[34dean]

Gents,
I am about to have BM3 installed by my local BMW shop along with my MPE and VRSF catless dp. I understand I probably want to have a new charge pipe done as well? What options do I have for my first tune and what do you recommend? I have only put 93 octance in my car since I've owned it. It has 46K on it. Percetly maintained through BMW CPO warranty. I am not tracking or anything like that. Just looking for improvements in exhaust sound and having a bit of fun with some spirited weekend driving on the curvy back roads here on the CT shore.

Thank you for your input.

[BeerHerder]

My understanding is that if you're doing catless DP, you can jump straight to Stage 2 93 octane tune. Literally *everyone* here is going to tell you to get a new charge pipe as well. Adding an upgraded intercooler is going to be the next step so you might as well do that and the charge pipe simultaneously.
Good luck!

[34dean]

Which intercooler do you recommend? I’d like to keep the price down.

[vivanapoli806]

Originally Posted by 34dean

Which intercooler do you recommend? I’d like to keep the price down.

Cts turbo chargepipe and intercooler. I bought both from them and they gave me a bundle price just contact them on fb. You will have to get colder plugs if going stage 2. You will want ngk 97506

[BeerHerder]

I'm not going to provide much good advice on that... I'm stock. From my reading, people do a lot of Wagner, VRSF, ER. The one I have my eye on is the Wagner Evo Comp II or ATM. Most are bar & plate vs. tube & fin. Tube & fin provides quicker temperature drops, but they're more expensive. Higher volume with give you a little turbo lag, but generally keep the temperature lower longer. There's a ton of info out there... my suggestion is to consult with an expert from your favorite retailer. Mike from x-ph.com helped me out with my bm3 purchase and I'll likely consult back with him when I decide to go FBO next year after my CPO runs out.

[Korvo]

You shouldn't be doing a tune before changing the charge pipe....

[34dean]

Originally Posted by pdegene

You shouldn't be doing a tune before changing the charge pipe....

I’m not. I’m having the MPE, down pipe and charge pipe done and then tune at same time. Not sure what stage though.

[Korvo]

Originally Posted by 34dean

I’m not. I’m having the MPE, down pipe and charge pipe done and then tune at same time. Not sure what stage though.

Then my vote goes to ER!

[outofphase]

Originally Posted by 34dean

Gents,
I am about to have BM3 installed by my local BMW shop along with my MPE and VRSF catless dp. I understand I probably want to have a new charge pipe done as well? What options do I have for my first tune and what do you recommend? I have only put 93 octance in my car since I've owned it. It has 46K on it. Percetly maintained through BMW CPO warranty. I am not tracking or anything like that. Just looking for improvements in exhaust sound and having a bit of fun with some spirited weekend driving on the curvy back roads here on the CT shore.

Thank you for your input.

Definitely need the chargepipe. If you want to save on total labor in the long run, I'd have the intercooler installed at the same time, as other's have said. As far as recommendations, I've heard great things about the evolution racewerks chargepipe and wagner's intercooler offerings.

Cheaper options are CTS turbo and VRSF. Some people have had fitment issues with VRSF, but I didn't, for whatever it's worth.

Plugs are recommended and you can do it yourself pretty easily if you're comfortable with a wrench. If you want to wait, just make sure you datalog and have a look at your timing. NGK 97506's are recommended as others have said. No need to go too crazy with the gap. I'm at .020.

Regarding whether or not you NEED an intercooler really comes down to your driving habits and where you live. The occasional WOT pull and spirited driving? Stock is fine. Back to back wot pulls, or regular aggressive driving, and the upgraded intercooler will keep you from heatsoaking like crazy. I'd also upgrade if you live in a warm environment.

Tunewise, try the Stage 2 93 Oct tune, and datalog. If your car is pulling timing, try different gasolines/octane booster or switch to the 91 octane map (even with 93 in the car). I wouldn't mess with the E30 tune unless you know exactly how to calculate your mixture.

You're gonna love BM3!

[34dean]

Originally Posted by outofphase

Definitely need the chargepipe. If you want to save on total labor in the long run, I'd have the intercooler installed at the same time, as other's have said. As far as recommendations, I've heard great things about the evolution racewerks chargepipe and wagner's intercooler offerings.

