[PresaMat]

Hey All,
Im sorry for not posting a review sooner... I just got back from New Braunfels today (3hrs back to houston). Also I appologive in advance for the grammar/spelling/etc of this review I am rather tired but had to post it!

First off I would like to say it was great to meet everyone William, Jay, Shiv, and the team at the shop. Everyone was very cool! Before I go into the actual XEDE review I would like to talk about Shiv.

Shiv is extremely knowledgable.. I could only understand maybe 1/5th of what he was saying though. He really knows his stuff and seems to really enjoy the cars/tuning the cars. But what really amazed me was the "customer service" experience. Shiv realllly cared about how the cars ran/how we liked them/and that everything was top notch. We started the day at around 11am and ended around 1:30am! The first two guys had to be home earlier so I was ok being last on the dyno (finished the dyno probably 9-10ish). Well we got through with my dyno... by this time the car was amazing. After dynoing we spent the next few hours driving around/slightly changing settings etc etc. There was one more thing shiv wanted to figure out though but it was getting late. Luckily even though I planned to drive home sunday I didnt have to be home until monday. So I offered to stay the night. This is when I really became impressed with how much shiv cares about the customers... he put me up in the same hotel he was in for the night (not something I would expect let alone ask for - this really says something to me)! Well morning rolls around, everything is figured out and the car is RUNNING like a champ! I have to say Ive never seen this kind of customer service before... Shiv is one very stand up guy. I was like a lot of other people here... asking shiv a million questions online beforehand since this is so new. If anyone is worried about using his services/products DONT BE! I think it would be hard to find anyone else more dedicated to the customers and the cars then shiv. Please excuse my excessive use of "really" above but i was so impressed lets just say if I got a Buggati Veyron I would have it delivered to shiv for tuning!

Now that thats out of the way onto the actual car review. I think when I wasnt lookinig shiv dropped a jet engine into my car!! This thing is a BEAST!!! As was said by Jay - it feels like a completely different car. It is not for the faint of heart... I would definately say its faster then my '67 GT500. And thats with the rear tires spinning... get some traction on this thing and holy sh*t it will move. In first or secound if you stomp on it prepare for wheel spin and some fish tailing (even does it a bit with DTC on - with DTC off hold on for dear life). Not only did the all out power change but the whole feel of the car did. The throttle reponse is amazing (very noticable difference)!. It revs through the gears so freely now - before the XEDE i remember thinking it almost seemed like something was holding the car back - not anymore. The closest I can compare the engine feeling to is that of a newer Porsche. Smooth fast and very intense. My 3rd gear now feels like its pulling almost like my 1st *used* to. And 6th gear like was said by the others is VERY usable... it feels like my old 4th gear. I am just blown away by the difference between stock and with the XEDE.

Now onto the tech side of things. We used a DynoJet Dyno with SAE correction. Mine was done on 93oct Shell gas. The car had around 1100 miles on it. I did made a slight mistake in earlier posts I got slightly confused on the graphs I was looking at.

Stock my car put down:

287RWHP and 287RWTQ

With XEDE it put down:

348 RWHP and 373.88 RWTQ!!!

I cannot wait to see what it will do with exhaust. I would think 400lbs of RWTQ isnt out of the question. Oh and gas mileage has improved over stock too!

For all who are wondering how I broke in my car... I drove it like I would during any time of ownership (aka Hard Break-in). I picked it up from the dealer warmed it up and redlined it just to see what it was like. For the most part for daily driving I would shift around 4K rpm but I definately did my fair share of going past it upto redline. My recommendation is drive it like no one ever said anything about break-in - have fun with it!

Only the install of the XEDE. When I first looked at what needed to be done I was a little worried. I have worked on old cars for years but these new ones with all the wires are a lot different. Once I watched it done a few times I realized how easy it really was. You have 8 screws to undue a few clips on plastic covers and your at the ECU. You do some minor things to hookup the XEDE and solnoid (shiv can explain better then I can). Put the plastic back and you are done. I would say with decent car knowledge a first time installer could get it done in 30min. Most of that is just figuring out where everything is and how to get it undone. Once you know how to do it 15min install should be no problem. William should have some pics/video of the install that he will post. For anyone interested the official map switch has not been released yet. But if you want a switch until then you can buy a regular switch at an eletronics store and wire it up (cost about $2 - but is no where are nice as the official setup will be).

