Q&A with BMW Performance's Accessory Development Manager

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by guardianangel3290

Do any of you really think BMW would release a 1-2k option that would help the n54 further encroach on the M3. I doubt it.

I think they would. Not everyone is going to buy it so its okay. Not everyone that buys a BMW cares about 0 to 60 and 1/4mi times. Keep in mind it wont be exclusive to the 1series so it cant really be a dud. I would be pissed if I bought a 535i and the tune didnt do anything. M3 rips 60mph in 4.1sec at best. A stock 135i is 4.8 at best right? Shave off .3-.4 of that and I'll be more than happy. I dont have the "Let me go beat an M3" mentality. I hope others dont as well.

BMW would never have a FI //M Car.
BMW would never put the same N54 from a 55k BMW into a 35k 135i
BMW would never build an SUV
BMW would never //M an SUV

Dare I go on?

BMW is very unpredictable these days.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by Dan@UnitedBMW

Guys remember this (from threads I've previously posted in)

1: BMW Performance does not have an LSD planned

2: ALL aftermarket tunes void current warranty and CPO, BMW has made that clear BMW their bulletin.

No they don't have an LSD in the plans and the reason I did not ask about it is simple... I already knew there was no chance!

Good stuff in the works and in no time that info will be out as well...

The Motorsports line is something that has been greatly lacking.

And as you said ALL after market stuff voids the warranty: including Dinan.

What I can not understand is why people spend a lot of money on a fine piece of engineering and then "mod" it with a hack job such as a piggy back (not stating any specific company and some Re-write the code which is great, and offer additional cooling which is smart). Most of the people I assume lease their cars and could care less about long term reliability.

What Stephen told me further was that BMW tested various upgrades, additional cooling systems and such and what they will be releasing did the best all around, and while it does not have the most power (and it more than likely will be underrated) it will not destroy the rest of the car. It was also understood by me that the transmission and rear are the two weak points of the drive train and they really were not designed for much more power; the diesels are a whole different story

-M

[guardianangel3290]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

No they don't have an LSD in the plans and the reason I did not ask about it is simple... I already knew there was no chance!

Good stuff in the works and in no time that info will be out as well...

The Motorsports line is something that has been greatly lacking.

And as you said ALL after market stuff voids the warranty: including Dinan.

What I can not understand is why people spend a lot of money on a fine piece of engineering and then "mod" it with a hack job such as a piggy back (not stating any specific company and some Re-write the code which is great, and offer additional cooling which is smart). Most of the people I assume lease their cars and could care less about long term reliability.

What Stephen told me further was that BMW tested various upgrades, additional cooling systems and such and what they will be releasing did the best all around, and while it does not have the most power (and it more than likely will be underrated) it will not destroy the rest of the car. It was also understood by me that the transmission and rear are the two weak points of the drive train and they really were not designed for much more power; the diesels are a whole different story

-M

Why are other tunes "hack jobs" simply becasue they arent produced by BMW?

Their tune is really only gonna be worth around $200 (when compared to the competition), but theyre still gonna charge you an extra $2000 in case shit happens. You are really just paying to fix your car before anything goes wrong. The tune may not void the warranty, but your pretty much just paying for a new one.

[S54dan]

There is no public price at this moment. Remember you are paying for peace of mind (warranty), reliability, and the name. I have a conference call with Stephen tomorrow, as scheduled monthly, I will report whatever I am able to make public.

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by Dan@UnitedBMW

There is no public price at this moment. Remember you are paying for peace of mind (warranty), reliability, and the name. I have a conference call with Stephen tomorrow, as scheduled monthly, I will report whatever I am able to make public.

Much appreciated Dan. It would be nice for BMW to offer us something. I'm not taking anything away from the talented turbo tuners out there but this does offer the ultimate peace of mind. Once this tune is released, I have a feeling BMW will become more aggressive with aftermarket tunes. It would only make sense. Can anybody honestly correlate resale values with modded cars versus non-modified? The majority of these cars are leased over there competition after all.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by guardianangel3290

Why are other tunes "hack jobs" simply becasue they arent produced by BMW?

Their tune is really only gonna be worth around $200 (when compared to the competition), but theyre still gonna charge you an extra $2000 in case shit happens. You are really just paying to fix your car before anything goes wrong. The tune may not void the warranty, but your pretty much just paying for a new one.

I beg to differ on many levels. The cooler on the BMW tune is alone worth more than $200. Any tune that tricks the stock system is a hack job; plain and simple. I am not here to bad mouth those types of tunes (they are talented and get results in their own right) but people that are purchasing their cars and expect long term reliability more than likely will not see it with such a system. Companies that augment their own code with cooling have the right idea, and have also done bench testing and offer their own form of a warranty (Dinan) and I am sure people will see good reliability with such a product. The added cost of the BMW and Dinan systems is not just the warranty it is the fact they wrote thousands of lines of code, tested it and then rewrote it to get it perfect and also test heat levels and oil degradation. The stuff others don't do; they test it on a dyno and see how much the baby can handle...
It is the same reason BMW could not bring those seats here: testing costs money, and not many would pay $4k for a seat even though it is by far the greatest seat offered.

