Tuning tips for 320 d (E91)

[RonnyRally]

I recently bought a BMW 320 d (E91) - 2007 touring (163bhp) and I am looking for some good tuning tips. I have found it difficult to find well founded and fact based information on this subject when it comes to the details. Any how here are my thoughts, and I would be very grateful for knowledgeable and well founded feedback:

• Original thought is to install a K&N filter to increase breathing and to slap on a diesel-box/tuning-box/piggy back (the one you love have many names) since turbo diesels normally are rather power responsive to fuel increases. However, most seem to treat this type of solution as something the cat brought in….I do not know if this view is well founded or just experiences form people who did not understand not overdo the fuelling.

• Alternative thought is to buy a DIY package for ECU flashing offered by many tuning companies (including flash device and tuned map). Advantage is that you do not need to go to service station when you want to flash back to original. Disadvantage is that it is significantly more expensive than option one and you still do not know the quality of the map you upload (too many posts shows that even the more renowned brands seems to make them selves unavailable when the S__t hits the fan and the car doesn’t work properly after remapping )

• Last option is to buy an unlooked flash device, download a free/demo tuning software and do it the hardcore way yourself by comparing the original file with tuned files available on the internet and trying to understand the logic. (I will likely offend some one now but I say it any way, it cant be rocket science judging by the people making a living of this in my home town…enough said)

Thanks in advance.

 

[HDi fun]

Celtic Tuning will give you over 210bhp and a HUGE increase in torque. I'd leave tuning boxes well alone - they are crude by comparison and often play hell with particle filters etc. A full remap will also provide sensitively controlled increases in boost pressure, rather than allowing it to 'freewheel'.

I ran my 406 HDi 2.2 for 80,000 miles after Celtic handled it and had no problems at all. The only reason I no longer have it is because it was destroyed in a severe collision last year.

 

[RonnyRally]

Are you talking about a remap performed at a service station? If so, I apologise that I should have been more clear in my question. Clarification:
* I am not located in UK
* remap at a service station is not an option because I want to rapidly and free of charge be able to go back to original settings for e.g. servicing, long trips, evaluation of performance changes and other unforeseen events

 

[pgarner]

ey and welcome to the site mate.

sorry i cant see why you would want to change back to the original mapping. on the longer journeys the increase in torque will give better MPG, performance change youll feel it

and for servicing they, that is the garage, dot need to know if its been mapped

the DIY one where you get the device for uploading the map is probably your best option then, you dont touch the map itself but can swap between 3 maps

 

[RonnyRally]

ey and welcome to the site mate.

sorry i cant see why you would want to change back to the original mapping. on the longer journeys the increase in torque will give better MPG, performance change youll feel it

and for servicing they, that is the garage, dot need to know if its been mapped

Thanks!

Well there seem to be different views on this, but for simplicity just say that I like to be somewhat in control and less dependent on others.

So which 2-3 companies/products would you recommend if I where to go for the DIY plug-and-play, hands-off the map myself. Although I do not say that cheapest is always best, I have seen numerous examples of that "you get what you are paying for" is a ill fitted statement in this industry. Given that a customer rarely will be able to truly evaluate quality of the work done, as long as it reaches an acceptable level or doesn't go completely wrong I put my trust in:
* many publicly available reference cases with before and after results
* a phone support which will answer during office hours, every time you call

(I do not think this is to ask to much, however it doesn't always seem to be common practice)

 

[HDi fun]

I still think you're going to be buying a compromise. Why would you want to revert to standard settings?

I got far better economy with a performance map in place anyway. This is pretty much de-rigeur with common rail diesel engines.

Tuning boxes are very bad for diesel engines that meet Euro IV and Euro V emissions standards.

 

[RonnyRally]

I still think you're going to be buying a compromise. Why would you want to revert to standard settings?
I got far better economy with a performance map in place anyway. This is pretty much de-rigeur with common rail diesel engines.

Please let it go, I have already tried to explain my reasoning and I respect your view but it will not change mine.

Tuning boxes are very bad for diesel engines that meet Euro IV and Euro V emissions standards.

