[Jay6t9]

Hi there,

I had my 335i remapped by P-Torque yesterday. Very pleased with it. Here's a more detailed review of my experience.

Why P-Torque?

Well firstly, I'd like to say that I'm not affiliated with this company in any way. I'm just a regular, Joe Bloggs, punter.

The reason I approached Will at P-Torque and made a decision to go there was due to a number of factors.

Firstly, the convenience of the location (only 1hr 30mins away).

Secondly, the cost. Will recently posted on this forum a discounted rate during January which I wanted to take advantage of.

Thirdly, Will's reputation. There's not much information on this forum about P-Torque, but a quick Google reveals that the company is highly regarded in the VAG, Mini and Seat forums.

Fourthly, I exchanged emails with Will before Christmas and found him informative, quick to reply answering all my questions and he seemed professional and approachable.

Quick phone call earlier this week sealed the booking.

Premises.

P-Torque is situated in Wombourne, just south of Wolverhampton. Nice end unit on an industrial estate containing the rolling road, separate office and waiting area with TV, life size cardboard cut out of The Stig and Top Gear DVD's to watch if you wanted to. Highlight was the Cannonball Run DVD I found. Classic!

There's also a superb little greasy spoon cafe 100 yards away if you can't bear to hear your pride and joy on the rollers!

I was at the facility for 3 1/2 hours in total.

The bit you're interested in – Results.

I'm not the least bit interested in willy waving and I'm not overly fussed about how actuate the resulting figures are. I am more concerned with retaining the drivability attributed to the stock map including it's smooth, progressive power delivery and that is exactly what I got.

As you can see from the graphs;

Standard the car produced 293bhp and 310lb/ft (seems about right for a stock car)

After P-Torque's stage 1 software and a few runs on the dyno to allow the ecu adaption to stabilise things resulted in 370bhp and 400lb/ft.

On the road.

Wet and greasy roads have not allowed me to fully experiment but first impressions are;

Urban driving has not highlighted any changes to throttle response, drivability or low rpm torque, which is a good thing.

Partial throttle is as per stock; predictable, no boost hunting or spikes, car drives the same as standard but producing slightly more boost for similar throttle position and engine loads.

Full throttle is again predictable, producing a steady increase in boost pressure as rpm builds (just like my car did stock). Again, no big surprise surges.

I have to say, the car is immensely fast. There's huge amounts of torque that pins you back and as you can see on the torque graph, this pull gets stronger and stronger and you wonder when is it going to give up!

Maximum boost pressure I've seen is 12 psi (just over 0.8 bar). Prior to the remap, maximum boost was 8 psi (0.55 bar) and more recently in this cold weather it was peaking at 6 psi.

There is a slight boost fluctuation just before the boost tapers off around 5000 rpm, but this can't be felt, I've only observed this on the gauge. From 5000 rpm boost pressure drops off from 12 psi to 8 psi by the red line which is to be expected.

I did some very inaccurate and crude in gear acceleration measurements before and after using an iPhone:

30 - 70 mph 3rd gear = Standard 6.5 secs (peak acceleration 0.34g), Modified 5.3 secs (peak acceleration 0.42g)
30 - 70 mph 4th gear = Standard 8.5 secs (peak acceleration 0.24g), Modified 7.0 secs (peak acceleration 0.31g)
2nd gear peak acceleration = Standard 0.50g. Modified, not able to get good traction in the wet.

To conclude.

It's an absolute monster! 3rd gear gives me butterflies! (Please don't shoot me for saying that. I don't mean like James May! It's something my old VX220 Turbo used to do every time I got in it!).

Will at P-Torque offered a friendly and professional service. Costing £345 all in for the remap, his time, several dyno runs and before and after graphs. I think this is very reasonable. However, I suspect I may have to go down the LSD route (which isn't as affordable) I'll see what traction is like in drier conditions.

From what I’ve read over the short time I’ve been a member here, all the tuning companies have shared huge amounts of knowledge with the forum and all seem to have good reputations. I based my decision to try this company as mentioned above. This review was derived from my personal experience and I am more than happy to recommend Will and P-Torque. I think you can tell, I’m very pleased!

If you’re toying with the idea of a remap... Just get it done…

Hope this can be useful to others. I'll report back when we get some dry roads.

Cheers

James

[ElegantSpoon]

Glad your happy! Like you said Will is very popular on the VAG forums. Seems like a big BHP increase, you just need the snow and ice to go now!

[E90Yaz]

IS that correct about the 30HP loss from engine to wheels?? Somehow that doesnt seem right. But the results are SWEEEEEEET!!

[Jay6t9]

Originally Posted by E90Yaz

IS that correct about the 30HP loss from engine to wheels?? Somehow that doesnt seem right. But the results are SWEEEEEEET!!

