Make a donation

Author Topic: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.  (Read 1686 times)

Offline Zmoohmk5

  • Can't Read PM's Yet!
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 0
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 3
    • Email
Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« on: October 27, 2022, 06:48:57 am »
His significant other knows nothing about it other than it’s got and apr stage 1 tune.

It’s a 2009 DSG GTI with an APR stage one tune. And I know nothing about it.

How do I remap the ecu between factory and stage 1 guys? Is there something I’m supposed to buy in order to be able to reprogram it?

Can anyone help me find instructions on how to use the tune? I’m very new to this.

Many many thanks in advance.

Offline pudding

  • Global Moderator
  • Just look at my post count
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 2
  • -Receive: 690
  • Posts: 8353
Re: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2022, 08:04:35 am »
HP Tuners is the most accessible tuning tool but it costs around £600 for the interface and software.

For that kind of money you might want to consider one of the established mapping services already available.

And if you know nothing about tuning, you really shouldn’t be messing with it anyway as you can very easily blow the engine. HP Academy do online video courses if you want to learn hor to tune engines though. They even have a specific MK5 GTI course  :happy2:

The only way to get it back to standard is via ODIS at VW dealers, but most will refuse to do it as there’s a chance over-writing an aftermarket map will brick the ECU.
« Last Edit: October 27, 2022, 08:06:27 am by Pudding »


2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

Offline Octoparrot

  • Won't Shut up.
  • *****
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 8
  • -Receive: 102
  • Posts: 999
    • Email
Re: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2022, 09:47:55 am »
I think he just wants to be able to switch between the factory and APR map settings, not tune it himself. :thinking:

Offline pudding

  • Global Moderator
  • Just look at my post count
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 2
  • -Receive: 690
  • Posts: 8353
Re: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2022, 11:09:31 am »
He needs to check with APR then. I'm sure they can trace the records back from the VIN number.


2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

Offline Zmoohmk5

  • Can't Read PM's Yet!
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 0
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 3
    • Email
Re: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2022, 03:09:32 pm »
I’ll try reaching out to APR, not sure how much time they’ll want to allocate to helping me though

Offline LC5F

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 16
  • -Receive: 80
  • Posts: 1110
Re: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2022, 02:39:01 pm »
I reached out to them to ask if mine had been remapped by them - pretty fast email reply

Why do you want to go back to standard?
Usually stage 1 is a good improvement over standard without over stressing the engine - especially with a big name like APR - better fuel consumption, better power, better response...

Offline Zmoohmk5

  • Can't Read PM's Yet!
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 0
  • -Receive: 0
  • Posts: 3
    • Email
Re: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2022, 03:34:35 pm »
I’m looking to switch back and forth between stock and stage 1. I’m not the only driver of the car and when it’s boosted, it can be a handful for my gf. I’d also like to learn as much as I can about my mk5 and its ins and outs. I feel like I found the best forum out there. Thanks for the reply’s fellas.

Offline pudding

  • Global Moderator
  • Just look at my post count
  • *
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 2
  • -Receive: 690
  • Posts: 8353
Re: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2022, 08:15:52 pm »
I think with APR you have to pay an additional £150 to have the ability to switch to stock.  Whether the previous owner paid that, who knows. Maybe google how the APR switching works and try it on yours?  Usually it's a combination of key on, key off, key on, press gas pedal to the floor and up on the left stalk.  The rev counter needle will move to 1000rpm for map 1, 2000rpm for map 2, 3000rpm for map 3 and so on.

The thing is though, the stock map won't be the actual factory map, it will be a 'stock like' map which is broadly similar to factory, but not exactly the same.  The reason for that is on these cars, you can only go forwards with the maps, not backwards.  The factory map will have been overwritten by APR's software and therefore a copy of a stockish map will be held in memory somewhere.  You can't get a factory map from anywhere other than main dealers, and obviously tuning company X, Y, Z can't ring up VW and ask for a copy of the map.

If you're into learning about the car, then it might help to explain how the software and coding works.  See, Apple learned from VAG in locking hardware down to software keys.  The only way you can get software onto things like engine, gearbox and steering ECUs is to connect the car up to VW's servers. It then reads the VIN and downloads the specific software for that module. You cannot pick and choose what you want, for example, the engine map from an S3, or the steering profile from a Passat etc etc. It's all tied down to the VIN.

Revo keep a copy of a stock like map in memory, but you have to pay £120 for an OBD2 switch box to change over to it.

You'll just have to teach your other half to be gentle with the gas pedal in bad weather  :grin:


2007 ED30 | 2009 TDI 140 | 2016 BMW 330D

Offline LC5F

  • Just look at my post count
  • ******
  • Thank You
  • -Given: 16
  • -Receive: 80
  • Posts: 1110
Re: Bought MK5 that was owned by a person who’s now deceased.
« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2022, 06:55:09 pm »
I’m looking to switch back and forth between stock and stage 1. I’m not the only driver of the car and when it’s boosted, it can be a handful for my gf.

Makes sense - a lot is confidence, maybe invest in few performance driving tuition sessions... Christmas is coming!