As you see from my previous post the hot option now is DIY re-flashing, without own interference with professionally developed map. Which leads me to the question stated above: Which 2-3 suppliers of this type of equipment would meet my basic requirements mentioned earlier.

But anyhow, your statement about tuning-/diesel-boxes make me interested. So my question is why, if we disregard the obvious that they will pollute a bit more (which doesn't worry me to much since i do my "save the world" activities in other areas) and will destroy PF as well as other engine parts if abused?

 

[HDi fun]

A remap will not increase soot output whereas a tuning box almost certainly will do so. But this is of no consequence, I agree.

However, the real problem is that the particle filter will not be able to regenerate itself successfully if the car's ECU 'commands' are intercepted by a 'piggy-back'. Thus there will be an accumulation of soot in the DPF over time which will eventually result in the engine going into limp home mode with an array of warning lights.

You could, of course, remove the DPF but this is not recommended and it's quite involved as the car's own ECU will 'notice'. So you'd have to remap the ECU to make it 'ignore' the absence of a DPF.

It's also quite likely to render the car unlawful for road use.

Thare are, however, some companies who offer switchable remaps. This could be a very good option for you.

 

[RonnyRally]

A remap will not increase soot output whereas a tuning box almost certainly will do so. But this is of no consequence, I agree.

If you continue to crank the box up, sooner or later it will start to soot significantly. However, my understanding was that many diesels (not least BMW 320d) are originally mapped on the lean side, to reduce exhaust and power. Additionally, as mentioned, I was aiming to combine this with a K&N sports filer. This all together made me think that I had some leeway before even getting to equilibrium in the air fuel mix?

However, the real problem is that the particle filter will not be able to regenerate itself successfully if the car's ECU 'commands' are intercepted by a 'piggy-back'. Thus there will be an accumulation of soot in the DPF over time which will eventually result in the engine going into limp home mode with an array of warning lights.

Now I am not following your thought, can you please clarify? My understanding of the regeneration process, in short terms, is that the ECU tells the engine to massively over fuel creating substantial temperature increase that burns out the soot in the PF.

I somewhat doubt that the diesel box will interfere in this process since even rather simple boxes likely have some limiter where it understands to leave the ECU alone. However, if it does interfere its impact would likely be a increased regeneration due to that most simple boxes gives a %-ual fuel increase on the ECU value.

 

[HDi fun]

The DPF regeneration process is based upon over fuelling. But it's not all injected in one go.

All common rail systems use at least two injection phases for each 4 stroke cycle. The first is the pilot injection, small quantity of diesel, basically to get the chambers hot enough to cope with the main phase.

The main injection phase is the large one, but because the fire's already up 'n' running, so to speak - thanks to the pilot phase, means that the ignition noise is much much quieter than earlier diesel engines.

Now, with DPF cars, during the regeneration of the filter, the ECU instructs a tertiary phase. When this is occuring, the main injection volume is reduced, in order to retain some oxygen in the cylinder. This tertiary phase is a dose of fuel administered during back end the expansion (power) stroke. Because of the late timing of the fuel delivery, it is still burning when it exits then cylinder and therefore increases the exhaust gas temperature massively. This is how the DPF regenerates - your car's exhaust system more or less becomes a horizontal chimney fire.

(Some DPF systems rely upon fuel borne catalysts which are there to reduce the burn temperature of accumulated soot - the administration of this additive is also under ECU control.)

My concern is that a generic tuning box will not be able to differentiate between the pilot, main and tertiary injection cycles. It will not have access to the car's own ECU's intentions, despite being able to increase the injector dwell (open) time.

So, what I'm driving at is that it's not just a question of 'how much?', but a question of 'exactly when?', and, ultimately, 'why and for what purpose?'.

Kind regards,

Paul Anderson.

 

[RonnyRally]

I could not tell for sure, but from what I have seen/read so far about these generic tuning boxes I do not even think they are smart enough to mess it up.

Most tuning boxes just seem to top up the quantity based on the ECU, i doubt it will alter timing or overall parameters for cycles.

If they are as dumb as their reputation says, my greatest concern would be that the %-increase by the tuner is what smokes the whole PF during regeneration. However, used with moderation I would assume that also the PF has some safety margin which would accommodate this moderate stress increase.

