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Chipping & Remapping your BMW

147K views 505 replies 185 participants last post by  winter_f20 
#1 ·
This is a work in progress - if there are mistakes, or anything should be added, please post below and I or a moderator will amend

What exactly is ''remaping an engine''
Remapping means that the ECU or engine management system is altered electronically to optimise performance. The manufacturers generally limit their outputs in line with tax laws and or for overall longevity and operating parameters such as high/low temperatures or humidity. The companies that remapp glean the best power and torque curves whilst making sure that reliability is retained.
The bonus is that sometimes this improvement can result in better fuel consumption.


ChippedUK Remap
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" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (talk to member )
Jason from Bw chiptune dissociated him self from chipped uk in 2007 (these are 2 different Jason's they are not the same company)

Cost: £200-£300
Time: 6hrs

Members with this chip:
120deman, Gordie, guardianangeleyes, suaves, morage_key_ring, smithysmith

Approximate figures on a 120d: 210BHP and 326Nm Torque

Comments:
120deman said:
it is BLOODY QUICK!!!!!
The delivery is so much smoother, you have to look at the speedo and what before seemed like 60mph is now 80mph.....and it gets there quick....
.that's in normal mode. Sport mode is wuicker still, but stick it in Steptronic and you've got a rocket.
Jason told me to drive it hard for 100miles before the remap really takes effect.
When he test drove the car after the remap with his Dad......they couldn't believe how quick it was........and came out of the like 2 grinning cheshire cats.
Jason is a top bloke and I would highly recommend him......he certainly knows what he's doing.
As I'm driving more, the car is definitely getting quicker.
I'm pulling away from the lights with much less turbo lag than before....which was one of my major gripes about the car. Other cars are left behind easily. The whole rev range is so much more accessible resulting in an even more responsive driving experience.
It's also smoking less than before under hard acceleration.
I used to get on average 29mpg, the remap is supposed to increase this by a few mpg so I'm keeping my eye on this.
I'm definitely impressed at the moment by the transformation
guardianangeleyes said:
well i took my car to Chipped Uk in Bromsgrove yesterday, they did the remap and put it on their rolling road ... the outcome one very very fast one series i was amazed at how much smoother the engine is and it pulls incredibly well in every gear ( but especially 2nd and 4th for some reason ) it was a 200 mile round trip to bromsgrove but worth every meter .
They are nice people at chipped uk , with a very professional setup like 120deman says i too could recommend having it done to anyone !
( a little advice though ... in my experience i found it far better to go direct to bromsgrove , rather then one of their local dealers ... i wont go into it what happened , but i didnt have a very good experience the first time round
suaves said:
I have also had my 120d done by Jason and I would v highly recommend him. My car flies now! Took me a while to decide to take the plunge, but sooo glad I did.
smithysmith said:
I contacted chipped uk and they put me in touch with Rob at chipzone who does their mobile service for the south, the car was booked in later that week at my place.

The performance increase wasn't immediately noticeable, but when i opened the throttle the difference was amazing.
The car is now seriously quick, and the torque is delivered from about 1800rpm (same as standard) all the way to the red line.

Chipped UK estimate about 210bhp and 420nm of torque i haven't had dynoed but the performance indicates a good power increase me thinks.

30-60 in third was 5.5 now 4.6
50-70 in third is now 3.3
30-70 using second and third is now 5.9

To sum up: If anyone is currently considering a remap i definitely recommend chipped UK, their prices are VERY competitive too.
DMS
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Members with this chip:
Shep, clived

shep said:
Current MPG has improved since DMS from around 28mpg up to 30 mpg after 12 k miles - though economy isn't a major factor - it is a 3 litre engine. Most of this is long distance motorway runs - it can drop below 10mpg if you try.
clived said:
not one for watching the economy (it's the other half's car) the the power differential is certainly "recognizable"
Speed Buster Rail K tuning box
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Members with this:
graham

Cost: £63

graham said:
I have just purchased a Rail K tuning box from Speed Buster at a cost of £63 and it works perfectly, no black smoke and loads more torque.