Yeah, seemed a little optimistic to me too. I was under the impression the transmission losses on the 335 were around 13%, which again doesn't sound alot either for a front mounted engine, rear wheel drive motor. I'm sure someone with more knowledge than I have could explain it in a little more detail.

It's also why I'm not too fussed about headline figures. The way it drives is good enough for me at the mo.

[rabble]

your right about their communication, very fast, helpful and informative.
Its just a shame that my car doesnt give much benefits for a remap.

[M5 TT]

Something not right.

Map made + 86bhp ATW but only + 77bhp ATF?? Strange. Flywheel figures are only guess work anyway.

Anyway 340bhp ATW is awesome

[dxb335d]

Auto or manual ? Main point is your happy.

More like 305hp ATW with 18% losses with your 370ish at the flywheel.

[doughboy]

Hi James,

Nice to hear that review, sound awesome. Again, forget variations in calculated FW figures, measured power at the wheels is all you should be interested in and 340 is some.

I've been waiting to get to DMS, but it's the whole distance thing to Southampton, and £850 pricetag etc etc...

I've got the LSD already, believe me you want it......

[M5 TT]

Where did you get your LSD. It is on my shopping list.

[Jay6t9]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Auto or manual ? Main point is your happy.

More like 305hp ATW with 18% losses with your 370ish at the flywheel.

It's a Manual. 18% losses sound a little more realistic. Not sure why I've got 13% in my head, sure I read it on the U.S. forum.

I've got the LSD already, believe me you want it......

I know, I feared as much! Car is a Sept 2007 build, does that require the more expensive of the two exchange diffs.?

I've been waiting to get to DMS, but it's the whole distance thing to Southampton, and £850 pricetag etc etc...

Same reasons that were putting me off. I presume you get a warranty with DMS but does that warranty stand once the car is out of manufacturers warranty?

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by paulmc

Where did you get your LSD. It is on my shopping list.

Birds BMW, they're the experts and sole suppliers to retail and trade AFAIK. Best place to get an exchange unit fitted in a morning.

my review here http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=304450

Whilst dropping the rear diff and prop it made financial sense to fit the M3 bushes and rear ARB kit at the same time, saving dropping the rear end again in future. The front ARB was fitted in 10 minutes so no real extra labour for that.

Originally Posted by Jay6t9

I know, I feared as much! Car is a Sept 2007 build, does that require the more expensive of the two exchange diffs.?


Same reasons that were putting me off. I presume you get a warranty with DMS but does that warranty stand once the car is out of manufacturers warranty?

Again, email kevin.bird@birdsauto.com he should be able to tell of you have a welded crown wheel or not from your VIN number and give you a price etc.

Don't know about the DMS warranty time, hadn't asked about that.

[Ham09]

Will have to get this done in the summer! Power gains looks impressive

[G33]

what??? no action pics on the dyno?!

[M5 TT]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Birds BMW, they're the experts and sole suppliers to retail and trade AFAIK. Best place to get an exchange unit fitted in a morning.

my review here http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=304450

Whilst dropping the rear diff and prop it made financial sense to fit the M3 bushes and rear ARB kit at the same time, saving dropping the rear end again in future. The front ARB was fitted in 10 minutes so no real extra labour for that.



Again, email kevin.bird@birdsauto.com he should be able to tell of you have a welded crown wheel or not from your VIN number and give you a price etc.

Don't know about the DMS warranty time, hadn't asked about that.

Thanks. Will give them a shout

[Petem95]

'kin 'ell!! That's a pretty impressive gain, and looks like a nice increase over the whole rev-range! No wonder that place have a good rep!

Also sounds like a very good price considering the rolling road runs were included!

I paid £445 for a Bluefin remap, which IMO is good and has the benefit of being easily 'un-mapped', but obviously no RR runs!

[Jay6t9]

Originally Posted by Petem95

'kin 'ell!! That's a pretty impressive gain, and looks like a nice increase over the whole rev-range! No wonder that place have a good rep!

Also sounds like a very good price considering the rolling road runs were included!

I paid £445 for a Bluefin remap, which IMO is good and has the benefit of being easily 'un-mapped', but obviously no RR runs!

Yeah, Ideally I would have prefered a similar system that allows me to return it to standard, but there's nothing on the market for the N54 engine at the mo. I just couldn't wait!

[p-torque.co.uk]

Originally Posted by Jay6t9

Yeah, Ideally I would have prefered a similar system that allows me to return it to standard, but there's nothing on the market for the N54 engine at the mo. I just couldn't wait!

The 335i's ECU is a little more complicated than older ECU's types and takes longer for the ''DIY'' flash units to be developed.

I will be able to offer something for you when/if they become available