Just took my 2009 135i/N54 to Cobb Tuning in Plano for a ProTune

[LeoBurr]

After extensive research on the way I wanted to go with the car, I've done the following mods:

- Quaife LSD from VAC motorsports
- M3 rear subframe bushings
- M3 rear guide rods
- M3 rear upper wishbones from HPA Autosport
- 5" VRSF FMIC with lower charge pipe
- Clutch Delay Valve delete
(Koni Yellows, and front M3 suspension bits are in the works)

I went to Cobb Tuning's Plano facility since I've had a lot of experience with them in the past with Subarus as well as having had Trey do work on my own car years ago while starting Cobb Tuning. Their work is fairly well-known and they're a stand-up company.

I worked with Neil, and spoke to Calvin, their tuner. I asked at what PSI they normally target with a stock N54 with a FMIC as the only mod and was told that ~17PSI is generally it.

I asked for 15PSI as the target and a nice conservative tune, as I plan on keeping the car as long as I can.

I had an AccessPort with the OTS Stage 1 "Drive" map on it. This was used as the baseline.

At ~15.5PSI, the car put down 322WHP and 386 wheel torque on plain old 93 octane pump gas. The car pulls nicely and smoothly now - Calvin told me that continued maintenance has been great for the car and he put it through its paces. He was curious why there was no one tire fire until I told him about the Quaife.

All-in-all, would highly recommend their services and wouldn't hesitate to use them again. Attached is my dyno sheet.

[lastMleft]

Nice!! What other plans do you have for the little beast?

[LeoBurr]

So far, the short list is:
- Koni Yellows
- M3 front suspension bits to match the rears (at the same time as the Konis)
- A set of LCI Blackline rear tails
- A painted spoiler
- Focal drop-in speaker replacements
- ComBox upgrade for the CIC system
- Akebono ceramic pads when the time comes
- Maybe a short shifter?

Already running 255/225 Conti DWSes and have redline fluids in the tranny and rear diff with Motul in the motor and MoCool added into the stock coolant, just because.

That's all, really. I'm happy at my power levels. No need for downpipes/an exhaust. I'm done, power-wise.

[1ToBeOn2Wheels]

BMW Performance SSK is a must! Do it ASAP.

[Rob Daman]

great power for simple mods

[LeoBurr]

The SSK would likely be the last mod. I'm actually okay with the stock shifter. Need to try the SSK before buying.

And yeah, Calvin at Cobb was able to extract decent power with a relatively conservative tune without a whole lot of modification. I was (and am) really pleased.

[new2the3]

the N54 SSK is amazing, maybe my favorate mod

[RimasRS]

I'm jealous that you can stop on those #s...

[submarshall]

I'm in the Plano area as well and just recently picked up the Cobb AP v3. I was running PROcede and was happy with it(major power gains)!! I haven't installed the AP on my car yet, but am very curious to see the differences if any. For mods I have Ar DP's(catless), full rpi quad exhaust, afe intake, er fmic, and a bunch of cosmetic stuff. I was thinking about doing a protune from Cobb, but I think it's a bit expensive for what u are getting. You basically get a dyno and possibly a little more power right?

Also, what kind of dyno does Cobb use? Those numbers look really low imo. Considering our cars put down 289 ish to the wheels stock. The Cobb at 15.5 psi should in theory add about 60-70 HP because you are doubling the boost. And the fmic alone should add around 10-15 hp to the wheels. Let me know if I am thinking all wrong.

[Allen@MOTIV]

Originally Posted by submarshall

I'm in the Plano area as well and just recently picked up the Cobb AP v3. I was running PROcede and was happy with it(major power gains)!! I haven't installed the AP on my car yet, but am very curious to see the differences if any. For mods I have Ar DP's(catless), full rpi quad exhaust, afe intake, er fmic, and a bunch of cosmetic stuff. I was thinking about doing a protune from Cobb, but I think it's a bit expensive for what u are getting. You basically get a dyno and possibly a little more power right?

Also, what kind of dyno does Cobb use? Those numbers look really low imo. Considering our cars put down 289 ish to the wheels stock. The Cobb at 15.5 psi should in theory add about 60-70 HP because you are doubling the boost. And the fmic alone should add around 10-15 hp to the wheels. Let me know if I am thinking all wrong.

Cobb uses mustang dynos. Just for a point of reference, Cobb dynos at all their facilities are typically referred to as "heart breakers" because of their tendency to read low.

[LeoBurr]

There's more left in the car -- Calvin said I've got a very good motor. This is with stock downpipes, stock exhaust, stock intake, etc. Just a FMIC on a car that's been well-maintained. As I said, they normally tune to ~17PSI and I requested ~15PSI, and I'm not going to perform any further power modifications because beyond the numbers, the car runs extremely well.

And yes, this is a low-reading dyne. Note that the Cobb OTS Stage-1 map was only putting down 273 on this dyno, and Stage-1 was /very/ noticeably quicker than stock. If I was to guess, this car would've baselined, stock, at ~260WHP on the Mustang Dyno at Cobb. But maybe someone at Cobb can chime in.

Here's a 2008 135i baseline from Cobb Plano, from their site.

[foghat]

Why didn't you do a baseline run?

[LeoBurr]

I did have a baseline. My baseline was the Cobb OTS Stage-1 map. Didn't feel like paying to wait 20 minutes to unmarry the AP or reinstall it.

[foghat]

Right. Missed the run 2 numbers.

If you are ever in there again and are curious as to what your stock numbers are, you don't need to unmarry/uninstall - you can load cobb's 'stock like' map and that will probably get you close enough.

[LeoBurr]

Originally Posted by foghat

If you are ever in there again and are curious as to what your stock numbers are, you don't need to unmarry/uninstall - you can load cobb's 'stock like' map and that will probably get you close enough.

They had enough 135s baselined that I was fairly comfortable with what the range would be.

Besides, there are folks who wouldn't take their "stock like" map as a true baseline, or a real stock map with the FMIC on it, etc.

Ultimately, where I started, number-wise isn't as important as where I ended, drivability-wise. The car's got a lot better throttle response, and an E90 M3 that tried to dick with me in my drive this morning probably spent the rest of his drive to work crying.

Cheers!

[foghat]