Remapping a 330Ci

[car.chic]

I'm currentely considering whether or not to remap my 330Ci, is it worth it?

Also would i need to declare it to my insurers and would they charge much more?

Regards,
Nicola

[Bosh 964]

Spoke to DMS re my 330i E90 and they said it would give and extra 18bhp and 14-15 lbft torque

Seems a bit tame compared to the 45bhp they can add to the 330d and petrol engines usually use more fuel after unlike the diesels. I'm still umming and ahring

[Cyclone1]

Hi Nicola,

Remapping your car would probably release 20-25bhp max, but what you would gain would be increased driveability and better throttle response.

My 335d has just been remapped and it is awesome.

My car was remapped by B&W Tuning (ChippedUK Agent) at www.bwchiptune.co.uk ask for Jason if you call.

ChippedUK's website is www.chippeduk.com contact is a guy called Jayson.

Good Alternatives are:

E-Maps at www.e-maps.co.uk contact is Simon.

SP Tuning at www.sp-tuning.moonfruit.co.uk

DMS at www.dmsautomotive.com

With regards to declaring your remap to the insurers then ideally you should do this. However the likelyhood of it being detected is very slim, as is the possibility of it being investigated in the event of a claim. It's your call.

Jules.

Costs vary from as little as £200 upto £800.

[Vixpy1]

Actually, some remaps i've seen on 325's have been quite good, Speak to Simon at E-maps.

[530dTPhil]

My brother had his E46 330ci remapped recently by Simon at E-maps. He wasn't expecting to feel a great deal of difference because the gains are not that great on paper when you look at the BHP and torque figures before and after.
However as Cyclone1 says the difference is in the driveability. Much smoother power delivery and more available torque lower down the rev range. Brother's car is an auto and it seems to suit the box very well.
I had my 530d done by Simon 50000 miles ago and would thoroughly recommend his services.

[taffyracer]

I had my 330ci remapped and apart from an extra 200revs it was hardly any difference, driveability is only really increased if the gains are more than you can get on something like this, personally i'd save your money and put it to better use

[m12_nathan]

Search on the internet about the reputation of chippedUK before you go anywhere near them, a recent thread on here was very revealing but alas has been deleted...

[plowy]

I have had my Z4 3.0 mapped, Much of what has been siad above is where it's at. You cannot compare a normally aspirated petrol engine to a turbo derv engine in the mapping stakes, false comparison, The M54 engine will only yeild in the region of 10-15 bhp from mapping and 10-15lb ft of torque. These figures do not look interesting and yes they are not, but, how tunned into your car are you ???, some say 'I can't tell it's been done ???', well I certainly could tell the differance, no hesitation, instant throttle response, cleaner throughout the rev range and alot more eager to rev, along with a de-limit and higher redline.

I would say it is well worth doing, just do not expect massive gains in performance, it's not about that, this is why some people say it's rubbish, it's not all about making your car go 'Faster'..

[gwatson]

plowy said:

just do not expect massive gains in performance

You'll need a supercharger for that.. That's the route I went down. Could of spend £1100 on a MIlltek System, £800 on a DMS remap. Spend doulbe that again and you'll have a 150bhp increase, not 18bhp.... BHP per £ remaps are poor value.

G

[plowy]

gwatson said:

plowy said:

just do not expect massive gains in performance

You'll need a supercharger for that.. That's the route I went down. Could of spend £1100 on a MIlltek System, £800 on a DMS remap. Spend doulbe that again and you'll have a 150bhp increase, not 18bhp.... BHP per £ remaps are poor value.

G

Quite true but only when talking of N/A petrol engines..

[Dino D]

From my chats to DMS about my old 330i the main benefit seemed to be power delivery and throttle response which seems to confirmed by some chaps here. The 330 definitely needs a sharper throttle response and could do with some freer breathing as they chase the redline.