In conclusion I think this is one of if not the best performance investment I have ever made. The combination of performance and service is unbeatable. Shiv has made a customer for life. The car is a monster and for the price it is worth it weather you think you will use the power or not. If anyone has any questions please post them. I think the more we can add to the FAQ the less shiv will have to repeat answers and the more time he can spend on our cars.

---------------------------------------------------

Little side story... on the way home from New Bruanfels I come across an 04-05ish m3. Well we get a a bit of an opening on the highway going around 65ish. M3 drops into 3rd gear, before I even notice we are going to run (he ignored me when I first tried to say hi! ). Well im just cruising in 4th so I leave it there to see how it does... I easily kept up with him even though he got a good jump and was in at least 1 gear lower (we let off around 100). Guess he didnt know I was in 4th hehehe. We line up again around 65 I shift into 3rd too this time... and by the time im getting near readline he was way back in my rear view mirror. After that we came up on a little traffic and parted ways. All this is after a 3 hrs drive so the car probably wasnt the fastest it could be.

[youyou]

Well first off Congrats...
I'm sure you must be extremely excited about this...
I'll try to ask just a few questions to not drive you crazy too much.
First off let me say that i am not knowledgable in the technical aspect of all this so please excuse me if my questions sound dumb.
So on with the questions...
What does the switch have to do with anything? Is there different settings like say in the M5 OR M6 where you push that button and you get an extra 100 horses...
About the gas you say you are running this on 93 octane what if i run my car on 91 and sometimes 94 does it make a difference? Is it an important aspect to the Mod?
What exactly is a Dyno run?
How easy is it to hide from my BMW service department? Do i have to disconnect it every time i go into the dealer for minor things?
I spoke briefly to Shiv today on the phone and he seems like a great guy.
I am forming a group here in Montreal to get him to come down here and do this for us.
As you might now the weather in Montreal in Winter is horrible so driving without the DTC is a big no no...
Is that bad? Good? Not important...
Hopefully you can help me out a little...
Thank you and again enjoy your "new ride"

[daisy16905]

Great review, thanks for taking the time I feel bad for the m3 driver, thinking he can hang with a modded 335, until you downshift :rocks:

[daisy16905]

Originally Posted by youyou

Well first off Congrats...
I'm sure you must be extremely excited about this...
I'll try to ask just a few questions to not drive you crazy too much.
First off let me say that i am not knowledgable in the technical aspect of all this so please excuse me if my questions sound dumb.
So on with the questions...
What does the switch have to do with anything? Is there different settings like say in the M5 OR M6 where you push that button and you get an extra 100 horses...
About the gas you say you are running this on 93 octane what if i run my car on 91 and sometimes 94 does it make a difference? Is it an important aspect to the Mod?
What exactly is a Dyno run?
How easy is it to hide from my BMW service department? Do i have to disconnect it every time i go into the dealer for minor things?
I spoke briefly to Shiv today on the phone and he seems like a great guy.
I am forming a group here in Montreal to get him to come down here and do this for us.
As you might now the weather in Montreal in Winter is horrible so driving without the DTC is a big no no...
Is that bad? Good? Not important...
Hopefully you can help me out a little...
Thank you and again enjoy your "new ride"

The switch allows you to go between 2 different maps (the Xede will hold upto 2). I will have a 93 octane & 100 octane map. One for daily driving and the other for the track. You will probably want 2 maps too, one for normal driving and the other for more extreme power

You will probably want to remove the Xede when you take your car in, if they know what they are looking for, they could probably find it easily (or if they take it for a test drive, they may be thinking what the hell did this guy put under the hood). Your choice, I might leave mine in and role the dice, pause, NOT!!! (Little joke for everyone that watched Borat). Weather should be no real big deal, you will be tuned on a dyno, just be very difficult to resist the urge to hit the DTC button!!!!!

[BenMW]

Thanks for the great through review... it means a lot to the forum members who are seriously considering this mod.

To those that are a little skeptical like myself about the engine... what did shiv say about what he would do if the the engine blew? Full refund? Just a thought not to scare anyone away from this product it sounds amazing and i may be a future customer. But since I have had issues I'm just wondering what would be....

Also 0-60....?

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Wow, congrats man. Cant wait till mine gets here in the mail.

