I'm toying with the idea of getting a remap for the 5 but before I go ahead I'd like to better understand what's entailed for my particular car. Specifically, whether my car is mechanically identical to the 530d but detuned or if there are physical differences that limit the remap. The reason for the question is that most companies (Inc DMS) quote an 80+ bhp gain to bring the car up to what you get from a remapped 530d but others give 40+ gains which would imply a different engine? I obviously don't want to over stress the car but 80 bhp would be quite nice ;). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
If it is indeed the 3.0 engine then it will be a detuned version. On the 4 cyl N47 engine, the injectors were different between the 'standard' engine (177/184hp) and the detuned versions (116/143/163hp). This apparently meant that the detuned engines couldn't be remapped to the same level as a remapped 177/184 version. I don't know if this is the case with the newer N57 engines. The reason why the remapping outfits are listing gains of around +40hp could simply be because they are assuming you're using the N47 engine.
If your car is anything like the E61 525i I had (3 litre engine) the map was governed by the gearbox that was a different version to the one fitted to the 530i of the time and capable of handling less torque.
By researching I see I had the similar engine in my 2007 E91 325d. I could be wrong, but I am confident what I am about to tell you is OK. This version was created for tax purposes and many people remapped them. In fact one of the admins on our old BMWLand site was into it in a big way. His reasoning was that you could save a lot of money by buying the 25d and tuning it to the 30d. The transmission was exactly the same, so it could handle really aggressive maps. He use to take it to the Nurburgring quite often and test it against the 330d's that were current at the time. It was sometime back in 2007 that the car/engine combo came onto the market. It was the 6 cylinder 197 bhp that I had increased to around 235 bhp which was approximately the same power output of the equivalent 330d. Be aware if your engine is similar, the ECU is of a lower standard (earlier) than the 30d and the injectors are of a lower standard. By that I mean they were designed to operate at a lower pressure. I had it remapped to somewhere near the same year 330d. The increase was around 40 bhp + a corresponding increase in torque. When I carried out all my research with different tuning places that had there own test facility, I found you could have some really aggressive re-maps or several standard remaps that everyone went for. The company called DMS is one of the organisations that was mentioned, but be aware at the time they did not have a test facility and from what I remember it was a one man band. I used a company called Chipped UK in Bromsgrove that has been taken over by an company with their headquarters in Italy. I have remapped many cars that included two Golf Tdi's with tuning boxes. I had an Audi A3 (2.0d) remapped by Superchips http://www.superchips.co.uk/ . As stated above I had my 325d remapped, but later had it taken off and used a tuning box that was programmable to various levels depending on how I felt. I have spoken to many companies over the years, and I found a very good company (but did not use them) who are considered one of the best in the UK because their livelihood is remapping cars. They are in southern England and their site is.... https://www.tdi-tuning.co.uk/ The following could be your car... https://www.tdi-tuning.co.uk/car_an...45_kw_crtd2_diesel_tuning_box_chip_P2412.html If you serious about remapping, I suggest you ring them. The main test engineer is very helpful.
The mention of the 325d set me thinking; up to now I'd searched using F10 525d with limited results but using the 325d gave better results. Essentially the LCI 325d (post 2010) used the same N57 engine, putting out 204hp, as my 525d. A bit of research seems to show the car has largely the same engine / turbo / gearbox as the 530d with differences limited to injectors / ports which means the 330d will produce more power / torque when remapped. There seem to be a fair few 325d owners who've have their cars mapped with no detriment to reliability. May well go ahead - I've used AMD Essex before and will probably go there again. I'll report back if / when done!
Bit of an update for anyone interested.. Having done further research including some time spent on realoem.com I have discovered that the 525d does indeed have pretty much the same engine as the 530d and could therefore be mapped to similar levels as a mapped 530d. There is however a big BUT. The 530d gearbox is different to that used in the 525d. The former (the 8hp70) is rated to 700nm and the latter (the 8hp45) 500nm. Cranking the 525d engine up to remapped 530d level would in all likelihood result in a shredded gearbox! Many companies I have looked at offer the remap that takes the car to remapped 530d levels and offered lots of assurance about how they know what they're doing which clearly isn't the case! There are some however that offer a 250 bhp / 500nm remap which suggests they understand the car better. I will spend a little time talking to these companies and see how I get on.
