Hi! Im the one who is associated with the ecu beginning with letter "i"
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It is continuously debated over here if the OEM ECU has to be replaced or not, since (they say) anything can be done with a wideband ME7, so why to spend another grand for a standalone, wiring, additional sensors, etc... And this is true in some extent, no doubt! You cannot use more than 100% injector or N75 duty cycle with a standalone either, you have practically the same ignition advance timing range to use, so there is nothing which would make the engine more powerful... and i have to admit that this is true!
Still going standalone (to any standalone), is a different world. OEM ECUs are primarily for cars in mass production, while standalones allow you to squeeze out the last HPs left in your engine (whether it is good or bad, you decide) and they do it a lot easier than with the stock ECUs.
For example, if you need to install a 3 or 4 bar MAP sensor (so you can at least see your real(!) boost level in the log) that involves of modifying lots of maps in the ME7, so complex that none of the tuners do that over here in my country. Are they incapable or just simply this does not pay out? Who knows. In a standalone, it is just a few mouse clicks away (f.eg opening a preset file for a different MAP scaling/linearization).
Then there is the MAF sensor. The bigger the turbo, the less you want a restriction in front of it! By putting the MAP sensor where it can sniff the vacuum too, the MAF can be ditched without sacrifying anything important. Your engine will not be sensitive to leaks on the intake side, it will idle/run happily without the charge pipe connected to the throttle body. I wish i could count how many times did the charge pipe blow off the turbo or the cooler during mapping cars. When running on MAF the engine dies, when running on MAP you continue to drive safely (without boost of course). OK ME7 can do MAFless, ... is it 100% in every situation (not just at full throttle)? ... especially with the MAP topping up at 2550mbar?!
Then there is (re)programming. You go out to the track or drag strip, you want to fix or alter something in your file... How long does it take to reflash the wideband ME7? At least around 4 minutes (while praying not to brick the ECU) and still you didnt even change anything on the file.... Or better: you map the car on the road (bad habit, do not do that
) and you just want to alter one single digit... Will you pull over, wait for 4 minutes every time? This is all time consuming labour which again does not necessarily pay out when you got a heavily modified, custom spec. built engine. (With a standalone its a fraction of a second).
... and these were just a few things which came into my mind. You have to decide if you need a standalone or not.
