Nick530d

If remaps are so great, then why doesn't BMW incorporate them before the cars leave the factory? Come on, think about it. Would BMW or any other car manufacturer forego the chance of boosting power output, 0-60s etc. if all they had to do was tinker around with the programming?

They don't do it because:
i) remaps place greater stress on the drive train, especially the gearbox, and to upgrade those components would significantly add to the cost of the car. It's common that car manufacturers deliberately detune engines to prevent dangerous levels of stress on what are often inferior parts of the drive train. If you get the engine remapped, then you should also upgrade other components accordingly. Otherwise, you're looking at much reduced life spans and big maintenance bills in the future.
ii) remaps compromise drivability and fuel economy. It's fine if you want a big mid-range kick in the backside, but your passengers probably won't appreciate it as much.

It's cowboy technology. The firms that peddle these remaps will have done a fraction of the road testing that the original car would have undergone by BMW, and likely no road testing at all - just bench testing.

Also, I bet most of you that have had remaps haven't told your insurance companies about it. Good luck when it comes to making a claim; remaps are one of the first things they check for these days.

Controversial I know, but I'll stick with my 530d the way BMW meant it to be...
... except I changed the crappy Dunlop run-flats for PS2s!

ronald_adi

i know an audi dealer in NL that will remap it for you at the dealership with guarantee.

sese

Because they have to find the middle between comfortable driveway and sporty driveway. the factory doesn't know who will sit behind the steering wheel.

EDIT: btw, I read an article in the Auto Bild about chiptuning. They remapped an VW Golf after 10,000 km on the clock. After the remap they drove it 10,000 km more and analyzed the engine. The pistons had big holes on top, because the fuel has still been injected, though the fuel has already been ignited. Also the motorblock was damaged, it had holes on it...

That's why my dad won't remap his 525d.

gIzzE

BMW/Audi/Mercedes etc. etc. etc. manufacture a car that could end up anywhere in the world, so they have to consider this and compromise the specification to make sure it is going to appeal to as big an audience as possible.

For example, some countries tax is based on the CC of the engine, but you can put the same car into the country next door and they may tax you based on the emissions, now the country with the tax based on the CC could have the 530d tuned to 280bhp and kicking out 280g/km but if you put that same car into the country that taxes based on emissions it may be better to detune the car to say 200bhp so it is only kicking out 200g/km.

Also fuel is different in various countries, in the UK and most of Europe we are lucky because we have pretty decent fuel, however you take the same car to another part of the world with poor fuel and there is not point being having the engine mapped to a higher value as you need decent fuel. So again the manufacturers choose a middle ground.

Then you have the fact that you can only remap based on location and envirtomental temperature, a car that is going to be driving round in minus 50 degress celcius can't be remapped and pushed as far as a car that is going to be driving round at 25 degrees celcius, same goes for a car that is being driven round in 60degree heat, so again a middle ground is chosen that will work at both -50 and +60 degrees.

There is also the fact that BMW et al have to leave room for factory improvements, for example the 530d came with 184bhp, then it was upgraded to 193bhp after 3 years, then towards the end of the E39 lifecycle it was bumped to 218bhp. Now if you read back on the E39 boards there were people just like yourself sayin the same as yourself in regards to remapping the 530d engine and pushing it from 184bhp to 204bhp, and what happens? BMW push it even further using the same transmission, turbos and engine block.

Just look at Ant & Petes 330d sport touring, they pushed that to over 300bhp (from 184bhp) and 750nm of torque using the car as it came from the factory, they even did a couple of Gumballs in it and the car was fine, they sold it last year and the new owner has now taken it to 80 odd thousand miles and it is still going strong. That was also with the weaker manual gearbox.


Alot of dealers in Europe will remap your car for you and you do not loose the factory warranty, Audi nearly did a deal with ABT a couple of years ago offering the same thing but ABT was sold out before it happened and so we never saw it which was a real shame. Subaru offer their customers upgrades from ProDrive, and that is just accepted as the norm these days.

It is up to you whether you remap or not, I have done the last 8 of mine and have never had a part fail or any problem with warranty at all, the only reason that puts me off these days is the insurance hikes are getting bigger, but apart from that you can get the performance of a car costing ?5k more for between ?350-1000, for me it is a no brainer.

At least you are ditching the runflats!!



If you have a remap that gives you a big kick in the back something is wrong!!
The remap I have on mine from DMS is smoother than the car in stock form, in stock form I can feel a peak at around 1800rpm and it tails off at 4300rpm, with the remap it pulls harder all the way across the range and it starts at 1300rpm and drops off at around 4600rpm, this makes stop start driving far more relaxing, and I can tell you now that it makes even more difference in the single turbo 530d.

The fact you say it is cowboy technology just makes me think you haven't got a clue and you don't have experience of loads of different remaps, so I have said my bit and will leave it at that.

madoon

with all respect "sese"..perhaps Auto Bild used a stupid remap..
a good remap will be very usefull and effective on a car with turbos, perhaps a little less effective on a regular engine, but it should get the best ignition timing possible out of the engine with out hurting it...
of course there are limits like "gIzzE" said of fuel, and temperature that the remap would not be designed to cope with and thus strain the engine, possibly hurt it.. but the gearbox/ drivetrain is prety strong and its not like a power increase of 250+ hp that the car is not designed to handle, its more like 25hp that should still be with in the capability of the drivetrain and ur not gona race the car in "le mens 24hour". ur gona be using normal everyday driving with the ocasional speed probaly more like a few minutes daily..
i dont think its anything to wory about as long as you get an reputable remap...

Chris535D

Someone hasnt got a clue what he is talking about

You keep your 530d the way it was meant to be and toddle off now.

ronald_adi

no need to be harsh chris. At the end of the day some people are very happy to play it extra safe and stay with stock settings.

But most BMW owners are adventurous and go getters. Thats why we earn so much money in order to be able to buy these cars!

dlevi67

To evaluate the Auto Bild story properly, you'd need to know a) what results did the remap achieve vs stock; b) how did they drive the car afterwards. I've had a remapped car (E36 325i) that lasted for at least 60,000 miles (that's about 100,000 km) without any special maintenance, and so have many others.

gIzzE

To be fair to Chris the guy was Trolling, he was trying to wind people up with his comments.

I still tried to reply in the most polite way I could though, but had to fight the name calling!

sese

that was wetterauer, ACS and some others...