Shiv, I have a big house with 4 rooms, so if you ever feel like taking that trip to Germany, you have a place to stay!

[PresaMat]

Originally Posted by youyou

Well first off Congrats...
I'm sure you must be extremely excited about this...
I'll try to ask just a few questions to not drive you crazy too much.
First off let me say that i am not knowledgable in the technical aspect of all this so please excuse me if my questions sound dumb.
So on with the questions...
What does the switch have to do with anything? Is there different settings like say in the M5 OR M6 where you push that button and you get an extra 100 horses...
About the gas you say you are running this on 93 octane what if i run my car on 91 and sometimes 94 does it make a difference? Is it an important aspect to the Mod?
What exactly is a Dyno run?
How easy is it to hide from my BMW service department? Do i have to disconnect it every time i go into the dealer for minor things?
I spoke briefly to Shiv today on the phone and he seems like a great guy.
I am forming a group here in Montreal to get him to come down here and do this for us.
As you might now the weather in Montreal in Winter is horrible so driving without the DTC is a big no no...
Is that bad? Good? Not important...
Hopefully you can help me out a little...
Thank you and again enjoy your "new ride"

A fair ammount of this is answered in the FAQ but ill go over it anyways.

1. The XEDE unit can run 2 maps which can be changed on the fly with a switch. So you can run the stock map and hit the switch and have the tuned map. Or you can have the tuned map and the race gas map. Etc etc.

2. What octane gas you are running will affect the performance you get. My best recommendation if you have 93-94 available use it! I was able to make higher numbers on 93oct (with XEDE only) than shiv did with 91 oct XEDE and exhaust! The octane makes a big difference Also try to fill up at the same company and if possible same location. I only use shell 93 oct in mine and it loves it.

3. A Dyno is a machine that is used to measure Horsepower/torque. So a dyno run is when you put your car on it.

4. Overall there are not a LOT of visual changes that are made... but there are some. If you are going in for minor stuff you would *probably* be fine (I will be testing this theory out soon for my oil change). Also if you have the switch change it to stock so they dont feel the difference if driving it. Now if its a engine/tranny etc problem I definately recommend removing the XEDE.

5. Driving with DTC off is IMO only for "fun time" you can leave it on during the winter and not worry about it. When summer comes around you can always just press the button and off ya go with your wheels spinning.

[PresaMat]

Originally Posted by BenMW

Thanks for the great through review... it means a lot to the forum members who are seriously considering this mod.

To those that are a little skeptical like myself about the engine... what did shiv say about what he would do if the the engine blew? Full refund? Just a thought not to scare anyone away from this product it sounds amazing and i may be a future customer. But since I have had issues I'm just wondering what would be....

Also 0-60....?

I didnt ask what shiv would do if the engine completely blew. I cannot speak for shiv but I dont know of any tuner (except for possibly DINAN - new info seems more and more limiting) that would replace the entire engine if someones blew. Maybe during development? But if this hits large production and say only 1 engine blows - whos to say it had to do with the XEDE? Its possible that it was already faulty.

While I dont condone this... it would be very hard for BMW to figure out you had an XEDE in there. So if something does happens.. you can always remove it - then deal with the issue.

[youyou]

Originally Posted by PresaMat

A fair ammount of this is answered in the FAQ but ill go over it anyways.

1. The XEDE unit can run 2 maps which can be changed on the fly with a switch. So you can run the stock map and hit the switch and have the tuned map. Or you can have the tuned map and the race gas map. Etc etc.

2. What octane gas you are running will affect the performance you get. My best recommendation if you have 93-94 available use it! I was able to make higher numbers on 93oct (with XEDE only) than shiv did with 91 oct XEDE and exhaust! The octane makes a big difference Also try to fill up at the same company and if possible same location. I only use shell 93 oct in mine and it loves it.

3. A Dyno is a machine that is used to measure Horsepower/torque. So a dyno run is when you put your car on it.

4. Overall there are not a LOT of visual changes that are made... but there are some. If you are going in for minor stuff you would *probably* be fine (I will be testing this theory out soon for my oil change). Also if you have the switch change it to stock so they dont feel the difference if driving it. Now if its a engine/tranny etc problem I definately recommend removing the XEDE.

5. Driving with DTC off is IMO only for "fun time" you can leave it on during the winter and not worry about it. When summer comes around you can always just press the button and off ya go with your wheels spinning.

