[neilmc]

Thank you budgie. I am so nice that I just sort of told a stranger the time in the co-op. Sadly I forgot how to tell the time and after a few uncomfortable seconds, I just showed him my watch.

[Budgie]

Then what did he do??must be more Neil lol

[neilmc]

Asked directions to the station. I told him and he walked in the opposite direction. Odd chap. And he did have a train with him either.

[Budgie]

How bizarre the world never ceases to amaze me

[encee]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

Mmm interesting.

I have a 330d and I'd be interested in better mpg as well as more ummph (always welcome). 270bhp does sound like a useful hike in power.

Encee - how did you find it transformed your 330dAuto, both in terms of power and mpg? As yours is a superchips mod, I assume this is basically the same product as the bluefin job? I like the idea of it coming in the post and doing it DIY at home - and it being removable.

Over 30k miles, it'd pay for itself if I got around a 4mpg benefit - assuming my insurance company didn't hammer me! (yeah, I know I'm kidding myself)

ajd: Right mate, the map increases the already excellent performance to a new level. It pulls like the proverbial train now, especially in Sport or manual mode, when you can hold onto the gear longer. It also seems to have moved the point up in range where the revs drop off, ie, you probably get another maybe 500 revs of usable power. It really is a fantastic map, which pretty much mirrors the standard map in terms of driveability, so provides much more of the same, if that makes sense ?

Now the downside: There is no mistake on this one for me......my mpg has DEFINITELY dropped, and by as much as 5 mpg. Okay, as I`ve said before, the weather has got colder since I had it done, therefore necessitating an increase in the use of lights, fan, wipers etc.......but I still think that this on its own would not warrant a 5mpg deficit.

So there you go mate; my honest opinion: Excellent increase in performance that I cannot fault, but a sizeable decrease in mpg. Yer pays yer money, and yer takes yer chance............as they say !

PS: I can`t fault Ant @ SpeedReligion for any of this, he merely loaded up the map, and mad as I may be, I will be returning for his stage 2 increase at some point in the not-too-distant future.

[webby318dEMS]

Just checked out the gains for my 318d ED model.

BMW 318 E90 (D)

2007 onwards
Engine type : Turbo-Diesel
Engine size : 1995 cm3
Cylinders : 4
Original bhp : 143
Original nm : 300
BHP increase : 42
NM gain : 80
Lb/Ft gain : 59

Look pretty impressive! Takes it to 185bhp which is a very healthy increase! Would be pretty quick I'm guessing!

[Budgie]

Well if you take stock 177bhp 320d ...7.9 to 60 and you should be looking at that minimum.

And you got the flexibility too...plug in plug out.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by encee

ajd: Right mate, the map increases the already excellent performance to a new level. It pulls like the proverbial train now, especially in Sport or manual mode, when you can hold onto the gear longer. It also seems to have moved the point up in range where the revs drop off, ie, you probably get another maybe 500 revs of usable power. It really is a fantastic map, which pretty much mirrors the standard map in terms of driveability, so provides much more of the same, if that makes sense ?

Now the downside: There is no mistake on this one for me......my mpg has DEFINITELY dropped, and by as much as 5 mpg. Okay, as I`ve said before, the weather has got colder since I had it done, therefore necessitating an increase in the use of lights, fan, wipers etc.......but I still think that this on its own would not warrant a 5mpg deficit.

So there you go mate; my honest opinion: Excellent increase in performance that I cannot fault, but a sizeable decrease in mpg. Yer pays yer money, and yer takes yer chance............as they say !

PS: I can`t fault Ant @ SpeedReligion for any of this, he merely loaded up the map, and mad as I may be, I will be returning for his stage 2 increase at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Sounds about right - you can't beat the physics of it.

If you had a remap then drove it exactly as before then maybe you'd get a slight mpg increase. But what's the point in that?

They're not changing the mechanics or efficiency of the engine so more power out = more fuel and air in, can't be anything else.

If you go faster it will use more fuel!

[F31-340i]

Looking at these graphs....

http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/B...bhp-Manual.pdf

...the remap actually appears to produce slightly less power in the 1000-2000rpm band - I guess this maybe where they claim improved mpg as they are actually slightly underfuelling the engine compared to stock in this range.

In normal pootling around (if you do that!) a 330d can spend alot of time between 1-2000rpm.

Have you tried driving like a nun Encee to see if mpg is actually better than stock in such conditions - seems odd that they claim improved mpg if its actually not true? (though I can see why it wouldn't be with a heavy right foot!)

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

Looking at these graphs....

http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/B...bhp-Manual.pdf

...the remap actually appears to produce slightly less power in the 1000-2000rpm band - I guess this maybe where they claim improved mpg as they are actually slightly underfuelling the engine compared to stock in this range.

In normal pootling around (if you do that!) a 330d can spend alot of time between 1-2000rpm.

Have you tried driving like a nun Encee to see if mpg is actually better than stock in such conditions - seems odd that they claim improved mpg if its actually not true? (though I can see why it wouldn't be with a heavy right foot!)

///ajd,

It will doubtless be more fuel efficient at low rpm / throttle like you say, so they are not lying - yes you are saving fuel at low speeds - FACT.

But the large amount of extra fuel used when using the new found 50hp or so (lots more I'd say) will eat into the saving lower down unless you don't use the new torque swell and top end very much, and if you dont use it then there's no point having it IMO!

