N63TU 50i tunes, mods, numbers (1/4, 0-60 etc) dyno thread

[AZTWW]

Originally Posted by DuSh

I noticed 2 independent from each other things (or maybe there is some connection, not sure).
Firstly, when car is cold or just warmed up - I get no surges on WOT or 1/4 runs (even on crappy 91 octane). Maybe it's because turbos are not overheated yet and everything is free of heat soak. As soon as I drive a lot and engine gets hot - I get surges on WOT. However that is on 91 octane (with my tune made for 93) - which leads for second thing I noticed.
Secondly, I just made this morning 93 mix (from 91 and 100 octane) and with 93 I got no surges even when engine is hot. So maybe octane level and tune has something to do with it, I don't know yet. I also haven't changed my plugs to a step colder ones - maybe that's a 3rd variable we need to check.

Easiest way to tell will be when I will also try to unplug TC (transfer case plug) and do a WOT run with 91 octane on a hot car. If I get no surges - it will be indicating it's bad TC, but if I'll still get same surges - then it's definitely not TC. I looked under the car and I can see TC, but the plug is like 4 inches behind and above the cover plate that covers TC. Maybe I can go to local shop to raise it - hopefully I can explain indy mechanics to just unplug it. I'm just afraid that with this liability thing they might not want to do it (same thing like I had with spacers lol). I'll get that done one way or another - will just take some time.

Ultimately, the best approach will be to log, which you can't do with your flash. I have been meaning to log my bm3 since I too, will get some hesitation at times. I go back to my 335i days when over in the N54 forum, they say LOG all the time. It is really the best way to see what is happening across all of those engine parameters. You knew that already.

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by AZTWW

Ultimately, the best approach will be to log, which you can't do with your flash. I have been meaning to log my bm3 since I too, will get some hesitation at times. I go back to my 335i days when over in the N54 forum, they say LOG all the time. It is really the best way to see what is happening across all of those engine parameters. You knew that already.

I agree, LOG is the way to go. If I succumb to the BM3 - I'll start logging.

[yewlock]

Originally Posted by DuSh

Today's weather

Get up at 5.30 am and test It will not be hot

[Katsumoto]

happy for all of you guys having beast under the hood ...I have only couple questions ... How many miles on your motor before the tune and how many currently .. i have installed BPC on 13k miles , same day i jump on the highway , step on the gas .... amazing but i felt that little problem we discuss on different post ... "4/5th gear nudging/hesitation near WOT " ... next 30 days ...i cant believe how quickly the were gone but long story short hard time reach Bob from BPC ... he was off couple days, busy enough with other costmers ( 33 day from email history back and forth over many many email )... so he send me 2nd file week ago ... i installed it ...jump again on highway ...problem still there .... 2 days later ....it happens ...so today i have received the call from BMW ... they will replace the engine ... its the rod.. they have see DME tempering code 2 times .. thats how many times i flashed it ... they have tried to void warranty but i guess i am lucky enough that they cant prove anythhing... maybe dealer is covering my a$$... dont know ,didnt ask,dont care ...lucky that i will not gonna pay new motor ..knock on wood ,they may call me tomorrrow with something else ..crossing fingers ... So... i had the flash for roughly 2500 miles.. Yes change oil 3 times since i bought the car with motul oil... yes i warm the engine enough ...i do work exactly 0.5 miles from home but going to starbucks makes about 2 miles ..i dont drive morning aggressive but i do drive on the highway as it should ... that's why i bought V8 .... thats how i believe it should be driven ... so maybe the motor was weak before the tune ... who knows ... maybe bad luck ....maybe was too early to put down 485 whp on 13k motor ... who knows .. hope you dont have any engine problem and go thru this little nightmare i went thru the last couple days, because at the end that will cost you so many $$ , that i start thinking isnt just be better instead spending another possible 20k-30k for new motor to just buy X5M and enjoy it as it should ... dont get me wrong i have put so much love and still do love it ... once again to all of you happy for you , good luck and enjoy

