# 02 Bmw Remap Yes/no?



## jonnyw59 (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi all looking for your thoughts on this one. I Have an 02 bmw320 compact with 92k on the clock. I have been toying with the idea off a remap for some time now. Expence aside Iv heard nasty things about the turbos blowing on the bm`s, any thoughts on this guys?


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

Is it a diesel or petrol?


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## Mad Buddy (Apr 23, 2009)

Hi mate

I took my 320d in to ask about it, 60000 miles on the clock and the guy said the turbo could be dodgy if I went for a remap. The fact he quoted £425 + vat put me off too.

Might consider it a bit later on, he said the low down torque would improve significantly and i should gain 20-25 bhp not bad.

Quite fancied getting a compact, afraid mine is a four door family motor but fairly nippy


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## jonnyw59 (Jan 31, 2009)

its diesel chum:wave:


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## jonnyw59 (Jan 31, 2009)

£425+vat ouch!! I just dont know. the more I ask the more confused I get. Thought off a new turdo does not bare thinking about.
:wall:


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## Mad Buddy (Apr 23, 2009)

The guy wasn't too complimentary about bmw turbo's to be honest. I had bought a Dragon performance boc (tuning box) not installed yet, these can be removed very quickly and if you buy decent ones their software is specific to your model and get the same performance enhancement for less cash and are apparently plug and play - straight into the diesel pump - can be removed without any trace

There are quite a few on the market - just google tuning boxes


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## ivor (Sep 24, 2008)

not knowng much about bmw's but knowing a bit about re-maps i found when i had my skyline done it made a lot of difference as the car pulled a smother and just drove better with the turbo i can see bmw fitting a crap one it might be that people are upping the pressure the it runs at causing it to fail. 

On the warranty side of life if your car has been serviced by bmw through it's life get any work done by an authorised bmw place as a friend had his engne fail at 130k and because it was a main part that failed they replaced his engine for free just something to think about.


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## Paul-T (Nov 2, 2006)

I've got a 04 plate 320cd, with the 150bhp engine. Had it remapped by DMS Automotive and it's the best thing I could have done. With an improvement of 45bhp, approx 20% improvement in fuel economy and an overall massive improvement in driveability I'm very very pleased. The turbo issue on BMW's is over blown in my opinion, no pun intended! A lot stems from people not allowing turbos to warm up and cool down correctly leading to premature wear. 

Get it remapped by someone like DMS who knows what they are doing, treat the car with respect, and there is no reason why it should be anymore likely to fail than it would be otherwise. A standard car treated poorly would be just as likely to fail.


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## pete330 (Apr 18, 2006)

As above DMS Remap for BMW is way to go


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## jonnyw59 (Jan 31, 2009)

Many thanks to all for the replies. Think I am going to go for it when I get the pennies saved up. Altough this could take some time as overtime in work is very very hard to come by these days.  Just need to find myself a good company over here in belfast now to do the remap.

Thanks again to all :thumb:


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## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

what bhp version is yours and ill let you know the gains and cost. Mapping is one of the best things you can do to a car. The performace can alone improves the car so much. Drivablilty is improved too and as an added bonus when your driving around normally you get better MPG!  

As for "ooooh if you re-map your car your turbo is going to blow" If your turbo blows after a re-map has been done then it was on its way out anyway and there was already a problem with it. 

The biggest cause of turbo failuire is a blocked turbo oil feed pipe. 

We have mapped hundered of BMW's not one turbo has blown when we have mapped it............

As long as the car is mapped well within its limits which any good mapper will know then it should be fine unless there is an undelying problem there anyway. 

As for the tuning box mentioned above I would rather leave my car standard than put one of them any where near a car! all they do it fool the car i.e chucking in more fuel via the fuel rail or tell the temp sensor its running colder than it is then this chucks in more fuel, or fooling the airflow meter. Its a very half arsed way of doing things and can cause long term damage.


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## jonnyw59 (Jan 31, 2009)

hey man from amd its 150bhp. Thanks for the reply you have put my mind at rest a little hope to back from you soon.


