Remap or Bolt-Ons First?

[foghat]

Originally Posted by EM58NDS 135i

I received a reply from the tuner in response to my email today. It read as follows:-



I'm not saying im against a Cobb, JB4, Vishnu install etc, i'm certainly not, but i just think that a simple 1 time map will be all i ever need...?

Sounds like a pretty good service. Whether you will only ever need one map comes back to your original question. If you do all your mods before getting the tune and will always use the same octane fuel, then it is quite likely you will only need one map.

If you do the tune first and then add mods after, you will need a new map that can take advantage of the mods.

What is the price of this service?

Keep in mind with the Cobb you can log and also read and clear codes. This can be very handy. Plus if need be you can remove the tune yourself instead of scheduling them to come and do it.

[darkrom]

How much do they charge? You can probably pay the same for cobb. Cobb is easier than signing up for a forum and posting a question. It is a little simple 1 time flash if you want it to be.

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by One///Em

FMIC, then a tune. Not much point adding a tune with stock FMIC

This.

Forge FMIC + BMWPE added 16rwhp on my stock software N55 135i.

OP, is your car a N54 or N55..?

Can't go wrong with DMS either, I know two UK N55 135i owners that have done nearly 100k miles each on DMS tuned 135i, without a problem, so definately recommend DMS.

DMS will be able to custom tune your car for the hardware mods as well, as DMS have their own dyno on site, so again, it's better to go hardware first, then go down to DMS.

Personally, I would go exhaust and FMIC and not bother with any intakes etc. as I'm not convinced they do much.

[EM58NDS 135i]

They charge £650GBP, i'm not sure what that is in USD, but i think it works out similar to that of a Cobb. From what i have seen though, Cobb doesn't seem to make as much HP/Torque on a stock engine as what the DMS remap does. Maybe that's down to the lower grade (93 octane) fuel..?

Also, maybe i am just a little scared of tampering with things myself, and would rather let an engineer who knows what he's doing set things up :-s

[One///Em]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

This.

Forge FMIC + BMWPE added 16rwhp on my stock software N55 135i.

OP, is your car a N54 or N55..?

Can't go wrong with DMS either, I know two UK N55 135i owners that have done nearly 100k miles each on DMS tuned 135i, without a problem, so definately recommend DMS.

DMS will be able to custom tune your car for the hardware mods as well, as DMS have their own dyno on site, so again, it's better to go hardware first, then go down to DMS.

Personally, I would go exhaust and FMIC and not bother with any intakes etc. as I'm not convinced they do much.

+1. Intakes are a waste of time and simply allow more dirt into the system. If N54, then get catless mid pipes as will yield 10HP.

IMO I would get:
- FMIC
- N55 mids
- ER Charge pipe
- OCC

[EM58NDS 135i]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

This.

Forge FMIC + BMWPE added 16rwhp on my stock software N55 135i.

OP, is your car a N54 or N55..?

Can't go wrong with DMS either, I know two UK N55 135i owners that have done nearly 100k miles each on DMS tuned 135i, without a problem, so definately recommend DMS.

DMS will be able to custom tune your car for the hardware mods as well, as DMS have their own dyno on site, so again, it's better to go hardware first, then go down to DMS.

Personally, I would go exhaust and FMIC and not bother with any intakes etc. as I'm not convinced they do much.

Thanks bud, my car is a 2008, so N54. I understand a lot of people are skeptical of intakes, it's like that with any engine, on any forum, but in all fairness, i just love the added noise :-p (if it increases power, that's just a bonus lol).

It's also nice to hear good things said about the DMS flash, that gives me some reassurances of their work quality.

I have come to the conclusion though, that i will do the bolt-ons first, and get a remap lastly, so any extra performance is figured into that map at the time.

[vivanapoli806]

Originally Posted by EM58NDS 135i

They charge 650GBP, i'm not sure what that is in USD, but i think it works out similar to that of a Cobb. From what i have seen though, Cobb doesn't seem to make as much HP/Torque on a stock engine as what the DMS remap does. Maybe that's down to the lower grade (93 octane) fuel..?

Also, maybe i am just a little scared of tampering with things myself, and would rather let an engineer who knows what he's doing set things up :-s

Cobb makes good power on stock engine. I ran cobb stage 1 aggressive on 93 and complete stock car and made 347hp and 395tq at the wheels. Thats decent power after u factor in drive train loss on completely stock car with tune. In usd it's about $1100. Little bit more pricey than cobb

[EM58NDS 135i]

Originally Posted by One///Em

+1. Intakes are a waste of time and simply allow more dirt into the system. If N54, then get catless mid pipes as will yield 10HP.

Will catless mid pipes throw a cel code though like the catless down pipes do? I don't want any hassle with emission tests.

[One///Em]

Originally Posted by EM58NDS 135i

Will catless mid pipes throw a cel code though like the catless down pipes do? I don't want any hassle with emission tests.

No codes. They are just secondary cats and will still pass EPA. The BMW N55 mids are the best value, but also Berk and MadDad make ones that sound even better.

[foghat]

Originally Posted by EM58NDS 135i

They charge £650GBP, i'm not sure what that is in USD, but i think it works out similar to that of a Cobb. From what i have seen though, Cobb doesn't seem to make as much HP/Torque on a stock engine as what the DMS remap does. Maybe that's down to the lower grade (93 octane) fuel..?

Also, maybe i am just a little scared of tampering with things myself, and would rather let an engineer who knows what he's doing set things up :-s

I would imagine by the time you factor in shipping price would be similar.

Keep in mind with the cobb though you actually get a piece of hardware that can store multiple maps, read and clear codes (trust me, eventually you are going to throw a code and want to know what it is). Plus the new version has all kinds of cool gauges you can use.

You can probably find a used cobb for sale for significantly less.

Keep in mind that the hp/tq you were quoted are not wheel horsepower, my bet is cobb stage 1 aggressive is making more power. On a low reading dyno dynamics dyno I put down 330whp and 406 lbs/wtq on 94 octane (stage 1 aggressive map). If you factor in a 12%ish drive train loss, the DMS numbers look more like 325hp/357lbs/tq.

Plus the cobb maps are ots and not specifically tuned to your car as the DMW one would be. If you got an etune from ptf, you would be even higher.

The install is simple - there is no tampering. You pretty much plug the thing in, select the map you want to load and press go.

In the end it is obviously up to you. sounds like DMS is good. Just seems strange to me to pay about the same price for a tune that once loaded onto your car, you cannot remove on your own and you don't get the logging, code reading/clearing or the gauges (if you buy the new version of accessport).

The advatage to going the DMS route is you get a custom tune for your car right off. You would have to pay extra to get this with the cobb.

What year is you car, btw. This might all be moot as I believe cobb only supports up to 2011 right now. The 2011 (n55) ots gains are a fair bit lower that the n54 gains

[EM58NDS 135i]

Originally Posted by One///Em

No codes. They are just secondary cats and will still pass EPA. The BMW N55 mids are the best value, but also Berk and MadDad make ones that sound even better.

Come to think of it, the exhaust system i am looking at (Magnaflow) comes with catless mid pipes IIRC. Correct me if i'm wrong though.

[lowbudgethero]

Originally Posted by foghat

I haven't been following the open source stuff much. I assume that is what you are using/doing?

pretty much, I had someone build me the tune though