Meth injection tuning logs
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,380
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From: Indiana, USA
My Ride: 2007 530xi: Sport, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, HD Radio, SAT, Custom NCS coded options 2008 535xi: Sport, Night Vision, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, SAT, Custom NCS coded options, Rear Seat Heat Retrofit, Passport 9500ci
Model Year: 2008
Engine: N54
Thought I would share some tuning logs for 535 owners. These are NOT dyno logs showing torque/horsepower. These are logs from the ECU showing boost/timing/meth relationships.
I still have a lot to learn in this area but this is a good start.
This chart shows meth coming in at partial throttle. I don't show the throttle position in the logs but I never went WOT and still got great meth control. You can see the IAT going down as the meth comes on and boost goes up.

This one shows a 3rd-4th gear WOT run. Again you can see IAT going down then it goes back up. It seems the stock intercooler is heating up so much even the meth can't keep the temps down on a 16psi run for this long. You can also see that after the shift into 4th gear the timing drops quite a bit. This is something that needs to be worked out in order to keep the timing advance where it should be.
I still have a lot to learn in this area but this is a good start.
This chart shows meth coming in at partial throttle. I don't show the throttle position in the logs but I never went WOT and still got great meth control. You can see the IAT going down as the meth comes on and boost goes up.

This one shows a 3rd-4th gear WOT run. Again you can see IAT going down then it goes back up. It seems the stock intercooler is heating up so much even the meth can't keep the temps down on a 16psi run for this long. You can also see that after the shift into 4th gear the timing drops quite a bit. This is something that needs to be worked out in order to keep the timing advance where it should be.
Thread Starter
Senior Members
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,380
Likes: 4
From: Indiana, USA
My Ride: 2007 530xi: Sport, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, HD Radio, SAT, Custom NCS coded options 2008 535xi: Sport, Night Vision, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, SAT, Custom NCS coded options, Rear Seat Heat Retrofit, Passport 9500ci
Model Year: 2008
Engine: N54
Thread Starter
Senior Members
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,380
Likes: 4
From: Indiana, USA
My Ride: 2007 530xi: Sport, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, HD Radio, SAT, Custom NCS coded options 2008 535xi: Sport, Night Vision, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, SAT, Custom NCS coded options, Rear Seat Heat Retrofit, Passport 9500ci
Model Year: 2008
Engine: N54
I talked with the vendor about that second log that shows the intake temps going down with meth activation then back up. This sort of log is expected due to how I did the run and logging. While the engine was up to operating temp (otherwise the meth would not activate), my engine bay, intercooler, etc was still quite cool because I had not been driving hard and this was only the second run that lasted just a few seconds. So the temps would go up as everything got hotter.
Had the car been running hard with multiple test runs or on a 20min track session for example, the temps would start out very hot then decrease and stay that way with the meth activation.
Had the car been running hard with multiple test runs or on a 20min track session for example, the temps would start out very hot then decrease and stay that way with the meth activation.
Thread Starter
Senior Members
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,380
Likes: 4
From: Indiana, USA
My Ride: 2007 530xi: Sport, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, HD Radio, SAT, Custom NCS coded options 2008 535xi: Sport, Night Vision, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, SAT, Custom NCS coded options, Rear Seat Heat Retrofit, Passport 9500ci
Model Year: 2008
Engine: N54
Some new results.
You are seeing boost go from about 18PSI tapering down to ~14 as RPMs increase. In the second chart, AFRs are looking great. In the bottom chart, you see a great timing curve in black with no timing drops. In tuning, if you see a sudden drop in timing that tells you the cars computer has detected engine knock (which is bad) and it drops timing to prevent damage to the engine. The blue line is just a measure that indicates meth/water injection is happening. In this case, I am running 70% meth/30% water.
I have not been on a dyno but this is probably about 420 hp at the wheels which is about 504 bhp.