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by Katsumoto

happy for all of you guys having beast under the hood ...I have only couple questions ... How many miles on your motor before the tune and how many currently .. i have installed BPC on 13k miles , same day i jump on the highway , step on the gas .... amazing but i felt that little problem we discuss on different post ... "4/5th gear nudging/hesitation near WOT " ... next 30 days ...i cant believe how quickly the were gone but long story short hard time reach Bob from BPC ... he was off couple days, busy enough with other costmers ( 33 day from email history back and forth over many many email )... so he send me 2nd file week ago ... i installed it ...jump again on highway ...problem still there .... 2 days later ....it happens ...so today i have received the call from BMW ... they will replace the engine ... its the rod.. they have see DME tempering code 2 times .. thats how many times i flashed it ... they have tried to void warranty but i guess i am lucky enough that they cant prove anythhing... maybe dealer is covering my a$$... dont know ,didnt ask,dont care ...lucky that i will not gonna pay new motor ..knock on wood ,they may call me tomorrrow with something else ..crossing fingers ... So... i had the flash for roughly 2500 miles.. Yes change oil 3 times since i bought the car with motul oil... yes i warm the engine enough ...i do work exactly 0.5 miles from home but going to starbucks makes about 2 miles ..i dont drive morning aggressive but i do drive on the highway as it should ... that's why i bought V8 .... thats how i believe it should be driven ... so maybe the motor was weak before the tune ... who knows ... maybe bad luck ....maybe was too early to put down 485 whp on 13k motor ... who knows .. hope you dont have any engine problem and go thru this little nightmare i went thru the last couple days, because at the end that will cost you so many $$ , that i start thinking isnt just be better instead spending another possible 20k-30k for new motor to just buy X5M and enjoy it as it should ... dont get me wrong i have put so much love and still do love it ... once again to all of you happy for you , good luck and enjoy

Wow man, I'm so glad for you!

I have BPC tune for about 11k miles now. I'm now at 30k miles. Testing it in really hot weather on crappy fuel and knock on the wood it's still good. I don't even know what to think. Bob did say that both n63tu and s63tu get rods bent with 700lbft torque. I know yours was only 600lbft - and i don't know to be honest why it happened.
IMHO, you should probably stay safe and don't tune the new engine they will put in - just because I doubt dealership will replace engine second time - you got really lucky man!

However, it's easy for me to say. Well, take some time off, to cool off, drink some beer - maybe think about it. Only you can decide what is best in your situation. If you go for X5M - as I said and we've seen couple examples - they bent rods as easily as n63tu. Our engines really need forged rods, pistons and sleeves - like BPC did 1500hp s63tu build.

I don't know man, maybe if you go for X5M and keep it stock - then you can be safe and it will be fast enough already. Another option is upcoming new generation, it's going to be in dealerships in couple months (if not earlier). However, it's going to be expensive to buy new. I know i don't have money for a new 50i, let alone X5M lol. I'm just going to "suffer" through in my old 50i

Anyway - it's extremely good news you got engine replaced - I can't imagine how much $$$ you saved (crated engine and labor).

[Katsumoto]

they say with all work roughly 30k

[perry8912]

Originally Posted by Katsumoto

they say with all work roughly 30k

Hey, I’m glad they covered it for you. I hope I could have that kind of luck someday.
Have you found the cause for bent rod on such low miles?

[Katsumoto]

Nope... we can only guess, so my advise for all of you that want dme flash Be carefull

[DuSh]

93 octane, 98F run. Some improvements, but not as much as I hoped (maybe 93 mix was not 93 - I can't control what pump has). I think hot weather is just destroying performance. I feel like car was noticeably faster when I was in NY at 40-50F. Oh well, I can't change that for now.

0-60 in 4.11sec
60ft in 1.92sec
1/8 in 7.98 @89 mph
1/4 in 12.38sec @ 111.69 mph

Coming up next 100 octane. Maybe that will push me past 12.2sec? I can almost bet anyone that with 50F weather I would be already past 12.2sec.

[DuSh]

2016 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS does 1/4 in 11.3sec. I'm 1.08sec behind that in 1/4 Yes, 1 sec is a lot in 1/4, but extra 2000lbs x5 has (compared to Porsche) is a lot too.

[DuSh]

So after driving 2 days with 93 octane mix (made from 91 and 100 octane), I noticed that even when it was 117F and car was hot - I got no shudder/jerkiness during WOT. So does this mean fuel was the main cause? I'm not sure yet. So my tune is for 93 and I know that tune has maps/tables to adjust in both ways (for lower octane and for higher octane), but I'm not sure what are the limits of that adjustment. Apparently in my case running on a 91 octane is causing shudder on WOT.

So naturally, I wanted to ask if those of you who are tuned, are you guys tuned for 93 and using 91 octane by any chance?

[AZTWW]

Originally Posted by DuSh

So after driving 2 days with 93 octane mix (made from 91 and 100 octane), I noticed that even when it was 117F and car was hot - I got no shudder/jerkiness during WOT. So does this mean fuel was the main cause? I'm not sure yet. So my tune is for 93 and I know that tune has maps/tables to adjust in both ways (for lower octane and for higher octane), but I'm not sure what are the limits of that adjustment. Apparently in my case running on a 91 octane is causing shudder on WOT.

