E89 35i remap

[R.E92]

Well since my last post in this thread I went ahead and did an ECU remap. I did consider a piggyback unit but decided against it (I won't bore you with the details )

The stock power output is fine for a while but I'll always want more power :evil:

Went with the OpenFlash tablet from Procede Tuning. Worked out about £300 after shipping and taxes.

There are only two real options when it comes to ECU remaps with the n54 and both are US based. Cobb or Procede.
The Cobb unit is a fair bit more expensive and the guy behind Procede is called Shiv who is the godfather of n54 tuning so I decided to go with Procede.

I haven't yet been for a dyno but the map itself is working brilliantly. The logging function of the OpenFlash means you can see the timing advance, fuel trim and boost pressure to gauge the health of the tune.
It's holding 15psi with no fuel trim issues. I've compared it to logs from similar Cobb maps and it seems a lot smoother.

A few US posters at bimmerpost have done dyno runs with the Stage1 flash and have reported around 340-360 horsepower and the wheels. Which is 391-414HP at the crank. That's around the sort of figures people are getting from Cobb and the JB4 piggyback unit.

It certainly pulls a lot harder and with the DCT you very quickly end up doing stupid speeds. It's so smooth in delivery that you don't really appreciate it until you watch how fast the speedo moves!

Is it actually that easy to put the power down in the dry though ? is 1st now useless ? I am guessing 2nd upwards is epic but just how much does the traction control stop the power ?

First gear was useless before the remap. Hell first gear was useless in me 320d with a planted foot!

Third is where traction becomes less of an issue but the car is currently on some mid range junk tyres. Once I've got the PSS tyres that are sat in my garage fitted it will be stuck to the road a little better.
It's not all about planted foot speed gains though. The car just feels like it has more grunt in normal driving.

Regarding the remap to the 35is. I don't think the engine will map any higher at stage 1 than a 35i. The 35is has an uprated cooling system but no physical changes to the engine.
You might be able to skip installing additional cooling if you were to go for a stage 2 or 3 setup but you would still need to change the intake and exhaust to get any more from the engine.

The 35is gains it's extra power from the overboost function. Basically allowing slightly more boost for a short duration. If you remap the car they will just remove the overboost code and just let the boost max out permanently at 14-15psi.

 

[jimmybell]

Out of interest why not just get a jb4?

 

[R.E92]

Out of interest why not just get a jb4?

The JB4 is OpenFlash tune are similar power figures and similar price.

The downside of the JB4 is that it is a pain to install and remove.

The JB4 is also a piggyback and from what I've read has no control over the timing of the engine. So it basically just relies on the ECU fail-safes to control timing.
Although the JB4 has proven to be just a reliable as a full remap I still don't like the fact it has no control over engine timing.

From what I understand the JB4 came about as a competitor to the Procede piggyback unit as a way of getting back at the creator (Shiv). There's plenty of historical drama about it on many of the n54 tuning forums. But basically Shiv was the guy who laid the foundations for n54 tuning and I have a lot of faith in his ability so I went for his current solution.

Different forums favour different solutions but the consensus across them all is that you can't go wrong with a JB4, Cobb or the OpenFlash maps.
There's also the option of using a BT cable to use your own laptop to write to the DME. For this solution you would need to buy a BT cable and also pay someone to write a custom map for you. That method is also a bit hit and miss from what I've read. Few people have bricked their DME.

 

[SO8]

Well since my last post in this thread I went ahead and did an ECU remap. I did consider a piggyback unit but decided against it (I won't bore you with the details )

The stock power output is fine for a while but I'll always want more power :evil:

Went with the OpenFlash tablet from Procede Tuning. Worked out about £300 after shipping and taxes.

There are only two real options when it comes to ECU remaps with the n54 and both are US based. Cobb or Procede.
The Cobb unit is a fair bit more expensive and the guy behind Procede is called Shiv who is the godfather of n54 tuning so I decided to go with Procede.