However, one potential concern which I have, and which I do not know if it is valid or not, is the potential impact of the tuning box on the ECU long-time learning. Will the ECU get any direct or indirect signal from the tuning box, e.g. that it is continuously running lean. If so, which in the long run could make the ECU run richer as default and again be manipulated to add an additional percentage on this richer mix, rendering in a evil diesel spiral? Do you have any input about this, since it struck me but really is our of my knowledge comfortzone?

(additional, are you good with the sports seats? Mine got stuck and can't move back and forth no more. I started a new thread about that so please post if you have any tips or tricks.)

 

[HDi fun]

I could not tell for sure, but from what I have seen/read so far about these generic tuning boxes I do not even think they are smart enough to mess it up.

Most tuning boxes just seem to top up the quantity based on the ECU, i doubt it will alter timing or overall parameters for cycles.

If they are as dumb as their reputation says, my greatest concern would be that the %-increase by the tuner is what smokes the whole PF during regeneration. However, used with moderation I would assume that also the PF has some safety margin which would accommodate this moderate stress increase.

However, one potential concern which I have, and which I do not know if it is valid or not, is the potential impact of the tuning box on the ECU long-time learning. Will the ECU get any direct or indirect signal from the tuning box, e.g. that it is continuously running lean. If so, which in the long run could make the ECU run richer as default and again be manipulated to add an additional percentage on this richer mix, rendering in a evil diesel spiral? Do you have any input about this, since it struck me but really is our of my knowledge comfortzone?

(additional, are you good with the sports seats? Mine got stuck and can't move back and forth no more. I started a new thread about that so please post if you have any tips or tricks.)

That is exactly my concern. tuning boxes usually only increase the fuel delivery. The ECU is totally unaware of the piggy back box. And the piggy back box has no means to interact with the ECU directly.

 

[RonnyRally]

How should I interpret that? That the tuning box can or can not impact the long-term memory function of the ECU?

To me it is not a problem as such that "tuning boxes usually only increase the fuel delivery", assuming that:

* the engine is a bit starved in the original configuration
* a sportfilter will be added giving a marginal increase on the air side
* diesel engines are less dependent on exact air/fuel mix than petrol engines, and will perform well even when running a bit rich.

 

[HDi fun]

It's not simply about air mass/fuel mass. Otherwise the tuning boxes would work well.

Please tell me again why you favour such a tuning system.

 

[RonnyRally]

I was more into doing DIY re-flashing (as recommended by pgarner) and had almost dropped the tuning box idee until you brought it up.

So i can't really say that I favour it, I am only tying to confirm if it is an viable alternative or if there are strong factually based arguments in adverse of these devices.

Things that could be in their favour are:

* They are often simple in their operation, which at least gives the owner a chance to understand what it is doing.
* The is often the ability for the user to set the amount of manipulation requested, which give the owner the opportunity to judge themselves on what level is good for the engine, based on how it behaves etc
* Very low price
* Easy to get
* Easy to install and uninstall
* If it only manipulate the fuel, it is easier to monitor if things are going ballistic, big blue smoke is bad sign etc...when you re-map there are better possibilities but also greater risks. A bad hair day and the mechanics are dropping the wrong digits for the turbo pressure and out through the hood it comes like a fire ball when you think things are at its best.

 

[RonnyRally]

I agree that improved air mass/fuel mass will not give the optimal performance, but I certainly think that it is a great step in the right direction. Or you do not think so?

 

[HDi fun]

I agree that improved air mass/fuel mass will not give the optimal performance, but I certainly think that it is a great step in the right direction. Or you do not think so?

It is undeniably a step in the right direction. What I'm thinking of here though is the exact timing of the fuel delivery phases, rather than just the air/fuel ratio and overall volume.

 

[pgarner]

Chipped Uk, Vieso (spelling might be wrong) and celtic tuning all do a self tuning box.
in short you pay for the device and 2 maps.
you copy your map from the ECU to the device. email to the company and they send you back more or less a generic map with alterations for your ECU and you upload which one you want.

but few people esp diesel owners ever seem to put them back to standard unless they are selling the car

the device can only store info for one car so unless you revert the car back to standard its not any good for another car.

