xDrive35d (N57) Malone Stage 1 OBDII ECU/DDE Flash

[InsipidMonkey]

Tunes
I recently picked up a 35d and immediately began researching ECU tunes. I decided to go with the Malone Tuning Stage 1 tune (https://malonetuning.com/ecu-tuning/bmw-diesel), mostly because they can provide an Alientech tablet to flash the tune yourself from the OBDII port, and can easily be flashed back to stock at anytime.

The tune is also available from a network of dealers who can OBDII or bench flash your DDE as well. I reached out to a few local dealers, and was told they charge the same as is quoted on the Malone website.

Malone Tuning is based in Canada and has a long history of DDE tuning, especially with VW TDIs. They have a very good reputation on the VW tuning forums, and I liked how the specialized in diesel tuning.

Other alternatives include DUDMD and BPC. My understanding is that most are quite similar in terms of performance (at least at Stage 1), so it's entirely up to you.

Ordering
The Malone Stage 1 tune is estimated to increase output from 255 hp/413 ft/lbs stock to 340 hp/510 ft/lbs with the tune (an increase of 85 hp and 97 ft/lbs of torque!). Unfortunately, they don't have any dyno results for the N57 up on their site currently, but based on their reputation I have no reason to doubt their claims.

The ordering process from Malone Tuning was pretty straight forward. I emailed them a few questions and provide my vehicle info, and they responded back quickly. After I decided on the tune, they sent me a PayPal invoice to cover the cost of the FlashZilla v3 tuning module and the Stage 1 tune, and shipped it quickly via Priority Mail.

Cost
FlashZilla v3: $180+$15 shipping
Stage 1 Tune: $749
Total: $944

Flashing
The FlashZilla v3 was very similar to other ECU tuning tablets I've used before (as I'm sure most are made by Alientech). The box includes the FlashZilla, a USB cable to upload and download updates from your computer, and an OBDII cable for connecting to you car.

I downloaded the FlashZilla software from Malone and made sure the tablet was up to date, then took it out to the X5 to read the ECU. I had to contact support to confirm I was selecting the correct ECU as there is no entry for the US model xDrive35d, but they responded via email almost immediately and told me to select xDrive30d (eg the EU model where the model number actually reflects the displacement). For reference, you want to select this engine/ECU:
xDrive30d 8AT, N57D30O1, EDC17C56

Before starting, I had the car hooked up to a battery charger and had the car on (press start button without foot on gas) without the engine running, and shut off the lights, radio, and climate control. In hindsight this wasn't really necessary for the reading step since it was so quick. Reading the stock ECU took about 30 seconds, at which point a file is stored on the device. You then connect it to your computer again, download the file, and email it to Malone.

I received the Stage 1 tune file back a few hours later and uploaded it to the FlashZilla.

In preparation for flashing, I again connected the battery charger and turned off all accessories. The FlashZilla also instructs you to buckle the drivers seat belt and turn on the hazards during the flashing procedure, presumably to prevent the car from going to sleep.

The flashing process took about 20 mins total, with the FlashZilla displaying a status bar along with alternating messages of "erasing flash memory" and "writing flash memory" along the way. A number of warning messages popped up on the iDrive during the procedure, but these are normal. After the flash was completed, the FlashZilla instructs you to turn off the car and disconnect the device. I then let the car sit for a few minutes while I disconnected the charger, then took it for a test drive.

There were no error messages or CELs when I started the car, and no stored codes.

Result
Around town the low end torque/acceleration seems smoother, but the tune really shines on the highway when you get higher in the rev range. The engine just keeps pulling when you accelerate onto the highway, and is a nice improvement over stock where the initial torque was good but seemed to run out of steam as the revs increased.

It may be my imagination, but it seems to be getting quicker the more I drive it. Maybe the engine is re-learning some adaptations?

At this point, Malone only offers a Stage 1 tune for the N57, but I feel it is plenty for my current needs. It's a nice bump in HP and torque over stock, and should have a minimal impact on reliability. I'm also wondering if I'll see any increase in fuel economy due to the increase in torque (eg whether the engine being able to stay in higher gear will offset the slightly increased fuel usage needed to generate the increased power).

