Which tune has proven to be best for N54 cars so far?

[sear]

Its interesting to see the lengthy passionate threads on this topic both here and in the e90 section. What often appears to get missed is the fact that having numerous tuner companies (piggy backs and flash tunes the like) benefits everyone who is interested in any kind of tune.

The amount of competion on this platform keeps new features/refinment progressing and keeps prices withing reason at the same time.

Each of the leading tunes out there has its benefits for sure and no one is the best at everthing, but the fact that they all exist has made each one of the others better.


If you are in the market for a tune, do some research first to figure out what is important to you and secondly to understand what options are available and what commitment and benefits each offers.

[Venom]

There actually was a documented case on the forums where the owner of the car DIDNT uninstall the cobb ap before taking it in. Made me LOL. Otherwise, completely undetectable. I just had my software updated and 2 injectors replaced. No complaints here from the dealer or me. Reinstalled the AP with the Beta V3 map and no complaints yet. [QUOTE=Juicehead;9848648][QUOTE=Mike@N54Tuning.com;9844017]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7EHSJIw5E0

[Si-M240i]

I have GIAC and wouldn't change it for anything. No issues, no codes and 400BHP with stock DP's........and it take less than 5 seconds to switch back to "stock"

[ESC OFF]

Originally Posted by Si-135i

I have GIAC and wouldn't change it for anything. No issues, no codes and 400BHP with stock DP's........and it take less than 5 seconds to switch back to "stock"

I'd love to see the dyno for those numbers, especially the torque curve, can you post?

[FedeM]

If you're planning to run meth you can choose between jb4 and PROcede... The first for the cost, the second for the extreme power.
If you're not to planning it, PROcede wins with low hands.

[John Dempsey]

I have a cobb in my car and absolutely love it

[aznbenz07]

Originally Posted by 808_m

It wasn't too bad. It was pretty comfy and, after an ECU tune, it had some pretty decent power. The one thing that pissed me off the most was the crappy paint... It came to point where I'd get rock chips down to the metal EVERY time I drove the car! It was fast in a straight line but the trans didn't have a good "feel" and I just felt so disconnected. Granted, I was probably spoiled coming from my S2000 with JRZ double adjustables and $$$ in other parts.

All that said; I like the 135i MUCH better.... It can't compare to the S2000 (as a track car) but intend to have a 20% track / 80% street car, so this is looking to be great so far!

Off Topic: Strange that you felt disconnected in an Evo 10, it just won best handling car in America for 40k dollars in Road & Track mag. I came from honda's also Integra & 05' TL six speed and Idk but the evo is a much more connected performer imo then anything from honda besides an NSX. I think you were tricked by the wind noise coming in through the drop top making you feel more in touch with the road lol (just playing man we're on the same team, we both love Japanese tuners & Bmw's) Oh, and as for the paint 3m the front of it and you won't have chips duh. Also, for future ref awd cars transaxel's feel different then rear wheel they sometimes hiccup that's the power being shifted around from front to back and left to right, there's a trick to mastering them. I love my 10 if you couldn't tell lol

On Topic: My good friend just purchased his 135 and we will be racing heavily against each other soon he's set on the Jb4 due to pricing and he really isn't knowledgeable on the cobb ap, & proceed. I want to guide him in the right direction to make our track days and such competitive, but what do you guys think, should he wait for the cobb ap stage 2+ which I'm familiar with coming from the evo community or should he just go jb4. His bolt on's will only be exhaust (catback) in my experience the cobb ap is great for entry level tuning but just isn't as malleable as a custom pro tune and it seems like the jb4 could just bump him up to say 360whp with just his catback.

[thebigragu99]

A 135 with 360 whP would beat your 10..If he gets a jb4 map 2 with dci and d.ps he would abuse you!!The jb4 fbo completely catless ,will make 400 whp and and a stage 2, cobb stage 2 will push 410 whp.I would wait for more time and beta for the stage 2 Cobb ..p.s, I can't believe your car is still running with urkels tune him and tach motorWerks are the biggest scammers!!