I have absolutely no complaints about the fueling maps which seem perfect.
Very nice delivery and very very fast!
One thing I have noticed is that fuel consumption suffers terribly on full throttle (15mpg) but it does fly.
I assume this is due to the extra fuel being used.
When I drive it on part throttle I am actually seeing gains in fuel consumption though which is a bonus.
Checked with the manufacturer and it is a digital tuning solution, not a simple resistor (thought so as the mapping is really nice)

It also seems to have settled down and I am now receiving 42.8mpg with regular driving, which is a slight improvement.

Obviously if I use full throttle, the consumption goes down though.

This is an excellent product, extremely well made with BMW wiring covers and connectors and fits (ridiculously easily) snugly under the engine cover with no rattles.

I asked them to reiterate why it is so cheap (buy it now for £100) and they said it was because they are the manufacturer of most tuning boxes on the market hence the saving when you go direct.

I would recommend this to anybody over and above more expensive tuning boxes that I have owned.
Superchips
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See for approx dyno results

Members with this:
gtfire, Sothern-Monkey, Scottie

gtfire said:
Superchips were great to me and gave very good customer support + they come to you if you want, so no long trips out.
The extra power made it the car it should always have been - BMW hold back the power so not to upset the 130i boys ( and girls sorry 130 girl )
Just remember that a box in the engine bay is not nice if you have a prang - a remap is just about undetectable, but if the worst happens it could be traced so consider getting proper insurance - I did not but I would in the future.

Oh and haggle I got £100 off just like that.

0-100 mph 16.24
0-60 mph 6.84
50-70 mph In 3rd 3.38
30-70 mph Through gars 6.08

FUEL CONSUMPTION PRIOR TO CONVERSION 35.6 MPG
FIRST TANK AFTER CONVERSION INC. FULL TESTS 34.8 MPG

Please note:-
Surface was part concrete part tarmac Disused runway
All standing starts were done in dry conditions with DSC fully OFF.
We were very careful not to damage clutch or drive drain.
With this in mind I believe a couple of tenth quicker could easily be achieved for the 0-60mph
No allowance for speedometer inaccuracy were allowed so 0 -100 could be easily 1 sec slower than times stated.
We Had 1/2 tank fuel with 2 persons in car.
Temp 24.5 deg c Sunny.
ALL TIMES WERE BEST TIMES ONE WAY ON LEVEL SURFACE.
Sothern-Monkey said:
Hi, I have a 120d and had superchips ramp up my car. but before I did I took some timings.

50 to 80 in 4th was 9 seconds
70 to 100 in 5 was 13 seconds
70 to 100 in 6th was 17 seconds

After I had the chip done I did some checks and noticed that the car left these times behind, but I did not write down the new figures. I can also hit the end of the clock wich is 155 on a long run, but it gets to 150 no problem. I have a picture with the needel at the end!

hope this helps.
Dragon
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See on how to install.

Members with this:
Ash, bazzagt4 (he no longer has it on the car), brakz, JezyG, DPower, mad-marco, Big Bob_999

Ash said:
fitted my multi map box yesterday which was easier than fitting it to a vag pd engine, apart from connecting the positive lead to the fiddly nut behind the jump lead terminal.

i havent touched the settings so its on 0 setting i think with +3 being most powerful and -3 being for mpg.

i would estimate theres upto 10% extra power. very smooth and no black smoke.

at first i thought it didnt work but it doesnt cut in til the engines warm apparently.

im not gonna mess with it too much, especially at this stage, cos the cars only done just over 1400 miles so theres probably more loosening to come.

so far its the perfect mod for me. the car feels so petrol like with its revvy smoothness compared to before, where it was almost too obvious that the engine was being held back for emissions ratings or whatever.

for what these cars cost, my view is its def worth paying a bit more to get a better return in performance which now compliments the handling and overall driving experience
bazzagt4 said:
I have the Dragon tuning box and found it to be excellent quality and provided me with a nice smooth increase in power while still keeping a good MPG figure.
Brought it from dragon direct and not from ebay.......good customer service and great instructions supplied.
9/10 from me
DPower said:
I've too installed a Dragon box recently on my 120d. I've played around with virtually all the settings and personally found the standard 0 setting to be the best for all round power and torque.

