Best ECU Programmer: CG FC200 or PCMTuner
Both CG FC200 and PCMtuner Magic Car Tool are professional and powerful ecu chip tuning tool, When they are released in the market, appreciated by many customers. Which is better? In my opinion, they all have advantages.
| Item | CG FC200 | PCMTuner |
| IMG |  |
 |
| Software Language | English, French, Spanish, Polish, Turkish, Chinese | English and Russian |
| Dongle | No | USB Smart Dongle |
| Offline/online | It should work online and with 12v power supply. | Work offline, VR need online. |
| ECU Search | Search ecu by bosch ecu number, car brand | Search ecu by ecu number, car brand |
| Operation mode | bench, boot and OBD mode | Bench, boot and OBD mode |
| ECU types | Bosch | Bosch, magneti marelli, continental or siemens |
| Virtual reading | No | online access to VR files |
| Wiring diagram | Device shows you wiring diagram | Check wiring in PCMTuner, online update wiring diagram |
| Tuner account for dpf, egr, adblue off and remap | No | Yes |
| Read BMW ISN | Yes, read ISN, change ISN and change VIN | No |
| Checksum | can calculate checksum online as long as the subscription is active | Yes |
| Activation | Yes, provide S/N to activate | Yes, provide S/N to activate and register with email |
| License | Full license | 67 modules in 1 |
| Option solderless adapter | Yes, FC200 Optional adapter: No Need Disassembly Adapter for 6HP 8HP MSV90 N55 N20 B48 B58 B38 etc | No |
| Update & Subscription | 1 Year Free update, subscription is $125/ year | PCMTuner free update online, No subscription, No annual fee, No monthly fee. |
| PCM-Flash update by new dongle | ||
| ECU list | FC200 ECU List | PCMTuner ECU List |
| Price | US$686 | US$464 |
1.CG FC200 Pros& Cons:
Pros:
- Has more protocols
- Supports more multi-languages
- Read BMW ISN, change ISN & VIN
- It tells you method and function of that ECU.
- Get a bunch of pins and each pins got its different size to fit on these pins
- Shows wiring diagram, you could zoom in and out
- Very fast to read BMW MSD MSV ISN on bench
Cons:
- Can only do checksum fix online, checksum won’t work if the subscription expires.
- Works only on mostly Bosch ECUs and some siemens old ECUs
Only some BMW ECU can be done via OBD
Don’t have a lot of Japanese ECUs (siemens or denso ecus) - Cannot be used for dpf,egr, adblue off and remap
2.PCMtuner Pros& Cons:
Pros:
- Works on Bosch ECUs, Magneti Marelli, Continetial or Siemens
- Supports virtual reading-online access to VR files
Cons:
- Cannot do BMW ECUs (EDC17xx etc)
- Cannot read BMW ISN, change ISN & VIN
- Though PCMtuner 1.21 has its own tuner account for dpf,egr, adblue off and remap, but they’re paid items.
So, which is one is better to choose?
It depends on what main function you want to do and your budget. For BMW ISN reading and modifying, CG FC200 ECU programmer is better. For chip tuning, PCMtuner 1.21 is recommended because it supports virtual reading.