Below is a calculated dyno chart comparing a run with no meth vs meth. On the Procede this is Map 1 (no meth) and Map 4 (meth)

You are seeing boost go from about 18PSI tapering down to ~14 as RPMs increase. In the second chart, AFRs are looking great. In the bottom chart, you see a great timing curve in black with no timing drops. In tuning, if you see a sudden drop in timing that tells you the cars computer has detected engine knock (which is bad) and it drops timing to prevent damage to the engine. The blue line is just a measure that indicates meth/water injection is happening. In this case, I am running 70% meth/30% water.
I have not been on a dyno but this is probably about 420 hp at the wheels which is about 504 bhp.

Below is a calculated dyno chart comparing a run with no meth vs meth. On the Procede this is Map 1 (no meth) and Map 4 (meth)

Thread Starter
Senior Members
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,380
Likes: 4
From: Indiana, USA
My Ride: 2007 530xi: Sport, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, HD Radio, SAT, Custom NCS coded options 2008 535xi: Sport, Night Vision, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, SAT, Custom NCS coded options, Rear Seat Heat Retrofit, Passport 9500ci
Model Year: 2008
Engine: N54
Thread Starter
Senior Members
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,380
Likes: 4
From: Indiana, USA
My Ride: 2007 530xi: Sport, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, HD Radio, SAT, Custom NCS coded options 2008 535xi: Sport, Night Vision, NAV, PDC, HUD, Cold Wthr, CA, Logic 7, SAT, Custom NCS coded options, Rear Seat Heat Retrofit, Passport 9500ci
Model Year: 2008
Engine: N54
Some air temp plot with outside conditions at 67F (19C)
The first graph shows 3 runs at map 1 (no meth) but still pretty aggressive boost going from 16psi tapering down to about 12. The inlet temp starts at 90F/32C and gets up to 145F/63C at the end of the 4th gear run.
The second chart is also another 3 runs which was completed AFTER the first three. I also completed about 3 meth runs prior to these logging runs that is why you see the starting temps even lower. Here you are seeing 18PSI - 13.5 PSI.
- The inlet temps start at 79F/26C just a couple deg about ambient because I had already done a few meth runs and it really kept everything cooled off.
- You see the temp drop even more at about 7seconds, go up a bit then hold pretty flat and max at 88F/31C.
By 4th gear we have a 56degF temp reduction between the 2 charts.
Something else to note here is the starting inlet air temps before boost. The dual cone intakes (DCI) provide the best air flow for high boost but at the cost of taking in air from inside the engine bay. Often derided as a hot-air-intake. Here we see the inlet air temps under cruise conditions with the DCI at 23deg above outside air temps (first chart). It is up to you to decide if increasing the intake restriction with more pipes to get outside air yields an improvement. There is no argument that outside air AND minimum intake restriction is the best - but there are always trade-offs to get one or the other.
The first graph shows 3 runs at map 1 (no meth) but still pretty aggressive boost going from 16psi tapering down to about 12. The inlet temp starts at 90F/32C and gets up to 145F/63C at the end of the 4th gear run.
The second chart is also another 3 runs which was completed AFTER the first three. I also completed about 3 meth runs prior to these logging runs that is why you see the starting temps even lower. Here you are seeing 18PSI - 13.5 PSI.
- The inlet temps start at 79F/26C just a couple deg about ambient because I had already done a few meth runs and it really kept everything cooled off.
- You see the temp drop even more at about 7seconds, go up a bit then hold pretty flat and max at 88F/31C.
By 4th gear we have a 56degF temp reduction between the 2 charts.
Something else to note here is the starting inlet air temps before boost. The dual cone intakes (DCI) provide the best air flow for high boost but at the cost of taking in air from inside the engine bay. Often derided as a hot-air-intake. Here we see the inlet air temps under cruise conditions with the DCI at 23deg above outside air temps (first chart). It is up to you to decide if increasing the intake restriction with more pipes to get outside air yields an improvement. There is no argument that outside air AND minimum intake restriction is the best - but there are always trade-offs to get one or the other.
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