So naturally, I wanted to ask if those of you who are tuned, are you guys tuned for 93 and using 91 octane by any chance?

I am using the BM3 Stage 1 91 octane tune and will still occasionally get the shudder. I am leaning towards replacing the coils but want to log first.

[CT335xi]

Originally Posted by DuSh

So after driving 2 days with 93 octane mix (made from 91 and 100 octane), I noticed that even when it was 117F and car was hot - I got no shudder/jerkiness during WOT. So does this mean fuel was the main cause? I'm not sure yet. So my tune is for 93 and I know that tune has maps/tables to adjust in both ways (for lower octane and for higher octane), but I'm not sure what are the limits of that adjustment. Apparently in my case running on a 91 octane is causing shudder on WOT.

So naturally, I wanted to ask if those of you who are tuned, are you guys tuned for 93 and using 91 octane by any chance?

I would bet the shudder/ jerkiness you are feeling is the ecu pulling timing cause of the lack of octane with the 91. Also just to throw this out there if you mix 50% 91 with 50% 100 octane when your basically empty in theory you should be running like 95.5 octane.

[V8LIFE]

Dush, It's time to get some new plugs.

[BobBeau]

Originally Posted by DuSh

So after driving 2 days with 93 octane mix (made from 91 and 100 octane), I noticed that even when it was 117F and car was hot - I got no shudder/jerkiness during WOT. So does this mean fuel was the main cause? I'm not sure yet. So my tune is for 93 and I know that tune has maps/tables to adjust in both ways (for lower octane and for higher octane), but I'm not sure what are the limits of that adjustment. Apparently in my case running on a 91 octane is causing shudder on WOT.

So naturally, I wanted to ask if those of you who are tuned, are you guys tuned for 93 and using 91 octane by any chance?

Dush, I had this same problem a few months ago. I did some datalogging and sent them to BM3. Turns out it was a bad tank of gas. I have the 93 Octane tune and always use 93 octane but must've gotten a bad tank of gas. I swapped back to the stock tune until it was time to fill up again. Filled up at a different gas station and no more issue. BM3 said the DMEs were cutting off fuel at WOT or when accelerating hard to prevent engine damage. I know you had a 93/100 octane mix but you can get bad gas from anywhere. Mine was from an EXXON station which I used to use regularly. Now I only use Shell or Chevron. Hope this helps

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by BobBeau

Dush, I had this same problem a few months ago. I did some datalogging and sent them to BM3. Turns out it was a bad tank of gas. I have the 93 Octane tune and always use 93 octane but must've gotten a bad tank of gas. I swapped back to the stock tune until it was time to fill up again. Filled up at a different gas station and no more issue. BM3 said the DMEs were cutting off fuel at WOT or when accelerating hard to prevent engine damage. I know you had a 93/100 octane mix but you can get bad gas from anywhere. Mine was from an EXXON station which I used to use regularly. Now I only use Shell or Chevron. Hope this helps

Ah, I see! Thanks for that! Need to switch to BM3 for datalogging too.

[AZTWW]

Originally Posted by BobBeau

Dush, I had this same problem a few months ago. I did some datalogging and sent them to BM3. Turns out it was a bad tank of gas. I have the 93 Octane tune and always use 93 octane but must've gotten a bad tank of gas. I swapped back to the stock tune until it was time to fill up again. Filled up at a different gas station and no more issue. BM3 said the DMEs were cutting off fuel at WOT or when accelerating hard to prevent engine damage. I know you had a 93/100 octane mix but you can get bad gas from anywhere. Mine was from an EXXON station which I used to use regularly. Now I only use Shell or Chevron. Hope this helps

Dush and I can only get california 91 octane out here in AZ. Every tank is a bad tank of gas

[CT335xi]

Originally Posted by AZTWW

Dush and I can only get california 91 octane out here in AZ. Every tank is a bad tank of gas

Yeah another term is 91 craptane

[AZTWW]

Originally Posted by BobBeau

Dush, I had this same problem a few months ago. I did some datalogging and sent them to BM3. Turns out it was a bad tank of gas. I have the 93 Octane tune and always use 93 octane but must've gotten a bad tank of gas. I swapped back to the stock tune until it was time to fill up again. Filled up at a different gas station and no more issue. BM3 said the DMEs were cutting off fuel at WOT or when accelerating hard to prevent engine damage. I know you had a 93/100 octane mix but you can get bad gas from anywhere. Mine was from an EXXON station which I used to use regularly. Now I only use Shell or Chevron. Hope this helps

This is good to know. I worried after we went back and forth through PM. Glad to hear it was something so simple. I use Shell most of the time but 91 is still 91. I can get 95, but its about $5 a gallon so my wife would flip. I dont have the patience to go back to mixing e85.