Cheaper options are CTS turbo and VRSF. Some people have had fitment issues with VRSF, but I didn't, for whatever it's worth.

Plugs are recommended and you can do it yourself pretty easily if you're comfortable with a wrench. If you want to wait, just make sure you datalog and have a look at your timing. NGK 97506's are recommended as others have said. No need to go too crazy with the gap. I'm at .020.

Regarding whether or not you NEED an intercooler really comes down to your driving habits and where you live. The occasional WOT pull and spirited driving? Stock is fine. Back to back wot pulls, or regular aggressive driving, and the upgraded intercooler will keep you from heatsoaking like crazy. I'd also upgrade if you live in a warm environment.

Tunewise, try the Stage 2 93 Oct tune, and datalog. If your car is pulling timing, try different gasolines/octane booster or switch to the 91 octane map (even with 93 in the car). I wouldn't mess with the E30 tune unless you know exactly how to calculate your mixture.

You're gonna love BM3!

Thank you... good stuff! I'm going to wait on the intercooler as I live in CT and I won't be driving that aggressively. I'm having a performance shop that specializes in BMW tunes do my BM3. I will let them decide on what map to start with.

Question... once i am tuIed and on the road, how often do i need to have my car checked/tweaked/retuned, if at all? I have a local BMW guy in town doing my maintenance/oil changes etc.

[outofphase]

Originally Posted by 34dean

Thank you... good stuff! I'm going to wait on the intercooler as I live in CT and I won't be driving that aggressively. I'm having a performance shop that specializes in BMW tunes do my BM3. I will let them decide on what map to start with.

Question... once i am tuIed and on the road, how often do i need to have my car checked/tweaked/retuned, if at all? I have a local BMW guy in town doing my maintenance/oil changes etc.

Sounds good! No need to have the car retuned unless you want it retuned. And if you're using OTS maps, protuningfreaks updates them occasionally and it's worth it to reflash then. Other than that, BM3 gives you the ability to datalog, which I highly recommend doing initially, and then if everything looks good, doing it every once in a while or whenever something feels different about the car. Datalogging can be incredibly helpful as it can indicate problems that you might not otherwise notice.

If you don't know how to read a datalog/what to look for, you can always post it here, and if you sense a problem (not hitting target boost, timing all over the place, etc.) you can also open a ticket with PTF -- they're incredibly good with customer support and will even revise maps for you if necessary for your particular car.

As far as routine maintenance, answers you'll hear will vary, but I personally change my oil and oil filter every 3.5k miles and change my sparkplugs every 15k miles on modified cars, and I've never had an engine blow on me. Different car but I had a FBO 04' WRX that was FBO starting at 39k miles and I sold it with almost 200k on the clock still running strong. Maintenance maintenance maintenance!

I recently wrote a review on BM3 you might find useful if you want to see screen shots and some quick tutorials.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1607525

[34dean]

Originally Posted by outofphase

Sounds good! No need to have the car retuned unless you want it retuned. And if you're using OTS maps, protuningfreaks updates them occasionally and it's worth it to reflash then. Other than that, BM3 gives you the ability to datalog, which I highly recommend doing initially, and then if everything looks good, doing it every once in a while or whenever something feels different about the car. Datalogging can be incredibly helpful as it can indicate problems that you might not otherwise notice.

If you don't know how to read a datalog/what to look for, you can always post it here, and if you sense a problem (not hitting target boost, timing all over the place, etc.) you can also open a ticket with PTF -- they're incredibly good with customer support and will even revise maps for you if necessary for your particular car.

As far as routine maintenance, answers you'll hear will vary, but I personally change my oil and oil filter every 3.5k miles and change my sparkplugs every 15k miles on modified cars, and I've never had an engine blow on me. Different car but I had a FBO 04' WRX that was FBO starting at 39k miles and I sold it with almost 200k on the clock still running strong. Maintenance maintenance maintenance!

I recently wrote a review on BM3 you might find useful if you want to see screen shots and some quick tutorials.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1607525

That thread rocks! Very helpful.

I think I will go Stage 2 93 oct and see how that goes, unless my perf shop thinks stage 1 will be better for me/my car.
Again, I am looking to have the car sound great and give me some light, spirited driving daily with a bit more spirit on the weekends. I am fairly easy on the throttle though and rarely go over 85 on the highway.

Any other input or advice is of course welcomed!