In the Dragon manual it does say increasing the jumper from 0 to +3 just shifts the power band upwards. Therefore putting it onto the +3 setting gives you more higher end power. Personally, when i shifted it to any of the + settings i find the car runs less smooth which gives the impression of less power.
mad-marco said:
got round to fitting it yesterday (it's really easy to fit). So far so good, the engine is smoother at low revs (below 1,750rpm) and pulls better throughout the rev range. Accelleration is better so I'd say generally I'd say it's a success.
MoreGo
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Members with this:
JezyG

JezyG said:
Took my 116i to MoreGo in Brackley to have the ECU remapped. Took around 2 and half hours but the service was excellent and had a good walk round Brackley itself!!

As for the end result firstly I found my mpg went from 34.4 to 37.2 driving the same route in the same manor. Performance wise throttle response is much improved. Pete did say that the original map had a big hole in it which would result in a flat spot. Exactly the same as a 2 litre Z4 he also remapped!!

The engine does have more verve although with only 400 miles on the clock the engine is still too tight to really be able to tell and open her up!
Torque arrives much lower down and I would expect once run in performance to be between a 118i and 120i. The lower final drive ratio giving the engine a little more torque at the wheels than a 118i that has a higher final drive ratio.
It cost me £399 including fitting. Not that cheap but still cheaper than buying a 118i in the first place!
Tunit
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See on how to install.

Members with this:
bollocksman, lee_markham@btinternet.com

Performance Torque
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Members with this:
SWALLET
 
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#478 ·
pat@soper said:
Anybody got advice on a Viezu Remap for a M140i!? What are they like? Any help would be grateful...
40% of my remapping work is to fix poor quality Remaps,Remaps that don't give the power there say it makes and Remaps that go into limp mode

I have loads of inside knowledge about them as I used to repair bmw Ecus for them

Search kieran120d and look what they did to him


They claimed his 120d 177bhp was making 225bhp after there remap
It was in fact making 190bhp on my Dyno and others
They added too much fuel and boost to his map and completely missed his main torque limiter
Kieran120d was also using 2 tanks of fuel a week after there remap

BW chiptune
Tuning BMWs since 1991
BW autorepairs
Over 30 year repairing BMWs
New and fully refurbished BMW Ecus
0208 561 1818
07831 103030
Hayes
UB3 1BB
 
#483 ·
Bimmer said:
Is it possible to remap/ chip a 118i? And if so what realistic results will I get? I.e increase in bhp, torque ect.

Thanks
Yes.
a bit more torque low down. You'll feel it and enjoy it, but its a 2.0i N/A at the end of the day... decide if it's worth it
 
#484 ·
MEGAginge said:
Bimmer said:
Is it possible to remap/ chip a 118i? And if so what realistic results will I get? I.e increase in bhp, torque ect.

Thanks
Yes.
a bit more torque low down. You'll feel it and enjoy it, but its a 2.0i N/A at the end of the day... decide if it's worth it
Does it make a difference that the car is only a 1.5 turbo? Or are you saying the results I would get from remapping would be the same as having a 2.0i?
Thanks again
 
#485 ·
Ahhh! I'm really sorry, showing my ignorance. I didn't realise you had an F series and was thinking of the older N/A engine from earlier E series days

No, a 1.6 turbo lump would definitely respond well to a map! It'll provide a nice punch more power for you...