I haven't yet been for a dyno but the map itself is working brilliantly. The logging function of the OpenFlash means you can see the timing advance, fuel trim and boost pressure to gauge the health of the tune.
It's holding 15psi with no fuel trim issues. I've compared it to logs from similar Cobb maps and it seems a lot smoother.

A few US posters at bimmerpost have done dyno runs with the Stage1 flash and have reported around 340-360 horsepower and the wheels. Which is 391-414HP at the crank. That's around the sort of figures people are getting from Cobb and the JB4 piggyback unit.

It certainly pulls a lot harder and with the DCT you very quickly end up doing stupid speeds. It's so smooth in delivery that you don't really appreciate it until you watch how fast the speedo moves!

Is it actually that easy to put the power down in the dry though ? is 1st now useless ? I am guessing 2nd upwards is epic but just how much does the traction control stop the power ?

Regarding the remap to the 35is. I don't think the engine will map any higher at stage 1 than a 35i. The 35is has an uprated cooling system but no physical changes to the engine.
You might be able to skip installing additional cooling if you were to go for a stage 2 or 3 setup but you would still need to change the intake and exhaust to get any more from the engine.

The 35is gains it's extra power from the overboost function. Basically allowing slightly more boost for a short duration. If you remap the car they will just remove the overboost code and just let the boost max out permanently at 14-15psi.

According to DMS there are differences on the inlet and exhaust + other things BMW have done that does allow them to go higher than the 35i. It is the same with the 1M. the normal N54 goes to about 370bhp whereas the 1M goes to 400 - thus the same with the 35iS. He didn't go further telling me what the differences were but said the last one he did was 402bhp. Evolve have also told me 395bhp so there is something there more than boost.

My 330d LCI was reputed to be exactly the same engine as the 'newer' 325d LCI. DMS told me there were differences. Mine mapped to 305bhp, another forum members same age 325d mapped to 285bhp.

DMS were very specific that it goes higher than a 35i.

Still staying standard for me though ... for now :roll:

 

[R.E92]

I think the 35is exhaust varies only in the plumbing within the muffler. I don't think the restriction is any different.

The air intake is the same part number on the 35i as it is on the 35is. http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partxref.do?part=13717582927

Remaps on identical vehicles can vary wildly. There was a topic recently in the 335i section of bimmerpost where a chap with a 2007 335i hit 419whp at the dyno. That's 480hp at the crank!
Most people with his mods would expect to get around 430 at the crank.

One reason I think tunes vary so much between cars in the different DME versions our cars have. There's 10 different versions out there for the N54 and each have some major differences.

Here's a chart of the different revisions.

With the 325d and the 330d the remap potential will vary as supposedly the injectors are different. With the 35i and 35is they have exactly the same injectors (#13538616079)

The 1M will remap to the same power outputs as any other n54.

 

[jimmybell]

Interesting thought - surely the new M3 will be open to some minor power boost with the turbos? Would be funny to see it with even MORE speed :/

I've fitted/removed a jb4 - didn't take that long (quite simple really). Interesting about the politics - i just understood the jb4 to be the kinda defacto standard of easy tuning options, and haven't heard any horror stories. If i had an e89 with DCT i'd be doing it

 

[R.E92]

I've read a little about the new M3 tuning.

Apparently it's a similar situation to the M5 in that the encryption is yet to be broken.
BMW put a lot of effort into stopping people fiddling with the new M3/4!

There was rumour of a leak that would lead to ECU remapping on those engines but I'm not sure anything has come of it yet.
I did read that to get the increased power in the new M3/4 they massively upped to boost to something like 18psi. Probably a bit of room for tuning but I can't imagine it will be as flexible as the n54. But then not many cars can push an extra 100bhp with only an ECU remap.

 

[SO8]

DMS and BMW Chiptune from Hayes can remap a new M5 ... I think they can do some but not all - depends on what software is fitted. The results are impressive apparently - not that the car is exactly lacking in power to begin with !!