NakiTouring

Trying to log my old Polo Gti 1.8t with phase 2 was hard enough! What gear do you do it in with these cars? Are you guys running autos? If so, do they hold up ok with these tunes?

Interesting stuff. I think I'm running 7615835 but now I'll have to check!

Nice car. I had an E61 530i M-sport, looked like yours but pre lci. Always wished I'd gone the v8 as it didn't have enough grunt for my liking and the Trans wasn't responsive enough. Did you sort the radio as part of the sat navigation upgrade? I did a diy on here somewhere.

Good on ya. Sorry, just got back to you re the cable. What are your thoughts on the tune? I don't get out of town very often but did earlier this week and throughly enjoyed it (the MHD power boost). I've got the more commonly used Alpina Trans flash. Very happy with its behaviour round town short shifting at 1500 - 1600rpm in D. Usually happy to drive lazily on the daily commute (2.2 kms to work lol) but with the MHD there's still plenty of go when required and it will still do higher revs when given some boot. Maybe that would be more of a problem on the standard ECU flash. Out in the twisties it's awesome with the paddles, shifting very quickly. Haven't had much time yet in S mode but should be good. The only thing I noticed the other day is when you leave it in D and try to get a hurry on, it sometimes shifts a bit prematurely. S would negate this of course but then you need to go back to D in order for it to use 6th. I'll try the other Alpina flash when I get a chance...it sounds promising.

Loaded the Alpina flash the other day and it's excellent. Never thought I would say this, but this auto, with the paddles and this flash, I think I actually prefer over a manual :-)

I've joined the club and flashed this today too. Really livened the car up and feels the way God intended...awesome. Mind you, my last car was a little 1.8t Polo running 21psi. The initial flash process for me took 38 minutes. I had the car hooked up to an 8 amp battery charger and also pulled the fuse for the LP fuel pump, just in case, as it was running constantly. No issue with using a standard OTG cable for me...didn't zap much charge from the phone...it's in airplane mode for the flash process. I too am curious about whether running stage 1 + fmic would be ok sans fmic...especially in our climate. Anyway, for now stage 1 98RON is a nice enough improvement over stock for me. Mine's been lowered and stiffened a bit, so the lack of LSD is becoming a real limitation. Next step...Alpina TCU flash. What Trans are you guys running?

Strewth. I've seen people use various methods of subterfuge to conceal their number plates, but that's a bit extreme.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with this and may be keen to hire your gear later on... ;-)

LOL! Anyway, it ain't snap understeer and it ain't an 08 M3.

I've got a couple of basic things if anyone's desperate - the 14mm, 12 point, thin walled spark plug removal tool for the N54 (and maybe others?), plus the oil filter cover removal tool - 86mm, 16 sides. Might even have a 17mm socket specifically for the sump plug! In New Plymouth but happy to post to help a brother out.

I don't know anything about the handling of these bad boys, but snap understeer? Didn't know there was such a handling trait.

I've just picked up a 335i and, although mine doesn't feel like it's got 400nm at bugger all revs, it sounds and goes great further up the range and you just know it's got so much potential. My thinking is the N54 powered beasties will reward those that are either proficient with spanners and computers, or have pockets deep enough to pay someone else to keep it running at its best. I'm loving it, but can see how it would be a headache for others. Now where was I in trying to figure out where the missing torque is lurking...? Anyone have any ideas on what a walnut blast costs?

I drove a black X3 2.5 last week, while I waiting impatiently for the dealer to put a WOF on my new car that I came to collect - don't ask me why they hadn't already done it. Anyway, the X3 was a complete PoS and that too had the headlining pulling free...maybe it's the same one. I think if I was buying a pretend AWD like that, I would get something newer, Jap or Korean, for the same money. Each to their own but. You really have to wonder how dealers manage to get these things through compliance and get WOF's on them sometimes - you can bet if I tried it, they would fail it on every little detail.

Travesty. Email sent.

Thanks guys. Given we don't even have a BMW dealer in New Plymouth, can anyone recommend a dealer that doesn't mind posting stuff like filters? I'll make some phone calls during the week if no one has any suggestions. Thanks.

Hi people, what's a good source for oil and air filters for my 05 E61 530i (N52)? The ones on Trademe ok? Sorry if the question has been asked a million times. Thanks in advance.

That PDF is interesting, as mine makes an odd noise sometimes at the lights when it's up to temperature - I thought it was maybe a small exhaust leak but the vibration mentioned in the article is probably more likely the cause. It doesn't happen often enough for me to do anything about it, but I'll probably start listening out for it more now!

With the help of AK330i's post, http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/6327-how-to-reprogram-jap-bmw-radio-to-nz-frequencies/?p=492117 I have successfully coded the CCC iDrive in my Japanese imported 05 E61 530i as below... Changed these settings with NCS-Expert: CTUNE before: RDS_AF_FUNKTION_CCC (RDS is the bit that shows the name of the station on the screen) rds_aus LAENDERVARIANTE_TUNER_ANT japan CTUNE after: RDS_AF_FUNKTION_CCC rds_ein_af_automatisch LAENDERVARIANTE_TUNER_ANT ece CAPPL before: LAENDERVARIANTE_TUNER japan CAPPL after: LAENDERVARIANTE_TUNER ece There's this setting too, but not sure it's needed (I didn't use it the first time): CHOST before: LAENDERVARIANTE_GT japan CHOST after: LAENDERVARIANTE_GT ece There is probably an oceania, aus/nz alternative to ece but ece works none the less. I was pretty happy with myself once complete, however, a few days later I installed and coded a new battery, and it blew out the hard work above and reverted back to Japanese frequencies. So can anyone please tell me what changes I need to make to the Vehicle Order to make these things stick? There isn't a lot online about getting these Japanese imports to play ball... Cheers, Duncan

Hi Ben, I'm new to BMWs too and have also recently acquired an E61 :-) Given I'm new to this also, don't take it for gospel, but picture 4 (that's behind the rear seats, right?) is where you would normally find the factory Bluetooth module, or in my case a Motorola phone module that doesn't have Bluetooth Does your iDrive have an Auxiliary option available? If so, the Mobridge may input to that, otherwise maybe it has been patched into the former CD changer wiring? Either way it's unlikely to work natively with the iDrive phone controls etc. Yes, these Japanese imports do tend to have Minidisc players and TV's, not that the TV will work here. And I'm pretty sure that is just a CD slot in the front but delving into the coding side of things, I see the mention of DVD region 2 (Japan) in mine, so not sure. Doesn't do anything with the odd region 2 DVD I've tried in it. Maybe it will read Japanese DVD navigation discs or something? At least yours has got the NZ FM frequencies and RDS working

Hi guys, recently purchased a Japanese imported E61 530i. Loving the car. Been delving into the coding, setting up NZ radio frequencies, installed and coded new battery...pretty scary how complicated these cars are, but I love to tinker :-) Cheers