Chris_in_the_UK
Estoril
- Joined
- 19 Mar 2014
- Messages
- 3,595
We have had our X5 e70 35d for just over 3 years now and it has been such a reliable nice motor to drive. Decided to look at getting it remapped a while ago and decided against it but recently this was back in my mind to do.
Rang a few people and looked at a few options - re-chip, new map or Bluefin being some of the options. A couple of the firms seemed very wooly about what they do/could do and were almost 'it's up to you really' which was not hugely helpful TBH.
I finally went with a strong recommendation from some of the UK BMW drums and Simon from E-Maps arrived today to work his magic.
First job was to check if the car had any error codes or issues recorded on the system that might need addressing - there were 4 euros logged which were 4 of the 6 glow plugs showing errors. Nothing to immediately worry about and it would not prevent the remap.
Second job was to check if the car was running the standard map - it was, so all good (TBH I would have been surprised if this was not the case).
Onto the remap - the cars original map was downloaded, followed by the upload of the new map - all good and off for a road test. Felt immediately different but Simon said that was partly down to the gearbox being reset during the map load and a few miles would see it adapt. The road test had a laptop plugged in sat on Simons lap in the passenger seat looking at various live data streams (torque, BHP, temperature, throttle position etc.). After a few miles of warm up we took a decent road to give the car it's legs.......
All I can say is WOW - it was significantly different, much more oomph which it holds for longer before upshifting. A very different car indeed - BHP up from 285 to 350 BHP. Torque up from 580 Nm to 700Nm. Very pleased!!.
The road run revealed something that is connected to the glow plug errors mentioned earlier............
The car temperature fluctuated around 75 -77 Deg. C and dropped below 70 Deg when we were hoofing it - this indicates a problem with the thermostats (there are 2) which are sticking open - it should sit around 88 Deg C. The connection with the glow plugs is that as part of the emissions controls on the car the Exhaust Gas Recirculation system refreshes itself when the system reaches a certain amount of contamination from the exhaust gasses. In order to do this the engine is run at it's highest operating temperature for a short period to burn the contamination off - part of the process of getting to the higher temperature involves powering the glow plugs (even when they are not needed) to help the temperature being achieved. This shortens the life of the glow plugs particularly when the car has sticky thermostats.
Net result is we now have a rocketship that needs some new glow plugs and a couple of thermostats.
Very informative and beneficial day - can wholeheartedly recommend Simon @ E-Maps.
Rang a few people and looked at a few options - re-chip, new map or Bluefin being some of the options. A couple of the firms seemed very wooly about what they do/could do and were almost 'it's up to you really' which was not hugely helpful TBH.
I finally went with a strong recommendation from some of the UK BMW drums and Simon from E-Maps arrived today to work his magic.
First job was to check if the car had any error codes or issues recorded on the system that might need addressing - there were 4 euros logged which were 4 of the 6 glow plugs showing errors. Nothing to immediately worry about and it would not prevent the remap.
Second job was to check if the car was running the standard map - it was, so all good (TBH I would have been surprised if this was not the case).
Onto the remap - the cars original map was downloaded, followed by the upload of the new map - all good and off for a road test. Felt immediately different but Simon said that was partly down to the gearbox being reset during the map load and a few miles would see it adapt. The road test had a laptop plugged in sat on Simons lap in the passenger seat looking at various live data streams (torque, BHP, temperature, throttle position etc.). After a few miles of warm up we took a decent road to give the car it's legs.......
All I can say is WOW - it was significantly different, much more oomph which it holds for longer before upshifting. A very different car indeed - BHP up from 285 to 350 BHP. Torque up from 580 Nm to 700Nm. Very pleased!!.
The road run revealed something that is connected to the glow plug errors mentioned earlier............
The car temperature fluctuated around 75 -77 Deg. C and dropped below 70 Deg when we were hoofing it - this indicates a problem with the thermostats (there are 2) which are sticking open - it should sit around 88 Deg C. The connection with the glow plugs is that as part of the emissions controls on the car the Exhaust Gas Recirculation system refreshes itself when the system reaches a certain amount of contamination from the exhaust gasses. In order to do this the engine is run at it's highest operating temperature for a short period to burn the contamination off - part of the process of getting to the higher temperature involves powering the glow plugs (even when they are not needed) to help the temperature being achieved. This shortens the life of the glow plugs particularly when the car has sticky thermostats.
Net result is we now have a rocketship that needs some new glow plugs and a couple of thermostats.
Very informative and beneficial day - can wholeheartedly recommend Simon @ E-Maps.