No such thing as a free lunch as they say ;-)

[1700T]

I am a newcomer to BMW, so I don't know much about the figures yet. However, I have come over from Ford ownership, and was recently a member of the STDrivers forum. There is a huge fuss going on over there about the inflated power gains that Superchips are claiming for Blufin. One guy had his car dynoed on an independent dyno and got a 17bhp gain on a before and after run. Superchips claimed 45bhp. Many others have done the same thing now and found the same result.

It has something to do with inflating the intake temp on the dyno. This apparently shows a much bigger gain than there really is. It was a bit confusing how it all worked, so is there anyone on here who can explain what difference the intake temp makes. It was about 75 degrees C

They have even gone to the stage of removing all reference to Superchips from the site

[SixDegrees]

Originally Posted by 1700T

I am a newcomer to BMW, so I don't know much about the figures yet. However, I have come over from Ford ownership, and was recently a member of the STDrivers forum. There is a huge fuss going on over there about the inflated power gains that Superchips are claiming for Blufin. One guy had his car dynoed on an independent dyno and got a 17bhp gain on a before and after run. Superchips claimed 45bhp. Many others have done the same thing now and found the same result.

It has something to do with inflating the intake temp on the dyno. This apparently shows a much bigger gain than there really is. It was a bit confusing how it all worked, so is there anyone on here who can explain what difference the intake temp makes. It was about 75 degrees C

They have even gone to the stage of removing all reference to Superchips from the site

Intake temp governs the air mass into the engine (simple terms) so colder air has more mass and therefore more fuel is required = more power.

The way to usually understand this is by increasing air-intake temp you get power loss, hence why unprotected in-bay air filter can actually cause a drop in power.

If I read what you've said right then they have set an artificial parameter on the dyno comp, so by stating the air intake was at 75 degs the computer would see a small increase in a hot env as a larger increase in a cooler/normal env..... reverse extrapolation!! Hazzarding a guess it how this might have been done.

Can't see someone like SC doing something like. They have a solid reputation in the industry and if this were the case they'd be ruined.

That said, in the VAG world lots of people swear by AMD maps, but I attended a RR session a few years ago where an AMD remap Golf was put on the RR of another tuner, who reported only a very minimal gain over standard compared to the AMD figures, something like 3hp v's 22hp [AMD fig]. The owner was far from chuffed.

Who knows, maybe the other tuner was out to shoot down the competition. Easy when you can manipulate the figures.

Lastly, PVW (I believe) did an articale of Bluefin (2.0 TDi Golf) and their concensus of opion was that the stated HP increase was easily supportable by the incresed performance done udner test conditions. So, if the BF for VAG cars is producing sizable gains why not others. If you meant to get 45hp and you only get 17hp, surely this would be noticeable.... you certainly wouldn't easily out perform a std car with only 17hp more.

[Beaky]

Originally Posted by webby318dEMS

Just checked out the gains for my 318d ED model.

BMW 318 E90 (D)

2007 onwards
Engine type : Turbo-Diesel
Engine size : 1995 cm3
Cylinders : 4
Original bhp : 143
Original nm : 300
BHP increase : 42
NM gain : 80
Lb/Ft gain : 59

Look pretty impressive! Takes it to 185bhp which is a very healthy increase! Would be pretty quick I'm guessing!

Webby,

Did you not have yours remapped at the end of Jan - I thought you'd be experiencing not guessing by now

Beaky.

[F31-340i]

Originally Posted by doughboy

///ajd,

It will doubtless be more fuel efficient at low rpm / throttle like you say, so they are not lying - yes you are saving fuel at low speeds - FACT.

But the large amount of extra fuel used when using the new found 50hp or so (lots more I'd say) will eat into the saving lower down unless you don't use the new torque swell and top end very much, and if you dont use it then there's no point having it IMO!

No such thing as a free lunch as they say ;-)

....of course there is the fact that if you're using the extra 50bhp you accelerate to your chosen speed of say a 80mph cruise that much quicker than with a stock car so you're at full throttle acceleration for a shorter time (clutching straws here to pretend the mpg will be OK...)

[neilmc]

My bluefin arrived yesterday and after uploading my original map to them and it being returned this morning, I have just fitted it. Full details will follow on Thursday evening hopefully, as it is booked in on Thursday afternoon for a rolling road session to find out the truth about before and after figures.

[1700T]

Who will be doing the rolling road test?

[neilmc]

I am based in Cornwall at the moment, so www.richardsbros.com

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

....of course there is the fact that if you're using the extra 50bhp you accelerate to your chosen speed of say a 80mph cruise that much quicker than with a stock car so you're at full throttle acceleration for a shorter time (clutching straws here to pretend the mpg will be OK...)

I believe the physics involved says that the power used is the square of the acceleration (not including losses and drag etc)

So to accelerate twice as quickly uses 4 times the power (uni was a long time ago)

Thus ANY extra acceleration (same car / same road etc) will use more power (fuel /air) than the slower acceleration.

Nice try to convince yourself though....

[trixman]

Originally Posted by 1700T

...and was recently a member of the STDrivers forum.

heheh... the STD club.. hehehe

[paapaa]

I have the 320D 177hp and i allready ordered the bluefin...please let me know a.s.a.p...how is it like??
they promise quite a lot

regards,
Kai
Finland

[alcook]

Originally Posted by neilmc

My bluefin arrived yesterday and after uploading my original map to them and it being returned this morning, I have just fitted it. Full details will follow on Thursday evening hopefully, as it is booked in on Thursday afternoon for a rolling road session to find out the truth about before and after figures.

Neil. Any update? How did it feel out of the box?

I'm looking to get one soon...

[Cafe.Racer]

When someone gets the bluefin back, I would if Ant or someone could check the flash counters before and after...