[DuSh]

Was going from Mexico today to Phoneix. Had a long trip to get M Sport kit. On the way back, I see 2 black cars in my side mirror (my rear seats were folded and M Sport kit was blocking the rear mirror view) approaching me fast. I yielded going to right lane. Black Mustang GT with some red rims lol and a blacked out Audi S5 Sportback. So I naturally let them pass me and then I follow them. Finally traffic clears and GT (was going first) punches it. Audi follows. So I decided to follow too. So we went all 3 - one after another lol. GT just couldn't keep up and gave way going to right lane. Audi and me both passed him easily. Then Audi tries to get away from me, but I'm sitting right on his rear bumper no matter what he does. I know it's unnerving when a hefty SAV sits on your back and you can't go away from it no matter how hard you push pedal to the metal. I don't do this kind of crap. But I couldn't help it - I had to do it. At about 135mph he can't keep up anymore and yielded changing to right lane. I passed him easily. Was a bearded guy showing thumbs up with ecstatic facial expression lol. I was quite happy too lol. Damn it's a good truck! Surprised how weak GT and S5 are - they look like they are fast, but in reality...meh

P.S. Wasn't pushing 100% due to 91 craptane and I got those shuddering again after I filled up with 91 in California. I mean Mexico

[Russmov]

Originally Posted by DuSh

Was going from Mexico today to Phoneix. Had a long trip to get M Sport kit. On the way back, I see 2 black cars in my side mirror (my rear seats were folded and M Sport kit was blocking the rear mirror view) approaching me fast. I yielded going to right lane. Black Mustang GT with some red rims lol and a blacked out Audi S5 Sportback. So I naturally let them pass me and then I follow them. Finally traffic clears and GT (was going first) punches it. Audi follows. So I decided to follow too. So we went all 3 - one after another lol. GT just couldn't keep up and gave way going to right lane. Audi and me both passed him easily. Then Audi tries to get away from me, but I'm sitting right on his rear bumper no matter what he does. I know it's unnerving when a hefty SAV sits on your back and you can't go away from it no matter how hard you push pedal to the metal. I don't do this kind of crap. But I couldn't help it - I had to do it. At about 135mph he can't keep up anymore and yielded changing to right lane. I passed him easily. Was a bearded guy showing thumbs up with ecstatic facial expression lol. I was quite happy too lol. Damn it's a good truck! Surprised how weak GT and S5 are - they look like they are fast, but in reality...meh

P.S. Wasn't pushing 100% due to 91 craptane and I got those shuddering again after I filled up with 91 in California. I mean Mexico

Man this makes me want a 50i. I went with lowly 35i. Although before i bought my new to me X5, I looked at/test drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. (Not sure if this is considered blasphemy in the forum lol)It sounded incredible, was way faster than my X4 but the SA never called me back with numbers. So I got the X5 instead. First world problems complaining about a lesser BMW lol

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by Russmov

Man this makes me want a 50i. I went with lowly 35i. Although before i bought my new to me X5, I looked at/test drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. (Not sure if this is considered blasphemy in the forum lol)It sounded incredible, was way faster than my X4 but the SA never called me back with numbers. So I got the X5 instead. First world problems complaining about a lesser BMW lol

Hey man, it's like grass is greener on the other side you know Every time I fuel up - I wish I had 35i. Everytime I hear horrible stories of seized n63 (and rarely, but still n63tu) I start wishing I had reliable n55 35i. As 4th generation approaches soon, our 3rd. gen. will have hard time competing and IMHO our engine power will be surpassed. No one will care anymore about tune. While reliability and aesthetics will be priority #1. I'm willing to bet you 35i guys will outlive us 50i dudes. We will die one by one fallen by bent rods and seized engines, while 35i will continue to roll on the streets.
Maybe 1 more year and I'll retire my 50i, put muffler back, maybe even revert the tune to stock and I'll start driving in right lane behind some Corolla. I'll priorities engine longevity, maintenance and exterior/interior aesthetics and maybe have it long enough to tell my kids one day about glory days of 50i fireflies that lived bright life, but died fast