Looks like you are in this area of tuning.... https://www.tdi-tuning.co.uk/car_an...50_kw_crtd2_diesel_tuning_box_chip_P1602.html https://www.tdi-tuning.co.uk/car_an...in_channel_diesel_tuning_box_chip_P12078.html
Yes, I thought the gearbox was the limiting factor as per my experience of the E60/61 described above.
I did have some concerns, though very little certain knowledge, that there may be an issue hence I have spent several hours researching this topic but I have been surprised (naive I know) at the number of seemingly reputable companies offering remaps that would seriously compromise the car their tuning. Another thing I've done is reinforce my belief that the contributors to this site largely know their stuff and offer honest and sensible advice. Some of the discussions I have read on other enthusiast sites was suspect to say the least!
I mean no disrespect and understand everyone has their own budget when it comes to cars, engines and horsepower ....... but why why why do you guys buy the lower powered version and then try and get the same (or more) horses out of the lower bhp engine? Sent from my iPhone using The Force
Because they can......and in most cases they are made down to a price and they can save a few quid. In this case it was thousands of £s.
Budget sums it up completely. Take a look at the average price differential between the 530d and the 525d. I want an M5. In a less ideal world I'd have a 640d Gran Coupe. I bought the 525d through a combination of budget and the fact it had a superb spec. It is in reality fast enough but having now got the 330d for the wife I find myself thinking that little bit of extra shove would be nice. I could go out and find a similar spec 530d/535d and waste several thousand changing cars or I can spend a few hundred quid getting a (safe) remap and paying the extra £40pa for insurance. Can't see what's wrong with that myself.
I've used Superchips in the past when i lived in Buckingham (E60/535d and F30/335i), good results and they put it on their rolling road. You are right, you'll need to inform your Insurance Co http://www.superchips.co.uk/
Nothing wrong in that at all. I have owned a 525d and 525i due to the spec. I've always said go for spec over engine as long as it's a 6 cylinder.
The rolling road facility is interesting. As I've already said, in the past I've used AMD in Essex who have a RR and they've done 2 remaps for me; one on a 330d and the other a 530d both with the 231hp engine. The 330d mapped to 301hp and the 530d to 276hp with, on the face of it, similar maps and engines. The AMD guys said this wasn't uncommon. If this is true then it does suggest you need to be careful with tuners who are unable to give you true before and after figures. You may either not get what you were expecting or take the car past what it can safely handle and either way have no way of knowing unless you dyno it yourself. Because I don't want to take mine past the 500nm upper limit of the auto box (though there's probably a fair bit of headroom beyond this?) I think I'll be using someone who does a conservative map and can prove the results after. Also, DYOR!!
The Senior Calibration Engineer at Superchips is Graeme Kendall... very knowledgeable and willing to share, i'm sure he'd be able to answer any of your technical queries, re torque / gearbox graeme.kendall@superchips.co.uk
I cannot comment on the person in question, but they were the company that remapped my Audi A3 2.0 litre Tdi around 10 years ago. In my view one of the best.They carried out rolling road tests pre and post remap and gave me the figures in a file. Many months later, I found the clutch slipped under hard acceleration at xxx mph and they took the ecu out (FOC) and changed the curve so it was not so harsh. I sat in their workshop and they showed me everything they did that included taking the ECU out of the car opening it up, and then reinstalling everything back into the car with OEM bolts so that you could not detect anything had been touched. They then took the car down the Buckingham bypass (the one where the police sit and wait and catch motorbikes at 140 mph) and tested it.
I have also had 1.8 and 2.0 BMW engines in the past, and their is absolutely nothing wrong with them. I didn't however feel the need to try and get more power out of it from the manufacturers original spec. Nothing wrong with you guys looking to eek out a few more horses and no disrespect intended in any way Sent from my iPhone using The Force
