Another Happy ProTuningFreaks Custom Tune

[liebemeinauto]

Just wanted to stop by and give a huge thanks to Dzenno and the PTF crew for a phenomenal e-tune on my '08 135i (mods listed in siggy).

I was running OTS Cobb Stage 2+FMIC Aggressive, Stock Throttle, after the install of the Cobb Catted Downpipes, as the last hardware upgrade, and, with good weather coming, I was eager to finally do the custom tune, to smooth out the power, which came on in big leaps with the OTS Map, making the car less predictable than I wanted, having to watch the RPM's rather than just gauge power by pedal position for throttle response.

As only a semi-literate (at best) tuning novice, the custom tune idea was a bit daunting, just in terms of knowing what to expect and how to provide relevant feedback, but Dzenno was amazing at walking me through it and educating me along the way and patiently answering every question I had. Took only three iterations, including the Starter Map! Amazing! I wish I'd done this months ago!

The difference, as echoed by others, is night and day. It's not only significantly more power than the OTS, thanks to milking every ounce of power from my mods, but what is astonishing is how smooth the power comes on, and, frankly, just how smooth the car now runs, period. Mods make it a different animal, but this e-tune makes it a different beast altogether and I can't wipe the smile off my face.

Again, as others have already said, and I'm just agreeing here 100%, if you go to the expense of the Cobb path and bolt-ons, it just makes complete sense to take that extra step with a custom tune. It's all done by email, just get your logs and email them, and the map is sent back, load it from computer to Cobb AP, re-flash, get more logs, and repeat.

Dzenno and his team respond quickly and completely, and this was all done in just over a week or so. For $249, it's incredible to get this kind of direct, individualized expertise. Dyno time locally here is about four hundred bucks an hour, and, last time I converted a NA car to turbo, just the initial tuning was well over $1600, not to mention ongoing fine tuning costs until it was dialed in right, so the benefit for cost ratio here is insanely wonderful and, as the least expensive thing I've had done with my car, it's certainly the most bang for the buck, by far.

Best thing is the depth of knowledge at PTF -- they are able to say, "Yup, this is as good as it gets" which was important for me as someone still learning, who needs to be able to put trust in experts.

I'm pushing 19-20 psi, tapering down at redline, pulling zero timing codes, and, as Dzenno said, all the numbers are perfect, and that is certainly reflected in how incredibly smooth, and incredibly strong, the car runs. It has never felt this good, period. Almost feels like naturally aspirated power, it comes on so consistently, and I love how it now feels like the true strength of the set-up is always on tap, just waiting, ready to pounce...

Used to be those surges as bits and pieces would do their job, almost independent of each other, like, yes, there's the intakes, oh, yup, turbo spool, oh, wait, here are the downpipes....! But, now, it's all in beautiful harmony, one smooth surge of glory!

Yes, I'm off my rocker with happiness, so forgive the drift toward hyperbole, but, seriously, best upgrade EVER.

Many thanks Dzenno and PTF!

Obviously, I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to get those most out of their Cobb set-up.

[jmz135]

That's awesome to hear, I actually just purchased an e-tune yesterday, looking forward to getting started even more now.

I've only heard good things about the PTF guys. In my mind there is no reason not to do it for the price. Any plans to get your car dynoed?

[Rob_BMW_PNW]

Getting raped at 400 an hour, shops charge less than 100 an hour here, and 60 for 3 pulls.

A whole tune on a dyno costs 400 bucks here that includes inspection

[liebemeinauto]

Originally Posted by jmz135

That's awesome to hear, I actually just purchased an e-tune yesterday, looking forward to getting started even more now.

I've only heard good things about the PTF guys. In my mind there is no reason not to do it for the price. Any plans to get your car dynoed?

Good going! You'll be thrilled. It's like a whole new car, all over again. While the COBB OTS maps were great every small step of the way, and it was a new car kind of feeling every time I upgraded to the next stage, this tune from PTF is a different experience entirely. They really know what they're doing and it shows in both the process, and the final results.

Yes, I'd like to get some hard figures, simply because I'm incredibly curious how much HP I'm actually pushing. Dzenno said it was a lot more than the highest COBB map I was running, which of course was their unofficial Stage 3, according to COBB, even though it still is called a Stage 2 map (St2+FMIC Aggressive). Not sure why they didn't develop an "official" Stage 3, but maybe just wasn't a market for it, in their estimation, or too many variations to accommodate a general OTS map once people are modding that much, I don't know.

Anyway, I do have a cool gadget I picked up a while back that is supposed to give somewhat accurate HP numbers -- basically it computes acceleration figured against weight and drag to produce a HP figure. I found all of the numbers to punch in, but was waiting for this tune. It does a bunch of other nifty stuff too, some of which the AccessPort does also. Can't recall the name of it, I think Escort makes it, same company that makes radar detectors. I've had it for many months, and never have had the time to play with it, but will pull it out when I can and set it up. I think it's called the G-Timer or something.