A piggy back is a few hundred bucks gives you a lot of power, and zero guarantee of things working out.

My intention posting was not to make this a battle, but there is a reason why things cost more and as my mom always says : "You get what you pay for."

I would guess if you are in a two year lease and want to race light to light the cheap way makes sense, for owners and people that are keeping their car for 6-8 years it makes little.

Moral of the story is: BMW Performance will give those that like the idea of a BMW engineered product, with a warranty and tons of testing an OPTION, which in my book is a great thing. So you have your piggy backs, DINAN and BMW Performance. Sure beats nothing. To each their own... it is just nice to see BMW is joining the tuning ranks

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and can weigh things as how important they are to them.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

I beg to differ on many levels. The cooler on the BMW tune is alone worth more than $200. Any tune that tricks the stock system is a hack job; plain and simple. I am not here to bad mouth those types of tunes (they are talented and get results in their own right) but people that are purchasing their cars and expect long term reliability more than likely will not see it with such a system. Companies that augment their own code with cooling have the right idea, and have also done bench testing and offer their own form of a warranty (Dinan) and I am sure people will see good reliability with such a product. The added cost of the BMW and Dinan systems is not just the warranty it is the fact they wrote thousands of lines of code, tested it and then rewrote it to get it perfect and also test heat levels and oil degradation. The stuff others don't do; they test it on a dyno and see how much the baby can handle...
It is the same reason BMW could not bring those seats here: testing costs money, and not many would pay $4k for a seat even though it is by far the greatest seat offered.

A piggy back is a few hundred bucks gives you a lot of power, and zero guarantee of things working out.

My intention posting was not to make this a battle, but there is a reason why things cost more and as my mom always says : "You get what you pay for."

I would guess if you are in a two year lease and want to race light to light the cheap way makes sense, for owners and people that are keeping their car for 6-8 years it makes little.

Moral of the story is: BMW Performance will give those that like the idea of a BMW engineered product, with a warranty and tons of testing an OPTION, which in my book is a great thing. So you have your piggy backs, DINAN and BMW Performance. Sure beats nothing. To each their own... it is just nice to see BMW is joining the tuning ranks

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and can weigh things as how important they are to them.

this should be a sticky

well said mike

[guardianangel3290]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

I beg to differ on many levels. The cooler on the BMW tune is alone worth more than $200. Any tune that tricks the stock system is a hack job; plain and simple. I am not here to bad mouth those types of tunes (they are talented and get results in their own right) but people that are purchasing their cars and expect long term reliability more than likely will not see it with such a system. Companies that augment their own code with cooling have the right idea, and have also done bench testing and offer their own form of a warranty (Dinan) and I am sure people will see good reliability with such a product. The added cost of the BMW and Dinan systems is not just the warranty it is the fact they wrote thousands of lines of code, tested it and then rewrote it to get it perfect and also test heat levels and oil degradation. The stuff others don't do; they test it on a dyno and see how much the baby can handle...
It is the same reason BMW could not bring those seats here: testing costs money, and not many would pay $4k for a seat even though it is by far the greatest seat offered.

A piggy back is a few hundred bucks gives you a lot of power, and zero guarantee of things working out.

My intention posting was not to make this a battle, but there is a reason why things cost more and as my mom always says : "You get what you pay for."

I would guess if you are in a two year lease and want to race light to light the cheap way makes sense, for owners and people that are keeping their car for 6-8 years it makes little.

Moral of the story is: BMW Performance will give those that like the idea of a BMW engineered product, with a warranty and tons of testing an OPTION, which in my book is a great thing. So you have your piggy backs, DINAN and BMW Performance. Sure beats nothing. To each their own... it is just nice to see BMW is joining the tuning ranks

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and can weigh things as how important they are to them.

My car is payed for actually, and while i do enjoy molesting the occasional STi, my primary concerns do lie with the longevity of my car.
What pisses me off is that in order to mod our cars without fear of warranty issues we are forced to purchase overpriced BMW parts.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by guardianangel3290

My car is payed for actually, and while i do enjoy molesting the occasional STi, my primary concerns do lie with the longevity of my car.
What pisses me off is that in order to mod our cars without fear of warranty issues we are forced to purchase overpriced BMW parts.

No you are not being forced to buy anything. What you are expecting is that BMW will warranty a product they designed for a specific level of performance and YOU tricked the system to make it out perform that level and subsequently broke it. If you do not want to buy BMW parts and mod go ahead that is your right but why should they (BMW) have to fix it after you caused it to break? You are making the car perform outside of its designed parameters; which is where the warranty ends.