Overall, I'm quite happy with the tune. The guys at Malone were very responsive to my questions and provided great support, and the convenience of flashing the DDE yourself in your driveway on your own schedule is great. You can also easily flash back to stock at anytime if necessary. I'll try to provide some updates as I have more time with it.

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them!

Edit to add: I received no compensation for this review and have no relationship with Malone Tuning or any other tuner/manufacturer. Just a satisfied customer

[Mr.47]

Originally Posted by InsipidMonkey

Tunes
I recently picked up a 35d and immediately began researching ECU tunes. I decided to go with the Malone Tuning Stage 1 tune (https://malonetuning.com/ecu-tuning/bmw-diesel), mostly because they can provide an Alientech tablet to flash the tune yourself from the OBDII port, and can easily be flashed back to stock at anytime. ...

Im eventually going to go down this path soon with egr,dpf & scr delete and prefer a mild boost in the power and so far malone is a good canidate, I looked at DUDDMD tuning but they want stage II tuning for the egr,dpf & scr delete and the torque output is more than what the transmission can handle which is 510lb/ft. Thanks for your review/input this will be something i'll be looking forward in near future.

[positiveions]

I keep saying for years that Malone tuning is the best for VW Audi and BMW Diesel engines. Good to read this review on the tune. Enjoy!

[InsipidMonkey]

Originally Posted by positiveions

I keep saying for years that Malone tuning is the best for VW Audi and BMW Diesel engines. Good to read this review on the tune. Enjoy!

Yes, I forgot to mention they seem highly regarded among the M57 crowd too. Certainly no strangers to BMW diesels

[golovan]

Great post man! I am hoping to do the same if I finally find a diesel I can afford to buy.
Did you notice any fuel consumption improvement by now?

[InsipidMonkey]

Originally Posted by golovan

Great post man! I am hoping to do the same if I finally find a diesel I can afford to buy.
Did you notice any fuel consumption improvement by now?

Only 250 miles on the tune so far, with much of it in traffic. I have some longer drives coming up soon, I'll have a much better idea of any changes in fuel economy then.

[MrTookies]

Originally Posted by golovan

Great post man! I am hoping to do the same if I finally find a diesel I can afford to buy.
Did you notice any fuel consumption improvement by now?

I did my Stage tune with Malone along with my ABC delete about a year ago and getting 33-37mpg in general. Also wrote a post about it... Search for ABC Delete.

[golovan]

Originally Posted by MrTookies

I did my Stage tune with Malone along with my ABC delete about a year ago and getting 33-37mpg in general. Also wrote a post about it... Search for ABC Delete.

Wow, that is a big change. I believe the most part is due to delete, right?

[MrTookies]

Originally Posted by golovan

Wow, that is a big change. I believe the most part is due to delete, right?

Yes, I'd assume that... but how much is really contributed from each is hard to tell as It was done at the same time.

[positiveions]

Originally Posted by InsipidMonkey

Yes, I forgot to mention they seem highly regarded among the M57 crowd too. Certainly no strangers to BMW diesels

How is your fuel economy? I read on Malone’s site that the fuel economy increases.

[InsipidMonkey]

I averaged 1 mpg more on this tank than I did the last tank (pre-tune), although I can't be sure the highway speeds/traffic ratio was comparable. Will report back after the next long road trip where I can directly compare highway mileage.

The power increase is more noticeable now, although it could just be due to the cool, damp conditions we've had lately. I'm actually surprised mileage didn't decrease this tank since the tune makes it hard to keep your foot off the throttle

[CHECKERED]

OP,
Just in the sake of full disclosure, have you been compensated in anyway for this post?

[InsipidMonkey]

Originally Posted by CHECKERED

OP,
Just in the sake of full disclosure, have you been compensated in anyway for this post?

No, I did a bunch of reading on the forum to see what my options were for tunes and PM'd some people for advice. I went with Malone because I could do the flash myself with the Flashzilla, which is something I have experience with on my N54.

