ECU remapping for a 2007 Z4 M Roadster
ECU remapping for a 2007 Z4 M Roadster
Author
Discussion

arup

Original Poster:

4 posts

178 months

Thursday 26th January 2012
quotequote all
Hi guys,

Just wanted to find out what the wisdom on this subject was. Is there any reason I shouldn't do it? From what I have read and seen and heard it doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Can you please share some of your experiences... good ones and bad ones.

Many thanks,
Arup

essayer

10,385 posts

220 months

Thursday 26th January 2012
quotequote all
What are they claiming you will gain?
BMW only got 360bhp out of the same engine with the CSL and that had new ECU, different intake, different valve timing ..


arup

Original Poster:

4 posts

178 months

Thursday 26th January 2012
quotequote all
Close to 20 bhp and 18 lb/ft...

Apparently it will be noticeable... pretty noticeable. It will be a custom map. And pretty much throughout the rev range.

Where did you get yours done and how much did it cost?

Cheers,
Arup

essayer said:
What are they claiming you will gain?
BMW only got 360bhp out of the same engine with the CSL and that had new ECU, different intake, different valve timing ..

tjlazer

875 posts

200 months

Thursday 26th January 2012
quotequote all
Best asking on the z4 forum, but conventional thinking from my research was that the s54 is pretty much at the limit, any remap claiming otherwise is b&£@ocks smile ps the car is much more fun on standard wheels than csls as the narrower tyre gives you more slip... Great car. Hope to have one again before its all over.

clived

577 posts

266 months

Friday 27th January 2012
quotequote all
Although my personal experience with them is all with turbo-charged vehicles, I know Evolve are doing a lot of tuning work - both remapping and hardware changes - on NA BMWs - might be worth a call just to see what they think?

playalistic

2,270 posts

190 months

Friday 27th January 2012
quotequote all
Don't expect any power gains from a stock car (maybe a teeny gain from a full exhaust, intake etc). They can smooth out the delivery around the middle of the rev range but that's about it.

mmm-five

12,239 posts

310 months

Friday 27th January 2012
quotequote all
Just a few points before you try to make the car faster with a remap (which will of course will be guaranteed to give you more power, more torque, better fuel consumption, more sex, a bigger penis, etc.).
  • I assume you're already using V-Power or Tesco 99? If not, don't bother with a remap until you've run a few full tanks of this through the system and the car has adapted to it.
  • Better tyres than the OEM Conti's will let you carry more speed though corners and ultimate let you drive the same roads faster & more safely (PS2, PSS, SportContact 5, F1A v2 are all MUCH better).
  • Have you had any professional driving instruction? If not, get some!
  • Have you got standard pads? If so, get something else, so you can brake later, longer, harder without them crumbling.
They can put in a artificial 'bump' to make it feel like you've been given a power boost.

e.g. if you have quite a smooth delivery and the power rises by 10bhp at say 3000rpm, it feels like you've got more than that 10bhp right across the range. Now if you reduce the power slightly (by only another 10bhp) up to that original 3000rpm bump, then you won't feel the loss as you through the power band, but WILL feel the 20bhp bump you've now got.

No chip/remap can give you 20bhp/lbft across the range - it will simply be either a 'peak' increase at max RPMs (and often the peak figure drops down the rev range, which is useful in itself), or they'll smooth out a dip in the rev range so that you'll get an extra 20bhp/lbft at that dip.

Whether it feels faster is purely down to whether you believe it is or not - and I've been in two cars (Corrado VR6s) with 25% difference in power (190bhp vs 240bhp), and the more powerful one felt slower despite the same driver putting in laps 2 seconds, as the power curve and bump had been smoothed out so much that it didn't feel peaky/sporty any more.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 27th January 10:55

arup

Original Poster:

4 posts

178 months

Saturday 28th January 2012
quotequote all
Thanks all. I think I understand what to do which is precisely nothing dare I say :-)

Cheers,
Arup

mmm-five said:
Just a few points before you try to make the car faster with a remap (which will of course will be guaranteed to give you more power, more torque, better fuel consumption, more sex, a bigger penis, etc.).
  • I assume you're already using V-Power or Tesco 99? If not, don't bother with a remap until you've run a few full tanks of this through the system and the car has adapted to it.
  • Better tyres than the OEM Conti's will let you carry more speed though corners and ultimate let you drive the same roads faster & more safely (PS2, PSS, SportContact 5, F1A v2 are all MUCH better).
  • Have you had any professional driving instruction? If not, get some!
  • Have you got standard pads? If so, get something else, so you can brake later, longer, harder without them crumbling.
They can put in a artificial 'bump' to make it feel like you've been given a power boost.

e.g. if you have quite a smooth delivery and the power rises by 10bhp at say 3000rpm, it feels like you've got more than that 10bhp right across the range. Now if you reduce the power slightly (by only another 10bhp) up to that original 3000rpm bump, then you won't feel the loss as you through the power band, but WILL feel the 20bhp bump you've now got.

No chip/remap can give you 20bhp/lbft across the range - it will simply be either a 'peak' increase at max RPMs (and often the peak figure drops down the rev range, which is useful in itself), or they'll smooth out a dip in the rev range so that you'll get an extra 20bhp/lbft at that dip.

Whether it feels faster is purely down to whether you believe it is or not - and I've been in two cars (Corrado VR6s) with 25% difference in power (190bhp vs 240bhp), and the more powerful one felt slower despite the same driver putting in laps 2 seconds, as the power curve and bump had been smoothed out so much that it didn't feel peaky/sporty any more.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 27th January 10:55

flimper

580 posts

209 months

Saturday 28th January 2012
quotequote all
Mmm-five, are the Sport Contact 5s a replacement for the Sport Contact 3s? And do they come in the right size for the car?

mmm-five

12,239 posts

310 months

Sunday 29th January 2012
quotequote all
flimper said:
Mmm-five, are the Sport Contact 5s a replacement for the Sport Contact 3s? And do they come in the right size for the car?
There are two types of SportContact 5 - the normal 5 and the slightly higher performance 5P.

You'd either have to put 5s on the front and 5Ps on the rear in the correct sizes, or choose to stick to either of them and change the front/rear sizes a bit (e.g. either 235/45 on the front or 265/40 on the rear). Depends what sizes are available at any moment in time of course.

I went for the PSS in 225/45 and 265/40.