Sort of like that LCD TV- You open the back of it up and put a chip in there to make it Super Duper HD and the thing melts... who is at fault then? There is a warranty on that TV (and also a nice sticker that states void if opened). Is a car all that different? Are you going to bad mouth Sharp for not honoring the warranty?

And people that quote the MM Act have no clue what that states...

On that note I resign from this thread, as this was not its intention and I rather not take part in a tuner vs. tuner battle.

-M

[guardianangel3290]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

No you are not being forced to buy anything. What you are expecting is that BMW will warranty a product they designed for a specific level of performance and YOU tricked the system to make it out perform that level and subsequently broke it. If you do not want to buy BMW parts and mod go ahead that is your right but why should they (BMW) have to fix it after you caused it to break? You are making the car perform outside of its designed parameters; which is where the warranty ends.

Sort of like that LCD TV- You open the back of it up and put a chip in there to make it Super Duper HD and the thing melts... who is at fault then? There is a warranty on that TV (and also a nice sticker that states void if opened). Is a car all that different? Are you going to bad mouth Sharp for not honoring the warranty?

And people that quote the MM Act have no clue what that states...

So if a add a CAI and my fuel pump dies its the intake's fault becasue its not the stock airbox?? Im not talking about a tune, im talking about mods in general. By adding a piggy back to a car you're essentially changing everything about it, so in that respect i agree with you. Im talking about how one can add something as meaningless as a replacement filter and BMW would still take action against that person.

[EDUC8ED]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

I beg to differ on many levels. The cooler on the BMW tune is alone worth more than $200. Any tune that tricks the stock system is a hack job; plain and simple. I am not here to bad mouth those types of tunes (they are talented and get results in their own right) but people that are purchasing their cars and expect long term reliability more than likely will not see it with such a system. Companies that augment their own code with cooling have the right idea, and have also done bench testing and offer their own form of a warranty (Dinan) and I am sure people will see good reliability with such a product. The added cost of the BMW and Dinan systems is not just the warranty it is the fact they wrote thousands of lines of code, tested it and then rewrote it to get it perfect and also test heat levels and oil degradation. The stuff others don't do; they test it on a dyno and see how much the baby can handle...
It is the same reason BMW could not bring those seats here: testing costs money, and not many would pay $4k for a seat even though it is by far the greatest seat offered.

A piggy back is a few hundred bucks gives you a lot of power, and zero guarantee of things working out.

My intention posting was not to make this a battle, but there is a reason why things cost more and as my mom always says : "You get what you pay for."

I would guess if you are in a two year lease and want to race light to light the cheap way makes sense, for owners and people that are keeping their car for 6-8 years it makes little.

Moral of the story is: BMW Performance will give those that like the idea of a BMW engineered product, with a warranty and tons of testing an OPTION, which in my book is a great thing. So you have your piggy backs, DINAN and BMW Performance. Sure beats nothing. To each their own... it is just nice to see BMW is joining the tuning ranks

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and can weigh things as how important they are to them.

[amdmaxx]

Will the performance tune come standard come 2010 or 2011 models?
After all there is an updated n54 already out there..

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by amdmaxx

Will the performance tune come standard come 2010 or 2011 models?
After all there is an updated n54 already out there..

Hey maxx, I don't think they plan on adding it as standard. They technically should've done it when the 3series received its face-lift.

[amdmaxx]

Maybe it will start with refreshed 2010 3 coupe, then be introduced to 335iS and 1 supersport.. Only time will tell.

Originally Posted by BForbes

Hey maxx, I don't think they plan on adding it as standard. They technically should've done it when the 3series received its face-lift.

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by amdmaxx

Maybe it will start with refreshed 2010 3 coupe, then be introduced to 335iS and 1 supersport.. Only time will tell.

I totally forgot about that. Good catch!

[samuraisaiyo]

Good

[bmwzone]

Originally Posted by Dan@UnitedBMW

There is no public price at this moment. Remember you are paying for peace of mind (warranty), reliability, and the name. I have a conference call with Stephen tomorrow, as scheduled monthly, I will report whatever I am able to make public.

Please do - hopefully it's available May 20th when I take my car in for it's first service interval. Might as well add some BMW-warranteed hp, lighter wheels, and an exhaust. Wonder if they'll install the cp-e exhuast for me if I buy the N54 hp upgrade?

[Bimmer Nerd]

really enjoyed reading this, thank you for sharing.

[Raflekt]

Excellent thread!!

[antzcrashing]

cool

[matt]

There will be NO rear rotors and NO LSD!

information from an insider...

[BzzzBom]

When will the performance power kit be available in the US? Wasn't the original date April 2009?