I paid full price for the tune and have not received any compensation from any manufacturer. As far as I can tell all of the Stage 1 tunes are pretty similar as far as power goes, so I don't think it really makes much difference which one you choose. I wanted to write this up for anyone who's interested in tuning or on the fence so they could get an idea of the procedure and results.

If anyone knows of a similar post for another tuner or wants to write up their own review, I hope they include a link here!

[golovan]

I recently bought a diesel myself and was looking for tuning too.
I found this post very useful. I always appreciate when people share their experiences and provide good reviews like this. I wish I could see feedbacks from other folks on their tuning then I could make an educated choice.

[golovan]

Originally Posted by InsipidMonkey

Ordering
The Malone Stage 1 tune is estimated to increase output from 255 hp/413 ft/lbs stock to 340 hp/510 ft/lbs with the tune (an increase of 85 hp and 97 ft/lbs of torque!). Unfortunately, they don't have any dyno results for the N57 up on their site currently, but based on their reputation I have no reason to doubt their claims.

Strange, it says 300hp / 510 ft/lbs gain on Malone website now. I am sure it was 340hp when I looked at it a month ago.

[MrTookies]

Originally Posted by InsipidMonkey

No, I did a bunch of reading on the forum to see what my options were for tunes and PM'd some people for advice. I went with Malone because I could do the flash myself with the Flashzilla, which is something I have experience with on my N54.

I paid full price for the tune and have not received any compensation from any manufacturer. As far as I can tell all of the Stage 1 tunes are pretty similar as far as power goes, so I don't think it really makes much difference which one you choose. I wanted to write this up for anyone who's interested in tuning or on the fence so they could get an idea of the procedure and results.
If anyone knows of a similar post for another tuner or wants to write up their own review, I hope they include a link here!

Just wanted to throw out there that it will depend on what ECU you got. For example, my ECU is a newer model (C76) and needs to be bench flashed, if you have a EDC17C56, for example, you can do what InsipidMonkey did.

Again I did the ABC delete and the tune in one.

https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1525210

[spyderdoc]

Originally Posted by MrTookies

Just wanted to throw out there that it will depend on what ECU you got. For example, my ECU is a newer model (C76) and needs to be bench flashed, if you have a EDC17C56, for example, you can do what InsipidMonkey did.

Again I did the ABC delete and the tune in one.

https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1525210

My 2018 X5d also needed bench flash. DUDMD stage II on mine.

[golovan]

Hi, how are you doing? I just wanted to check how your car is doing after tuning. Did fuel consumption change, how it feels in different modes?

[InsipidMonkey]

Originally Posted by golovan

Hi, how are you doing? I just wanted to check how your car is doing after tuning. Did fuel consumption change, how it feels in different modes?

Everything is great, no complaints at all. If the fuel consumption has changed it was only a very minor amount (+/-1mpg) as far as I can tell. Honestly any gains due to the tune are probably offset by the increase in spirited driving I do now

The boost in low to mid-range torque is nice when driving in comfort mode, and it is noticeably faster in Sport+ when you keep the revs up a little higher.

[wenlipai]

Originally Posted by InsipidMonkey

Tunes
I recently picked up a 35d and immediately began researching ECU tunes. I decided to go with the Malone Tuning Stage 1 tune (https://malonetuning.com/ecu-tuning/bmw-diesel), mostly because they can provide an Alientech tablet to flash the tune yourself from the OBDII port, and can easily be flashed back to stock at anytime.

The tune is also available from a network of dealers who can OBDII or bench flash your DDE as well. I reached out to a few local dealers, and was told they charge the same as is quoted on the Malone website.

Malone Tuning is based in Canada and has a long history of DDE tuning, especially with VW TDIs. They have a very good reputation on the VW tuning forums, and I liked how the specialized in diesel tuning.

Other alternatives include DUDMD and BPC. My understanding is that most are quite similar in terms of performance (at least at Stage 1), so it's entirely up to you.

