Motiv Flex Fuel Installation Guide

Jake@MHD

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Nov 7, 2016
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After several friendly E-mails and weeks later; Motiv has failed to reply and fix the issue for me.
Another reason for me to not recommend buying the E sensor kit from Motiv unfortunatly.

What is your email address and who did you send them to? I don't work for Motiv, but will pass the info to Chris.
 
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fmorelli

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Aug 11, 2017
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Yes you can order many things from China and No that does not mean you don't care about quality control. Many item's are exactly what they are advertised as which is often the same product that came from the official assembly line.
All your messages so far seem to be based on assumptions and little personal experience. There is lack of support in your messages anyway. Now go ahead and actually get yourself informed and ask me or anyone else (this Chinese turbo topic perhaps?) about Chinese parts before you continue your anti-Chinese ranting.
Your and my experience are vastly different. I have a shit ton of experience, which makes me "well informed" as you say. I've also had parts manufactured in China for one of my businesses - only a few, but as a consumer that probably makes me more informed than the average guy.

I agree that one can get parts from China that are equal to what one gets in the USA - after all, lots of stuff in the USA comes from China ... so ... Q.E.D. right? BUT ... quality varies in one-off purchases. One may do well, one may not do so well. I have probably bought on the order of 500 products directly from China, aside from having stuff made there. That sample set is large enough to have a "well informed" opinion, would you not agree?

The problem is ... one has to be an informed buyer ... and I won't go into what that means (I'm already well off this thread's purpose), but being "informed" is a multi-sided issue. Anyone who has extensively purchased would be "well informed" and understand this, assuming they have intelligently learned from the process. So ... this is why one may choose to purchase from a retailer that has done the legwork, or the company that stands behind the product it is selling. One pays for that. How much it is worth is a personal choice, for sure.

This isn't China bashing (let's throw out more personal commentary instead of discussing the issue, eh). I buy quite a bit from China today. I have had great vendor experiences, and the Chinese people I've interacted with in sales are friendly and tend to want to make things right. But now that I've defended that ridiculous comment, I'll say the above stands. China is not yet Japan ... or Taiwan. It is climbing that QC hill (just like Japan and Taiwan did).

Signed, "well informed"

Filippo
 
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alvinhobh

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Mar 8, 2018
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What is the best way to reach Motiv Motorsports? I placed an order for the flex fuel sensor on October 11th. On the 15th I got a pre-shipping tracking number, but still has not been shipped. I called and email but never got a reply. Is there a better contact person?

Thanks,
Alvaro
 
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I've had the same experience. The item was not shipped until i threatened to get my money back. Then it was shipped within a day all of a sudden.
Either way i recommend to buy the sensor and fuel line separately from a different company. It will save time and money.
 
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alvinhobh

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Mar 8, 2018
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I've had the same experience. The item was not shipped until i threatened to get my money back. Then it was shipped within a day all of a sudden.
Either way i recommend to buy the sensor and fuel line separately from a different company. It will save time and money.


Thanks. I already have the lines, just need their sensor. It is frustrating when you hear nothing from the vendor, I wouldn't mind waiting if I at least got one email letting me know whats up.
 

martymil

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Sep 6, 2017
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Quick question, is it possible to install the flex fuel module and do all the wiring with a non flex fuel map ?

Reason if I have a flex tune installed and I wanted to flash a non flex tune for an all out dyno day map do I have to remove any wiring ?

Skimmed through the whole thread but cant seem to find a clear answer.
 

Jake@MHD

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Quick question, is it possible to install the flex fuel module and do all the wiring with a non flex fuel map ?

Reason if I have a flex tune installed and I wanted to flash a non flex tune for an all out dyno day map do I have to remove any wiring ?

Skimmed through the whole thread but cant seem to find a clear answer.

You can, but USA cars can potentially throw a code or two so I did not recommend it. You should be fine. Alternatively, you could just set the E85 maps to be the same as your pump maps in this tune in question, then it would function like a normal tune :)
 

Rundskop

New Member
Mar 10, 2019
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N54 135i Auto
Installed Motiv Flex Fuel kit with new lines and sensor mounted under driver side of car.

Initially ethanol read 8%, but randomly jumped to 100%. Hasn't gone down since.

Checked wiring and everything looked good. Module is grounded to chassis as directed in instructions. Any thoughts?
 

NoQuarter

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Nov 24, 2017
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Z4 35is, 535xi, X5 35i
Installed Motiv Flex Fuel kit with new lines and sensor mounted under driver side of car.

Initially ethanol read 8%, but randomly jumped to 100%. Hasn't gone down since.

Checked wiring and everything looked good. Module is grounded to chassis as directed in instructions. Any thoughts?