If i kept the car longer a DMS map would have been done and a Remus 'power sound' exhaust (it has an adjustable valve so you can control the noise levels) with some sort of freer breathing induction. I think it would be great to release some more of the lovely sound without being chavvy but also give the engine a bit more of a 'crisper' and 'less restricted' delivery.

The DMS does sound expensive though but I believe they have a money back warranty if you not happy?

[plowy]

Be carefull when dealing with what DMS claim to get out of the M54 engine, they say 260bhp now that is a whopping 29BHP increase !!!!, many tunners doubt this is possible, i would want some evidence iof it if i were going to part with what they want...

[callahan]

I've just booked my 330i sport touring in with Simon at e-maps to do it in a couple of weeks. He reckons 17bhp and 25nm of torque increase, but the main difference is in the feel of the delivery. I had an old mk3 Golf Gti of mine done years ago (the 2ltr 8 valve version) by AMD and it was a surprisingly big difference in the way it drove. It was also more economical, which would help with the 330i.... he also does a full diagnostics check, ups the rev limiter a bit and removes the speed limiter - although I don't think the 330i is capable of going over 155 unless its off a cliff?

I also booked a space for a friend, but he's dropped out, so if anyone else wants it done (in Saffron Walden, near Cambridge) there is a space at a discounted price!

[Mr Whippy]

gwatson said:

plowy said:

just do not expect massive gains in performance

You'll need a supercharger for that.. That's the route I went down. Could of spend £1100 on a MIlltek System, £800 on a DMS remap. Spend doulbe that again and you'll have a 150bhp increase, not 18bhp.... BHP per £ remaps are poor value.

G

Did you go for one of the recent Lysholm ESS chargers?

Pretty sure early last year they were mainly pos.disp centrifugal ones (as per CSL/M3 which still are), but seem to have updated their range now, which is nice as they have some real grunt all the way through now!

Have you seen the Simpson Motorsport Z4? (using a centrifugal charger afaik so a bit off the pace on the torque vs the new ones)
http://www.simpsonmotorsport.co.uk/default.asp?id=...


I've heard good things on the kits generally too, the Loaded M3 appears to be working the Ring and having no reports of issues, and StuB off here has had a 2.8 kit on his Z3 for ages too. Seem to be a good buy

Pretty interested myself, love the E46 but costs might hurt, and the B3 Alpina's are nice but tiptronic, but these new Lysholm chargers appear to give Alpina kinda output but in a nice cheap subtle 330Ci

So how does it drive? My only concern would be the lack of a locking diff and the clutch if you don't uprate it and it's got a few miles under it's belt?

Dave

[gwatson]

Mr Whippy said:

Did you go for one of the recent Lysholm ESS chargers?

Yeah, got a stage 2 ESS Twin Screw. I have to say the performance is awesome. The big benefit over the centrifugal centrifugal chargers is it generates full boost at just 2000rpm not max rpm. It also runs a lot cooler. The big benefit is the 440NM of torque available so low down, it just pulls and pulls.

Yes I have seen Simpson's Z4, in fact I almost bought that kit as the guy was selling it. But changed my mind in favour for the new twin screw. One thing to be said is perhaps the centrifugal feels faster as it's continually building boost, but in real life the twin screw is quicker, it's just it feels like a very powerful naturally aspirated car.

The ESS TS2 will give more than just Alpina performance, in fact it's better than an Z4M or M3, I know that for a fact. But at the same time, insurance is similar, road tax and servicing is lower and fuel consumption is much better, I get around 28mpg on average and upto 38mpg on a run. All in a very discrete package and of course something a little different.

Meant to add, I have no problems with the clutch, although my car has only done 30K and I never to standing starts, always rolling from say 5-10mph. As for the Diff, sure a LSD would of been nice, however I don't have any problems with the grip in the dry, doesn't even spin the wheels in less you give it a lot of revs. As for the wet, well it's as good as any other 350+bhp rear wheel drive car

Any questions just let me know.
G

P.S. I may be selling my kit early next year to fund a new 135i coupe It'll still have 1 years warranty and fit the 330i

Edited by gwatson on Thursday 26th July 12:49

Edited by gwatson on Thursday 26th July 13:37

[Mr Whippy]

Sounds like you have the 8psi kit with that torque?

