So the BDX is SCT's latest handheld tuner specifically designed for the '15 to '18,
5 liter powered F-150.
And I'm happy to say at around the $400 price point, this is currently one of the most affordable
handheld tuners but it also packs plenty of power for that 5 liter motor.
This thing comes with a really kick-ass pre-loaded tune and you can store up to 20 custom tunes
but let's take a look at our Dyno graph so you can see what kind of performance gains
you'll get with that pre-loaded tune by itself.
So we went ahead and we ran our truck on the Dyno stock and it made 320 horsepower and
319 pound-feet of torque.
We then installed the preloaded tune from the BDX using 93 octane, we left everything
else the same with no supporting mods.
Our truck ended up making 357 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque.
Those are pretty impressive peak gains of 37 horsepower and 49 pound-feet of torque.
But what's really impressive are the curve gains.
If you take a look at that graph a second time, you'll see curve gains upwards of 79
horsepower and a whopping 117 pound-feet of torque.
That's pretty badass because those kind of curve gains are what you're gonna feel when
you're mashing the pedal around the streets.
So it's safe to say you will be breaking the tires loose with little effort.
Now besides the performance gains with this device, the wireless functionality is pretty
cool too, right.
Most of the time with other tuners you gotta plug it into the computer and do all kinds
of software and stuff like that, but with the BDX, you can actually download and upload
custom tunes and preloaded tune files to the cloud server from SCT and you can even upload
your data log files wirelessly for troubleshooting or custom tuning later on down the road.
You can also read and clear your diagnostic trouble codes with the device, so it's pretty
nice to save a couple of bucks instead of having to go to the dealership or the little
Jiffy Lube down the street and spending some money just to figure out why you got that
check engine light, right.
Besides that, it's a very user-friendly device.
Since this is SCT's latest device, it's pretty fast and responsive.
It's got a really cool simple touch interface right here, anybody can use this thing.
The install, if I could even call it one, is a very soft one out of three wrenches on
my difficulty meter.
All you gotta do is plug the device in and let it update and you should be good to go.
So again if you want one of the most affordable tuners for the '15 to '18 F-150 and you want
some crazy horsepower gains without actually turning any wrenches, stick around and I'm
gonna walk you guys through tuning your truck with the BDX and I'll also show you all the
other available features.
All right, so getting the BDX tuner setup's pretty straightforward.
Go ahead and grab your tuner and the provided cable, plug the HDMI end of the cable into
the tuner itself and you're gonna plug the OBDII end into the port located underneath
the steering column.
All right, once you got the SCT plugged in, it's gonna bring you to the main menu.
Now, obviously, the first thing we're all interested in is tuning your truck so select
program vehicle using the center button.
Once you've selected programming, it's gonna ask that you can confirm you're using the
correct ECM and VIN information.
Go ahead and read off your VIN, make sure that's correct, and if it is, click confirm.
Now if you're using the BDX tuner for the first time, you'll likely have to update the
device.
So go ahead and click continue.
It's gonna let you know that internet is required for this.
We already have a Wi-Fi connection, go ahead and click continue.
Once you're connected to your Wi-Fi network, the device will begin verifying the files
on the device itself to make sure that it's capable of tuning the truck.
And if you're missing any files or if any files are out of date, it will update and
download them accordingly.
And as you can see, our device is up to date, so we can go ahead and click okay and it's
gonna bring us to our tuning menu.
Now since the BDX is capable of storing up to 20 custom tune files, the device will ask
if you wanna sync with the cloud service and that will download any available custom tune
files that you might have had developed.
We're only interested in what the preloaded tunes can do for us, so we're gonna skip this
step.
That's gonna give you a little street use notice, this is just a legal disclaimer.
You can go ahead and ignore that, go ahead and click continue and it's gonna ask that
you confirm that your key is in the on position in the ignition before you start tuning.
All right, now we're on the tunes screen.
As you can see, we have two options available to us, we have our preloaded tunes and we
have any available custom tunes that we might have downloaded.
Obviously, we're only working with the preloaded tune, so go ahead and select that.
Now, it's gonna ask you if you want to customize anything in the preloaded tune.
We're simply updating our octane rating from 87 to 93 because we wanna see what a basic
bump in pump gas is gonna provide in terms of horsepower and torque.
So we're gonna select change and you can see, we already selected this earlier, we have
our fuel octane rating there listed at 93.
We didn't change anything else but if you wanna make any changes to any of the parameters
in the preloaded tune, you could select change again.
And it's gonna give you all these different options right here where you can advance timing,
you can also set your rev limiters, or you can change some other parameters in here.
Again, we're only interested in changing our octane rating, so if you wanna change that,
simply select okay and you can update it accordingly.
Once you've made any changes to the preloaded tune, go ahead and click the right arrow and
then select okay to approve the tune.
All right, it's gonna ask that you wanna confirm all the available options that you've selected
in the preloaded tune.
Once you've confirmed everything's good, go ahead and click continue again.
Now at this point, the device is gonna begin communicating with the ECU, it's very important
that you do not unplug the tuner during this time.
