Mike6 said:
In reply to Ed, its all a matter of taste. If the re map does all the things you mention for a discerning drive why wouldn't a manufacturer do this in the first place or offer it as an extra. Back street tuning firms are all very well but I would prefer to keep a car as standard
Completely agree - it is all a matter of taste, and fair play if you aren't interested in remapping. However, whilst I agree there are many different people of wildly varying experience and professionalism who will offer you a remap, the reason for BMW or any manufacturer not offering this is manifold;
1. BMW will design the car with certain tolerances, to allow for all sorts of drivers. There are those who will buy the car and have no mechanical sympathy at all, will redline the car everywhere from cold, ignore service indications etc. In order to mitigate against mechanical failure caused by misuse or 'harsher than intended' use, BMW or any manufacturer will seek to build in some tolerance on the level of tune of the engine, to account for all types of driver. This inevitably means it will be dialled-back deliberately from the factory.
2. As the 3.0si in this instance is not the top-model in the range, it will fit within BMWs market model. It was originally clearly aimed at someone who isn't looking for the full-on M car, so wants something softer. It was therefore designed to be easier to drive and to extract performance from - hence the torquey nature, and 'soft-limiter' - it's designed for people who tend to drive at 7-10ths, and don't regularly rev it out. Which can make it a little disappointing at times when as an enthusiastic driver you do want to rev it out.
3. Much in continuation of point 2, BMW have marketed the car at a certain type of person. The type of person who would have purchased this car brand new would more likely want a relatively comfortable daily and something with more accessible daily performance. Conversely as they have aged the prospect of an exciting rwd 2-seater sports car appeals to a demographic more keen on the driving dynamic. The original intentions of BMW no longer apply to a significant proportion of owners now. An enthusiastic driver will be far more fastidious in maintenance, warming and cooling the engine, and will want a different set of dynamics during driving, all of which can be achieved by removing some of the originally engineered-in tolerance from BMW with a remap. One thing I find quite annoying for instance is the throttle map - it gives the vast majority of the % throttle in the first 1/3 of the pedal, which annoys me. I'd rather it utilise all of the pedal.
Anyway, all of this probably marks me out as a very anal-retentive individual, so I'll stop my witterings. But in summary, I shouldn't really dismiss any and all aftermarket remaps as 'back-street tuning firms'. Some of us have a little more sense than Jonny Essex when it comes to chosing how to modify our cars!
