I have a 525 aswell, I stupidly just bought the car for it's looks and good performance withought thinking of the actual power

 

Your car is like a hot cougar; a little slow but still gorgeous, tossable, and fun to ride. Think Heather Locklear, Courtney Cox, and Teri Hatcher.

 

peeeps, I have a 520, stop whining!!

 

Now I got the LOOK but not the power. I just want a fast acceleration that's all. No need to be super quick when racing.

I want my 0-60mph to be FAST when accelerate!

so FAR: RPI Exhaust + ECU Tuning seem to do the TRICK? AGREE?

 

I re-read your original post and I noticed that your car is a 2004. Now I understand why most people think it's not quick enough. In '04 the engine for a 525i was 189HP and 2.5 liter, essentially the same engine I have in my 2002 E46. Although I consider my E46 fairly quick (in the 6 seconds range) 0-60, I can see how the heavier 525 might seem a little slower, but I am willing to bet that the 0-60 is still in the low 7's because the 530i of your model year was reported to have a 0-60 time of 6.6 seconds by BMW (who are usually ultra-conservative with their 0-60 times). The 530I of your model year made 225HP and it was considered fairly quick. Then came the 2006 525i with increased HP to 215 and now I understand why people still call the 525 slow off the line. Even though it pulls 0-60 times in the 6 seconds range, they still think of it as the 525 of 2004 and 2005.

0-60 in the six seconds range was reserved for true sports cars back as late as early 90's and then everybody and their grandmas started making cars that accelerated 0-60 in the 5 seconds range and all of a sudden the 525i became a less-than-desirable car. I say, wrong, wrong, wrong. You don't buy a 525 for the power, you buy it for all the intangibles most of the knock-off "power" cars don't have.

I found an interesting review of your car here: http://www.automotive.com/2004/101/bmw/5-s...iews/index.html

I suggest you read it and I bet you will appreciate your car a lot more for the fine piece of German engineering that it is.

 

Look at it this way.... you just give people more time to enjoy looking at your car.

 

 

Those will make your car somewhat quicker than stock. A differential mod to adjust your gearing to be more biased toward low end acceleration (at the expense of higher rpms while at speed) would probably have an even bigger impact but that's a lot of $$$.

I would also get a SB or Velocity unit as they will make your gas pedal more responsive. Your car will feel faster with the SB or Velocity from a start. That is why I have a SB on my 550.

Just understand that the ECU remap and RPI exhaust are not going to imbue your ride with 535 or 550-like acceleration. But it should be a bit quicker than stock.