Experience with MHD tunes.

[Herbmiester 931]

I am looking to hear from people who have tuned their N54's with one of the off the shelf MHD tunes. I am deciding whether to jump into a stage 2 tune or start with a stage 1. I have an upgraded intercooler and charge pipe. No access to Ethanol in Wellington but can run 98 octane. 

[Matth5 471]

I'd suggest starting with a less aggressive one first and logging it just to be be sure everything is ok. Sometimes the extra power reveals new problems. 

I've found for me (N55) when running 95 fuel, the tune that matches my fuel is just a tad too aggressive and causes timing corrections when intake temps get high.
More info in my thread here:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1371998

And back on my first time I had pretty bad timing corrections, and ended up getting new spark plugs based on forum advice, which fixed that.

Not sure about N54, but for N55 the stage 2 tunes are only recommended if you have a catless (or high flow) downpipe. I was told that's because the stock downpipes result in high exhaust temps which can be bad for the turbo at those levels. 

Edited April 9, 2017 by Matth5

[jake1829 119]

Would also recommend you just run the Stage1 map with your current mods initially - What trans have you got John in your 335i?

Same with N54 , stage2 are recommend with downpipes 

2 hours ago, Matth5 said:

 

I've found for me (N55) when running 95 fuel, 

 I wouldn't be keen putting anything less then 98 on a modded n54/n55

[Matth5 471]

It's not optimal, but the car can handle it as long as you use a suitable tune and make sure you're not getting any knock. I need to be able to run 95 for roadtrips, can't get 98 when you venture away from Auckland.

Right now I'm running the 95 tune with 98 fuel in the tank. When I have time to do some test runs and log it I might try the 98 map, but for safety I'll run the 95 map for now.

There's also a 94 map, which I switched when I saw that issue and still had 95 in the tank. 

Also, my car isn't tuned to the extreme like yours!

By the way, you guys should look into that new gearbox tune for the Autos, it's better than the Alpina flash. It works like MHD, flash it with your phone. Called XHP I think. Can't use it myself (DCT) but I've read good things about it.

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by Matth5

[jake1829 119]

16 minutes ago, Matth5 said:

It's not optimal, but the car can handle it as long as you use a suitable tune and make sure you're not getting any knock. I need to be able to run 95 for roadtrips, can't get 98 when you venture away from Auckland.

Right now I'm running the 95 tune with 98 fuel in the tank. When I have time to do some test runs and log it I might try the 98 map, but for safety I'll run the 95 map for now.

There's also a 94 map, which I switched when I saw that issue and still had 95 in the tank. 

Also, my car isn't tuned to the extreme like yours!

By the way, you guys should look into that new gearbox tune for the Autos, it's better than the Alpina flash. It works like MHD, flash it with your phone. Called XHP I think. Can't use it myself (DCT) but I've read good things about it.

 

 

Fair enough  

I switched over from the Alpina flash to the XHP stage3 map over the weekend - D&S mode are a big improvement over the Alpina version and M mode is faster with upshifts and downshifts but I don't think I have done the 100km driving range for the transmission to fully adapt yet 

Loving how M mode won't upshift at redline now , makes things easier

 

 

 

[Herbmiester 931]

So I have an AMS intercooler and new charge pipe as well as the basics like new plugs and new vacuum hoses. I have a set of downpipes but have not installed them yet. I was thinking of the Stage 1+ tune for 98 octane as I have good access to 98 round here. I could always flash to stock again if I can't get good gas. Other option is just to go with a Stage 1 + 95 tune and I assume this will have a  more conservative timing and will keep me away from detonation (I assume MHD will still pull timing if the knock sensor sees something wrong?). I am keen on a TCU flash as even in sport mode it will upshift but as my car is an early 2007 (Pre march 2007) the Alpina TCU flash wont work, what is the XHP option? 

