[STONEY_M5]

Spoke to Dinan today and they kinda gave me conflicting/confusing info with regards to the use of E85. They stated at first that it cant be used because the car would pull timing and would ride sluggish. So then I asked what if i put in 100oct he said that the car would advance timing and be a monster, the higher the octane the more ign advance. So I said to him that when adding e85 to 93 it would become a higher octane, he said then that the car would advance timing and be more powerful. The tune automatically adjust to the fuel octane and adjust timing accordingly. What i need to do is to find a tool to data log using a macbook to see how everything is looking. The car pulls much stronger on lower boost (16.5psi) with new turbos (stock)but it could be just me. i usually put in 3/4 tank of 93 and full up the rest with E85 should be around 75/25 93/E85.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

With a flash tune for "93 octane" you can only get so much power. The timing you gain from E85 is only the timing you MAY have lost cause the tune was too aggressive for your conditions. However, you will be running a bit more efficiency as E85 runs cooler in the combustion process.

So, if you tuned for E85 then you could theoretically find more power. Does that make sense?

[shortseller]

Originally Posted by BX TT3

Spoke to Dinan today and they kinda gave me conflicting/confusing info with regards to the use of E85. They stated at first that it cant be used because the car would pull timing and would ride sluggish. So then I asked what if i put in 100oct he said that the car would advance timing and be a monster, the higher the octane the more ign advance. So I said to him that when adding e85 to 93 it would become a higher octane, he said then that the car would advance timing and be more powerful. The tune automatically adjust to the fuel octane and adjust timing accordingly. What i need to do is to find a tool to data log using a macbook to see how everything is looking. The car pulls much stronger on lower boost (16.5psi) with new turbos (stock)but it could be just me. i usually put in 3/4 tank of 93 and full up the rest with E85 should be around 75/25 93/E85.

BX TT3,

A bit off topic but I see you have a Dinan S2 flash with a JB+ piggy back. What improvements does this set up provide over just the Dinan flash, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks.

[benzy89]

Originally Posted by shortseller

BX TT3,

A bit off topic but I see you have a Dinan S2 flash with a JB+ piggy back. What improvements does this set up provide over just the Dinan flash, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks.

JB+ = Increased boost, adds between 2.5-5 lbs of boost on top of whatever tune you're running (this is right of the BurgerTuning website description)

BX -- My assumption for why Dinan is telling you this is because they don't want the liability that someone incorrectly "mixes" an E85 blend and something goes wrong. Because Dinan is a "warrantied" product, they want people to stay exactly within their legal agreement of the product (which for your tune is probably no octane lower than 93). This would explain why they're okay with 100 octane, but not E85 (ethanol based fuel).

Like Jeff said, a low E85 blend (less than 25% or 4 gals in a full tank of gas) will not yield a significant performance increase, but will instead guarantee that the tune is performing as advertised. Even if you ONLY put in 93 octane, sometimes the tune's settings are too aggressive for the octane quality -- the DME as a safety measure pulls timing & retards performance. By putting in those 4 gals of E85, you're effectively bringing up your octane rating up to ~96. This is a nice bump over the 93 octane & will guarantee that your 93 octane tune is performing exactly as advertised CONSISTENTLY.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by benzy89

JB+ = Increased boost, adds between 2.5-5 lbs of boost on top of whatever tune you're running (this is right of the BurgerTuning website description)

BX -- My assumption for why Dinan is telling you this is because they don't want the liability that someone incorrectly "mixes" an E85 blend and something goes wrong. Because Dinan is a "warrantied" product, they want people to stay exactly within their legal agreement of the product (which for your tune is probably no octane lower than 93). This would explain why they're okay with 100 octane, but not E85 (ethanol based fuel).

Like Jeff said, a low E85 blend (less than 25% or 4 gals in a full tank of gas) will not yield a significant performance increase, but will instead guarantee that the tune is performing as advertised. Even if you ONLY put in 93 octane, sometimes the tune's settings are too aggressive for the octane quality -- the DME as a safety measure pulls timing & retards performance. By putting in those 4 gals of E85, you're effectively bringing up your octane rating up to ~96. This is a nice bump over the 93 octane & will guarantee that your 93 octane tune is performing exactly as advertised CONSISTENTLY.

Thanks for that explanation. That doesn't go without saying if the OP is running a Jb+ on top of his tune, he may get back some if not all of the ignition he may have been losing also with some E85.

Of course, Ideally, you want to tune for E85 to get the most out of it. Keeping the % of E85 consistent is hard. Which brings us to another topic, flex fuel sensors. But now we are beyond the scope of the discussion.

Also the OP may be able to use the Bavarian Technic tool for logging purposes.

[neilvosko]

great info, i found that 30% e85 plus jb4 map2 is the most agrressive i could push the car, anything close or above 40% e85 = issues with idle, codes, etc.

[turb0mik3]

Who and what is Dinan?

[shortseller]

[QUOTE=benzy89;12558738]JB+ = Increased boost, adds between 2.5-5 lbs of boost on top of whatever tune you're running (this is right of the BurgerTuning website description)

Thank you for the response.

