and wire from the bad connector and re-insert it in the new connector. Depending on the connector, a special removal tool might be needed, but sometimes a tiny screwdriver does the trick. If you are going to cut and solder the wires, I recommend getting a good wire stripping tool and hot air tool for the shrink tubing. I'm not trying to be critical as I'll be the first to admit Johnny knows a thousand times more about cars than I do. I just happened to have designed wire harnesses for cars in the past.

[@julznbrad]

did you not watch the start of the video? the plug was so toasted 1/4 of those wires would not be salvagable. no point in the giant pita of removing those tiny pins when you cant use them all

[@einstienem]

I learned the "cris-cross-twist-twist" method when soldering when I did car audio installation. Always have been the best connections.

[@perry8181]

Owned a 69 Camaro RS that I had to de-customize. They hacked off the connector that powered the original factory counsel and gauges they removed to install their custom made one. Wanted it back to stock and the original parts cost enough as it was. Didn't want to replace the whole under dash harness. So took my time and spliced back in the original connector. First time I had ever done that and was quite proud of myself at the time.

[@sixstringedthing]

Nice to see this channel doing well, deserves more subs! The biggest clue about dodgy aftermarket/piggyback chips is in the claims made by the manufacturer/retailer.... "Boosts performance AND economy" is a common one that's physically impossible in the real world. Or claims that you'll get an extra 30-40hp out of your 1.5L NA 4-cyl which the auto maker specifically designed for economy and to meet emissions regs. These are the kinds of chips that will probably end up grenading your engine or melting bits of your engine bay. Good custom/chip-tuning companies who actually put proper talent, dollars and dyno time into developing their products will generally be far more honest. If you're seeking a big performance boost and your vehicle is capable of such, they will probably tell you to ditch the factory computer entirely and be prepared to pay for the increased performance at the pump and in terms of more frequent/rigorous servicing requirements, since the engine and transmission are now more highly strung, running an increased redline, more timing, more boost, whatever. Decent chip-tuning companies should at least inform you that your car now drinks premium fuel only if that wasn't already true, and you certainly won't be using less of it unless you've specifically gone for an economy tune (in which case you won't be gaining any performance). Any extraordinary claims beyond this demand extraordinary evidence to support them.

[@fardali6654]

It was a pleasure to watch you work Car Ninja

[@mule_fritters1]

Yup. Learned a rule long ago when it comes to putting mods on your car. Fast, cheap, reliable, pick 2.

[@nathanpendleton9733]

I would agree i would never run a cheap tuner on anyone of my vehicles! However there are really good ones out there. Ecu flash tunes are always preferred over piggyback tune. However there are some decent piggyback tuners out there such as JB4. You can actually stack them together and not only gain more power, but features like a 2- step, meth injection, anti-lag, boost by gear ect. They also act as another layer of protection for your engine/transmission.

[@WhiteG60]

This exactly. Laughing at guys saying 'IF BMW WANTED IT IN THERE THEY WOULD HAVE PUT IT IN THERE!' With that thinking, no one should EVER mod their car, cuz hey, if the manufacturer wanted it that way, they would have done it!

[@rodneykahane4994]

I've been running a Burger Motorsports jb4 for a year without issue

[@morecowbell235]

Didn't know that chips were still used. I had my S4 modestly flashed with an APR tune and it ran great 100k miles, sold it. Buyer tells me its still running strong.

[@filip-pi9hy]

mostly fore locked ECU after that only tune makes sens same with bmw m3 g80 and m5 and other cars

[@morecowbell235]

@@filip-pi9hy Thanks!

[@bmwbob51]

Magic man! Willing to take the time to do the job right! I made the mistake of taking my 2008 BMW 528i to the dealer for a transmission electronically stuck in park. Bill is up to $6,000 and counting after a week waiting! :(

[@nachobroryan8824]

This reminds me of the kid who put nitrous in his Prius.

[@J-P88]

I think I know that kid, I vaguely remember it had the Fast And Furious "pull my finger" wrap on the car. If only I could remember his name

[@Alex-rj6sv]

that kid's name is Hoovie ..

[@dgk42]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. And then there is Hoovie :)

[@joelewis2267]

​@@J-P88the kid...asking you to pull his finger.............. ....was me.

[@joelewis2267]

NEAT!!!

[@dj_paultuk7052]

I had a 2016 Mercedes A220d 2.2d AMG DCT new from the dealership and got the "Brabus D2 upgrade". Fitted by the dealership also. I was surprised this was also a "Piggyback" system. However it does not effect warranty. Had that car for 105,000 miles and it was great.

