Remapping a 30i MSport

[ph001]

This ‘take off delay” is a complete mystery to me. The N52 is a superbly responsive engine right out of the box. Basically if I blip the throttle in neutral I get a pretty instant response...in terms of the map that’s all that comes into it. While many of the modern stuff doesn’t even respond in terms of engine revs...I mean you can literally stamp the throttle to the floor in neutral and if you do it quickly enough the revs don’t even move! Not the Z4 though.

[gwatson]

Well, I have gone ahead and booked remap with Celtic Tuning, they will come in just under a month. I am aware the any BHP gain are likely to be small, but I gather that the other gains mentioned above and on other discussion fora make a remap and positive experience. Worst case, if I don't see any sort of change that I can detect I can opt to have it put back to stock and get my money back :

Look forward to your review.

[Silverstar]

looking forward to your review too!

[mcbutler]

Well, I have gone ahead and booked remap with Celtic Tuning, they will come in just under a month. I am aware the any BHP gain are likely to be small, but I gather that the other gains mentioned above and on other discussion fora make a remap and positive experience. Worst case, if I don't see any sort of change that I can detect I can opt to have it put back to stock and get my money back :

Look forward to your review.

Good choice of tuner, one of the best, they write there own software in house and you will get a 12 month warranty against any map related damage. You can also drive away and pay nothing if you're not happy so bear that in mind.
With mapping people always concentrate on BHP, this is far from the reality of mapping. Torque is of primary importance as is how the power is delivered.
I had my 23i mapped by Celtic, i got around 7-8 BHP but the power delivery curves for both torque and BHP were radically different.
Torque is what gives the car its real grunt, that kicks you back in the seat, the smoother the delivery of said torque the more 'driveable' the car.
I am quite sure you will appreciate the difference post map, plz post a scan of the dyno reading after its done.

[Silverstar]

Well, I have gone ahead and booked remap with Celtic Tuning, they will come in just under a month. I am aware the any BHP gain are likely to be small, but I gather that the other gains mentioned above and on other discussion fora make a remap and positive experience. Worst case, if I don't see any sort of change that I can detect I can opt to have it put back to stock and get my money back :

Look forward to your review.

Good choice of tuner, one of the best, they write there own software in house and you will get a 12 month warranty against any map related damage. You can also drive away and pay nothing if you're not happy so bear that in mind.
With mapping people always concentrate on BHP, this is far from the reality of mapping. Torque is of primary importance as is how the power is delivered.
I had my 23i mapped by Celtic, i got around 7-8 BHP but the power delivery curves for both torque and BHP were radically different.
Torque is what gives the car its real grunt, that kicks you back in the seat, the smoother the delivery of said torque the more 'driveable' the car.
I am quite sure you will appreciate the difference post map, plz post a scan of the dyno reading after its done.

I would imagine if you noticed a difference in how the car drives / performs in a 23i then it should also be noticeable on the 30i too.

[ProfCJJ]

As they will be coming to my home address to upload the tune there will be no Dyno unfortunately - they do offer a go on the Dyno but I have to go to them (I'll see if I can go at a later date perhaps?). The expected changes are based on a standard engine (I guess in good nick) and so the gains are "advertised" - I'll know if they are there by (hopefully) driving the car.

Its interesting how people differ, I've heard people say there is no discernible difference between NORMAL and SPORT mode. where-as for me I ALWAYS engage sport mode, the throttle response and steering I find to be detectably different and "positive". I am hoping that I will be able to sense these type of difference after the map.

I will keep you all posted. I just had them on the phone actually, to adjust the time slightly as apparently the BMW ECUs take quite a while uploading and so its now up to a 2.5 hour appointment as opposed to 1 hour!

[Dave 2 dogs]

ProffCJJ
had a Celtic remap recently on my 3.5i
If you have it done, then ask for it to be put back to stock ... I’ll be amazed.... I KNOW it’s a different engine to mine, but even so , I’d put money on you wanting to keep the remap due to grin factor
You don’t have to drive it crazy all the time, just knowing the response is there is enough for when you want it , ABSOLUTELY LOVE MINE

[ProfCJJ]

Celtic Tuning came and spent a couple of hours downloading then uploading the new map to my Sdrive 3.0i last Friday (it was bally freezing outside!). All proceeded well without a hitch - I took it for a quick spin to see that all was well just afterwards but I wanted to delay judgement until after I had driven it a bit more.

Well, yesterday I did a longer 300 mile trip along a mix of B-roads, A-roads and Motorway and now I can comment. It certainly makes a difference - I was not expecting to feel any massive changes in BHP (what with the huge 18 BHP gain I have on paper! ) and I didn't! However - what everyone says about "take up delay" is true - even in "normal/comfort" mode you can feel better throttle response. I tend to drive in Sport mode all the time and in Normal mode it now feels close to Sports mode in terms of Sport mode - it then gets better when you put it into sports mode. It feels less "jittery" when pulling away - I also feel that the delivery across the rev range is better more constant and it keeps pulling more consistently instead of falling away at higher revs. I have also definitely noticed a sportier/ raspier exhaust note coming from that nice 6 cylinder in-line engine Also - and this may be more to do with the weather conditions (it was 2 degrees C last night on my way home) - last night for the first time I was accelerating out of a roundabout (well within the 30 mile an hour limit!) and the back end twitched and kicked out! I corrected it - wasn't going that fast - but I wondered where that had come from!?! It's never really happened before.

So all in all the remap is performing as I was led to believe it would. I could not see any massive drop in mpg (based on one 300 mile trip though so will keep monitoring that) - I currently average around 32-34 mpg from memory. The car just feels more responsive and more "alive" - I would drive in Sport mode to get that feel before, now you get more of that in Normal mode ... but I still prefer Sport mode

So I am happy with what I have got and if you feel the above outcomes are "good enough" for you then I recommend the remap.

HTH

[Silverstar]

From what you have said and also the experience of another forum member who has had this done to his 30i, it certainly seems worthwhile doing. You say it seems not to have affected the MPG but it will be interesting to see if it is affected in any way over the next few days / weeks. I wonder how the car would drive with this remap plus the XHP Flashtool if the car has the auto box. Incidentally I notice a change in exhaust note when I put the car in sport mode, it sounds somewhat angrier! then again it could be just me!

[Mr Tidy]

Yes, the forum member on the other thread seemed pleased with the results too!

Anyway it's quite possible a remap may add a bit more power to an N52 E89 than an E86, seeing as the E89 got a 255 bhp version of the engine but the E86 got a 261 bhp version. According to Wiki there was a 268 bhp version as well that was used for the E92/3, X3 and X5.

I imagine the only difference between the three is the mapping, so just getting the 268 bhp mapping ought to give you another 13 bhp.

I'm starting to wonder about getting my 330i done now!

[ph001]

The difference between the models is mainly the breathing - the bigger cars like the E92, X5 etc have a different airbox design and also exhaust is significantly modified.

[Mr Tidy]

The difference between the models is mainly the breathing - the bigger cars like the E92, X5 etc have a different airbox design and also exhaust is significantly modified.

Oh right - that's a shame.

[Yoghurt]

Hi
Can I ask how much you insurance changed by after the remap? Thanks

[ProfCJJ]

Hi
Can I ask how much you insurance changed by after the remap? Thanks

I’ve not told them yet as I’m currently overseas - I’ll let you know when I do.

Cheers