Anyone here heard of Powerchip?
 

Hey guys, new owner here. I've had some fast cars over the years and have sort of an addiction to speed. That being said the 555hp in my ///M doesn't seem like its that much, is it just me?

At Bimmerfest last year I met a guy who had an X6M with powerchip in it and he said it was something like 100hp gain with the exhaust setup he had. I didn't see anything on their website but I did see a couple links to a youtube video posted on another forum:

YouTube - BMW 2010 X5 M-SPEC AFTER TUNE 327AWKW !!!!!

YouTube - BMW X6 M SERIES ON DYNO AFTER TUNE 328kw's !!!!


Anyone running their software? I'm going to give them a call this week to see how I feel about them.

doesn't seem like a popular subject here, does anyone have any opinion on getting a tune? Or is my money better spent on an eisenmann exhaust?

search. Has been a couple of threads on ESS and AA tunes.

M

I've read them :)

Not sure why it's not a more popular topic, other cars are lucky to get 20hp from a $2,000 mod and we have gods gift to cars (turbochargers) and no one seems THAT interested.

Can I get feedback from those with tunes? How do you like the power, how is gas mileage, etc?

Because the car is plenty powerful for most of us driving on public roads and the headache of messing with the tune and running to issues is simply not worth an extra 50hp.

+1, especially the ///M is already thirsty on fuel:bustingup

lol ya I'm definetly not that desperate for power if it sacrifices reliability, I was also hoping that maybe the SAV could be tuned for better gas mileage. I live in a dream world, more power and less fuel consumption with no sacrifices :stickpoke

A remap does not necessarily sacrifice reliability. All these cars have been de-tuned from factory so as stock they certainly are not running to their full potential.

To extract better MPG from a gas engine is not easy. You can get gains but they are very very minimal in comparison to diesel engines.

Hope that helps,
Aidan

I have ESS. Most of the tunes are not adding top end HP. But getting more power lower in the revs. I really like the ESS. Very drivable. It is now fast enough that it is hard to open up often. Full throttle for 10 seconds and you are in the next state Don't really notice a change in fuel mileage. All depends how you drive it.

I would really like to see better brakes.

M

M...have you considered upgrading to steel braided brake lines? No flex, more responsive and stronger bite. Brakes are massive, imo, upgraded lines may be your remedy.

SS braided lines does give a better feel. But I really dont have an issue with the feel. I think for overall lightly spirited driving they are excellent. While the rotors are massive, the pad is not. Look inside the front caliper. It is this great big caliper with this little 2 piston pad. This was not meant to be a track car so the brakes really are pretty good. But is start really driving it hard. You start having to press harder and harder to get the same bite and power. Any brake is going to have a tough time with a truck that weights 5000lbs and has 555hp. I was nitpicking. And dreaming a little. Ilia has tried talking me in to an upgrade to some Brembos. They would look great but just not sure they would be worth the money.

M

M

If you are getting Brake Fade after hard driving this simply means the brakes are too hot to work efficiently. By fitting bigger brakes does not necessarily fix this. You may need to use a stronger rating of brake fluid and you could look at upgrading your brake pads to something from EBC or other top brands.

Yes, I was giving the short version. The Brembos are not bigger. They are better. Better rotor, pad, lines fluid.

Just upgrading pads can be an issue also. Many times a more aggresive pad will destroy a factory rotor and cause other issues.

Not really getting them hot enough to boil fluid. But the pads are getting hot enough to produce gas. Different pad, better slotted rotor and fluid would all be great. All you need is $. Not really worth it. Not like I am going to track it. Well, maybe I will. I used a Cadillac SRX with 4 people in it as a pace car once. That was entertaining.

Ah I get you now. Yes the Brembo set up would be much better than stock but I have noticed over the years that high performance brakes are great for fast road use or track use but for daily driving they can be over-kill unless you take care with them. Coming to a traffic light when you hit the brakes it could easily send you through the front windscreen:D

powerchip is pretty popular amongst the e9x m3's, after seeing several engine fault reduced power reports on x5m's i'm holding off a bit ..

pad fade vs fluid fade.

imo given the right fluid and pad material the x5m brakes can work on track for extended lapping.

see the blurb lower right of the photo in this article. this i think may be a real issue.

BMW X5 M and X6 Dynamic Performance Control Perks up Handling - Tech Dept. - Car and Driver

very interesting. Good to see they were thinking of cost savings on a $90k truck. Although I have seen several videos fromBMW where they are pounding the X5M on the track for a number of laps.

I used to have an S4 that the DSC could overheat the rear brakes because it used them to correct yaw. Never happened to me but heard about it. Obscure, but this reminded me of it.

agree, why tout the track capabilities then compromise durability (safety) on a key part?

solutions-

don't track
track for brief sessions
track in cold weather
look in higher spec oil
fab up a finned diff cover
insert a diff oil cooler

i may be slightly disturbed but i would relish passing a few young testosterone loaded young men in black wheeled sports cars. i'd have a large sign in back "you just got passed by a tow truck".

sorry if this offends any testosterone loaded young men on the forum.

signed
the slighty hormonally challenged middle age man (in the blazing fast m3)

:D

:bustingupyou made my day!

Well, I don't know a LOT about the BMW 'cars', but I do have a friend who had the 335 and slapped a chip in it. That thing was a BEAST and I loved the acceleration, so much so that I'd buy the 3 series (or any of the twin turbos) and get a chip. He now owns an M3.

Here is our opinion: The 335 was fast as hell with that chip, but the M3 is meant for the TRACK. So, when it comes to spirited driving, the chipped 3 series will certainly hold its own, but when it comes to the track, the M will trump.

Concerning upgrading a M3, all I've seen are supercharges like Harte, G-Power, ActiveAutowerks.

That's a joke right? maybe if BMW could put some brakes on it, then it'd be okay on track.

Have you ever driven one, or drive in one? I drive IN one every other week - car pool with my X5 on one week and his M3 on the next.

Do your research - check out the stats. I can feel the difference from his twin turbo 3 series and his M. His chipped 3 accelerated like a beast from 0-80. But after that, he said it didn't feel as planted to the road as his M does. Then there was all this talk about M buttons and other bottuns, etc. I agree with him. I liked the initial torque on the chipped 3, but overall, the M3 trupms it in handling. Therefore, a chipped 3 is for spirited driving while the M is for the track.

have you EVER compared teh way it handles from a regular 3 series? Do you go to BMW M meets and talk and share info with other M owners (not to mention all the car & body guys who visit the meets ... including Active Autowerks)?

Not arguing - we're all FAMILY here (Bimmer owners). But if you disagree ... you should disagree in the M forums that are floating around. Watch how quickly they all come out of the woodwork and actually agree with what I said. I know this not just from being in his car going to and from work, but also outside of work, even going to the S. Florida meets. ALL drivers who had 3 series to M3's say the same thing. Dunno why you'd disagree, but I'm interested to here why you disagree.

In fact, we have tracks and strips here in S. Florida. Guess what car typically dominates? :-) M3 of course.

It is all relative...

Powerchip is very popular on the E39 M5 forums, been using them for years.

I didn't realize that you could "chip" M vehicles. All the M owners that I know (and meet at MEETS) have a supercharger, not a chip. The regular twin turbos can be chipped ... but I've never heard of an M being chipped.

didn't you know that the X5/6M has a twin turbo engine?