Otherwise, yes, some official dyno time at some point would be epic!

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by liebemeinauto

While the COBB OTS maps were great every small step of the way

Are you getting paid by Cobb?

[liebemeinauto]

Originally Posted by Rob_BMW_PNW

Getting raped at 400 an hour, shops charge less than 100 an hour here, and 60 for 3 pulls.

A whole tune on a dyno costs 400 bucks here that includes inspection

Not sure of the "here" of which you speak, but, yup, 400 an hour is obviously overly steep. If one knows a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy, sort of thing, I have heard of much cheaper places, but I work a billion hours a week and, unfortunately, don't have time to do much research or networking on what shops are doing what.

I mean, shoot, even track days have dyno time deals, sometimes for nothing, but, like I say, it's a matter of knowing where to go and when.

If you are referring to a specific shop (or shops) somewhere in the PacNW, or a facility or whatever, it would be handy to know who/where it is.

I know COBB down around Portland (had my initial inspection done there) does custom tuning, obviously, but it was $450 I think, or something, I don't remember, so $249 is a steal, from PTF, considering no travel time either.

And, mind you, my dyno search was long years ago, and I wound up getting it done by the same shop who converted my then-daily-driver from NA, and, although they did great work (including working on world record setting cars) their rates, in general, were high. It was worth it though, since they were the only shop willing to tackle the project, not to mention their expertise was unmatched.

Long ago, there were a number of performance shops around, but many shut down over the years, and I lost track of what specialty shops were still running, for tuning, etc., and then there's also knowing what shops will do it right. I got steered to one Bimmer shop, supposedly well respected, and turns out they were a nightmare, so not always easy to know where to go, and where is legit in terms of the work that's done, but would be nice to know who's providing basic dyno time at those quoted prices.

Would maybe make it more worth it to get some numbers, one day, on this custom tune....

All I know is that my butt dyno is sure reporting epic happiness.

[liebemeinauto]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Are you getting paid by Cobb?

Odd question. No, I'm not. Glad you made yourself giggle though, I guess...

I just think they deserve appreciation, not to mention it's simply an accurate statement....so....

Pretty amazing gadget they have -- push a few buttons and sit on your butt for a few minutes, and drive off with more happy horsepower. Maybe I'm a bit awed since this whole process has been new to me.

Pre-COBB experience has been spending a whole lot for incremental results, never even getting to where I was trying to get, in terms of power, and, courtesy of COBB, I've spent a fraction of what I've ever spent on previous cars and already I am where I want to be.

So, actually, I'm the one paying them, haha, as a customer, but bang for buck I'm sure happy I've done so.

The results with PTF were even more extraordinary as a next step, but I don't intend on taking anything away from COBB, since it is still their product which has made any of this happen.

I guess I just don't like giving an impression of, "Wow, this custom tune makes COBB's map suck!"

So, yup, appreciation to COBB, for sure.

Not sure why that's confusing....or remotely humorous, for that matter....

[jmz135]

Well I tested my first revision of the PTF map this weekend. All I can say is WOW. Runs so much smoother than the OTS maps and WAY more power.

I have heard that the Cobb N54 OTS maps are better than the N55, but with that said I have not been impressed with the N55 OTS maps. Running their 91 (sport) maps when I was stage 1 I got no more sustained power or boost and it just felt peakier. Not to mention I would get a ton of timing corrections across the cylinders.

To Cobb's credit, I contacted them and their customer service was great and tried to help figure out why my car didn't like the OTS maps, but we never got anywhere.

After getting my FMIC I went to stage 1+ and I was still unimpressed. I was only averaging about 9.5-10.2 PSI. Now on the PTF tune I'm peaking around 15 lbs, tapering off a bit towards redline.

Cobb N55 stage 1+ log:
http://datazap.me/u/jmz135/cobb-1-sport?log=0&data=4-14

PTF N55 Custom tune (revision 1):
http://datazap.me/u/jmz135/ptf-custo...og=0&data=4-14

The other thing I thought was awesome that PTF did is control the power & boost modulation in 1st gear vs throttle input. On the cobb tune it seemed like I had to either put the pedal to the floor to get a ton of boost in 1st gear, or get none at all if I was only at a slight throttle input. Now I can only give it a small amount of throttle and I still get 2-3 lbs of boost which is great for daily driving.

[liebemeinauto]

Originally Posted by jmz135

The other thing I thought was awesome that PTF did is control the power & boost modulation in 1st gear vs throttle input. On the cobb tune it seemed like I had to either put the pedal to the floor to get a ton of boost in 1st gear, or get none at all if I was only at a slight throttle input. Now I can only give it a small amount of throttle and I still get 2-3 lbs of boost which is great for daily driving.

Yes, exactly!!! Dzenno and crew really are ace at this stuff and that's what has impressed me so much, is that daily driving is so much more fun, in how the power comes on. I don't even have to have all the assists off to have incredible fun driving it now, nor do I have to push it to find that rush of when it's really cranking out power.