Would the Z4 kit fit the 330Ci then, or are some parts different (ie, ancilliary?)
I assumed, though not sure, that the 6.5 or 8psi kits would use an intercooler? Might that be an issue?

Had a few reads of your posts and it sounds like a good supercharger. I agree on the centrifugal ones though, they must feel fast as they go from nothing to peak boost rather than building soon and then dropping off like the pos.disp ones.

Personally either would be quick, a 3.0 engine is pretty big to start with so adding more idle>2000rpm torque must make it quite grunty ambling along in top


I was just adding the options up. To get the right specced B3 would take me back £14-15k, and I know that in early 08 the values won't have dropped much, wheras the 330Ci's appear to be on the usual depreciation descent, and a bit cheaper... next spring I might get one for not much and have plenty left for a charger kit...
Love the sound of the 3.0, with the right wheels/bumpers they look great, and the same can be said of the Z4, so having to just find £3k to get 300bhp or so is a good deal I think from an otherwise good choice of 6 pot NA rwd coupe!

Thanks

Dave

Edited by Mr Whippy on Thursday 26th July 14:03

[gwatson]

Dave,

Yes I have the 8psi kit. Basically over the TS1 it has an intercooler, bigger injectors and a smaller pulley.

Yes it would. You would need an different engine remap, a new power steering resevioir and a few other smaller bits. I enquired about this last week for another 330i owner. Cost of parts inc ECU remap is around £380.

6.5psi doesn't require an intercooler, but I would always opt for one for reliability, just a personal thing. This is the kit I originally ordered. But I knew a power upgrade to 8psi was fairly cheap and I'd do it at some stage, therefore I decided just to do it to start with, the main reason being everything has to be removed and refitted to fit an intercooler, therefore 2 instal costs.

I always thought of supercharging a clubsport, they look awesome and can be bought fairly cheap all things considering. However the Z4 won the day for me, much more involved drive.

300bhp would be nice, but you'll always want more I think 350bhp is a good amount of power for the road without being silly

Not sure where you got the £3k figure from, but that won't get an ESS kit (unless it's used). However you could get the cheaper SK+ for that, but I am sure that uses a piggy back ECU.

[Mr Whippy]

6.5psi is $6000, so about £3k?
8.0psi is $8000, so about £4k?

Fitting isn't an issue as I'd do that myself, shipping might be a fair bit?

Those prices are off the website, the € prices seem to be a tad higher (when converted to £ sterling), but even at those it's not a massive amount more.

Yeah, the pre-facelift Clubsports look quite nice, but I've seen some questionable specifications on them more than other 330Ci's... seen a few with M3 mirrors too, not sure if that was an option?

I think thats the hardest part of buying a used BMW, the spec is so hard to confirm in adverts it's hard to get an idea of value. I've seen some with cloth seats and sat nav, then others with full leather and nice wheels etc, and a tape player

Is there any 'best spec' to look for?

Also general 330Ci question, I'm confused when the 6spd boxes were fitted, was it at the facelift to the swoppy lights, or was it a year before? I think the ones I like the most seem to sit in a 6 month window of production.

Dave

[gwatson]

Mr Whippy said:

6.5psi is $6000, so about £3k?
8.0psi is $8000, so about £4k?

Yeah, plus VAT, import duty and delivery, another £1k

Fitting is indeed a DIY job, however I opted to have it professionally fitted for around £600.

Just replied to your email by the way.

G

[Mr Whippy]

Ferry to Norway, buy the kit, empty the bits out all over the back seat and boot, ask random Norway resident to liberally apply some oil to parts to make '2nd hand', ferry back, cash sale 2nd hand if anyone asks, et voila

Wonder what tax rate is if bought in Denmark... guessing they use €'s

Dave