Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Odd noises

Interesting. It looks like MMC are in control then. I wonder how race development of a CX will go regarding remaps? Will MMC unlock for map development and who will they allow access to?
I've seen one race ready Plus Four and it was described as "quick" in standard form. Brakes, suspension, exhaust developments etc were planned before exploring remaps later.

I've been doing a little background reading on Euro standards and the locking of the ECU software It could be to do with UN R155 which deals with cybersecurity within the vehicle manufacturers supply chain and life cycle.

An extract from Euro 7 discussions:-

''The anti-tampering requirements of Euro 7 introduce the obligation for manufacturers to minimize tampering vulnerabilities throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle. Focus is on emission control systems and odometer. These requirements could be adapted from UN R155 into Euro 7 implementing rules.''

So from Euro 7 without question you will find the ECU sealed for life.so people can't switch off/tamper with clean emissions systems.

ECU 's made by man or locked by a programme -can be unlocked by another man, just ask Elon.

Cain at Wolf Performance has a workaround for getting into the Cyclone engines ECU apparently.

I believe with the CX Plus Fours it's only now that the ECU has been fully locked with John V6 being one of the first, and it's presumed all new cars will follow suit.

Quite possibly, but what you may find is an error message is created once the software has been accessed and picked up when the car is next scanned for servicing or annual road worthy testing or if any accessory of the car is connected to the internet etc. It becoming increasingly important that core software cannot be hacked as we move to cars self driving etc.

I am sure that you are right JH , however this whole topic raises questions of privacy and ownership and legislation has not really caught up . I trust we are a long way off self driving out here in the far reaches of the empire... Though I did witness the first experiments of it
in inner city Auckland some years ago -not impressed.

A mate of mine had an add blue error come up on his just out of warranty Motorhome apparently it crystalises and damages the sensor.The new tank with built in sensor was about 800 quid, he got a man out to remove the addblue through a computer program and increase his bhp at the same time. It later passed its Mot with no ill effects.You can see why manufacturers want to lock the ecu, whether we agree or not is a different matter. Em

I wonder if the locking and subsequent blocking of the ability to access would be a restrictive practice? Not a problem to keep an item within warranty or even beyond under the " fitness for purpose" or "reasonable expected life" that can continue beyond warranty.
By modifying the ecu then if any problems occur that are influenced by that mod then rights would be forfeited.
This appears to be happening with remapped cars where problems have arisen post remap and manufacturers/dealers argue their case using this as a get-out.
I was following such a case in Pistonheads re a dealer selling a car as " standard" but a remap was found when faults occured later. The car basically blew an after market exhaust not an OE one. The dispute was based on the dealer claiming the car was sold as in OE condition whilst the buyer argued they had not checked the mapping . If I remember correctly the buyer won his claim as the dealer and manufacturer didn't checkfor or pick up the remap before selling it.
Also, if you remap but later sell the car will that be declared to the buyer?
It looks like a legal minefield. Manufacturer locks it to safeguard themselves versus buyer not able to modify what has become HIS property.

It's only reasonable to protect themselves if you want a warranty that they are on the hook for.

After the warranty period you make your choice of where the line in your wallet stops. Bow a modern engine, or resulting gearbox and you are on the hook for >£10k and probably a lot of hassle afterwards if things don't set correctly.

It will become more interest as the new "software defined vehicles" blather sets in. In essence features turned on or off through software. This could be with a subscription or just at time of purchase. They are already doing it and it is rapidly increasing with the multi-branding of platforms. VW ID with four+ brands and now Ford selling it.

Case in point for a 2017 car. My MB E63 has an option of Carplay/AndAuto as a paid option. The tin is essentially already in there. I had the speakers and amp upgraded by a very highly skilled bunch in Lightwater called Comand. They said they could add a code to unlock Carplay but it would be £600. £100 was for them to do the upgrade tweak with their braincell machine and £500 to Mercedes to update the Big Cloud Braincell that registers all the servicing stuff. Essentially this would pay MB to change the record in the big computer to reflect the car being Carplay enabled.

The issue is that if a new software release or bit of hardware in the car is needed then the code flashed down from the Big Braincell to setup it up on the car would overwrite any local changes based on the profile up on the big MB computer. So I would lose CarPlay unless it was in the big one. So I could cheat and just let them do it (£100) then not get any updates, or ask them to do it again after an update. Is it really worth all the effort, is time worth more than money? (Given we have a first world issue at this point, if I am still allowed to say such a separatist statement)

Right this is where the Trad boys light the fire using car electrics....stand back.

NZ is one country I hope to drive a Morgan around one day. Last Time I did it was on a V8 Falcon and that was great fun.

A further question is who owns the intellectual property rights of the software, if its the manufacturer then they may never pass on the rights to a purchaser and in effect just licence them to use the software but never own it.