I'll let Jason reply on the specifics as I've already made one mistake lol

Dave
 
#486 ·
MEGAginge said:
Ahhh! I'm really sorry, showing my ignorance. I didn't realise you had an F series and was thinking of the older N/A engine from earlier E series days

No, a 1.6 turbo lump would definitely respond well to a map! It'll provide a nice punch more power for you...

I'll let Jason reply on the specifics as I've already made one mistake lol

Dave
No problem thanks for the info. Should have said it is the f21 really. Lol thanks for the input anyway. Much appreciated.

Regards Ryan
 
#487 ·
marco_polo said:
A remap, every single time.

We've done dyno tests, tuning boxes vs remaps. 'Vince1976' put his car on the rollers back to back. The box gave about +10bhp, the remap +40. Same price.
What sort of costs are you talking for both Marco? I've seen boxes vary in price from £110 to £350.

Racechip claims:
32bhp 64 nm torque £109
39bhp 78 nm torque £199
47bhp 93 nm torque £349
 
#488 ·
David.555 said:
marco_polo said:
A remap, every single time.

We've done dyno tests, tuning boxes vs remaps. 'Vince1976' put his car on the rollers back to back. The box gave about +10bhp, the remap +40. Same price.
What sort of costs are you talking for both Marco? I've seen boxes vary in price from £110 to £350.

Racechip claims:
32bhp 64 nm torque £109
39bhp 78 nm torque £199
47bhp 93 nm torque £349
Similar costs for both, £300 ish.
 
#489 ·
marco_polo said:
David.555 said:
marco_polo said:
A remap, every single time.

We've done dyno tests, tuning boxes vs remaps. 'Vince1976' put his car on the rollers back to back. The box gave about +10bhp, the remap +40. Same price.
What sort of costs are you talking for both Marco? I've seen boxes vary in price from £110 to £350.

Racechip claims:
32bhp 64 nm torque £109
39bhp 78 nm torque £199
47bhp 93 nm torque £349
Similar costs for both, £300 ish.
The cheapest Racechip box is £109 which suggests pretty good gains for that price??
 
#490 ·
David.555 said:
marco_polo said:
David.555 said:


What sort of costs are you talking for both Marco? I've seen boxes vary in price from £110 to £350.

Racechip claims:
32bhp 64 nm torque £109
39bhp 78 nm torque £199
47bhp 93 nm torque £349
Similar costs for both, £300 ish.
The cheapest Racechip box is £109 which suggests pretty good gains for that price??
As long as it makes that on a Dyno, yup.
 
#494 ·
marco_polo said:
David.555 said:
marco_polo said:
As long as it makes that on a Dyno, yup.
In your experience, are they making that now??
Lol, no, not on a 2006 diesel. A decent custom remap will pull it's pant's down.
Can you recommend any mappers in the North West of England?? What's a good price? I've been quoted £200 from a place called Ecu Tech tune in Manchester?
 
#498 ·
marco_polo said:
David.555 said:
marco_polo said:
P-Torque in Wolverhampton?
I've just found another thread regarding P-Torque. Wolverhampton is about 2 hours south so just about within range!
What's the best way to try and set up a group discount??
Contact them. They're usually game if you can drum up 4 - 5 bookings. :)
I've just pm'd them :spotman:
 
#500 ·
Morning all, I've been looking for a while for tuners in the South West, in particular Devon. Did a fair bit of research and kept coming back to RH Tuning in Plymouth (linked to Bevo Tuning?)

As a result, I've got my F20 118d booked in next Fri for a stage 1 remap. Can anybody vouch for them or have used them before? Or in addition, have any reason why I shouldn't use them?

I've opted for the extra £50 splurge for the dyno run to back up the figures too.

Any info would be much appreciated, cheers!

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
 
#501 ·
i have a ecu remao on my f21 116i it is running 240 bhp with 310 torque that is with a stage 2 remap and full miltek system
 
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