Re-map & Milltek

[Lucky Bob]

Had my car re-mapped and exhaust fitted at AmD on Monday, the before run on the dyno showed power down by 10bhp I was not very happy, but the chaps at AmD told me that the diagnosis showed no faults on the car and that this happens all the time with low mileage cars, im the second owner it had 11k mile when i got it couple of months back and i've only added 3k .

The chaps at AmD say that this is common problem as the initial owner may have driven like a district nurse, and suggested that I go ahead with the mods.

The mods showed an increase of 18bhp, and Amd are so confident that if I put 5-6k hard miles driving like I nicked it they will put it back on their dyno free of charge and it will show the increase that they claim they can obtain.

All was resolved on a very friendly basis, and they confirmed that when they receive new cars they know that their Dyno plots are not going to show manuafactures power outputs and they now warn customers of this.

Interstingly they told me that a lot of the later M3 have been de-tuned by BMW and that this shows up on their dyno, they had a customer with an RS8 that was well down on power but it had only done 3K.

Any way on the plus side , no more "flat spots" that seem to be inherent with this model and no more delay in throttle response, and it makes a very nice noise without hitting that horrible base note level that the Halfords boys all want.

I think that the fact that they are prepared to put it back on their dyno at their cost to prove the point is postive statement, they offered this , I didn't ask for it, and thinking about it the last car I had re-mapped had 36K on it and it lived in outside lane of the motorway.

LB

[alpina527]

So what is your peak power now? is it showing 238bhp? How much?

[Lucky Bob]

yep 238.7 bhp with 227.6 Ibs/ft

[ANT MAN]

It seems quite a few E46s, especially the 6cyl engined variety are not run-in properly (if the motoring press is to believed). Most are not driven hard enough and labour at low revs. My car hasn't drunk hardly a drop of oil as far as I'm aware, yet some drivers having been topping up by the litre!!!

Amd aren't cheap are they? I did notice they had a sale earlier in the year though.

How does the car feel now?

[peppernick]

Interstingly they told me that a lot of the later M3 have been de-tuned by BMW and that this shows up on their dyno
Yep. Since the big end re-call/newer cars with new big end, the engines are de-tuned slightly to widen the safety margin before the S54 blew up. It's quite noticable if you drive an original Y Reg M3 and compare it to an 04 model. Power delivery is a lot more savage in older cars (given both cars nicely run in).

[alpina527]

So Nick! Where can we get a pair of late M3s brought up to the original spec maps without the stealers finding out?

[peppernick]

So Nick! Where can we get a pair of late M3s brought up to the original spec maps without the stealers finding out?
Difficult. The softwares are updated every now and then (particularly more so with SMG cars) and I don't think any dealer or independant will be able to give you the original engine map. Firstly, dealers don't keep them and secondly, the E46 M3 is still too new to establish itself among the independents, especially when the cars still had the original map on.

All is not lost, the likes of AMD, DiGi-Tec and DMS can sell you a re-map which will 'freshen things up'. This is particularly so with the AMD(I have no personal experience) as some has done it and all claims it's like having a 3rd sport button on.

But it's gonna cost you :(

[alpina527]

I wondered about trying Simon Hall aka 'Chipper'. I hear he has had some good results on M3's. What do you think?

[Nickleback]

Anyone got the contact details for AMD

[peppernick]

I wondered about trying Simon Hall aka 'Chipper'. I hear he has had some good results on M3's. What do you think?
The only way to find out is to try it out :D



Anyone got the contact details for AMD
http://www.auto-amd.com/

[alpina527]

[QUOTE=peppernick]The only way to find out is to try it out :D



Chipper will be at the Middlesex meet in June. How's about getting the pair done on the day. I will contact him tomorrow.

[peppernick]

How much? ;)

[Lucky Bob]

It seems quite a few E46s, especially the 6cyl engined variety are not run-in properly (if the motoring press is to believed). Most are not driven hard enough and labour at low revs. My car hasn't drunk hardly a drop of oil as far as I'm aware, yet some drivers having been topping up by the litre!!!