I know there are a LOT of threads here but I am pretty sure that many of these posts that describe this is evidence that your tune is not properly set for flex fuel.
 
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Jake@MHD

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Nov 7, 2016
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Installed Motiv Flex Fuel kit with new lines and sensor mounted under driver side of car.

Initially ethanol read 8%, but randomly jumped to 100%. Hasn't gone down since.

Checked wiring and everything looked good. Module is grounded to chassis as directed in instructions. Any thoughts?

Hi, I will PM you back to help troubleshoot. Most likely tune was not correctly formatted.
 

Rundskop

New Member
Mar 10, 2019
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I know there are a LOT of threads here but I am pretty sure that many of these posts that describe this is evidence that your tune is not properly set for flex fuel.

Thanks. I've been going through the instructions to see what could have gone wrong.

I realized that it says to have the Flex Fuel license purchased, prior to installing the Motiv module. I did not purchase it until after install the sensor and module, which is when I flashed the FF tune.

It also says to connect the sensor after the DME connections have been repinned. I believe the sensor was clipped and the wires were ran up to the DME after wards.

With that, I may need to disconnect the sensor, put back the wires and try again.
 

101duck

Specialist
Nov 5, 2016
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Straya
Wanna know how to confuse your customers lol.

Y'all need to revise your stickers. Know how long it takes you to double check the wiring 20 times vs the sticker supplied lol.
 

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matreyia

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Apr 19, 2017
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Anyone know why the ethanol sensor would suddenly show 100%. Causing backfiring and leads to misfires not even under load driving.
 

matreyia

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What is ECA voltage logging as? And DME codes?

It just snapped back to 80%. I reset codes in order to drive again. But they were misfire codes and o2 line temperature codes....car sounded like a bunch of guns shooting intermittently for no reason. Was very scary. On freeway.

This happened after installing BMS BOV adapter. Vader Solutions BOV adapter did not give any issues. BMS BOV adapter is substantially slower to respond than Vader. Like 2x slower.

Maybe causing vacuum related issues? BMS BOV connects directly to throttle body qhile Vader connects to manifold. Also BMS BOV replaced the RB throttle connector from the RB PCV delete kit. There are visual differences in internal structurenof RB throttle connector vs. BMS Connector.

No idea if this matters.
 

Jake@MHD

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It just snapped back to 80%. I reset codes in order to drive again. But they were misfire codes and o2 line temperature codes....car sounded like a bunch of guns shooting intermittently for no reason. Was very scary. On freeway.

This happened after installing BMS BOV adapter. Vader Solutions BOV adapter did not give any issues. BMS BOV adapter is substantially slower to respond than Vader. Like 2x slower.

Maybe causing vacuum related issues? BMS BOV connects directly to throttle body qhile Vader connects to manifold. Also BMS BOV replaced the RB throttle connector from the RB PCV delete kit. There are visual differences in internal structurenof RB throttle connector vs. BMS Connector.

No idea if this matters.

ECA going to 100% would not cause what you described above, especially at low load and if you have E80 in tank. Not sure why it happened without seeing the ECA voltage as well.
 

matreyia

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Apr 19, 2017
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ECA going to 100% would not cause what you described above, especially at low load and if you have E80 in tank. Not sure why it happened without seeing the ECA voltage as well.

I will reinstall Vader kit and do a long test drive. Updates when done.
 

matreyia

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Apr 19, 2017
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ECA going to 100% would not cause what you described above, especially at low load and if you have E80 in tank. Not sure why it happened without seeing the ECA voltage as well.

Changed back to Vader Solutions BOV Adapter setup and problems went away. Tested again with BMS BOV adapter and car went apeshit. Would misfire and show o2 sensor temperature faults. Starts out ok, after 5 mins driving, spitfire, explosions in tail pipe and misfire. Test back and forth four times between BMS vs. Vader Manifold BOV kit. I don't think my car likes the BOV hose right at the throttle body at all...the ECU appears to be compensating fuel mixture for some reason and running ultra rich when BMS kit is used. I wonder if anyone else has had any different performance after they installed this BMS BOV adapter.

As for the FF system...I don't know what caused it to do what it did, but it operates fine now with normal ethanol readings.

Also... I can confirm on my particular car, the BOV transient response is 1.5 to 2x more sensitive when using the manifold and not the throttle body. I thought it would be the opposite but it isn't. When using the Vader kit on the manifold, the BOV activates at the slightest push of the pedal and release. When using the BMS kit on the throttle body, the BOV only activates upon noticeably more pedal push...about 15-20% pedal input is needed to activate the BOV. These are my observations on my car. See result of detonation in photo. Will do a proper BMS BOV Review elsewhere. Sorry for straying from subject.
20190406_100319.jpg
 
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