It's also very important that your battery has a good charge and that you leave the key
in the on position.
If you interrupt this process, you may brick your motor, in which case, you'd have to have
your vehicle flashed by the dealership.
All right, so once the tune is finished installing, it's gonna ask that you wanna clear any diagnostic
trouble codes and it's gonna prompt you to turn the key to the off position.
It's gonna ask you to cycle the ignition back on once more.
All right, it's gonna clear any diagnostic trouble codes once more and then you'll get
this screen saying programming is complete, that's gonna let you know that your tune has
installed successfully.
So as you can see, tuning our truck is pretty straightforward but the BDX has plenty of
other cool features that I will walk you through if you wanna stick around.
The next thing we'll go over is data logging your truck in real time and monitoring your
ECU and your engine's performance using our gauges.
So let's go to our gauges and data log screen.
Now, much like tuning, it's gonna ask that you wanna confirm your key's in the on position
and if you've never used the gauge or data log functions before, go ahead and go into
configuration and make sure you have the correct vehicle configuration selected.
Obviously, we're working with our '15 to '18 F-150, so we want Ford gas '08 or newer.
And once you've selected it, click continue.
Now once you've confirmed everything, you will be brought to the gauge screen.
It's gonna have default values here.
In the case of our truck, it has boost in psi even though we don't have any sort of
forced induction, and by default, it also displays the voltage of your battery.
Now it's very easy to change these gauges and you can pick pretty much any other piece
of information you wanna display, as long as the ECU supports it.
In order to change one of the gauges, go ahead and select either the up or down arrow in
order to highlight the gauge you wanna change.
You'll see it's highlighted in blue as we select each one.
We're gonna change our boost in psi to a different value so we're gonna click okay.
That's gonna bring you to this little menu item here, you have the item itself and the
unit in which it's being measured.
To change the gauge, you wanna select item.
And you can see it's monitoring plenty of different parameters from the ECU.
We have all kinds of stuff like our intake air temperature, our coolant temperature,
and you can monitor all sorts of things in terms of fuel, air, timing, and all that good
stuff.
Now, there's really too many things to go over in here but we'll select our coolant
temperature just for the fun of it.
And we want our unit to be in Fahrenheit.
If you want to, you can change it to Celsius, just keep in mind that depending on which
gauge you select, the units that are available will be different.
Once you're happy with what you wanna display, you can select approve.
And you can see it's now displaying our coolant temperature here.
Again, if you wanna select anything else for a different gauge, simply select the gauge
itself and you can change the item in there.
We'll take our intake air temperature sensor and again, we want Fahrenheit.
So as you can see, pretty straightforward.
Now if you wanted to display more than two gauges or you wanna change the layout entirely,
simply select the right arrow and it's gonna bring you to additional options.
Now you can data log your truck in real time and basically, that's gonna save a performance
file of all those different parameters that the BDX is monitoring while your truck is
running.
This is good if you need to do some advanced diagnostics or if you're custom tuning your
truck on the Dyno.
It's pretty straightforward, simply select start record data and it will begin recording,
you can see on the center screen there and if you wanna stop, simply hit stop data log
and it will save the file automatically.
Now once you've stopped data logging, it'll automatically store that file on the BDX tuner.
In order to access that file, you'll simply need to grab the USB cable provided in the
kit and hook the BDX tuner up to your computer.
There are additional instructions provided in the box for you to install the software
that you need in order to pull and read that data log file.
But at any rate, if you wanna change the gauge layout, again, pretty straightforward.
Simply select gauge layout and you can see we have tons of different options here.
You can actually go from just two gauges all the way up to, I believe, six or eight gauges.
And you can see here, we have all these different numeric values.
Again, it's still the same options here.
If you wanna change any of them, simply select the arrows, navigate to the gauge you wanna
change, and select the okay button and you can change it as you like.
Now, as you're data logging your truck, it'll automatically store the minimum and maximum
values of all the parameters that you've been data logging.
It'll also display that information on the gauge screen.
If you want to reset those minimum and maximum values, go ahead and select the reset option
and you can see it brings you back to the gauge screen.
Our values are obviously still default so nothing is really changed on here.
But if you want to display default values after you've ran your truck, simply select
that option to do so.
All right, next up on our list is the ability to read and clear trouble codes.
Let's say you have that annoying check engine light and you wanna figure out what's causing
it, go ahead and select vehicle functions.
It's gonna give you a couple options here.
Reading and clearing trouble codes are the two options we wanna focus on.
Obviously, if you wanna figure out what that check engine light is, you'll select read
DTC codes.
And again it's gonna ask that your key's in the on position so you have a connection to
your ECU, go ahead and click continue.
Now our truck does not have any codes currently but if you did have a check engine light,
it would display an alphanumeric value right here.
Probably something like P1000 or P050, that is the universally understood diagnostic trouble
code for your vehicle and if you want to, go ahead and go on Google, type in the code
and it'll give you a brief description of what the problem is.
Now if you wanna get rid of that check engine light, pretty straightforward.
Select it to clear DTC codes.
Again, it's gonna ask you to confirm your key's in the on position, go ahead and click
continue, and the device will clear that check engine light.
