Z4 ECU/Remap/Chip etc...

Tommo

Member
 Stoke-on-Trent
Has anypne pn here gone down this route?

My friend uses VIEZU at his garage and will do it for £200. Think its usually £240.

The figures quoted are : (on an E46 3.0i, Z4 isn't listed on their site)
Power Increase: 17bhp
Torque Increase: 18Nm

Would I notice the difference with that?
My dad had his Mercedes E-Class 270CDI done for economy adding :
Power: 28bhp
Torque: 55Nm

Now the difference here is massive and instantly noticeable.

Anybody had thier Z4 done? Mines a '53' 3.0i so the standard 231bhp.
 
Turbo cars will always remap better than an NA bacause all you have to do is wind up the turbo for more Air/Fuel...

17bhp is HIGHLY optimistic but you'd probably see around 10bhp all the way throughout the rev range if done well... In my experience, BMW seem to map their cars pretty well as standard.

Still, at £200 it may be worth a punt anyway!! Try to get a before/after dyno to prove your gains :)
 
So lets say it was only 10bhp, I would I notice much difference between 231bhp and 241bhp?

I'd be gutted getting it done and not being able to notice the difference.

Also what are elephant like with mods like this?
 
I'd not bother.

Check Dinan and ESS for what they can offer with just a remap, two companies who work on the M54 ALOT, and then consider what a random remapper will get with a generic file (note almost ALL UK tuners offer the same +17bhp claim)

ESS:
Power is increased by 5HP and 3lbs/ft of torque when programmed for premium fuel (96 RON Euro)

Dinan:
Maximum Horsepower Gain 4 @ 5700 rpm*
Maximum Torque Gain 5 lb/ft @ 3400 rpm*
* Dyno results when combined with a K&N free flow air filter


Pretty worrying that the two experts in this field can't seem to get more than about 4-5bhp.

Lastly, iirc, unless they are using a Frieling tool, it's an ECU out job to write the data, and the eprom on these ECU's is only a limited write count before needing replacement, so something to just keep in mind about (something like 20 writes so nothing you need to worry about really, but it's not like other cars where you can write 100's of times)


Dave
 
Tommo, dont think of it as a peak increase... Remember the performance of your car is the area under the whole graph. You're not always at 6000rpm! You will probably feel a difference in daily driving, IF IT WAS DONE WELL, but not so much flat out. Id be very wary of a 'generic' remap on a petrol without any before/after AFR comparisons!!

Remaps on NA's usually do 3 things:

Edit long term fuel trims to help the car run a more stoichiometric fuel burn. 14.7:1 in the case of petrol at cruise rpm/throttle. Increasing to 12.8:1 at WOT (Wide open throttle) for an NA. Manufacturers will invariably make their cars run a little 'rich' at stock to help reduce combustion temperature and decrease knock chance, allowing for crap fuel etc.

Spark timing is also edited (but sometimes not!). Simply put, tuning for higher octane fuel can allow the mixture to burn at the optimum time with less chance of knock (pre-ignition).

RPM Limiter - Some cars have a power band that can be exploited with an RPM limit increase. This is usually down to Inlet manifold and camshaft profile as it is largely inhibted by cylinder fill. The M54 will probably not benefit from this.
 
Mr Whippy said:
I'd not bother.

Check Dinan and ESS for what they can offer with just a remap, two companies who work on the M54 ALOT, and then consider what a random remapper will get with a generic file (note almost ALL UK tuners offer the same +17bhp claim)

ESS:
Power is increased by 5HP and 3lbs/ft of torque when programmed for premium fuel (96 RON Euro)

Dinan:
Maximum Horsepower Gain 4 @ 5700 rpm*
Maximum Torque Gain 5 lb/ft @ 3400 rpm*
* Dyno results when combined with a K&N free flow air filter


Pretty worrying that the two experts in this field can't seem to get more than about 4-5bhp.

Lastly, iirc, unless they are using a Frieling tool, it's an ECU out job to write the data, and the eprom on these ECU's is only a limited write count before needing replacement, so something to just keep in mind about (something like 20 writes so nothing you need to worry about really, but it's not like other cars where you can write 100's of times)


Dave


That doesn't fill me with confidence then with this company, that they just quote random figures like that.

EdButler said:
Tommo, dont think of it as a peak increase... Remember the performance of your car is the area under the whole graph. You're not always at 6000rpm! You will probably feel a difference in daily driving, IF IT WAS DONE WELL, but not so much flat out. Id be very wary of a 'generic' remap on a petrol without any before/after AFR comparisons!!

Remaps on NA's usually do 3 things:

Edit long term fuel trims to help the car run a more stoichiometric fuel burn. 14.7:1 in the case of petrol at cruise rpm/throttle. Increasing to 12.8:1 at WOT (Wide open throttle) for an NA. Manufacturers will invariably make their cars run a little 'rich' at stock to help reduce combustion temperature and decrease knock chance, allowing for crap fuel etc.

Spark timing is also edited (but sometimes not!). Simply put, tuning for higher octane fuel can allow the mixture to burn at the optimum time with less chance of knock (pre-ignition).

RPM Limiter - Some cars have a power band that can be exploited with an RPM limit increase. This is usually down to Inlet manifold and camshaft profile as it is largely inhibted by cylinder fill. The M54 will probably not benefit from this.

My mate did say it would increse throttle response alot but now Im not sure it is totally worth it. To be honest I don't really need any more power, Id rather just save my money for an M sometime over the next 18 months (fingers crossed). I just thought with him doing it me for a bit of discount, and seeing the difference it made to my dads car, it would be worth a christmas present. :lol: But now you've explained how it all works and the differences between N/A and turbos it doenst really make much financial sense.

This is already the quickest car Ive ever driven so I hardly need more speed. :driving:

I really need get down to a meet and get someone take me out in an M. :evil:
 
pfftt...Not worth it...Worth it to lose the limited, but how offen are you going to be doing 155+... On the bahn's and thats it.
 
Aliv6 said:
pfftt...Not worth it...Worth it to lose the limited, but how offen are you going to be doing 155+... On the bahn's and thats it.

Yeah i think the 3.0i manual will manage about 157 without it ;)
 
I'd only bother on a turbo'ed engine, you can see some crazy results from the larger BMW/Merc diesel lumps, but a an NA petrol isn't going to yield much improvement, whether a 10BHP improvement is noticable is debatable, I'd say not. You'll see more difference between a hot and cold day.
 
All said and done most remaps on cars like this are just snake oil throttle map adjustments to make them 'feel' faster and sharper, but in doing so actually ruin them.

Dave
 
"If it seems too good to be true then...". BMW does a very good job of optimizing the performance of their motors. Power and torque gains in the after market are small and the costs are large. Best bets? Buy a M model or consider forced induction.
 
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