Amd aren't cheap are they? I did notice they had a sale earlier in the year though.

How does the car feel now?

It seems more iclined to rev, especially towards the top third of the rev limit, biggest surprise is first gear has become a traffic light killer which it never was before and launch from standing start to me always was disappointing I had put this down the CDV. Best thing of all is no more flat spots, and improved throttle response.

I will be able to gauge the difference on Sunday as I'm meeting mate who has the same car (standard) six months newer than mine and i'll let him drive my car and I'll drive his so we get two on the spot opinions.

Yes AmD are not cheap, but if you go there you will see why, it's a very slick operation, leather suites in reception, 4 demonstator cars outside, they drive customers to the train station if required and I think you can get a loaner. They let me into the workshop it was spotless reminded me of AFN Porsche, more importantly ( which really counts ) they have the technical back up of a company who clearly have many years of R&D behind them, when I got back to work from AmD I faxed them to say I was a little dissapointed with the dyno plots, got a call by return from them explaining in deatil why, what I needed to do about it, and that they were so confident that I would be happy with the results offered free dyno run in 5k miles to prove it.

They are really into VAG they have 300bhp( this is same as 996 varioram output) R32 demontrator real Q car bog standard on the outside.

Have I had value for money ? yes think so , i'll know for sure in 5,000.00 miles. Could I recommend it to other 330 owners ? not to sure how an auto would show the full results, but I have no expeirence of BMW autos

Lb

[Raj]

AmD are a very quality outfit. They can be a bit pricey but then you do get what you pay for. They are very knowledgeable and have very good customer services. They are more into VAG stuff (and I had a lot of work done from them on my previous VAG motors).

Definitely worth a look in.

[lee330sport]

Its definately true about some new cars being driven like Miss Daisy and being down on power.

But mine definately wont be. ;)

[Lucky Bob]

Its definately true about some new cars being driven like Miss Daisy and being down on power.

But mine definately wont be. ;)

Lee

Thats exactly what I want to read, It makes me feel better when other people agree with their (AmD's) diagnosis.

LB

[Afif]

nice...i assume mine was a miss daisy before me because i reached minimum oil level after just over a month after oil change due to driving it hard... thought i had a leak but nope! [bang . Can someone explain what exactly a flat spot is please?

[Chaos]

Imagine looking at a set of stairs from a side profile Afif, every rise is a climb in power and every step where it levels out before climbing again would be a flat spot - basically a spot where the engine feels like it hesitates and doesn't keep climbing on a constant curve.

[peppernick]

Imagine looking at a set of stairs from a side profile Afif, every rise is a climb in power and every step where it levels out before climbing again would be a flat spot - basically a spot where the engine feels like it hesitates and doesn't keep climbing on a constant curve.
Good analogy [bow :D .......If my power curve looked anything like a flight of stairs from the side profile, the engine is severely f***ed

[Lucky Bob]

Flat spots are normally the result of low fueling on the map on lower revs, taking the step theory its that delay between your left leg stopping at the top of one step and your right leg lifting to go to the next step, manufactures try to write global maps (or near as possible) it saves them money, also helps them with lower emissions and extended service intervals which sells cars to the average Joe/ Jane. Because you like the rest of us want performance the flat shows up because your gunning it on a regular basis, some models suffer from it more ie 330i

Down side is you get that spit second hesistation in fueling, re-maps for want of a better phrase adjust that process to release the safety / environmental margins put into the map by the writer, thats why re-maps are so popular because thare releasing power thats already there, like finding a tenner down the back of a chair :D :D No


LB

[Afif]

ahh right i get this sometimes when i take off... itll be good then there be like a hesitation then it carries on pulling [bang.

[alpina527]

Peppernick! I contacted Simon today. He will be doing remaps at Middlesex on the 26th for £200. I am already booked in.

[Nickleback]

Peppernick! I contacted Simon today. He will be doing remaps at Middlesex on the 26th for £200. I am already booked in.

I also spoke to Simon & am booked in. Part of the money goes to charity :D

[writesmil