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Disappointed with BAMA Tunes

12K views 98 replies 23 participants last post by  AlexSpecht 
#1 · (Edited)
Bought the Race and Performance v2 tunes.

Both LOST power above 5500 RPMS compared to stock. Yes, lost power and tq. Max power stock was 363 rwhp, after installing performance v2 was 356, and with race v2, was 361. MPG also went down about 2 MPG.

I was asked to Datalog on Tuesday, sent it in, they reviewed and asked for a second datalog. Sent it late Tuesday. As of now, there’s still no response from BAMA, over 48 hrs later. Not even an email update to say “Hey we’re working on it, we’ll keep you updated. You should have your tune by next Tuesday.” Or something along those lines. It’s just plain bad service to leave your customers hanging, their questions unanswered.

So, to recap: SLOW customer service, decreased MPG, and tunes that LOST power. What’s the point of spending your hard earned dough with a company like that. No thanks! I’m done with them.

Ugh.
 
#3 ·
This is the tuner I am using. Dude has my 4V swap running GREAT from half a country away.

WELCOME TO TUNING BY JAMES

I'm using a $100 X3 I got used on ebay, the free SCT Livelink software and the price agreed upon with my tuner (its very reasonable) and I'm on I think my 8th tune revision right now because he is a perfectionist. Obviously also a wideband.

I've had 3 different revisions today for WOT pulls and the guy has my AFR at WOT almost perfect now. Car starts and idles like stock, drivability is great, I'm probably 2 or 3 more datalogs away from perfect.

Cannot recommend this guy enough. He's got about 20 years of experience, came up with SVT during the Terminator project and still has a near 300k mile original Mach1 that was a SVT testbed back in the day still going strong.
 
#12 ·
Lund Racing
 
#6 ·
No, two days apart; however, the temp on the stock run was 51F, 25% humidity, and for the others, was 52F, 21% humidity. They were run on the same dyno.
 
#8 ·
??
 
#16 ·
Ok I'm talking about the "steeda tunes for life".
 
#18 ·
What's a "Wideband" that you guys mention?
 
#20 ·
Sounds helpful.
I think I'm just going to leave my GT stock, save the $ for a supercharger.
 
#24 ·
AFIAK the 11+ cars all have factory widebands that can be monitored with various tuning devices. In 10-down cars you need to do an aftermarket one and then bug the analog output into a firewire or supplied cable so the tuning device can read the actual wideband signal in realtime. This is how mine works. My exhaust has an extra sensor in it, goes to a gauge, the gauge reads the AFR so I can see it but I also bugged the analog output into a firewire which comes out of my glovebox. When I do a datalog I have a laptop in the pass seat, the SCT plugged into the OBD2 port and the laptop AND the firewire all at the same time. Livelink SCT software records everything in a rapid rate logfile that I can save and send out to my tuner to be analyzed and tweaked. You can get a tune dead to rights this way without ever going to a dyno. Actually its more accurate because its real road conditions vs a controlled shop.
 
#26 ·
Eh... not really a pain IMO. Just wiring. Pull the radio, but all that stuff into the radio, ohm out a firewire and wire the correct pin to analog1 and call it good.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Care to explain, war horse?

Other issues I’ve noticed are that my speedometer is off by 10-12 MPH, doesn’t idle at 700-800 like factory (idles about 1000), and there is a STRONG fuel/unburnt hydrocarbon smell so I think it’s probably running too rich.

It’s a ****ing disaster.
 
#30 ·
BAMA

Funny, I have had nothing but a good experience with the way my BAMA tunes have performed. As for customer service it’s certianly not fast or top notch and needs improvement. Yet, as all the haters rightfully point out BAMA is a bargain one size fits all product, but for some reason people seem to be expecting a premium experience from a bargain product. So I ask them, would you go into a Wal Mart and expect top notch customer service with a pampered experience?

My 1999 GT which I have owned since new has ran great on a BAMA 93 race tune for years. My gas milage is fantastic at 21 MPG doing mostly city/suburban driving and some highway. When I first got it I already had a CAI and after uploading I immediately noticed what had to be a significant increase in torque because my car went from mildly spinning my tires to smoking them like bloody hell even when walking it off the line under WOT. I now smoked them through 1st and going well into 2nd even when doing a rolling start. It used to require taching it up and dumping, or slipping the clutch out to do anything like this. As I have souped the car up, each time I got new program within a half day to a day (during the week.) Currently, I have nearly every bolt imaginable including quality long tube internally and externally coated SLP headers with thier high flow catted x.

