Which tuner? EZ-Lynk vs EFI Live vs MM3.

[MEGA HO]

1st thing 1st, I only want to discuss the pros and cons of the tuning devices themselves, not any particular tuner that actually creates PCM flash files.

MM3 and EFI Live are, for the lack of a better word, offline tuners. You load your files in them and then flash the truck and you're done. If you want to try different files, you'll need to load them into the devices and then re-flash. It is my understanding that you could keep a large number of different flash files and from various tuners if you like, and then try whatever you like anytime you like.

EZ-Lynk is a "cloud" device and it will not store any flash files in its memory other than that one file you downloaded and flashed your truck with. Did I get this right? So while there's unlimited support package that guarantees access to all the available tunes, no one can guarantee that the company will stay out of environmental agencies radar forever, and so once they're gone, you're stuck with whatever you've got in your truck at the moment.
And then there's security concern. Being a cloud service by default means there's a customer database and if the company is shut down and EPA gets its hands on this database and decided to go after everyone on the list, you're done. I may be overthinking this but tell me this couldn't happen?

So while I sort of like EZ-Lynk I'm leaning more towards the other 2. Chosing between the EFI Live and MM3, is one of them really that much better than the other? Or is one of them lacking critical / important features the other one has? I'm not interested in a flashy big screen with gauges, etc, staring into my face the whole time I drive my truck so even with MM3, I'd probably tuck it in somewhere out of the way out of sight. With 5 tune files, MM3 does not offer SOTF for 19+ trucks while the other one does (1 point here), MM3 offers optional pyro probe for EGT monitoring (1 point here), other than that I can't justify 50% higher price of MM3 tuner, unless I'm missing something or unaware of some serious drawbacks of EFI Live tuners?

My Diesel tuning is limited to theoretical knowledge so any pointers from more experienced folks will be appreciated.

[MOD: HDRAMS does not condone or endorse emissions modifications where illegal.]

 

[gimmie11s]

In for the knowledge...

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Efi live only because the cloud system with ez link could be shut down easy (more so lately with the liberal hippys hating on diesels for the last 10years) and your tunes you paid for lost. The only upside to EZ link is the unlimited support… and mm3 seems to be lacking support where the Efi live has been out for decades and used by many tuners

 

[MEGA HO]

Another point for EFI Live is that one programmer can be used for multiple vehicles. Each vehicle will have to have their own personal files, but the device itself is not locked onto one vehicle as it is the case with MM3 (not sure about ez lynk).

 

[MEGA HO]

Anyone knows if the tuner can be unplugged and a truck would operate with new tuning, or does the device have to stay in the vehicle at all times?

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Ez link vin locks also and needs to remain installed

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Efi is not kept plugged in only the bypass if you want to use SOTF

 

[MtnRider]

EZ lynk gets my vote. Files can be upload directly to your account so no transfer from a computer etc. You can use the auto agent app as a monitor and it also has many functions you can do from changing tire pressure, tire size, trans quick learn and the list goes on.
The Ez lynk does not need to stay connected, and while the files are uploaded to "the cloud" you can download them to your device as well. I have every tune my tuner has to offer downloaded locally. Super easy to use and get updates for as well.


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[MEGA HO]

EZ lynk gets my vote. Files can be upload directly to your account so no transfer from a computer etc. You can use the auto agent app as a monitor and it also has many functions you can do from changing tire pressure, tire size, trans quick learn and the list goes on.
The Ez lynk does not need to stay connected, and while the files are uploaded to "the cloud" you can download them to your device as well. I have every tune my tuner has to offer downloaded locally. Super easy to use and get updates for as well.


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So you're saying if you, lets say have a few different tunes for your truck, you can keep them all in your device and can re-flash without connecting to the cloud?
Is there an option to NOT update your files once you connect, to keep them from being overwritten?

 

[MtnRider]

So you're saying if you, lets say have a few different tunes for your truck, you can keep them all in your device and can re-flash without connecting to the cloud?
Is there an option to NOT update your files once you connect, to keep them from being overwritten?

Correct. I actually have the tunes download on a couple of devices and can use any of them to load a new tune or monitor. Tune updates are sent from your tuner and you can choose to download them or not. They don't over write anything, they will be named differently. And nothing happens until you physically change tunes, it doesn;t do anything without action on your part
The auto agent app (the app on your phone or tablet) can be updated through the play store/apple store and does not effect the tunes and the EZlynk device itself also gets firmware updates on occasion which you can choose to install or not, they also do not effect the tunes.

Pretty sure Ez-lynk is the more preferred device these days by the top tuners.

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[Riddick]

Call me old fashioned but I like EFI Live for the simplicity. EZ Lynk sounds great but what happens when the cloud goes down. I like having everything on hand and ready to go. No telling if the cloud will be around in 5 years.

MM3 sounds like a great option to but it's the most expensive. It comes with a nice interface and you can set up gauges for monitoring PIDS if that's your thing. For me I'd rather load the tune and be done with it.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

One more big reason i prefer EfI live is the cable connection one less thing to worry about in my mind

 

[MEGA HO]

Correct. I actually have the tunes download on a couple of devices and can use any of them to load a new tune or monitor. Tune updates are sent from your tuner and you can choose to download them or not. They don't over write anything, they will be named differently. And nothing happens until you physically change tunes, it doesn;t do anything without action on your part
The auto agent app (the app on your phone or tablet) can be updated through the play store/apple store and does not effect the tunes and the EZlynk device itself also gets firmware updates on occasion which you can choose to install or not, they also do not effect the tunes.

Pretty sure Ez-lynk is the more preferred device these days by the top tuners.