Before it felt almost like something meant to be naturally aspirated, that had boost strapped on almost like an aftermarket mod, to where the power either came on in bursts, or else didn't come on as much as I wanted. That was what I said to PTF, in my first contact with them, was wanting more predictability, and they most certainly delivered on that desire.

And, now to really get on it, even there it's not wild anymore, which I appreciate, since there's nothing more annoying than a sudden burst of torque while vectoring through a corner.

Yup I've definitely heard the same, in differences between the two engines, and I actually did some homework before choosing the N54 platform, just for what I was looking for. Positives both directions, of course. For me, it meant buying an older car, obviously, but I was fortunate to find one that had really been babied, despite the high miles. And so very lucky to find the beloved 6MT.

Very glad to know you're also finding this such a rush, haha!

[jmz135]

Originally Posted by liebemeinauto

Yes, exactly!!! Dzenno and crew really are ace at this stuff and that's what has impressed me so much, is that daily driving is so much more fun, in how the power comes on. I don't even have to have all the assists off to have incredible fun driving it now, nor do I have to push it to find that rush of when it's really cranking out power.

Before it felt almost like something meant to be naturally aspirated, that had boost strapped on almost like an aftermarket mod, to where the power either came on in bursts, or else didn't come on as much as I wanted. That was what I said to PTF, in my first contact with them, was wanting more predictability, and they most certainly delivered on that desire.

And, now to really get on it, even there it's not wild anymore, which I appreciate, since there's nothing more annoying than a sudden burst of torque while vectoring through a corner.

Yup I've definitely heard the same, in differences between the two engines, and I actually did some homework before choosing the N54 platform, just for what I was looking for. Positives both directions, of course. For me, it meant buying an older car, obviously, but I was fortunate to find one that had really been babied, despite the high miles. And so very lucky to find the beloved 6MT.

Very glad to know you're also finding this such a rush, haha!

Yea it has really been great so far. It is, without a doubt, more predictable than the OTS map even while being more aggressive. I'm looking forward to getting the 2nd revision back from them to see how it improves even further.

The only part that annoys me is how invasive the DSC is on these cars. To really use the power in these cars I have to disable it any time I get in the car.

[Rob_BMW_PNW]

Originally Posted by liebemeinauto

Not sure of the "here" of which you speak, but, yup, 400 an hour is obviously overly steep. If one knows a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy, sort of thing, I have heard of much cheaper places, but I work a billion hours a week and, unfortunately, don't have time to do much research or networking on what shops are doing what.

I mean, shoot, even track days have dyno time deals, sometimes for nothing, but, like I say, it's a matter of knowing where to go and when.

If you are referring to a specific shop (or shops) somewhere in the PacNW, or a facility or whatever, it would be handy to know who/where it is.

I know COBB down around Portland (had my initial inspection done there) does custom tuning, obviously, but it was $450 I think, or something, I don't remember, so $249 is a steal, from PTF, considering no travel time either.

And, mind you, my dyno search was long years ago, and I wound up getting it done by the same shop who converted my then-daily-driver from NA, and, although they did great work (including working on world record setting cars) their rates, in general, were high. It was worth it though, since they were the only shop willing to tackle the project, not to mention their expertise was unmatched.

Long ago, there were a number of performance shops around, but many shut down over the years, and I lost track of what specialty shops were still running, for tuning, etc., and then there's also knowing what shops will do it right. I got steered to one Bimmer shop, supposedly well respected, and turns out they were a nightmare, so not always easy to know where to go, and where is legit in terms of the work that's done, but would be nice to know who's providing basic dyno time at those quoted prices.

Would maybe make it more worth it to get some numbers, one day, on this custom tune....

All I know is that my butt dyno is sure reporting epic happiness.

Cobb Surgeline in Portland
PRE in Portland
English Racing in Vancouver, wa
All charge 400 for a dyno, 80-90 an hour.

All Cobb certified

[Rob_BMW_PNW]

also 60 for 3 pulls, even less on a dyno day

Dyno tunes are always better than e tunes, the tuner can see right then and there via the dyno read out if the tne revisions actually gained any power or if too much timing is added and no gain in torque (increae of cylinder pressure for no gain), which cant be seen on a road/e tune even with a virtual dyno.

[Gregoriovv]

Damn, I just checked their website and they state that they are not taking any new customers right now due to developing tunes for a new BMW engine. I was going to jump on this as you have me sold on it!

[jmz135]

Originally Posted by Gregoriovv

Damn, I just checked their website and they state that they are not taking any new customers right now due to developing tunes for a new BMW engine. I was going to jump on this as you have me sold on it!

Wow that's super lame! I can't believe it, I just got a custom tune from them a few weeks ago...I see that the option is now "out of stock" on their website. They must have very recently updated it.