I'm aware of the numbers, I was hoping for more of a visceral description, oh BX!

[JamesM3M5]

Originally Posted by turb0mike

Who and what is Dinan?

Uhh, really?

He's forgotten more about BMWs - specifically modifying, tuning, building racecars, and racing himself than nearly everyone on this forum. His personal SCCA IT 320i back in the early 80s dominated, and his last personal E34 540i custom turbo is a 600+ HP road racing beast. It's parked in the front in the Morgan Hill shop.

Steve helped me quite a lot in Grand Am, and I learned all about sedan racing setup from him. People think Dinan just builds engines, and yes, all the Grand Am Rolex series BMW V8s are all from Dinan, including the Sahlens new BMW Riley Daytona Prototypes for next year. He's much more personally interested in driving and setup.

[bigdnno98]

Originally Posted by turb0mike

Who and what is Dinan?

that was a jk right?

[turb0mik3]

Originally Posted by JamesM3M5

Uhh, really?

He's forgotten more about BMWs - specifically modifying, tuning, building racecars, and racing himself than nearly everyone on this forum. His personal SCCA IT 320i back in the early 80s dominated, and his last personal E34 540i custom turbo is a 600+ HP road racing beast. It's parked in the front in the Morgan Hill shop.

Steve helped me quite a lot in Grand Am, and I learned all about sedan racing setup from him. People think Dinan just builds engines, and yes, all the Grand Am Rolex series BMW V8s are all from Dinan, including the Sahlens new BMW Riley Daytona Prototypes for next year. He's much more personally interested in driving and setup.

I was joking. Other than his S65 stroker, he is really dropped off the map. No disrespect intended, but ever since BMW moved on from the e36 platform I feel as if he stayed there, haha.

[spool twice]

FYI, it's probably not a good idea to "top" the fuel tank with E85 as it won't be a proper mix; the majority of the E85 will be at the top of the tank, and not giving any additional room to mix.

Ideally, I find it best to not even fill the tank full. I get more consistent results from mixing 7 gallons of E85 and 5 gallons of 93 octane (10% ethanol)

(7*.85) + (5*.10) = 6.05gallons of ethanol. 6.05/12 =50% ethanol content. And it leaves an approx. 4 gallons of "air" space in the gas tank for room to mix/slosh while you drive down the road accelerating and braking before doing some WOT runs.

[JamesM3M5]

I also drove Dinan S3 M6 #1, and man, that freakin stroker S85 is a monster!

He's big into the pro racing gig. He's not in the shop much once the Rolex weekends come around. His business is big enough that he has more in service and development of other models and hardware.

[turb0mik3]

His custom work is freaking amazing, but the off the counter shit isn't really cutting for me in the competitive priced world now adays.

[STONEY_M5]

Originally Posted by Jeff@topgearsolutions

With a flash tune for "93 octane" you can only get so much power. The timing you gain from E85 is only the timing you MAY have lost cause the tune was too aggressive for your conditions. However, you will be running a bit more efficiency as E85 runs cooler in the combustion process.

So, if you tuned for E85 then you could theoretically find more power. Does that make sense?

Yes, now is it possible to make adjustments to the dinan tune?

Originally Posted by benzy89

JB+ = Increased boost, adds between 2.5-5 lbs of boost on top of whatever tune you're running (this is right of the BurgerTuning website description)

BX -- My assumption for why Dinan is telling you this is because they don't want the liability that someone incorrectly "mixes" an E85 blend and something goes wrong. Because Dinan is a "warrantied" product, they want people to stay exactly within their legal agreement of the product (which for your tune is probably no octane lower than 93). This would explain why they're okay with 100 octane, but not E85 (ethanol based fuel).

Like Jeff said, a low E85 blend (less than 25% or 4 gals in a full tank of gas) will not yield a significant performance increase, but will instead guarantee that the tune is performing as advertised. Even if you ONLY put in 93 octane, sometimes the tune's settings are too aggressive for the octane quality -- the DME as a safety measure pulls timing & retards performance. By putting in those 4 gals of E85, you're effectively bringing up your octane rating up to ~96. This is a nice bump over the 93 octane & will guarantee that your 93 octane tune is performing exactly as advertised CONSISTENTLY.

With the jb on top which adds the boost would the dme also advance timing due to octane increase? I am and was running about 18psi before E85 with no issues and I am now running around 16.5 making more power, So should I make it 30% instead of 25% E85 to see more performance?

Originally Posted by Jeff@topgearsolutions

Thanks for that explanation. That doesn't go without saying if the OP is running a Jb+ on top of his tune, he may get back some if not all of the ignition he may have been losing also with some E85.

Of course, Ideally, you want to tune for E85 to get the most out of it. Keeping the % of E85 consistent is hard. Which brings us to another topic, flex fuel sensors. But now we are beyond the scope of the discussion.

Also the OP may be able to use the Bavarian Technic tool for logging purposes.

Would the sensor that shiv is offering along with his flash be beneficial with my flash???
I was told BT tool does not work with Mac