320d Advice
Author
Discussion

Chop1000

Original Poster:

42 posts

185 months

Monday 4th July 2011
quotequote all
Hi all, I am looking for some advice please.

I am a reasonably new BMW owner having owned Alfas and Minis up until now. Both of which have had fairly basic and easily understood engines from my point of view, which I even did a fair amount of work on myself.

Having arrived in nthe 21st century with a car with a modern engine, I am not ashamed to say there are some things I do not understand. I have heard a lot about remapping and just wanted a bit of advice as to what I could expect from a remap, what is involved, costs etc, advice on whether to bother and also where I stand on insurance.

Has anyone had a remap done and is there a noticeable difference.

I have a 2004 320d, with no mods at all at present.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks


steve6304

67 posts

206 months

Monday 4th July 2011
quotequote all
short answer, my advice is don't do it.
Re-mapping or chipping is only a compromise, gain on the swings and loose on the rounabouts.
Look at where any power gains etc are supposed to happen from the chip manufacturers, usually it is at the high end of the rev range, how often do you drive at those revs ? is it worth it ?
Probably not.
My experience is that the losses outway the gains.

steve6304

67 posts

206 months

Monday 4th July 2011
quotequote all
short answer, my advice is don't do it.
Re-mapping or chipping is only a compromise, gain on the swings and loose on the rounabouts.
Look at where any power gains etc are supposed to happen from the chip manufacturers, usually it is at the high end of the rev range, how often do you drive at those revs ? is it worth it ?
Probably not.
My experience is that the losses outway the gains.

steve6304

67 posts

206 months

Monday 4th July 2011
quotequote all
short answer, my advice is don't do it.
Re-mapping or chipping is only a compromise, gain on the swings and loose on the rounabouts.
Look at where any power gains etc are supposed to happen from the chip manufacturers, usually it is at the high end of the rev range, how often do you drive at those revs ? is it worth it ?
Probably not.
My experience is that the losses outway the gains.

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

255 months

Monday 4th July 2011
quotequote all
I would definitely do it, the gains in a turbo diesel are massive for such a small outlay.

The manufacturers hold the engines back a lot for various reasons, emissions, tax bands etc. but mostly to make sure they have plenty left marketing wise when the competition out do them, so they can come back and be even better. You only need to be a couple of BHP above your competition to be above them. wink


The 2004 320d is the same engine as the 2001 320d but at 150bhp instead of 134bhp, as Audi went from 130bhp to 140bhp, it is also the same engine as they had in their 2006 320d with 163bhp.
You can get around 190bhp no problem at all with that engine and the torque is increased by around 100nm from 2000rpm which makes it much nicer to drive on a daily basis too.

I had one of the first 150bhp 320d's and mine was mapped to 190bhp and it was great. I did other things like air filters etc. but nothing really made much of a difference compared with the remap.

I also had a 163bhp 120d and put a tuning box on that and that made even more difference, so don't write them off either.


Chop1000

Original Poster:

42 posts

185 months

Tuesday 5th July 2011
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
I would definitely do it, the gains in a turbo diesel are massive for such a small outlay.

The manufacturers hold the engines back a lot for various reasons, emissions, tax bands etc. but mostly to make sure they have plenty left marketing wise when the competition out do them, so they can come back and be even better. You only need to be a couple of BHP above your competition to be above them. wink


The 2004 320d is the same engine as the 2001 320d but at 150bhp instead of 134bhp, as Audi went from 130bhp to 140bhp, it is also the same engine as they had in their 2006 320d with 163bhp.
You can get around 190bhp no problem at all with that engine and the torque is increased by around 100nm from 2000rpm which makes it much nicer to drive on a daily basis too.

I had one of the first 150bhp 320d's and mine was mapped to 190bhp and it was great. I did other things like air filters etc. but nothing really made much of a difference compared with the remap.

I also had a 163bhp 120d and put a tuning box on that and that made even more difference, so don't write them off either.
Thanks, that's really helpful. It's my first ever diesel and I have already been really impressed with performance, but just fancied a little bit extra.

With regards to the small outlay......how much shoudl i anticipate if I do go for it? And do you recommend anyone? (I live in Wilts/Glos area)!

PJ S

10,842 posts

258 months

Tuesday 5th July 2011
quotequote all
E-map, Evolve, Torquetronix, DMS, and many others.
I would however advise caution in using Celtic.