2012 sDrive20i (N20 engine) Power Tuning?

[psytse]

I've put the TMC box into this car and have noticed a big difference. Performed a dyno before and after which shows a 51bhp increase. What's more impressive is that peak torque is 270 lb/ft which is more than the standard 28i. Strongly recommend this for anyone looking for a power hike. Been running for nearly 2 months now with no issues.

[castilla]

Originally Posted by psytse

I've put the TMC box into this car and have noticed a big difference. Performed a dyno before and after which shows a 51bhp increase. What's more impressive is that peak torque is 270 lb/ft which is more than the standard 28i. Strongly recommend this for anyone looking for a power hike. Been running for nearly 2 months now with no issues.

can you post a link about this product ?

[Voytek]

Originally Posted by ludo1

Look at these:
The first one (Speed Buster) has the same increase of the kelleners (which costs about 1900€) but this one is much cheaper.
http://www.speed-buster.de/en/chiptu...ps/a-10109573/

The second one is the cheapest and it increases the power to 260 ps and the torque to 336 nm
http://www.dieseltuning.de/Tuning-fo...204_17297.html

Pretty nice, isn't it?

The 260bhp sounds pretty good in my ears. Any experience with this company? Would you actually recommend me chipping my car? I drive about 3000 km's / month and I really want my engine to be reliable.

Also, the engine is similar but don't you think it would kill the clutch in my 20i with all the extra torque? 28i has same clutch and gear ratio?

[psytse]

Originally Posted by castilla

can you post a link about this product ?

Purchased from here.

http://www.tmcmotorsport.com/

[psytse]

Originally Posted by Voytek

The 260bhp sounds pretty good in my ears. Any experience with this company? Would you actually recommend me chipping my car? I drive about 3000 km's / month and I really want my engine to be reliable.

Also, the engine is similar but don't you think it would kill the clutch in my 20i with all the extra torque? 28i has same clutch and gear ratio?

I had done about 4000 miles on my car when I added the chip. The clutch, gearbox and entire drivetrain on the 20i will have no issues as ALL parts are identical with that in the 28i. The only mechanical difference is that the 28i has slightly larger front disks. This has been verified on other forums and via http://realoem.com/bmw/ .

[Voytek]

Originally Posted by psytse

I had done about 4000 miles on my car when I added the chip. The clutch, gearbox and entire drivetrain on the 20i will have no issues as ALL parts are identical with that in the 28i. The only mechanical difference is that the 28i has slightly larger front disks. This has been verified on other forums and via http://realoem.com/bmw/ .

I'm really in doubt.. I find it very hard to find reviews of dieseltuning.de

I would really love to have the 260bhp box from them since it is still a pretty big difference with 220bhp and I would love to have similar power to the 28i...

I also read some stuff that powerboxes in general are very bad for the engine? They would give problems with engine durability in the long run while chip tuning in general doesn't since the tune is optimized for your own specific engine while powerboxes are 1 tune for a all

[sebbelcher]

I am keenly watching this thread, I've just ordered a 2.0i and I too noticed that the engines specs are identical, it's great to hear that the parts are identical too - some real possibilities here without much risk as we know the 28i can support the extra torque/pressures stock.

Must be in the software, and software is open to abuse

I would love to get the stock engine map for the 28i and apply it to the 20i - is that even a possibility with a bit of coding knowledge?

[Keeperlit]

Tmc Motorsport is located around 5 miles from me. I know the guy personally and he has remapped or installed tuning boxes to 4 of my previous cars. These products are top notch. I have just taken delivery of a 20i msport z4 and having just came out of a 3.0d A5 I am really impressed with the stock car.

I'm running it in gently for the first 1000 miles and then fitting my tmc box which takes minutes to do. You can turn the power setting up but I recommend keeping it at 5. Ill keep you posted once I fit it.

To be honest I am really impressed with the stock 20i so far. The low down torque allows the car to pull effortlessly from early revs, it feels fast and revs freely. I've had m3 e46s and 30d 5 series....this car will definitely provide me with as much fun at a fraction of the running cost.

I have the 8 speed auto with paddles, one of the best auto boxes I have driven. Much smoother than the old smg2 in my m3.

All I can say is 3 weeks in and I'm loving my first z, it has a great personality...looks awesome...gets plenty of stares, and its just down right fun........bit like its owner

[sebbelcher]

What exactly does the TMC box do? Is it actually an engine remap, or does it intercept and manipulate the signals between the ECU and the engine/sensors 'live'?

My concern with the boxes is that if you have a major smash (or even an average one), its going to be pretty hard to hide that bright red box from the insurance company unless you can get into the car and rip it out before it's towed away (which would be hard if you're in an ambulance!). You can kiss goodbye to any cover from them if they find that and find yourself in a pretty sticky legal situation.

Is it possible to remap the engine 'natively' by reprogramming the ECU, or is that well locked down on the BMWs?

[Keeperlit]

Originally Posted by sebbelcher

What exactly does the TMC box do? Is it actually an engine remap, or does it intercept and manipulate the signals between the ECU and the engine/sensors 'live'?

My concern with the boxes is that if you have a major smash (or even an average one), its going to be pretty hard to hide that bright red box from the insurance company unless you can get into the car and rip it out before it's towed away (which would be hard if you're in an ambulance!). You can kiss goodbye to any cover from them if they find that and find yourself in a pretty sticky legal situation.

