Identifying a Tune on Potentential Purchase

[fourthirteen]

I’m considering purchasing a 2018 G80 3.3t from a local dealer. It has cold air intakes, atmospheric BOVs, and muffler delete. Dealer says it “may” have a tune but doesn’t know for sure, so I’m trying to figure out if it does. Seems that most of these tunes are piggyback systems with their own black boxes connected into boost sensor and other lines in the engine compartment and I’m not seeing that in this car.
Attached is photo of its engine compartment. Is it possible to tell if it has a tune by looking at this photo?
Thanks for any help.

 

[fourthirteen]

Hmmm…49 views and no response. I thought this was an easy question for the tuning crowd.
The more I look into it the more i doubt that it has a tune. Most tunes have a boost sensor splice where the blue circle is in this photo, and the piggyback black box is usually mounted where the yellow circle is, neither of which are present here.
I have a Launch X431 that I can data log with so maybe I’ll test drive it again and see what the boost values are. More than about 13 psi would indicate a tune.
Any input is appreciated.

 

[dareckibmw]

I doubt you'd be able to tell if there was JB4 piggyback hooked up to it. Unless there are "marks/scratches,etc", which you said there isn't.
I had mine unit/box hidden behind the fuse box and all wires are blended in. See if you can spot them? haha! I only marked yellow where the box is and 2 connectors were plugged in.
Actually, they are plugged in!

 

[fourthirteen]

@dareckibmw Yeah, your install is very neat. Looks great. Thanks for the feedback.
And I love the red G80 in your sig!

 

[dareckibmw]

@dareckibmw Yeah, your install is very neat. Looks great. Thanks for the feedback.
And I love the red G80 in your sig!

Thank you! Too bad, the car is gone. Traded it in for 2023 GV70 3.5
Ps. I still have the tune from my 2018 G80 sport. Not JB4 piggyback but tuned ECU and TCU by Korean tuner named Lozic. let me know if you'd be interested. That is, if you buy this car.

 

[Marc_greenleaf]

Hmmm…49 views and no response. I thought this was an easy question for the tuning crowd.
The more I look into it the more i doubt that it has a tune. Most tunes have a boost sensor splice where the blue circle is in this photo, and the piggyback black box is usually mounted where the yellow circle is, neither of which are present here.
I have a Launch X431 that I can data log with so maybe I’ll test drive it again and see what the boost values are. More than about 13 psi would indicate a tune.
Any input is appreciated.

View attachment 51083

If it was a piggy back you would see it if still there.
However, the dealer should be able run a diagnostic and tell if the e u has been flashed with a tune.

 

[EdP]

Hmmm…49 views and no response. I thought this was an easy question for the tuning crowd.
The more I look into it the more i doubt that it has a tune. Most tunes have a boost sensor splice where the blue circle is in this photo, and the piggyback black box is usually mounted where the yellow circle is, neither of which are present here.
I have a Launch X431 that I can data log with so maybe I’ll test drive it again and see what the boost values are. More than about 13 psi would indicate a tune.
Any input is appreciated.

View attachment 51083

You may not want my input. Do you want to buy a car with a tune? Personally, I'd not touch it.

Any high performance car or any car with a tune has been driven hard, lots of high rpm driving, lots of stress on the drivetrain. As second owner, the drivetrain warranty is down to 5/60.

If you are OK with that, go for it.

 

[fourthirteen]

You may not want my input. Do you want to buy a car with a tune? Personally, I'd not touch it.

Any high performance car or any car with a tune has been driven hard, lots of high rpm driving, lots of stress on the drivetrain. As second owner, the drivetrain warranty is down to 5/60.

If you are OK with that, go for it.

I agree with everything you say. The presence of a tune would discourage me from buying it.
I’ve decided to move on from this car and continue the search. Too many unknowns.
Thanks for everyone’s help.

 

[DrFSS]

I guess you could always try another one from the dealer and see if there's actual performance differences.
At least air intakes wouldn't do much for performance (especially since this is a hot air intake) and you'd be able to tell if it were faster than stock.