Can an ECU map be stolen?
 

Okay, this is going to sound a bit tin foil hat.


I've edited this post for simple clarity but I'm happy to give specific details if it helps.

Simple question:
If someone had a remap dongle (pick one) or some remap software on a laptop, could they potentially plug it into the OBD-II port on my car and nick the map to put onto their car, replacing it with their map?

Assuming two stock maps.

The cars in question are:
My car (A4 B7 2.0T fsi special edition 220bhp)
The potential culprit - 2003 1.8T

Yes and no. There are protective features in most aftermarket tunes which prevent easy "ripping" of the modified tune file. That being said with advanced software/programming knowledge DMEs can be cloned and software exported.

Also worth noting a 2.0T FSI and 1.8T are going to have dramatically different tunes.

@ECS Tuning
I would say more yes than no. All you need is someone who knows how to read and dump EEPROM chips. Any satellite box coder could probably do it if they turned their attention to it.