Ordering
The Malone Stage 1 tune is estimated to increase output from 255 hp/413 ft/lbs stock to 340 hp/510 ft/lbs with the tune (an increase of 85 hp and 97 ft/lbs of torque!). Unfortunately, they don't have any dyno results for the N57 up on their site currently, but based on their reputation I have no reason to doubt their claims.

The ordering process from Malone Tuning was pretty straight forward. I emailed them a few questions and provide my vehicle info, and they responded back quickly. After I decided on the tune, they sent me a PayPal invoice to cover the cost of the FlashZilla v3 tuning module and the Stage 1 tune, and shipped it quickly via Priority Mail.

Cost
FlashZilla v3: $180+$15 shipping
Stage 1 Tune: $749
Total: $944

Flashing
The FlashZilla v3 was very similar to other ECU tuning tablets I've used before (as I'm sure most are made by Alientech). The box includes the FlashZilla, a USB cable to upload and download updates from your computer, and an OBDII cable for connecting to you car.

I downloaded the FlashZilla software from Malone and made sure the tablet was up to date, then took it out to the X5 to read the ECU. I had to contact support to confirm I was selecting the correct ECU as there is no entry for the US model xDrive35d, but they responded via email almost immediately and told me to select xDrive30d (eg the EU model where the model number actually reflects the displacement). For reference, you want to select this engine/ECU:
xDrive30d 8AT, N57D30O1, EDC17C56

Before starting, I had the car hooked up to a battery charger and had the car on (press start button without foot on gas) without the engine running, and shut off the lights, radio, and climate control. In hindsight this wasn't really necessary for the reading step since it was so quick. Reading the stock ECU took about 30 seconds, at which point a file is stored on the device. You then connect it to your computer again, download the file, and email it to Malone.

I received the Stage 1 tune file back a few hours later and uploaded it to the FlashZilla.

In preparation for flashing, I again connected the battery charger and turned off all accessories. The FlashZilla also instructs you to buckle the drivers seat belt and turn on the hazards during the flashing procedure, presumably to prevent the car from going to sleep.

The flashing process took about 20 mins total, with the FlashZilla displaying a status bar along with alternating messages of "erasing flash memory" and "writing flash memory" along the way. A number of warning messages popped up on the iDrive during the procedure, but these are normal. After the flash was completed, the FlashZilla instructs you to turn off the car and disconnect the device. I then let the car sit for a few minutes while I disconnected the charger, then took it for a test drive.

There were no error messages or CELs when I started the car, and no stored codes.

Result
Around town the low end torque/acceleration seems smoother, but the tune really shines on the highway when you get higher in the rev range. The engine just keeps pulling when you accelerate onto the highway, and is a nice improvement over stock where the initial torque was good but seemed to run out of steam as the revs increased.

It may be my imagination, but it seems to be getting quicker the more I drive it. Maybe the engine is re-learning some adaptations?

At this point, Malone only offers a Stage 1 tune for the N57, but I feel it is plenty for my current needs. It's a nice bump in HP and torque over stock, and should have a minimal impact on reliability. I'm also wondering if I'll see any increase in fuel economy due to the increase in torque (eg whether the engine being able to stay in higher gear will offset the slightly increased fuel usage needed to generate the increased power).

Overall, I'm quite happy with the tune. The guys at Malone were very responsive to my questions and provided great support, and the convenience of flashing the DDE yourself in your driveway on your own schedule is great. You can also easily flash back to stock at anytime if necessary. I'll try to provide some updates as I have more time with it.

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them!

Edit to add: I received no compensation for this review and have no relationship with Malone Tuning or any other tuner/manufacturer. Just a satisfied customer

nice! Im having my x6 3.0d next week and would like to add some hp, do you really feel that 85hp?

[InsipidMonkey]

Originally Posted by wenlipai

nice! Im having my x6 3.0d next week and would like to add some hp, do you really feel that 85hp?

It certainly doesn't run out of steam on the highway, but I think the bump in torque is most noticeable in daily driving.

Note that Malone has since revised the advertised gains for the N57 Stage 1 tune to 325hp 536 ft/lbs.
https://malonetuning.com/ecu-tuning/bmw-diesel

[robinasu]

Any odd boost artifacts or strange behavior?