 

[HDi fun]

Celtic does this and I think it's called eMotion. But the operating principle is that of a full remap, not that of a plugin interfering box.

Basically the tuner downloads original map to the box. Then the car is remapped in the usual way. This map is then downloaded to the box.

This means you can swap between maps at will. Why you'd want to exchange an optimal map with a standard one is beyond my comprehension. Re-flashing the ECU means bringing the car to a halt and turning off the engine. This hardly makes for swift progress.

Just leave the optimised map there full time and control the torque delivery with your right foot as normal.

 

[obi_waynne]

It is worth mentioning that there are tuning boxes and tuning boxes. Here is a bit of clarification and my thoughts on each...

1) Cheap ebay type contain a restistor that alters the reading from the Air flow meter to fool the car into chucking in more fuel. More "advanced" ones have been recently made which are switchable allowing the user to choose how much variation they give. These are crude and IMO not worth having at all.

2) An expensive tuning box, AKA piggy back ecu sits between the ECU and engine sensors, ignition etc and takes over control of all of the engines ECU parameters. These can sometimes (but not usually) outpeform a standard ECU in terms of storage and speed of response and flexibility and can be handy where a remap is not possible.

Ideally though a remap of the cars main ECU is the best way to go. There are as has been mentioned flash boxes which are plugged in and will reflash the ECU.

 

[jarrus]

Diesels are far different to tune than petrols,

bmw diesels are very good to tune, as they have a lot of built in "slack" in the engine,

however word of warning...
e46 2.0 litre turbos diesels are prone to turbo failures so find a reputable company to do the job

I know you want to be able to change back but I'm you won't want to after experiencing the benefits remapping has to offer,

k&n filters are good but have limited gains to be had and most of the time the standard box will be the best option the best thing to do is make improvements to the pipework of the induction system unless the intake on your car is of a bad design,

 

[HDi fun]

BMW's diesel engines do have loads of 'slack' built in. It's quite safe to take up this slack in the form of better torque and power.

Your side of the bargain is to stick rigidly to service schedules, use high quality synthetic engine oils and treat the engine with respect.

Don't hammer it when cold, wait until everything is thermally stable, so 15-20 minutes from a cold start before you start using all the available torque and power is a good place to start.

With any turbocharged car it is essential to allow a cool down period (1-2 minutes) after brisk driving before switching off and pulling the key.

I'm not overly keen on induction kits at all. I'm not really very fond of oiled filter elements. When you can buy a new filter from BMW for about seven quid why not just change them regularly? The airflow offered by drop in replacement panels is barely any better than a standard filter.

And they need cleaning, oiling etc.

 

[jarrus]

I agree,

out of the whole indcution system the filter inself willon restrict air flow by 2% or something like that, the pipework can do much more than that, and that's the place to start

 

[Logic]

I have a 2007 320D and have done a ton of research into how to get more power. I have a good quality remap that is on the safe side and that gets me to 194bhp with 411nm of torque. It's enough for everyday use and when I floor the accelerator pedal I get pushed back in my seat. I will probably change the panel filter and also exhaust but not really to get more power. The improvements you can make are not related to power exactly but to handling and weight. I have fitted Bilstein pss10's and will be fitting a Quaife LSD shortly. I am also looking into various ways to reduce weight.
The bi-turbo unit in the 123D looks promising but there are no biturbo options for the 320D and even if there were bi-turbo units have there problems especially if one part needs to be replaced.
So my view with the e90 320D is to get it up to say 200bhp with a remap and then work on suspension and handling plus maybe an exhaust. 200bhp is more than enough power and you don't want to have a car that does 0-60 in a blink of an eye because you would just miss the fun. Optimal 0-60 times are about 6.5 seconds I think and what happens when the car pulls in 2 to 3 gear is more important. And of course how the car handles is the most important of all.