[@walterbutscher8438]

Gotta love your repairs on German cars . You would be servicing both of my volkswagen if you did classic cars otherwise you just get one if I lived out there. Great job Johnny

[@Wpjgdmtu]

Jonny, love your work. You'll make a better joint if you tin the wires, then twist, then solder again. Pre tinning stranded wire is the only accepted method by IPC.

[@JoeUrbanYYC]

That's got to be so hard on your back reconnecting 100 wires. We need lifts that could put the car vertically with front down and rear in the air, you could just sit in a char and do that work. ;)

[@French20cent]

My back hurts just watching this, you're brave

[@marioduran7913]

Ninja are forever, John is ninja

[@danarbuckle6640]

Nice work. And nice patience. Most mechanics I know wouldn't take the job.

[@markday5797]

Remember kids, you know more about your car than the engineers that designed your car.😁

[@johnnyghoul8100]

Depends on how obsessed you are 😉

[@houseofno]

If you are going to install a performance chip, get one from Dinan. Don't buy counterfeits. Dinan has a very high level of quality control. There are not many performance chips for my E32 and most that are don't support the CEL (check engine light) which technically makes it illegal to use on a car operated on public roads. Many of sellers of these chips exaggerate the improvements for marketing purposes. The facts are that most of these chips simply remap the fuel maps, raise or remove rev limiters, etc. This may result in a modest performance gain (+20 maybe) but not the exaggerated 50 to 100 hp. Lastly don't buy cheap Chinese counterfeits. I doubt a Chinese company is going to replace your ruined engine. Buyer beware.

[@z06doc86]

Car Ninja saved the day for that Mini. Many shops wouldn’t touch that job.

[@rogerpritchard]

My sister used to live in the original John Coopers house. He had a large house overlooking the English channel. It was in botany close, on a private sea estate called the willowhayne, in West Sussex. Just thought I'd mention it! His car dealership was nearby in Ferring.

[@mikenormandy9250]

I have NEVER looked at an ECU chip, tune or flash for "more power" as a desirable item on a vehicle...As Jonny says, If the manufacturer wanted that much power/torque/fuel mix, etc in the vehicle they would have made it that way...Just save up your money, BUY A FASTER VEHICLE! - LOL. After you spend $6k tuning your $4500 Honda, then it breaks or catches on fire, you have to get a new engine, bleh bleh bleh, You have spent the amount it would've cost for a faster vehicle...Thank you for bringing this to light Jonny...

[@garrypritchard1658]

You are a very good and humble mechanic Jonny all the best from Australia if you ever get to Australia try out a Holden I own 2 1992 commodores buick v6 great simple cars. All the best from Aussie land

[@JohnKaufmann]

The second that I saw you setting up to do the work I immediately thought about how sore my back would be.

[@edjarrett3164]

Great video showing how makeshift engine lower is transitory at best.

[@jhors7777]

Johnny thanks for posting. I love your channel and appreciate your posts.

[@j.g.bloodworth9837]

That Piggy back is toasted!

[@bill747ify]

Why did you not unpin the wires that are not melted and reuse them In the new connector

[@thefast100]

Checked the comments to say the same thing. I'm curious too.

[@zerobucks9]

i have had a bully dog programmer on my 5.9L cummings for 14 years and over 100k miles. Drives at 550+hp year round and tows my RV like a champ. IDK what trash this guy was running, but quality stuff is available.

[@theamazinggoldfish8713]

I just bought the Thornton stage 3 performance chip and I tell you, it works, kinda. It definitely has some hp gain obviously "not" 60, but it has maybe given me 15 to 20 more HP. The new problem is, I've only gotten to drive it twice now and im enjoying the new "getty up" so much that im pushing it through the gears so NO noticable mpg increase yet, still "Totally" worth it. 😁👍

[@jaskajokunen3716]

If you got supporting mods for a stage 3 tune would think you would get more than 20 hp 🤔i got "stage 2" in my volvo and went from 250 to 360hp, but then again i did get a fully custom tune on a dyno.

[@RealRickCox]

You're mispronouncing Bob's name... it's Urination Bob! LOL

[@Mike_Costello]

Didn't Hoovey just say it's urination Bob purveyor of American land yachts.

[@Unfinished_sentenc]

Thank you very much! Liked, subscribed and shared. My absolute favorite KZbin channel by far.