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Can the tunes be saved to an SD card (if there's an SD card slot in EZ Lynk) or copied to a phone's storage for backup and then sideloaded back into the EZ Lynk?
Just as @Riddick said, I too am old fashioned and like to have everything on hands. I do old fashioned backups of all my important files, I don't want to depend on a cloud. What I'm trying to understand is how much EZ Lynk is dependent on a cloud service. Can this tuner be used in a similar fashion as EFI Live or MM3? By this I mean can it work as an offline tuner doing backups and sideloading tune files to/from the external storage?

 

[Surf2snow1]

Can the tunes be saved to an SD card (if there's an SD card slot in EZ Lynk) or copied to a phone's storage for backup and then sideloaded back into the EZ Lynk?
Just as @Riddick said, I too am old fashioned and like to have everything on hands. I do old fashioned backups of all my important files, I don't want to depend on a cloud. What I'm trying to understand is how much EZ Lynk is dependent on a cloud service. Can this tuner be used in a similar fashion as EFI Live or MM3? By this I mean can it work as an offline tuner doing backups and sideloading tune files to/from the external storage?

There isn’t a way to side load in to the Ez Lynk. Essentially the tuner has an account with ez Lynk. An easy way to think of it is they set up a folder on a share drive that only your vin can access. It’ll have different tunes loaded to that folder. With your phone/computer/whatever app, you can select which tunes you want to load to your local device. When the tunes are loaded to the truck, your device will connect via Bluetooth to the ez Lynk box that you connect to the truck. Follow the on-device instructions. When the tuning is complete, you disconnect the Box that was plugged in (unless you want to leave it connected to monitor/record what’s happening).

 

[Surf2snow1]

Here’s an old screenshot I had. Also, about recordings. You can record what’s happening while you drive and send that recording to your tuner to review. So if you’re getting a CEL at 2700 rpm under wide open throttle, it can help them diagnose what’s wrong with the tune.

 

[MEGA HO]

Gotcha!
So can't back up my files and they can only be stored on a cloud or in the app if you downloaded them (yes?).
So this means if the cloud is shut down and I eventually lose/break/upgrade my smartphone, all my files are gone.
That's a big no for me, thank you for explanation, I think I'll go with EFI Live, it too can log data that I could send to get it analyzed.

 

[MtnRider]

Gotcha!
So can't back up my files and they can only be stored on a cloud or in the app if you downloaded them (yes?).
So this means if the cloud is shut down and I eventually lose/break/upgrade my smartphone, all my files are gone.
That's a big no for me, thank you for explanation, I think I'll go with EFI Live, it too can log data that I could send to get it analyzed.

Once you download the tunes they are on your device, if the cloud goes away you still have the files you downloaded. Now if you break or lose your phone there are ways to back up the files (or have them on multiple devices like I do) but you have to be a little tech savvy to know how to do that.

Ez-Lynk also does data logging and you can send it to your tuner directly through the device.

At the end of the day pick the tuner (person) that you trust the most and don't limit yourself to the hardware.



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[H3LZSN1P3R]

Once you download the tunes they are on your device, if the cloud goes away you still have the files you downloaded. Now if you break or lose your phone there are ways to back up the files (or have them on multiple devices like I do) but you have to be a little tech savvy to know how to do that.

Ez-Lynk also does data logging and you can send it to your tuner directly through the device.

At the end of the day pick the tuner (person) that you trust the most and don't limit yourself to the hardware.



.

Efi live has been widely used for years and almost every good tuner uses both efi live and ez link so both are good options but for me i dont see the point in spending an extra 400$ for the ez link but thats because i am cheap lol

One thing to remember if you have the bypass cable for alfa obd you dont need to buy the extra unlock cable

 

[John Jensen]

1st thing 1st, I only want to discuss the pros and cons of the tuning devices themselves, not any particular tuner that actually creates PCM flash files.

MM3 and EFI Live are, for the lack of a better word, offline tuners. You load your files in them and then flash the truck and you're done. If you want to try different files, you'll need to load them into the devices and then re-flash. It is my understanding that you could keep a large number of different flash files and from various tuners if you like, and then try whatever you like anytime you like.

EZ-Lynk is a "cloud" device and it will not store any flash files in its memory other than that one file you downloaded and flashed your truck with. Did I get this right? So while there's unlimited support package that guarantees access to all the available tunes, no one can guarantee that the company will stay out of environmental agencies radar forever, and so once they're gone, you're stuck with whatever you've got in your truck at the moment.
And then there's security concern. Being a cloud service by default means there's a customer database and if the company is shut down and EPA gets its hands on this database and decided to go after everyone on the list, you're done. I may be overthinking this but tell me this couldn't happen?

So while I sort of like EZ-Lynk I'm leaning more towards the other 2. Chosing between the EFI Live and MM3, is one of them really that much better than the other? Or is one of them lacking critical / important features the other one has? I'm not interested in a flashy big screen with gauges, etc, staring into my face the whole time I drive my truck so even with MM3, I'd probably tuck it in somewhere out of the way out of sight. With 5 tune files, MM3 does not offer SOTF for 19+ trucks while the other one does (1 point here), MM3 offers optional pyro probe for EGT monitoring (1 point here), other than that I can't justify 50% higher price of MM3 tuner, unless I'm missing something or unaware of some serious drawbacks of EFI Live tuners?

My Diesel tuning is limited to theoretical knowledge so any pointers from more experienced folks will be appreciated.

I'm not familiar with either MM3 or EFI Live, so I'm no help there.
I have Calibrated Power's EZ-Lynk tunes since 2020 on my 2020 3500HO. Their tunes and their service have been outstanding. And, they just came out with SOTF which I purchased and installed, and it too works great.

 

[John Jensen]

Ez link vin locks also and needs to remain installed

EZ-Lynk does not have to remain installed. It does if you want to use their monitoring system. Once you download a tune, you can disconnect and store the EZ-Lynk