Now, if you don't actually fix the underlying mechanical or electrical problem, then that
check engine light will probably return but if you fix the issue and the light remains,
you can simply clear it permanently by selecting this clear option.
Now once it's cleared any of your trouble codes, it's gonna give a confirmation that
it's done so.
It's also gonna prompt you to turn the key to the off position.
Go ahead and do so and click exit.
Now reading and clearing trouble codes is pretty standard fare but the BDX also has
some other cool special functions under vehicle functions.
Obviously, we wanna make sure the key is on position, go ahead and click continue, and
confirm your information is correct once more and click confirm.
Now our device is up to date so we're gonna skip that.
It's gonna ask you to cycle through the ignition cycle.
Go ahead and turn your key back on once you're under vehicle functions.
Now, there are a couple of special functions in here.
Cam reset is basically the equivalent of disconnecting your negative battery terminal.
It's gonna reset all the default values for your truck, this is a pretty useful way to
having to avoid actually pulling the terminal off your battery if you need to do a hard
reset for something electronic.
Now crank relearn is another special function that you probably won't use very often.
Honestly, you'll probably only ever have to access this if you're doing some custom tuning
or if you have to change something like the crank position sensor, so we're gonna avoid
that.
But the two functions you'll probably wanna utilize are the ability to change your default
TPMS settings as well as recalibrating your speedometer for new tire sizes or a new axle
ratio.
The TPMS function is pretty straightforward.
Simply go in here, it's gonna display what your stock TPMS settings are, 35 psi in our
case.
If you wanna change those, you can do so in here and you can select a range between 30
and 110 PSI.
Same thing applies to tire size and axle ratio, it's gonna display your default tire size
but if you want to, you can change that by selecting the change option here and entering
a new tire size and it'll also prompt you to input a new axle ratio once you've entered
a new tire size.
Now there's also some good informational tools on the BDX tuner.
A really convenient way to access some vehicle information is through the vehicle info screen.
Now, this is useful for troubleshooting or if you're tuning your truck, it'll display
your VIN.
It'll also display all these strategy comm numbers and any other information your tuner
might need when they're building a file for your truck.
And it displays some of the default or some of the changed ratios and values that you
might have input under special functions.
And the same thing applies to device info.
If you ever need to have any updates or if you're troubleshooting your device, this is
a convenient way to access things like the serial number for the device as well as the
software information.
And lastly, we have device settings.
The only thing that you'll use under device settings most commonly is the ability to check
for updates which, again, is a wireless function.
Go ahead and make sure your information is correct for your vehicle, click confirm, and
it'll check for updates if you need them.
It's gonna give you that little internet required disclaimer once again and you can click continue
and again, it'll access the files on the tuner and it'll verify that they are all up to date
just as it did when you were actually tuning your truck.
And as you can see our device is up to date so it'll give you that little confirmation
that no updates are needed.
However, if you did need updates, it would begin downloading them automatically.
And again, the same applies to the cloud file sync.
If you're working with any custom tunes and you don't wanna access it through the tuning
screen, you can do so through device settings and you can go through the prompt in order
to sync with the cloud to retrieve those files.
And lastly, another cool function wireless here.
If you wanna upload any of your data logs to the cloud for your tuner to access wirelessly,
you can do so through this option here.
And as you can see, this function actually works in tandem with the cloud syncing function.
Once this function is enabled, it will automatically upload that data log to the cloud when you
select the cloud sync option under device settings.
And if you wanna access your Wi-Fi information, you can do so here.
It's gonna allow you to disconnect from the network and connect to a new network as you
see fit.
You can also make some basic changes to the device itself including brightness for daytime
and nighttime driving.
And if you wanna mount the tuner on your windshield or if you wanna mount it anywhere on the dash,
you can change the orientation of the screen itself, so it's displaying vertically or horizontally.
You can also make some basic changes to the theme, including the color display on it and
you can also determine how you want the tuner to turn on and off, whether you want it to
turn on with the key in the ignition or if you just want the device to remain on at all
times while it's plugged in to the OBD port.
Now, under power management mode, you can also make changes to how the device powers
on and off.
You can make changes to whether you want it to turn on when the key's in the on position
or you can make it stay on all the time as long as it's plugged into the OBDII port.
You can also get rid of those beeps if you don't like them.
If you want a silent device, you can turn them on and off under audio.
And the last function here is the startup function, you can change the default screen
that the device will start on.
If you want the device to automatically go to your gauge screen every time you turn your
truck on, you can simply select that option here.
Now, the last important function under device settings is the factory reset.
This will basically undo any changes that you've made to the device and the truck as
long as it's plugged in and the key's in the on position.
Once you select factory reset, basically it'll put everything back to default values.
So as you can see, tuning your truck with the BDX is very straightforward.
You get some crazy power gains in just a few minutes with a couple of button presses, right?
And that also wraps up my review of the SCT BDX Tuner, fitting your '15 to '18, 5 liter
powered F-150.
I'm Travis, thanks for watching.
And for all things F-150, keep it right here at americantrucks.com.