Is it possible to remap the engine 'natively' by reprogramming the ECU, or is that well locked down on the BMWs?

Totally agree with u, last thing you want to think about is a tuning box while you are in the back of an ambulance! Two choices, either inform your insurer or take a risk.

Tmc tuning boxes offer multi channel technology manipulating signals sent from the ecu to things like the boost pressure or camshaft position sensor so they act like a remap without the need to plug into the diagnostic port. Advantage is they do not leave a footprint on your cars ecu, whereas a remap will ie it will tell a bmw technition that it was accessed on a specific date therefore letting bmw know the car has been tampered with. This is not a problem if you are out of warranty but I would not remap a car still in warranty.

A tuning box will not leave a footprint and can be easily removed hence no warranty issues, but to counter that your insurer may not be happy.

My advice for what it's worth is get a price from your insurer if it works great, if not leave it be and enjoy the car as it is.

My car is a stock sdrive 20i and its plenty fun!!

[sebbelcher]

Thanks Keeperlit,

I'm sure my 20i will be more than exciting enough for me stock (when it finally arrives!) but the thought of 50 extra horses for £300 is so incredibly tempting!

[Keeperlit]

Originally Posted by sebbelcher

Thanks Keeperlit,

I'm sure my 20i will be more than exciting enough for me stock (when it finally arrives!) but the thought of 50 extra horses for 300 is so incredibly tempting!

No problem, as I said from my previous post I have the box from tmc but as I only have 800 miles on the car I haven't fitted it yet...ill keep you posted if I do. It's the same box I had in my Audi but Darren from tmc reprogrammed it for my new z and gave me the new connection cables for 65 pounds. He told me he ships dozens of these to Japan every week for the sdrive 20i and he has never had one problem. If you are ordering let me know as Darren may give a discount...what colour combo have you ordered for your new z?

[sebbelcher]

Originally Posted by Keeperlit

No problem, as I said from my previous post I have the box from tmc but as I only have 800 miles on the car I haven't fitted it yet...ill keep you posted if I do. It's the same box I had in my Audi but Darren from tmc reprogrammed it for my new z and gave me the new connection cables for 65 pounds. He told me he ships dozens of these to Japan every week for the sdrive 20i and he has never had one problem. If you are ordering let me know as Darren may give a discount...what colour combo have you ordered for your new z?

Thanks for the offer, I'll definitely get in touch if I decide to get one!

I ordered a 20i M Sport automatic in Mineral White with Walnut interior and the 326 Alloys

Sadly got a 2 month wait up ahead Time seems to be slowing down!

[Keeperlit]

That will be very tasty! I have sapphire black on Canberra with the 19 326s, auto msport, comfort pack and extended Bluetooth. For some reason I cannot upload photos from my iPhone otherwise id post some. I also opted for the walnut dash...have to say 3 weeks in one of the most enjoyable cars I've owned!

[twinturbo335Ci]

hey guys, i might be getting the z4 sDrive20 in the near future, and i was just wondering whether the car wil have the new white halo angel eyes or the same old yellow ones from the first E89 was released? thanks for the input guys.

[sebbelcher]

Originally Posted by twinturbo335Ci

hey guys, i might be getting the z4 sDrive20 in the near future, and i was just wondering whether the car wil have the new white halo angel eyes or the same old yellow ones from the first E89 was released? thanks for the input guys.

Depends entirely on what your dealer ordered and whether it is being built fresh or being shipped from stock somewhere. My purchase contract actually says "E89 Z4 sDrive20i Rdster N20 2.0i M Sp LCi SP AUTO" - the LCi bit there is the key, that's the facelift which includes the white/LED angel eye headlamps.

Otherwise you can guess from the production date, it seems from anecdotal evidence that LCi models started production this month for showroom models and next month for personal orders - so if your production date is in April, you can pretty much be certain that it will.

[twinturbo335Ci]

Originally Posted by sebbelcher

Depends entirely on what your dealer ordered and whether it is being built fresh or being shipped from stock somewhere. My purchase contract actually says "E89 Z4 sDrive20i Rdster N20 2.0i M Sp LCi SP AUTO" - the LCi bit there is the key, that's the facelift which includes the white/LED angel eye headlamps.

Otherwise you can guess from the production date, it seems from anecdotal evidence that LCi models started production this month for showroom models and next month for personal orders - so if your production date is in April, you can pretty much be certain that it will.

i see, thank you very much for your input. i have not placed an order yet, but i will in the next few months. i'm still making sure my local bmw dealership here in Indonesia will actually let me choose the options i want, because the z4s out here seems to be fairly basic, with almost no option at all. maybe because of the ridiculous tax here, costs almost £85,000 for just a basic z4 sdrive20.

[freitas5]

Originally Posted by Keeperlit

No problem, as I said from my previous post I have the box from tmc but as I only have 800 miles on the car I haven't fitted it yet...ill keep you posted if I do. It's the same box I had in my Audi but Darren from tmc reprogrammed it for my new z and gave me the new connection cables for 65 pounds. He told me he ships dozens of these to Japan every week for the sdrive 20i and he has never had one problem. If you are ordering let me know as Darren may give a discount...what colour combo have you ordered for your new z?

Hi keeperlit, have you already installed your tunning box? If so, what's your feedback?