I have never had it dynoed, nor has it been to the track, but it runs amazing. As proof, I have no problem running a car or so behind my friends stock 2012 GT and easily taking another's stock 2017 WRX. This is certianly something to be happy with from a 19 year old car this February that has 90’s tech on a 140k motor with the original oil pan and valve cover gaskets on it. Of course when you go big anyone even suggesting using a canned tune is nuts. So when I get the heads done and a cam with valve train uprade this summer it will get a proper dyno tune by one of the Mustang shops in my area.
 
#31 ·
Funny, I have had nothing but a good experience with the way my BAMA tunes have performed. As for customer service it’s certianly not fast or top notch and needs improvement. Yet, as all the haters rightfully point out BAMA is a bargain one size fits all product, but for some reason people seem to be expecting a premium experience from a bargain product. So I ask them, would you go into a Wal Mart and expect top notch customer service with a pampered experience?

My 1999 GT which I have owned since new has ran great on a BAMA 93 race tune for years. My gas milage is fantastic at 21 MPG doing mostly city/suburban driving and some highway. When I first got it I already had a CAI and after uploading I immediately noticed what had to be a significant increase in torque because my car went from mildly spinning my tires to smoking them like bloody hell even when walking it off the line under WOT. I now smoked them through 1st and going well into 2nd even when doing a rolling start. It used to require taching it up and dumping, or slipping the clutch out to do anything like this. As I have souped the car up, each time I got new program within a half day to a day (during the week.) Currently, I have nearly every bolt imaginable including quality long tube internally and externally coated SLP headers with thier high flow catted x.

I have never had it dynoed, nor has it been to the track, but it runs amazing. As proof, I have no problem running a car or so behind my friends stock 2012 GT and easily taking another's stock 2017 WRX. This is certianly something to be happy with from a 19 year old car this February that has 90’s tech on a 140k motor with the original oil pan and valve cover gaskets on it. Of course when you go big anyone even suggesting using a canned tune is nuts. So when I get the heads done and a cam with valve train uprade this summer it will get a proper dyno tune by one of the Mustang shops in my area.
What is your air fuel at when you are at WOT to redline?
 
#32 ·
I have no idea and never thought of getting a wideband because my car runs like butter from idle to about 5800 when I shift and anytime I have pulled the plugs all was well. From day one when I uploaded the original tune it honestly seemed to run better than it did stock. A little off topic but the SLP long tube headers with xpipe was were def the best upgrade I have made and it really smoothed it out at idle, while making it sound beast mode above 4k.

This summer I will likely put a wideband on it before I do the heads and cams, then post back. Hopfully money permits and I will get the rear built up for stickies and drop some 3.73’s in as well. I have big plans :)
 
#33 · (Edited)
If you don't know what your AFR is then you probably shouldn't be talking about how great the tune is... Because you have no idea if the tune is even safe.

Running a tune without a wideband is also not a great idea... its actually a very bad one.
 
#36 ·
What is your AFR from 1500 to 7K at WOT?
 
#38 ·
My Bama tunes on my 5.0 had a fair bit of knock. There's enough bad data on BAMA that i cant believe some people are so stubborn about it... and yes, stubborn is the right word. There's enough other good tuners with good, proven, results that running BAMA shouldn't even be a discussion.
 
#39 · (Edited)
Voltwing -
How can you tell it had knock? I am NOT questioning you - I’m just a car newb, so any info you can give is greatly appreciated.

I honestly regret going with them.
So far it’s the start of business day 5, and haven’t heard a peep.
 
#43 ·
I purchased a Bama X4/SF4 Power Flash Tuner with tunes for life from American Muscle and have not been impressed with their tunes as well. So here is probably a stupid question (not my first LOL) - With this tuner am I stuck with using BAMA tunes or can such device be used to load tunes from other recommended companies?
 
#44 ·
I've said this 100X (not a personal stab at you) but hopefully it catches on at some point lol.

Think of your handheld tuner as a DVD player you bought from Best buy, and think of tunes as DVDs. Even though you bought the DVD player from Best Buy, will it only play DVDs from Best Buy, or will it play DVDs from anywhere. That's the best way i can think to explain it.
 
#46 ·
Honestly, I did no research other than read some reviews. Did email some questions I had to AM and they never really answered my question of "will this show improvement on a manual transmission car?" My previous experience was based solely on a superchips tuner I had for my 05 Dakota 4,7L. That tuner literally made a night and day "seat of the pants" difference in the way that truck drove. It was an automatic, so it was the changes to the shift points made the differences quite noticeable. As in it held gears longer and the shifts were snappier, which, in turn, made it much more fun to drive. I guess I was hoping this would be another "best bang for the buck" mod I could do like it did for the Dak. Seems like I was expecting too much. I can't tell a damn thing between any of the three tunes except the race tune causes my engine to ping under load. Lesson learned.
 
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