[Mike89]

Been an enthusiast for... forever, I ve always wanted to upgrade my car through various mods. I own a bmw335i and i recently crossed 50000 miles, which means its out of warranty and i can go nuts with it. As i was doing my research, i came across endless number of mods for my car. And there were endless number of tuners who provided different parts.

Because this is my first mod i am sticking to upgrading my ecu maps rather than any actual part, for now. It is cheaper and while i have read about them, i dont have any hands on knowledge about it. Gradually i will get the real stuff. I came across quite a few options for ecu upgrades. There are basically two type, PiggyBack(hardware) and Flash(software). While flash is what most people recommend(because its a software), PiggyBack is much more fun. You can change between different maps on the run and turn it to a map that saves fuel if you are driving in the city. But ofcrse there is a down side, you actually have to open the ecu box and mess with the connectors. Anyways I have narrowed it down to three of them. First of all the stock Bmw 335i



335i has the N54 3.0l twin turbo. It has enough power already but twin turbo means there is a lot of room for even more power.

Stock Power
306 hp @ 5800
300 lb-ft (400 nm)@1400 -5000 rpm

Performance
0-60 mph 4.9s
1/4 mile 13.6s @ 105 mph



Procede V5 by Vishnu tuning
-Piggyback (hardware installed in the ecu unit)
-60-80 whp (90hp on crank) gain on stock car
-60-80 lb-ft torque gain.
-On the fly map changes through cruise controller.
-user interface
-turbo boost psi at around 20psi
-removes speed limiter
-Price- $800

Performance
0-60mph 4.6s
1/4 mile ~ 12.4s @ 115mph

Directflash N54 performance Software by ESS
-Flash ( Installed through obd2 port. No opening of ecu unit)
-60-80 whp gain
-80 NM torque gain
-no on the fly map changes
-no user interface
-around 14.7 psi turbo boost
-Removes speed limiter
Price - $995

Cant find performance figures. But i assume it is more or less the same as vishnu.

JuiceBox4 or JB4 by burger tuning.
-Piggyback (hardware installed in the ecu unit - takes about 35 mins)
-70-80 whp (100hp on crank) gain on stock car
-60-80 lb-ft torque gain.
-On the fly map changes through cruise controller.
-user interface
-Max turbo boost psi at around 20psi
-does not remove speed limiter
-Price ~ $500

Performance
0-60mph 4.5s
1/4 mile ~ 12.4s @ 116mph

As you may have noticed JB4 and Procede are almost same except for the brand names. And Directflash by ESS is quite different. The reviews for all three are good and people have not had any major problems with them. I have a little concern about PiggyBacks because it actually requires installation in the ECU unit, where as DF is a software.

Please share your knowledge and experience with flash vs piggyback. Also help me decide among these three brands or any other for that matter. Although i have researched most of them from dinen to giac to cobb.
I am leaned towards jb4 just because of great reviews and price.
I am planning to install it next weekend.


Here is the installation link for jb4, its pretty straight forward.

JB Performance Tuner Stage 3 (JB3) Video Install Guide - YouTube

JB4 BMW 135i 335i Steering Wheel Controls Demo - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XuT1o7StInU#!

[Akshay1234]

Good that you are looking only at known companies. I think the Vishnu tuning thingy is probably a good bet. Its gives you on the fly adjustment, + Vishnu is pretty well known so I don't think it should be a problem in trusting him handling your original ecu. Also isn't he somewhere in Cali too? That means if you have any issues it will be the quickest to sort out.

Why not look at some intake too?

[Mike89]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Good that you are looking only at known companies. I think the Vishnu tuning thingy is probably a good bet. Its gives you on the fly adjustment, + Vishnu is pretty well known so I don't think it should be a problem in trusting him handling your original ecu. Also isn't he somewhere in Cali too? That means if you have any issues it will be the quickest to sort out.

Why not look at some intake too?

Actually both Vishnu and Burger are california based companies and Burger motorsports is only a couple of hours from my place. And i know that burger is less heard off but in my research i found that it is as good, if not better than Vishnu. I am thinking of Dual Cone Intakes from burger or drop in from K&N. From what i have heard, DCI is better than drop in, in terms of the amount of air allowed in the engine (its better for tuned cars). Sound is pretty sweet too.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Mike89

Actually both Vishnu and Burger are california based companies and Burger motorsports is only a couple of hours from my place. And i know that burger is less heard off but in my research i found that it is as good, if not better than Vishnu. I am thinking of Dual Cone Intakes from burger or drop in from K&N. From what i have heard, DCI is better than drop in, in terms of the amount of air allowed in the engine (its better for tuned cars). Sound is pretty sweet too.

In that case get the Burger piggyback. I just saw the video where the adjustments are done through the steering wheel, that is sick! The dual cones will be way better than a drop it in terms of power and noise. And its priced quite reasonably too.

[dipen]

Just finished reading page 1 of the post @ BMS vs. Vishnu on N54 Air/Fuel Ratios
You may get tuner perspectives and ways.
If you explore you will find tons of such links that will confuse you till the end but you will love it.

