The other day i took my 8 to a new mazda dealer to get it compression tested. To make a long story short, i wound up getting my VIN # run through the system and them telling me i needed MSP04 campaign. What? MSP04 campain!? i thought they did this like 2 months ago!Well i guess not. Now that i have it done, the car feels more lively, i cant attest to the mileage since im still on my first tank, and the idle is smoother. Another thing i noticed is that on cold startup, my RPMS are at ~2100. Overall, the 'm' flash really helped, if you 'have' the flash, and you dont think you are getting as much power as you should be, go back into mazda and have the PCM reflashed. Afterall, I thought i had the 'M' flash 2 months ago :{

It's possible the flash failed, and the tech didn't realize it. When I took mine in they called me and let me know it would be another 2-3 hours because the first flash failed and they needed to rerun the procedure.

I don't know if you've read the service bulletin but the procedure is lengthy and a huge hassle for the tech.

My car is fourteen months old now, and I have had every flash since the beginning. In every case, it took less than 5 minutes.........

The "M" flash took less than 2 minutes.

the procedure is neither legthy nor a hassle for a trained tech.
a. check that your wds is to the most current calibration level.
the current calibration level is about well ahead the one that contained M. so even if they are a couple behind they are at a sufficient level to perform the task. all thats required is to down load the upgrade onto a disc and insert the disc into the wds. this should be doen on a weekly basis by the dept. anyway.

b. plug wds into car and check for the pcm calibration level. thats a couplew of steps using the wds. the wds checks the car and then checks itself to see if it has a newer one available.

c. if the car is already on M then put the sticker on the car saying the msp is done and "close" the MSP in the warrenty section of the customers records.

OR
d. if the wds says the pcm is not on M tell do the flash. then put a sticker on the car saying its done then close the warrenty issue in the customers records.

since they use the wds on a daily basis none of that is difficult for them. the only reason it would be a hassle is if they didnt make sure they udated the WDS before hooking to the car. because then they would have to back up a step and start over. in fact the only real hassle for them would be finding the sticker to put on the car. those are apparently very hard to come buy. most are out of them and they are available to order.


abbid- there are 2 scenarios for your case. 1. they didnt do the flash last time because they just didnt or they hadnt updated the WDS. 2. they did but did it without closing the MSP in your warrenty records so it was still telling them to do it. as far as MAZDA and the techs are concerned the original TSB for the M and the MSP04 are 2 different things even though they have to do the same thing. it's not officially done until they close the issue in the warrenty system for you. you may be experience sort of "phantom" livelyness because they probably cleared the driving style memory and now you have a blank slate for the car to learn all over again.

i cant think of any reason a re-flash might "fail" except some kind of mechanical problem like the wds somehow became disconnect from the car or from power loss.

probably a little off topic. but what exactly is m flash

read this (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=34936) if that doesnt make it clear also read the service bulletin MSP04.

I've owned my 8 since August of 03, June 03 build, both real recalls done, and for some reason they kept putting me off on the flash, (service tech not in on Sat., hurt back rock climbing, etc.) However on my last appt. I made it a point to make sure they would flash it. Never noticed any sticker but the brake tap test showed it worked.
I immediately noticed the idle seemed better, although when I originally said it was rough, the service tech said it was normal. Then I, like others used to have a weaker 2-4k acceleration, while having a surge at 5k, now, I feel the same surge from 2k up, steady, constant, quicker acceleration. One other thing I noticed was 2nd gear was always hard to shift smoothly into, it was like I hit turbulance when I let the clutch out, (been driving stick for 15 years) tried switching at several different RPM's to no avail. Now with the "M" flash, 2nd clutch release is smooth as can be.
I'm extremely happy with the "M" flash.