Update...
Still having issues. No sound now at all. Maxhaust did reply to my email to ask for my phone number but have yet to call me back. I'm sure the 7 hr time difference is not helping.
Anyway, here are some more data points:
1.
Sketchy Bluetooth: Bluetooth reception is intermittent at best in the i8 with the Bluetooth module in the trunk. Perhaps it has something to do with the carbon fiber cage, but who builds a Bluetooth receiver and then encloses it in a METAL enclosure? I don't think a metal enclosure is the best design for a Bluetooth radio receiver...
2.
Sound Quality: I did get sound to follow my RPM range briefly before I loaded the second i8 (Ohne Hybrid Mode) "car" definition and lost all sound (although the app does continue to track eco/comfort/sport modes). (Reloading the original i8 definition did not help). The sound quality is "interesting" at idle but it doesn't seem to follow the engine RPM very well. It sort of lags behind a bit. It also sounds pretty artificial. I did have the opportunity to try all six "sounds" they provide and they sound best at idle. Once you start moving, all bets are off. There are several more tweaking options but none of them seem to really get the sound to track the engine speed properly (In their tutorial PDF, they even make note about setting "Idle RPM" to 10 and "Dynamic RPM" to 30 to follow the car RPM 1:1 but this doesn't appear to do the trick)
PDF Tutorial:
http://firmware.maxhaust.de/Manual/EN/Anleitung.pdf
Video Tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH9qS6Kx3sU
The English translations are pretty poor. I'm definately not the guy who thinks the entire world needs to speak English, but they really should spend some time with this. I think it would be easier for everyone - particularly if they are selling into English speaking countries...
3.
i8 Interior Sound Conflict: Not only does the Maxhaust sound NOT track the engine RPM accurately, it also has a really noticeable conflict with the engine sound BMW pumps into the car. BMW's interior engine sound is spot-on perfect, but when you hear the Maxhaust sound from the outside at the same time something is quite noticeably incompatible. The BMW interior engine sound climbs accurately with engine RPM but the Maxhaust exterior sounds do not. Maybe this type of solution works well with cars without augmented interior engine sound but not so much with those that have it. Maxhaust sound is quite noticeably out of sync, doesn't climb the full RPM range, and lags behind.
4.
Pending Questions: I've also asked them the following questions:
- What is the difference between the "BMW i8 2013+" car configuration and the "BMW i8 2013+ (Onhe Hybrid Mode)" configuration? I understand that "Ohne Hybrid Mode" translates to "Hybrid Mode Only". Does that mean if I use that configuration I will ONLY have sound when the gas engine is running? The other configuration seems to have sound even when the gas engine is NOT running...
- If I turn off the Maxhaust system by using the App will this then allow the BMW factory Sound module to perform exactly as the car was provided from the factory?
- When willthey have an Android App which works with the new sound module?
Anyway, I'm not sure I'm going to keep this unit in my car. A $170K automobile should not sound like a bicycle with baseball cards in the spokes. However, I'm going to give Maxhaust the opportunity to solve my problems before I make my final decision...