[naturaldisaster]

nice stuff... btw. why dont you try out HPF tuning? they have lot of complete tuning packages for the BMW 3 series in particular.

the must be a hoot to drive. i have riden along in an E46 330ci and it was an absolute hoot!

cheers.

[Mike89]

Originally Posted by dipen

Just finished reading page 1 of the post @ BMS vs. Vishnu on N54 Air/Fuel Ratios
You may get tuner perspectives and ways.
If you explore you will find tons of such links that will confuse you till the end but you will love it.

You have no idea how many comparisons i have gone through, bimmerfest, e90post, N54 tech, bimmerforum, you name it. At one point i even decided to just flip a coin . But at the end of the day they both have are more or less the same in terms of power delivery and performance. That makes it even more confusing. BMS is cheaper and closer to my place which means i can drive down there if i ever have any problem. I talked to Terry Burger from BMS and he said he would deduct the sales tax value from the price and install it for me. I am not that concerned about the price as my goal was to stay under a 1000 bucks, but i dont like to waste money either. It just means i can get some nice intakes and powder-coat flat black rims.

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster

nice stuff... btw. why dont you try out HPF tuning? they have lot of complete tuning packages for the BMW 3 series in particular.

HPF doesnot have any ecu mods as far as i know and they are more of supplier than actual tuner.

And yes even the stock car blows your mind out.

[naturaldisaster]

Originally Posted by Mike89

HPF doesnot have any ecu mods as far as i know and they are more of supplier than actual tuner.

And yes even the stock car blows your mind out.

i see. i have seen quite a few M3 mod videos posted by HPF on youtube. they could have been HPF products used by some other tuner.

they simply had packages

stage one 500bhp
stage two 700bhp
stage three 800bhp
and stage four 1000+

simple as choosing a vacuum cleaner at the home store... :P

[Mike89]

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster

i see. i have seen quite a few M3 mod videos posted by HPF on Youtube. they could have been HPF products used by some other tuner.

they simply had packages

stage one 500bhp
stage two 700bhp
stage three 800bhp
and stage four 1000+

simple as choosing a vacuum cleaner at the home store... :P

You gotta be kiddin me... Believe me, its not as simple as choosing a vacuum.
HPF uses different brands to mod their cars and as off now i am only looking for an ecu upgrade and intakes. And HPF dont have their own ecu upgrade they may be selling other tuning brands on their site. I will look into other parts that my interest me.

[naturaldisaster]

Originally Posted by Mike89

You gotta be kiddin me... Believe me, its not as simple as choosing a vacuum.
HPF uses different brands to mod their cars and as off now i am only looking for an ecu upgrade and intakes. And HPF dont have their own ecu upgrade they may be selling other tuning brands on their site. I will look into other parts that my interest me.

i guess your right. but how many folks have a 100% idea of what to get done? sure theyll have an idea of brand names and few products, for them, i guess these packages were made. as for your intake.. doesnt you car already have a CAI? because the stock car after all is turbocharged.

[Mike89]

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster

doesnt you car already have a CAI? because the stock car after all is turbocharged.

Yeh it already has a CAI and i dont really need a dualcone as off now may be in future when i opt for a meth upgrade. I am just a lil excited about it. Will post dyno results of before and after by the end of this week.

[naturaldisaster]

Originally Posted by Mike89

Yeh it already has a CAI and i dont really need a dualcone as off now may be in future when i opt for a meth upgrade. I am just a lil excited about it. Will post dyno results of before and after by the end of this week.

nice! and lets have some cool videos too... i miss the sound of inline sixes.

[Mike89]

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster

nice! and lets have some cool videos too... i miss the sound of inline sixes.

Yeh will get some videos by next weekend.. in the mean while i have this video of my exhaust with a simple mod.

BMW 335i - golf tee mod (simple mod - louder exhaust sound).mp4 - YouTube

Its not a huge difference but it is something...

[naturaldisaster]

Originally Posted by Mike89

Its not a huge difference but it is something...

no. its great! a lovely car. i remember the 5.0 mustang.... some of my friends owning them used to do a similar mod on the exhaust.... they called it the rustler mod. it made their stangs sound much faster than they were...

btw. why do you get Eisenmann?

[aah78]

Originally Posted by Mike89

Procede V5 by Vishnu tuning

Directflash N54 performance Software by ESS
vishnu.

JuiceBox4 or JB4 by burger tuning.

Bit late to the party but anyways - have you got a tune yet?

Cobb seems to be increasing in popularity. I haven't read up on the Directflash but people have had good results with Procede & JB.

BMW now is offering the Performance Power Kit (in addition to the existing Performance Suspension & Exhaust):
Version 1 includes a flash - bumps in hp & torque.
Version 2 includes a higher power fan & additional oil cooler (does your car have the factory oil cooler already?) in addition to the flash.

They're both expensive options - Version 1 costs $599 + labour costs to install (@$100-300/hr depending on your dealer).
Version 2 costs around @$2500 installed.

Tischer has them both for a decent discount.


Have you done any suspension / brake mods?
I'm definitely interested in upgraded brake pads and maybe the M3 or Meyle HD control arms sometime in the future.
With almost 82,000miles on my car I'll also have to decide between upgrading to the Performance Suspension or going Eibach + Bilstein.