[@noonehere1793]

My 06 cooper works factory built special order has plenty of power for 99% of the driving i do. The only mod i have ever done was to install a catch can to keep the crankcase gasses out of the intake. Mine has 44 k on it since new and i followed it from build to delivery!

[@RexerYTRexer]

You mean oil 😎 mine had so much through the intake over 5k miles

[@SuperMcgenius]

Nice, doing it right 👍 I put a bsr stage one rechip one in my last two Saabs, no problems, but not cheap 600 ,$. 35 more hp. 50 more torque.

[@davidorama6690]

Great to hear a follow up to the fat gasket M3 saga.

[@stevehornett4896]

The risk / reward equation isn't worth it. Way too much risk for just a little reward. That overheating could have become a much more involved vehicle fire. Just not worth it. Jonny, as always, a great video. Please don't stop doing what you do!

[@frankchan5547]

And voids car insurance so you are up for cost of replacement including any finance owed

[@garrypritchard1658]

Very smart and wise mechanic listen to the man who knows what's best for you car not snake oil salesmen telling you can get cheap horse power

[@gazzafloss]

The only benefit from all the "strap on" crap they'll sell you for your car goes to the speed or accessories shop that sells the junk.

[@Rambogner]

Electric superchargers work in the mind of the 18 year old that buys them

[@LycanWitch]

weird to see a performance chip be the thing that had a meltdown rather than the engine. wonder if the performance chip caught fire due to poor design or due to bad install that allowed arcing.

[@Rambogner]

Probably just a resistor that got red hot, most of these chips seem to just be resistors

[@ericglass952]

As a young boy i was allways putting tuneing bit to my cars and thay never worked and my dad allways said the same as you that if the manufacture did not with all there R/d how adding bit would make it better.

[@MKRN98]

The safest way to tune a car is by installing REPUTABLE tuners map onto original DME. Some cheap tune might be catastrophic to the engine as much as this "box". Or, REPUTABLE piggyback, like JB4 when it comes to turbocharged BMWs/Minis. Map is usually cheaper though and all the failsafes are still in place!

[@dalamar6228]

Would it have been worth trying to de-pin the original connector and then swap across pin by pin to the new one? Assuming the pins and wire weren’t too damaged.

[@SamBao]

I'm only 28 and I'm already feeling his back pain

[@seinundzeiten]

best mechanic around

[@khunchai43]

Where are I get Jonny's nose to sniff out my electronic problem?

[@AlessandroGenTLe]

Totally agree with you Ninja, do NOT use these stuff. If you really want then go to a PROPER ECU tuner that will fine tune your ECU software, but don't use stuff that "lie" to the ECU... There are decent ones around, but they are not less than 500$ and you need to have a programmer to tune it, so, in the end, it's cheaper and better to just do the software job on you own ECU.

[@airratchetjockey7605]

I like de-pinning and transferring the good ones and only splicing what’s damaged.

[@stevemonkey6666]

You can always rely on Urination Bob. 👍😁

[@Jushwa]

So something like a Jb4 or Eurosport power pack, junk, but what about something from Dinan or APR? Some of those tunes let you keep your factory warranty?

[@jean-marcandjoshua-petsjournal]

More magic from the Car Ninja.

[@lesklower7281]

Good advice from the Car Ninja leave things alone

[@laptopdragon]

@ 7:26 why use a flame when you have a hot air-heat-gun on the soldering station? also, isn't 480 a little too hot?

[@Kevintherubiconjeep]

Why not de-pin and replaced the housing and just effected wires?

[@eppyz]

What are the Ninja's thoughts on an ECU Re Flash type of tune? Like the ones offered by APR or Unitronic? Not just for Mini's but for VW, Audi and the rest?

[@chrisridebike8]

Yeah. I used a flash tune on my w204 C63 AMG for about 85k miles. No issues. Quality stuff should be no issue. And I hardly ever think a car is “fast enough” as the car ninja says 😂

[@AlexVerdeja-ig8kh]

So is not worth it buying a performance chip??? Thornton tuning for E350 w212 mbz

[@brokensmilephoto]

Piggy backs, and pre-programmed tunes are the biggest risk you'll ever take. Do it right, get it to a professionally who can read and record live data on a dyno and street before reprogramming/reflashing the OEM ecu.

[@hbhamilton3410]

Can use the lift to slightly raise the car up so you won’t strain your back so much?

[@moparmikesms2774]

I have a few friends that have the mini coopers. Just keep an eye on the oil level, one friend lost a motor due to use of oil. Lady who never checked between oil changes.

