[peppernick]

Not many re-mapped E92 335Ds in the UK, today my D joins the rank of the 300+BHP club.

The ECU in the E92 335D is the latest Bosch DDE 7 ECU, in BMW's terminology, it's the most flexible and adaptive ECU to date. Cracking the encryption took some time, as some of you might know that over the past few months, there has been the unfortunate event of irretrievable date loss from the ECU when a re-map was attempted. However, I have to say this is no longer a problem.

Unlike other ECUs, careful research led to the approach of removing the entire ECU from the car to re-map. Using the OBD port is not deemed safe enough for us for this occasion although there are some mappers out there who are already employing the latter method . We took the failsafe route.




And here is the tiny brain that controls everything. How amazing. The ECU is made by Bosch and the latest DDE7 version. Each ECU software/microprocessor is specific to the car it comes with. My ECU is stamped with my chassis no. Cars with different specs such as i-Drive etc will have a different programme, although the majority of the processors are similar.






Crunch time. ECU guts laid bare. We had to get to the EPROM to obtain a record of the original map. Those 10 pins are the ports for information transfer.




Once the original map is obtained, it is saved for future 'reference'. The map is then emailed to Roy's source and an hour later, a custom modified map based on the original map is received. In the mean time, we shove the ECU in the freezer. No joke!




This is a vital part of the entire process. The ECU has to be within a certain temperature range for the new map to be uploaded. We had to try several times and put the ECU back in the freezer to guestimate this temperature window. Eventually, the new map was successfully transferred and a quick check to ensure no disparity in the new map and that we received on the computer.




Once the ECU is re-intalled in the car, a quick diagnostic check was performed. No fault codes! Yippeee!




We are ready to roll. Thumb the start button and the diesel block fired up straight away, settling to a steady idle. I prodded the throttle and straight away, even when the car was stationary, I could feel the difference. The throttle feels so much more alive.

On the move, MY GOD!!!! The car is totally transformed. The amount of power is mind boggling, let alone the torque! Estimated gains, 340BHP and 680Nm torque. The 335D pulls so hard in every gear that it defies believe. If I floor the throttle hard, DTC will flash even in 3rd; and today was 26 degrees and dry! Squeeze the throttle progressively and you literally blast past everything in sight. I tested with a stopwatch, 0-60 achieved in 4.8 sec, the speedometer whips from 80-120MPH in a few seconds, and it continues to pull. The re-map has also removed the top speed limiter, so the 335D should easily see 160+MPH. TBH, the in gear acceleration feels as quick as the E60 M5 I drove not long ago.

Another top mod in the bag! Big thumbs up to CA Automotive Videos to come soon.

[peppernick]

Bear in mind my 335D is a guinea pig (it's OK, no pain no gain. But I trust CA Automotive's judgement). It is a success.

Just spent several hours driving the D hard, the ECU is continually adapting to the driving style. The harder I drive the car, the more responsive the car gets. Gearbox is holding up fine. The gearbox is the major weak link as it heats up too much at too high a state of tune (automatically feed information back to the ECU to reduce engine power), despite the engine and turbos keeping up with the demand. I think we can push a little bit more once the engine is more run in.

Tonight I used 2 cars for comparison, both on motorway in gear acceleration and around twisties. We chose the black ones as they are generally faster ..... :wink:




In gear acceleration, the 335D is on par with the CSL until 4.5k RPM where the CSL started pulling ahead with 3k more revs to utilise. Once the 335D upshifts, it surges ahead gaining on the CSL, and then lose out again when it runs out of puff. However, overall the CSL is never more than 2 cars ahead before we had to slow down or risk an instant ban and jail. The F430 is leagues ahead, no comparison, even for the CSL.

Twisties, the gargantuant torque of the 335D enable it to tailgate the F430 in any gear. CSL was more nervous over rutty areas and the gearbox had to be worked hard; but the E92 soaked up the undulations very well. The F430 was throwing sparks from it's underbelly, still amazingly quick but didn't pull on the E92 more than a car's length.