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## Mike Hunt (Jan 31, 2008)

Ask your self the question, why does the oem cap the performance at Xbhp or lbs/ft torque ? its for reliability and driveability in all climates from sea level to high altitudes. The so called tuning houses only develop products at ambient temp and low altitude. Diesel turbo power increases are usually achieved by raising boost thresholds and increased fuelling,which increases smoke. If you have a car with a DPF this can lead to mot and warranty problems.The best programme top gear have ever made imho is the one where they try and 'tune' a Renault Aventime. Listen to the final comment and IMHO they are for once on the money.


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## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

Mike Hunt said:


> Ask your self the question, why does the oem cap the performance at Xbhp or lbs/ft torque ? its for reliability and driveability in all climates and from sea level to high altitudes. The so called tuning houses only develop products at ambient temp and low altitiude. Diesel turbo power increases are usually achieved by raising boost thresholds and increased fuelling which increases smoke. If you have a car with a DPF this can lead to mot and warranty problems. Best programme top gear have ever made imho is the one where they try and 'tune' a Renault Aventime listen to the final comment and IMHO they are for once on the money. Think to yourself why would the OEM leave it at 120 bhp when 300 is so easilly achieveable ????


they cap the perfomance for serveral reasons, some being

1) keep the car within a set Insurance group
2) leave it open so they can bring a slighty more powerful version out 
3) Tax brackets

etc etc etc etc..................................

A good re-map will not effect the DPF. We have mapped god knows how many cars with DPF's which have been fine.

you adjust a little more than boost and fueling when you map a car..............


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## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

jonnyw59 said:


> hey man from amd its 150bhp. Thanks for the reply you have put my mind at rest a little hope to back from you soon.


Hi Jonny,

On the 150bhp model we can get about 35-40bhp and 45-50llbft of torque. So a nice, healthy, SAFE increase. The car will pull much stronger all the way through the revs and be much more drivable. :thumb:


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## Judas (Jul 3, 2008)

i would say no - too many miles to be adding more stress imo.


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## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

We have mapped cars with 150k plus on that are fine. As long as the car is well maintained its not a problem. Mapped Cars (well when we do them) are re-mapped to well within there limits.


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## Paul-T (Nov 2, 2006)

Mike, I see what you are saying, but in this case the 2.0 litre BMW engine has remained essentially unchanged apart from minor turbo and inlet manifold tweaks throughout it's lifespan where it started with 136bhp, then went 150, then 163, then 177, and I think there is a slightly healthier one too - all through a different map by BMW. It's not like the VAG 20 vavle turbo engine where the 180bhp models used a smaller KO3 turbo (which will go to around 230bhp reliably) to the 225bhp models which used the KO4 turbo which would hadle 265bhp+

Manufacturers have to account for the most ham fisted, uncaring moron's driving the cars with low quality/low level oils, being thrashed from cold and not allowed to cool for even a few seconds. There is a big room for safe improvement, and while I agree that a lash up attempt to remap a diesel will result in excessive soot, that's usually because fueling has been totally over done without considering other issues. Tuning boxes often trick an engine into dumping loads of extra fuel in, then let the safety net already set in the ECU maintain a safe limit, resulting in a compromised increase in performance. A good map will slightly increase the fueling at appropriate conditions, allowing it to burn efficiently, giving better power and emissions, as well as fuel economy when the extra performance isn't being used.

Using a reputable firm like DMS or AMD is essential.


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## greatguy (Apr 23, 2009)

I have a tuning box on my 2003 320D, it makes a big difference to the power, but I don't feel as comfortable with it as I would if it was remapped.


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## mick aldo (Feb 18, 2008)

had a 330d done by dms well worth the extra.


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## uberbmw (Jan 31, 2006)

check out SpeedReligion.net - Andy and Pete use a 330d on the Gumball rally! Now they tune cars.


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## GlenStaff26 (Mar 10, 2007)

Have had most of my turbo cars fettled with.

Started with a Van aAken tuning box on a 115bhp tdci mondeo, was ok. Then got a 136bhp tdci focus which I had remapped using Rica software (hence my username from back then) did 90000 miles in two years and didn't miss a beat. Then changed jobs so could get my own car which was a 2.7 bi turbo S4, which was remapped by MRC. No issues again, apart from hated the job so went back to old job (and had to sell the S4) and am in a snotter of a mondeo for a couple of months. When I order my new car it will get remapped, have been looking into it recently and Evolution tuning have caught my eye this time.


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