[aznbenz07]

Originally Posted by thebigragu99

A 135 with 360 whP would beat your 10..If he gets a jb4 map 2 with dci and d.ps he would abuse you!!The jb4 fbo completely catless ,will make 400 whp and and a stage 2, cobb stage 2 will push 410 whp.I would wait for more time and beta for the stage 2 Cobb ..p.s, I can't believe your car is still running with urkels tune him and tach motorWerks are the biggest scammers!!

Off Topic: A lot of people do not like tach... Why? Erkle has always been fair to me, giving me countless tune hours and even invited me to his house for consultation. And I don't know of any cars that blew due to his tune and I know a lot of people he works with. I knew him before he went to tach so I can't vouch for Tach but Erkle has never given me any reason to dislike him or his tunes, I've delt with much worse and seen cars blow up from other peoples shops with my own eyes.

On Topic: My friend with the 135 just told me that he's not doing boltons until his warranty is up and he just pulled the trigger on the jb4 stage 3 so what will his bone stock car make to the wheels and what makes you so certain that his car will abuse mine? I also have weight reduction done to my 10, it weighs 3338lbs so we should be pretty close in that respect. I figure that all I would need is cams and injectors or just go fp red or bbx turbo to hang with the jb4 set up. Please give me some more insight and let me know if I'm wrong. By the way we'll be doing drag racing at the track (Does the jb4 have launch maps), we'll do a few highway pulls, also auto cross and time attack I'm sure I'll be pulling out faster laps.

[thebigragu99]

Fair enough about Erke..I personally don't like him he's a snake and complete dirt bag!!

Back
To the topic :

Your car has a good weight ratio right now and you'll be almost the same as him weight wise..In order for you to be next to him , you'll need the red with cams ,full bolt ons..I warn you don't do hwy pulls, that's were this car really shines ..The top of 4 th gear does 140 mph easy!!His car with the dci and stage 3 jb 4 will yield him 365 and 385 tq easy with NYC 93 OCT.I would do a 2 nd gear roll and see how it turns up..

[thebigragu99]

Yes forgot the jb4 has 2 step,custom maps,and nlts!You have to also remember that the car is a tt ,and a inline 6! The evo can make a ton of power ,but there only really fast frOm a launch ..The car has the smallest displacement and a big turbo which Creats lag ,and not the best top end power ..example look at melons vid ,he was pushing 630 whp and took for ever to hit 173 ..If you watch a tuned Fbo 135 ,the speedo moves like a tach on the hwy ..The car can get scary when doing hwy pulls,the power seems endless!

[aznbenz07]

Originally Posted by thebigragu99

Yes forgot the jb4 has 2 step,custom maps,and nlts!You have to also remember that the car is a tt ,and a inline 6! The evo can make a ton of power ,but there only really fast frOm a launch ..The car has the smallest displacement and a big turbo which Creats lag ,and not the best top end power ..example look at melons vid ,he was pushing 630 whp and took for ever to hit 173 ..If you watch a tuned Fbo 135 ,the speedo moves like a tach on the hwy ..The car can get scary when doing hwy pulls,the power seems endless!

Great info, thanks what are some of the fastest trap speeds in the quarter and top whp numbers ever made on the 135 to date with the jb4?

[thebigragu99]

Originally Posted by aznbenz07

Great info, thanks what are some of the fastest trap speeds in the quarter and top whp numbers ever made on the 135 to date with the jb4?

I think hot rod holds it..I think he traped 132 or ..you should check drag times for more info.

[thebigragu99]

I'll tell you this ,if this car was Awd omg!!

[RnmEvo9]

Originally Posted by thebigragu99

Yes forgot the jb4 has 2 step,custom maps,and nlts!You have to also remember that the car is a tt ,and a inline 6! The evo can make a ton of power ,but there only really fast frOm a launch ..The car has the smallest displacement and a big turbo which Creats lag ,and not the best top end power ..example look at melons vid ,he was pushing 630 whp and took for ever to hit 173 ..If you watch a tuned Fbo 135 ,the speedo moves like a tach on the hwy ..The car can get scary when doing hwy pulls,the power seems endless!