 

[jarrus]

Sounds good to me chap,

I wonder why they don't do the 23d engine in the e90? surely it's a better prospect than the 325d due to the fact it's more powerful and more efficient,

have you thought about having a bigger front mount intercooler? and even running partly on LPG? t would mean you could do away with a DPF because the diesel particulates would be reduced.

and I have been told that 3 series BMW's have always had questionable brakes so I would recommend those to be upgraded as well

 

[pgarner]

look at getting rid of the cat, that and a panel filter. also look to look to hybridising the turbo

 

[Prince]

I have been told that 3 series BMW's have always had questionable brakes so I would recommend those to be upgraded as well

Mine seem fine *touch wood*.

On topic though, I don't understand why you would want to go back to standard after having a remap. More power and better fuel economy. A proper remap and few suspension tweaks will leave you very happy.

 

[Logic]

How could you make a hybrid turbo? The intercooler idea is o.k but I'm worried about introducing more lag into the system. I've looked at de-cat downpipes and ECU upgrades but am worried that the exhaust would run too hot. The only 'problem' I have with my car is that I think it's 20bhp lite. I was wondering about installing a meth system to give me extra boost after 4000 rpm.
The car handles brilliantly on the Bilsteins by the way - looks great too. The other thing I was thinking about was getting a sprint booster to try to eliminate some of the lag. There is a delay when pressing the accelerator peddle at certain revs.
I would have thought that there would be more 'bolt-on' options for the 320D seeing that it's such a popular car.

 

[jarrus]

It is a popular car, but not a popular car to modify so that's the only real reason there isn't much for them

Hybrid turbos are easy enough to do, Harvey on here did it on his Vectra 1.9CDTI and it produces 230 hp yes peak torque does come in later but because of it being a VNT (same as yours) then it still has bags of low down torque so it really isn't an issue,

Water/meths will help keep your EGT's and help with top end power and bigger intercool will also aid thermal efficiencey and keep the engine temps down, I still think though that LPG injection (part) will yield you big gains in power and torque but if you use it with the water meths kit then be sure to use water only,

I don't know what a "sprint booster" is so I can't comment on it, so fill us in chap

 

[pgarner]

the turbo would be sent away to a specialist. bored out and larger internals fitted

 

[Jakeymd]

So are these eMotion things good, i've been looking at them for a few days now (for the future, not for the car i have now) and then stumbled across this thread. If you have other modifications can they alter the map to take these into account? Or is worth going to their base in cornwall and getting a custom remap done there?

 

[HDi fun]

The mobile service is equally good. However, if you do drive down to Newquay you'll have a nice time on your way back home. You'll find the performance smooths out over the first few hundred miles.

 

[Jakeymd]

Sold!

 

[T9 man]

Was curious about this "Sprinter Booster" that logic mentioned earlier as I have never heard of it :embarrest:

Just had a look on the website and the theory seems ok BUT I wonder if one of my esteemed forum members could take a look at this and give me their invaluable opinions on it please!

http://www.sprint-booster.co.uk/

 

[Prince]

Was curious about this "Sprinter Booster" that logic mentioned earlier as I have never heard of it :embarrest:

Just had a look on the website and the theory seems ok BUT I wonder if one of my esteemed forum members could take a look at this and give me their invaluable opinions on it please!

http://www.sprint-booster.co.uk/

Had a quick look.

The theory does look ok but surely this same idea could be done by a remap or by installing big bore throttle bodies or individual throttle bodies.

 

[HDi fun]

Leave well alone. Fly by wire throttles can be altered in the ECU map.

 

[jarrus]

Yep, I was under that impression, I don't think it's a bad product, but it's only for people who just want a sharper throttle response that are happy with the power they are producing.

 

[T9 man]

Marvellous! thanks for the heads up guys knowledge is everything

 

[pgarner]

Yep, I was under that impression, I don't think it's a bad product, but it's only for people who just want a sharper throttle response that are happy with the power they are producing.

again on electronic throttles this should be changable few the ecu.

the sprint booster are nothing more than a resistor in a box style. there was a guide somewhere on how to modify your throttle to make a sharper response by changing the electronics - and it was cheap compared to paying what they want for the sprint booster

 

[HDi fun]

I had the throttle response curve in my 406 subtly altered at remap time.