[@Parknest]

I'm with you Jonny. Have it as the manufacturer intended. The manufacturers spend millions on development so they can't be far wrong. The only car parts worth buying on eBay are genuine used parts.

[@jacknimble1]

Not always true. They are bound by very strict emission regs that factor into the engineering. Not saying that I would toss a cheapo ebay "tuner" on my car but there are tons of well made and reliable ways to electronically tune your car out there.

[@Parknest]

I agree that manufacturers don't always get it right.

[@rposton919]

Pin by pin. Did that back in the day converting Speed-Density EFI to Mass Airflow. No InterWeb, KZbin or anything, it didn't exist. Nothing but wiring diagrams.

[@smoothe4216]

A guy I used to work with at VW used to say you know these Engineers and R&D people at these car manufacturers are paid a lot of money for a reason.

[@GixxerRider1991]

I'm glad I spent the money and got a proper ECU tune for my 370Z. I considered a piggyback tune but it looked sketchy as hell.

[@filip-pi9hy]

well if you have new car ther is no other way ecu are locked and you cant flash them

[@riceball777]

so you don't recommend aftermarket tunes that raise the boost to get more power?

[@realcarninja]

A proper tune and a chip are two different things,

[@houseofno]

Dinan is a reputable company but they're not cheap, they don't support older cars or that counterfeit chip you bought from Ebay.

[@mmmlinux]

How do you feel about smaller supercharger pulleys for these minis.

[@YeeThirty]

2:10 I work in a large scrap yard (salvage yard) in Nova Scotia and we would 100% sell you a pigtail lol. Or you could just go to a u-pull

[@nickguerra1905]

car ninja do u recommmend bilstein shocks as a good replacement to oem

[@SamBao]

Depending on the car, sometimes bilstein is the oem brand. Bilstein also have different grades of shocks within its own brand at different price points too

[@johnnykaraj6115]

Absolutely!!!

[@Unknowndrakard]

So hold on chipping or remap is bad ?

[@russelljacob7955]

Censoring out the graphic imagery of the dirty chip was a nice touch

[@JamesDIYGarage]

So how do you feel about the JB4. Many BMW users use it. I've had it installed in my Maserati Ghibli SQ4 for the last 2 years. No issues.

[@oambrosia]

That's not ebay junk. I ran a Cobb tuner on a Subaru for 100k miles....zero issues related to the tune. Pay for quality and everything is fine.

[@jasong9695]

Ones that actually work fool the ECU into thinking it's less boost so ramps up the pressure a bit, and a decent box will then make the injector pulse harder by ramping up the fuel pressure. These ones actually make more power, but are still no where near a good remap.

[@wernerdanler2742]

I'm sure it cost at least a grand to have you fix their screw-up. I still don't know how you matched up the wires that were the same color. I think you said there were four of them.

[@mrperfect6676]

The car electrician did it...

[@olafvanes]

Look at the pin(number) were the wire goes to and connect it to the same spot on the new connector.

[@miceinoz1181]

Epicenter Garage might be great for dreamers but I like Jonny's channel because they work on real cars available to the masses. BUT, I really cringe when I see a large pair of sidecutters used to strip wire, when proper Blue Point wire strippers are available from the Snap-On van. I would offset each wire join as much as possible to reduce the loom size too.

[@oambrosia]

There's nothing wrong with stripping wires that way. Obviously a proper stripper would be faster.

[@mattmoellentin]

off set wire joints 100%

[@michelswerissen6544]

Thanks Johnny

[@slipsen1843]

He is really clever that guy,albert einstein on cars,best regards from sweden

[@streettosky5983]

Being that you said it was an 07 and it’s still supercharged, is it a convertible? I think 06 was the last year of the supercharged MCS hardtop but I think the convertible stayed a S/C version until 08?

[@streettosky5983]

Ahh I see it now at 10:00 that it is in fact a convertible…

[@BeFlint]

Where are you located Jonny. I'm an E39 guy & could always use a good man to work on my car .... Bill

[@mellou1231]

Wish you had your business in Wiltshire, UK.

[@the_OCD_Garage]

Why did you soldered and I just re-crimped ?

[@titaniumman_22]

How do you feel about a proper tune on say ‘somebody’ had a 2017 Audi A4 😂…? I was considering for just a lil’ extra fun on back roads. Definitely not to abuse and go to tracks.

[@realcarninja]

PROPER tunes are great. We just don't recommend plug and play, one size fits all gizmos.

[@stephenstarling2578]

What was the chip ?I run I piggyback on my car from race chip so far no issues