Pretty accomplished for a diesel! Can't wait to see the 335D tackle the Ring come June.


Here are 2 quick (low quality) videos I made using my camera. The first one was immediately after the remap and the second video is after several hours of spirited driving. You can hear the engine revving a lot more aggressively in the second video.

Immediately after re-map




ECU adjusting to aggressive driving




So far I'm very impressed with this upgrade. The gains are more noticable than the time when I had my 330CS supercharged by Infinitas using the SK+ S/C (231 to 286 BHP). For £525, it's a BLOODY GOOD mod :rocks:

[esbezee92]

damn man that takes balls, idk if i could tear into my new bmw and shove parts in the freezer or be a guiniue pig

congrats tho the results speak for themself

[OwnAge]

Goood Stuff man. Nice pics and vids.

[325 Baller]

congrats, awsome engine in that car and thankfully someone was able to put it to its fullest. Would a PROcede work in it too? That would make it a force to be reckoned with.

[Not Ur Avg 3]

that sick bro
tru diesel power right there

[MonacoBimm]

Damn, thats nice.

[ironic]

wow the freezer huh? nice looking car man, one of my favorites

[stefano7171]

Congrats man! great job! you are probably driving the quickest diesel in the world (save for Audi cars used in Le Mans... ;-) )

[Grubbe]

Originally Posted by stefano7171

Congrats man! great job! you are probably driving the quickest diesel in the world (save for Audi cars used in Le Mans... ;-) )

No he is not, not even close, not even on the same map.

[spesrf25]

You have to lemme know when you plan on hitting Santa Pod.

[335i black rider]

nice job...congratulations..

[- Paul -]

335D vs 335I Santa Pod - UK4????

[peppernick]

Originally Posted by ironic

wow the freezer huh?

Cooling the ECU down decreases the voltage sensitivity when programming some EPROMs. Makes it easier to upload the new map. We had to stick the ECU in the freezer a few times, and as long as 30mins on one occasion just to allow us a window of opportunity to upload the entire map.

you are probably driving the quickest diesel in the world

Trust me, there are MUCH FASTER diesels in Europe :rocks:

335D vs 335I Santa Pod - UK4????

Bring it on

[peppernick]

We know the 335D can take more, the US spec 335i are pushing 380BHP but the immense torque from the D can potentially cause the gearbox to overheat. The ECU will limit engine power momentarily until the gearbox cools down and full power is available again. This is only apparent to the driver as I can tell at a specific throttle position, the engine is slightly softer than what it should be. Nurburgring will be the ultimate testing ground

However, at the power level I'm running, this only happens under significant strenous driving ie. powering the 335D up a 20 degree slope during very spirited driving using full kickdown to second gear. At the moment, this protective feature cannot be overidden but by fitting a gearbox oil cooler, theorectically can improve things. It is being looked into

[spesrf25]

Originally Posted by peppernick

Bring it on

I don't know....now I'm kinda scared of the big bada$$ deisel.....lol.
J/k, I'd be willing to take a beatin to see that bad boy go down the strip.

[330cdsport]

What a superstar you are - and balls of steel too!!!

That car is now one mean lookin' force to be reckoned with - Love It

[Terry335]

Now that's real R&D work.

[remmib]

Thats very impressive

[squeezebm]

:rocks: Pepper u even made me drop my pizza whilst reading this pick up my 335d tomorrow not even sat in it yet and already thinking of the re-map Tell ur man @ CA Automotive that he needs a proper under counter Commercial freezer that he can set to run @ desired temp +/- 1'c so getting the ecu to desired temp would be a lot easier/quicker.Obviously running my own refrigeration company has nothing to do with this suggestion

[MacAttack]

Pep...that's amazing! Very impressive work. ..."estimated gains...340BHP and 680Nm torque"...

[Dr_Dirt]

Nice I might have to upgrade if they ever bring those diesels to the US!