Evos don't have a large stock turbo. They can make plenty of power but you'll have to upgrade to a larger stock frame turbo and E85 to have fun. Needless to say, I never lost to a 135i or 335i (procede tune) in my E85 powered Evo even from rolls.

Evo X are even more of a pig in terms of straight line speed, but they do handle quite well.

[aznbenz07]

Originally Posted by RnmEvo9

Evos don't have a large stock turbo. They can make plenty of power but you'll have to upgrade to a larger stock frame turbo and E85 to have fun. Needless to say, I never lost to a 135i or 335i (procede tune) in my E85 powered Evo even from rolls.

Evo X are even more of a pig in terms of straight line speed, but they do handle quite well.

If ya read above, "thebigragu" said I'd need an fp red (a stock frame turbo)and cams to keep up, so I will be going bigger turbo soon and I also have weight reduction so my 10's no longer a pig. How did the proceed tuned cars do against you?

Originally Posted by thebigragu99

I'll tell you this ,if this car was Awd omg!!

I hear you, but bmw's awd isn't that great I can attest to that. I had a t-case just take a dump on me out of nowhere and it was replaced under warranty in my 328xi. I love my evo 10 though and it will stay in my stable until it's gtr time, hopefully I can maintain both. I'm going to check out the track times.

[Shoukin Kubi]

Had Dinan stage 2 on car, lost 15 whp after adding DP and going catless. Now have jb4, full bolt ons on map 2 car makes 25 more whp than dinan did. I was hoping for the 400 whp with jb4 but the best I got was 380 with race gas map 7. So just waiting for Cobb stage 2. Dinan tune was smooth and never any yellow lights on dash. Jb4 feels wilder than dinan did and all summer long yellow lights on the dash a code for this a code for that. Waiting on Cobb.

[RnmEvo9]

Originally Posted by aznbenz07

If ya read above, "thebigragu" said I'd need an fp red (a stock frame turbo)and cams to keep up, so I will be going bigger turbo soon and I also have weight reduction so my 10's no longer a pig. How did the proceed tuned cars do against you?

If you get a FP Red and have it tuned on E85, you will destroy 85% of tuned 135is and 335is. The only ones that will keep up or put up a good race are the ones with aftermarket turbos (Rob Becks etc.). The only thing limiting you at that point is that your block won't like all that newfound power for long, but you'll have fun!

When I had my Evo9, I would always put several carlengths on my friends 335i with a procede and bolt ons. It was only when he used race gas that he would stay really close to me. Keep in mind I was still on stock turbo and E85. An FP Red or even better a Black would make most N54s seem parked lol. It would be wise to build the block if you get a Red or Black. Take a look what E85, FP Black and a buschur motor can do:

Yeah, not many 335i will keep up with that lol. I'm keeping my 135i for a few more years, but I'm going back to an Evo9 lol.

On topic: I'm very happy with my JB4 and few bolt ons. Made about 370rwhp in a really hot day, but I think it can crack 400rwhp on map 7 in better conditions. Cobb Stage 2 looks promising, but I'm waiting to see trap speeds to see what it is capable in terms of power.

[thebigragu99]

Ramm the ix is a totally different beast ..I mean the 135 with the same weight to be awd!

[SukSqueezeBangBlo]

Question besides power, how about hiding the tune from a dealership. Which is the best for that? JB4 because you can unplug the piggyback tune its self? Or Cobb cause its flash based? Correct me if im wrong, but doesn't flash tunes leave information on the ecu? And the piggyback can be removed without any history of it being there?

[RnmEvo9]

Cobb is the easiest to uninstall and install. Plug into obd2 port and voilà!

[SukSqueezeBangBlo]

Originally Posted by RnmEvo9

Cobb is the easiest to uninstall and install. Plug into obd2 port and voilà!

Didnt really answer my question

Easiest yes. But i have heard it leaves information on the ECU that a tune was installed if you want to remove it and bring the car to a dealership ( warranty)