[Troesma]

hmmm....
try searching 'chip upgrade' 'engine tuning' etc etc.
lots of info already.

The hardware for the OEM ECU would be the same, I reckon, but what factory does is to revise (upgrade) the software dumped into the ECU ROM. When my ECU went kaput last year, factory sent to Maserati GB their latest software upgrade, which was then installed by my dealer after they too had to make an upgrade to their SD3 system to upload the program onto the ECU unit.

So basically I got the ECU re-flashed. The SD3 upgrade was needed because the new software had additional engine parameters loaded which are not part of the standard configuration (what the diagnostics system monitors).

HTH.