Thankx alot for your prompt reply.
I have never been the type of person to modify any of my cars but this Mod seems just too good to let slide...
From your review and others it's like driving a completely different car...
Oh why is it that some people are getting different numbers (horsepower/torque) arent they all basically the same car.
I understand Manual Tranny vs. Automatic Tranny but why would two Manual tranny 335's get 2 different numbers if they are essentially the exact same car.

[PresaMat]

Originally Posted by youyou

Thankx alot for your prompt reply.
I have never been the type of person to modify any of my cars but this Mod seems just too good to let slide...
From your review and others it's like driving a completely different car...
Oh why is it that some people are getting different numbers (horsepower/torque) arent they all basically the same car.
I understand Manual Tranny vs. Automatic Tranny but why would two Manual tranny 335's get 2 different numbers if they are essentially the exact same car.

There are always minor differences. The build of the engine/the kind of break in/the kind of gas. The alignment of the stars. Sometimes two of the exact car will put down different results... luck of the draw.

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Oh why is it that some people are getting different numbers (horsepower/torque) arent they all basically the same car.
I understand Manual Tranny vs. Automatic Tranny but why would two Manual tranny 335's get 2 different numbers if they are essentially the exact same car.[/QUOTE]


I'm wondering the same thing.

[youyou]

Can the xede mod be done as soon as i get my car? Without breaking it in?
And what is the normal break-in mileage?

[BenMW]

Originally Posted by youyou

Can the xede mod be done as soon as i get my car? Without breaking it in?
And what is the normal break-in mileage?

I didnt used to be an fan of break in but now i am and i would say 1000 miles min. and wait till after that to intall xede.

[2007/335i/coupe]

Thanks for the review, but all these new reviews is beginning to piss me off... I really can't wait until the 20th to get the xede in my car!!! grrrrr

and you guys are so lucky to get 93 octane fuel, us californians get some water downed 91 crap

[youyou]

I don't really understand why you Californians say 91 octane is crap...
Here in Canada or in Montreal at least 91 is consedered Premium gas.
There are only 2 companies who do 94 octane and that is Petro Canada and Shell...
And the 94 octane is much more expensive then 87-89 or 91...
I never even thought of putting 94 in any of the cars iv'e owned to date.
Does it really make that much of a difference for both perfomance or general use???

[Ryan(e92)]

look at the dyno sheets (it matters)

[2007/335i/coupe]

I'm exaggerating about the 91 octane being crap, and it generally is considered a premium grade here. But if I had a preference, I wish I had easy access to 93 or higher. PresaMats car makes a more power than another one of Shiv's customer who's car is located in California and that car has an exhuast! Presa's car is the strongest car I've read about so far.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36987[
There are variables between cars, but part of the increased power output, both stock and modified can be attributed in part to the increased octane rating. I've seen dyno charts of some vehicles running 87 vs 91, the difference was up to 10hp. Properly tuning a car to run higher octane, such as 100, can net you 20-30hp over 91.

[youyou]

I have never seen 100 octane.
Is it even possible to find?

[gashero]

Congrat, now I envy you guys with manual since I am getting the auto. Anyway, shiv is one genuine tuner. I came from the mitsubishi world and we have a bunch of tuner and tooners. I put my beloved car in shiv magic hand any chance I can get. He is a busy man so if he happen to be in your area, you should jumped on it. You BMW guys are so lucky, since he is getting maps for his data base he is coming out to you with only 2 to 3 cars on the dyno tuning trip.

[wj4]

Originally Posted by youyou

I have never seen 100 octane.
Is it even possible to find?

Yes, some gas stations carry it.

I know several 76 gas stations around here carry it, but it is quite pricey. They are popular for drag racing, along with C16 gas, to pump out more power to decrease time.


To the guy who asked about the different numbers, keep in mind the quality of gas available varies from state to state. Other factors are also temperature and elavation, important for turbo'd cars.

I wish we still had 93 here in Cali

[acizek]

congrats! looks like you go yourself a beast
reading through the post it looks like one of the few things better in Europe is the quality of fuel. Shell here has one called V-Power Racing and you can get it at regular gas station here. It is a 100-Octane fuel developed in cooperation with the Ferrari F1 team...
I am myself always using the V-Power Diesel and the difference compared to other diesels is very noticable.

[herbz]

those are the best numbers i've seen yet... grats