[old grey steve]

Been running as some of you know a very nice smooth re map from Simon at e-maps for some 2 years now and its been sport on in terms of performing with my catless downpipes without any drama's

However having driven a good few JB4 equipped cars I realised that the set up I had though smooth and linier I didn't feel quite as "punchy" shall we say feel of as some similar equipped JB4 cars so what to do?

I've been following the progress shall we say of a very intersting N54 135i that's been developed (and still is to a degree) by one of our mapping partners thats been dyno'd, rolling road verified at an easy 400+bhp with torque to match and today was the day a veriation of that set up found its way on to my car.

As with all our maps first things first, car was checked for faults(none showing-smooth running checked all good) latest 2014/15 spec BMW ECU software was then uploaded, all engine/throttle adaptations were re set along with all gear box adpataions (gearbox software was already up to date so just the adaptations) then the tweaked map to my requirments was verified then uploaded(my requirements were the car needed to be more torquey than high revving with the focus being on low, mid range power as most of my driving is either town or short journey duration work with a fair bit of stop/start driving thus a smooth execution of throttle applications was a must. Being an auto I also asked for a decernable difference between D DS and M settings.

This is as the title states a development (thus it will be until I'm 100% happy an on going project) fueled partly by myself to see what can be done with hte 335i (I'm a big fan of the JB4 and what it offers but I'm not a fan of its install execution)hence the search for something that matches the shove the JB4 can offer but is written to the ECU rather than the cabled set up the JB4 offers, which I'm not that keen on (though do admire its effectiveness). I was also fortunate that the guy who'd developed the 135i map had also had and dissected the JB4 and understood how the unit worked and had looked at the files applied to the units.

So how does it differ from my e-map file and how does it drive?

Well compared with the e-maps set up the first thing I noted was upon start up the car sounded a little deeper(not much)but it was detectable. Also noted was a slight (and it was slight) tremor that had been with the car since I'd had it had gone. Blipping the throttle it seemed and sounded a tad different too.

So the drive well reversed out the workshop and stuck it in D and spun the rear wheels , so one thing for sure it felt sharper so what was to come.

It felt straightaway more muscular and pulled really pulled I was also aware the turbo's were working and were a little more vocal. I was a aware too that one a particular stretch of road I use when applying light throttle speed increments were a little greater and one another bit of road I was using when using more throttle for some reason I was having to brake a little harder too so on power delivery and execution compared with the e-map set up I had the updated set up delivers on torque and if you use the speedo as a refrence attainable figures in a given time/space too.

On the motorway its clear from 75 to that there is more power no doubt about it, through the gears using M on D its quick place it in DS sharper feels quicker as you'd expect with gear lever swungover and operating the paddles its savage simple as. (I drove an M5 E61 this morning it didn't from the seat feel anything like as savage as mine, which my boss also picked up on)

But as said this is a development and will be tweaked to suit me hence it'll be on going for a time. There are I think little tweeks I'd like to adapt and look at early on especially in the higher gears 4th, 5th and 6th under load from a light throttle where I feel it could be a little smoother(but thats development) the idea will be to get it kind of where it needs to be then book the rollers take it over and see not only what it can do but see the car on the rollers and apply some raw tweeks to see what else potentual wise is in there.

Until next time

[Sparky68]

Nice write up Steve, have you had a Alpina flash yet?

[Ess]

Sounds exciting Steve, looking forward to reading the progress!

[gaza01]

Nice one steve. Will be nice to see once finished how the figures compare to a jb4

[chesney72]

Good to hear some development on the usual 'conservative' UK maps given the proof the US guys have that this engine can cope with so much more. My mate had the Hartge map and although it was quicker than std I also noticed like OGS that it severely lacked bottom and mid range grunt over a std jb4 map.

Not dissing Simon as he really is a top bloke and offers a fantastic service.

Any hands on DIY'er N54 owner should get a BT cable and try the free back end flashes or I would advise speaking to wedge performance about a custom map and he just takes donations.

Its stronger and more punchy than the jb4 but I would still keep the jb4 for the meth control but also as the flash is very strong, particulaly bottom end, its good to have the option to choose standard power in bad weather when the flash is too strong. I have an lsd and find the power comes in so savagely it spins up both wheels before traction control has a chance to react which is why my wife no longer likes to drive it after she spun it a few months ago. In the wet overtaking from 40mph even in 4th requires gentle throttle input! And thats the non meth map.

Back end flashes obviously require a bit of DIY but on a difficulty scale its very straightforward. The cost of the cable isnt that much considering it does the flashes and has full diagnostics and fool proof adaptaion resets.

No issue with emissions either as mine just passed its MOT even with decat front pipes👍

Hopefully OGS will develop a proper strong remap for the UK and give the non DIY'ers a great alternative to properly get the most from their engines. Mine has 60k miles+ running jb4 or stronger with no issues 140k miles in total. So I say go for it but tweak it so its useable in all weather. I would say dont go too mad bottom end and give the tyres a chance to grip particularly those still running open diffs

[RajB]

Excellent bit of development and write up Steve. Good to see it's a marked improvement over what you had before. Look forward to seeing the further developments with this.