[jake1829 119]

The MHD OTS maps imo are conservative - you'll be fine with the stage1 98 map , but as always when you change stuff up , just log for awhile and confirm everything is looking right

Ya that sucks about the earlier 06/07 models not being able to use the Alpina flash - if you can get this TCU flash , it will be such a huge difference as the stock one is soo laggy imo

XHP is the new option for the auto guys , not sure what the deal is with the earlier years (06/07) - you can download the app on the device you're using for MHD app - connect up to the car , run the app and connect - will show what maps/options are available

[jivismokin 1]

If you already have the alpina flash, can you just load the XHP one and it overrides the Alpina one?  Getting MHD installed to overwrite my Cobb tune (I know I know :P) so would probably do both at the same time

[jake1829 119]

1 hour ago, jivismokin said:

If you already have the alpina flash, can you just load the XHP one and it overrides the Alpina one?  Getting MHD installed to overwrite my Cobb tune (I know I know :P) so would probably do both at the same time

Yes you can go from Alpina > XHP  

there is a bug if the alpina flash wasn't done correctly on the TCU (https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/xhp-flashtool-official-beta-results-thread-for-6hp21.1483/page-8#post-11373)

With the tune on your car , I would suggest flashing back to stock map via the cobb and then doing MHD (my 2cents) 

[Matth5 471]

Definitely use your Cobb to go back to stock first, otherwise MHD might see your car as a USA model and flash the wrong DME. Seen that happen to another user, caused the car to show DMTL pump errors - something present on USA models but not others. 

Edited April 11, 2017 by Matth5

[jivismokin 1]

22 hours ago, jake1829 said:

Yes you can go from Alpina > XHP  

there is a bug if the alpina flash wasn't done correctly on the TCU (https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/xhp-flashtool-official-beta-results-thread-for-6hp21.1483/page-8#post-11373)

With the tune on your car , I would suggest flashing back to stock map via the cobb and then doing MHD (my 2cents) 

Thanks guys.  Would you suggest doing the XHP flash first and then MHD?

Also when doing MHD are you selecting MT or AT with Alpina box checked.  I have read there are some issues around this and RBT forums suggests using MT

[jake1829 119]

MT option

[Herbmiester 931]

So I have the Stage 1 + 95 octane tune installed. There is a noticeable difference especially in the mid range. Up top it feels a bit stronger but not to the same extent it does in the mid range, (2500-4000 rpm) Throttle response seems a bit sharper as well. The tune has really woken the car up but as usual when you get a taste of something you want more. I have a set of downpipes that are recommended for Stage 2 so I might get those installed in the next few weeks. Has anyone had a dyno run with Stage 1 + or stage 2? 

[Matth5 471]

According to XHP's Facebook page they're now able to flash the older TCU versions as well

"Very good news for 2007 335i drivers. We were able to complete the work on the (very rare) 7573661 TCU, which was used mainly in export Right-Hand-Drive markets on 2007 production cars."

https://www.facebook.com/xhpflashtool

Might be good news for you @Herbmiester

[Herbmiester 931]

Yes I have just had a look, lots of good people on Bimmersport keeping an eye on this for me.  

[NakiTouring 54]

Guys, word of warning here. It looks like things may have changed now with the current MHD tunes, as they list both values, but when i was playing with it a year or so ago (before i killed my engine), I believe what they called Stage 1 98 was actually for the US octane measure, not our measure which uses RON. By comparison, RON is about 4-5 points optimistic, so our "98" is actually 93 in US money. Might explain why some were having pre detonation on the relatively conservative OTS maps.

Edited July 6, 2017 by NakiTouring

[Matth5 471]

They list RON values on the screen alongside the Octane. But I think people will still get confused if they're not aware of this.

I did once spot a guy from Europe with bad timing corrections on the e90post forum and asked him if he was going by Octane number instead of RON... He was.

I still get an uncomfortable level of timing corrections on the 98RON map though so I use the 95RON map even when I'm running BP98.

Edited July 6, 2017 by Matth5

[NakiTouring 54]

2 hours ago, Matth5 said:

They list RON values on the screen alongside the Octane.

Yeah, like I said, they do now but I'm pretty sure they weren't a year ago...not sure at what point they started showing both values, but it's certainly a good move.

[Stevie S 49]

15 hours ago, Matth5 said:

They list RON values on the screen alongside the Octane. But I think people will still get confused if they're not aware of this.

I did once spot a guy from Europe with bad timing corrections on the e90post forum and asked him if he was going by Octane number instead of RON... He was.

I still get an uncomfortable level of timing corrections on the 98RON map though so I use the 95RON map even when I'm running BP98.

What do you call uncomfortable?

[Herbmiester 931]

I run 98 but use a 95 map for no other reason than having a buffer just in case.

[Matth5 471]

On 7/7/2017 at 9:00 AM, mattone74 said:

What do you call uncomfortable?

http://www.datazap.me/u/matth5/log-1489827935?log=0&data=3-5-11-19-20-21-22-23-24&zoom=1408-1480

I think their 98RON maps for N55 need work, have yet to see anyone run them smoothly. 

Edited July 7, 2017 by Matth5