[clairvoyant]

Freezing my n*ut$ outside trying to remove that darn ECU.
Good news: ECU is relatively easy to remove.
Bad news: disconnecting the battery terminal is very trivial. It's like a maze removing the battery terminals in the trunk. I don't want to use force. I'll PM you see if you can help. I'll try again tomorrow. The last chance and I hope it works.
Thank You

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by clairvoyant

Freezing my n*ut$ outside trying to remove that darn ECU.
Good news: ECU is relatively easy to remove.
Bad news: disconnecting the battery terminal is very trivial. It's like a maze removing the battery terminals in the trunk. I don't want to use force. I'll PM you see if you can help. I'll try again tomorrow. The last chance and I hope it works.
Thank You

I emailed you... do you already have the ECU out? Disconnecting the battery is more of a safety precaution than anything... let me know if I can help ... send me a picture or something.

In the DIY I linked you to from Turner Motorsports, does it say that you must remove the battery? I don't recall. Don't worry about using a bit of force in there... things are pretty robust. Just avoid grounding out either of the batteries poles.

[Wai328]

Originally Posted by epiphone3

I just looked on realoem.com. It looks to me like there was in fact a European 325i version of the N52N motor that is in the 2007 323i. And it was with Valvetronic still, not with DI.

The Canadian 200hp 323i also definately appears to have the 3-stage intake manifold whereas other national versions don't appear to. They even quote the additional DISA adjuster unit for "National Canada" version.

From this information it looks like 2007 and 2008 Canadian 323i owners should be able to improve their engine power from 200hp to 231+ hp with a software-only modification.

If you are interested in doing this, I have a good Canadian contact for you.

[epiphone3]

Clairevoyant... I just emailed you.

[epiphone3]

well, Kudos to clairvoyant!

he sent got his ECU out and sent it off today!

woohoo... hopefully this mod works the way I think it will!

[epiphone3]

Clairvoyant... we need you to write on here the second you get your ECU back!

[clairvoyant]

The ECU hasn't made it there yet. It is still stuck in the US Customs waiting for clearance.
I hate the US Customs wholeheartedly as a US citizen living abroad after spending $200 on Fedex and dilligently pay my tax to US IRS annually.
There is a fundemental reason why I moved to Canada.

Originally Posted by epiphone3

Clairvoyant... we need you to write on here the second you get your ECU back!

[epiphone3]

yeah... customs are lame... especially at this time of year!

[epiphone3]

Clairvoyant says he got his ECU back... can't wait to hear driving impressions from him... although I hear it is pretty wintery in his area right now.

[epiphone3]

I just got an email from Clairvoyant and he got the car running and everything.

He says that he definately feels more power in his 323i now following the reflash. He figures by a rough count that he is about half way between 6 and 7 seconds to 60mph... that is pretty good sign because the stock 2006 174hp 323i did 0-60 in 7.2 seconds or so at best.

Here is the big question: He wants to do a dyno run and is curious if anyone here knows of a good place in Ottawa that does dyno runs for a reasonable price so he can see what the power looks like. Anyone know of a place???

He says he needs to get it out on the highway to do some more testing once the snow storm blows thru and runs its course.

[dagjohnsen]

Originally Posted by vincmo

Are any of you guys are worried about long term damage to the engine if we boost HPs? I'd like to keep my car for at least 5-6 years more and would not like to have to re-do the engine after 3 years cause I tried to gain 10 or 20 hp! What do you guys think?

I think you underestimate the durability of a BMW

Your car will probably come standard from BMW with 20 hp more soon

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by vincmo

Are any of you guys are worried about long term damage to the engine if we boost HPs? I'd like to keep my car for at least 5-6 years more and would not like to have to re-do the engine after 3 years cause I tried to gain 10 or 20 hp! What do you guys think?

If you read the thread, we are basically just getting the engine up to the spec to which it is sold already in Europe by BMW.

If BMW sells this motor with this power in Europe from the factory, I am definately not concerned about reliability... especially when very high quality tuners are used (as were in this case).

Clairvoyant wants to dyno his car... anybody know a good place to go in the Ottawa area? After emailing with him, its sounds to me like this worked so I am likely going to be throwing my hat in the ring for this in the spring time. When I do it, I will for sure do a before and after dyno at the same place.

Oh, and by the way, we are actually look at more like a 40 hp gain here, not 20.

[Excellence]

Very nice. 40 more hp gain?! I'm going to do this with my 07' 323i at 200HP. If I'm able to get 20-30 more I would definately be interested. Let me know!!!!

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by Excellence

Very nice. 40 more hp gain?! I'm going to do this with my 07' 323i at 200HP. If I'm able to get 20-30 more I would definately be interested. Let me know!!!!

If you look a little bit in the middle of the thread, I had discussed this with Slke46.... 2006 323i should gain about 40+ to get to Eurospec. The 2007 323i should gain at most 30hp going to Eurospec. The 325i was available for a short time as N52KP (or N52N as some call it) and made 231hp from the factory.

I'll pass you my buddy's email... his all canadian website is opening at the end of this month finally.

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by vincmo

Keep me in the loop! I'm very interested about this mod. The idea of bringing 174HP to 214HP is very pleasing!

By the way...I don't know if any of you guys heard about it but there seems to be a problem with 323i 2006 engines...apparently the engine head have a problem (ever heard a clacking sound when you start the engine and it's cold? Sounds like a lifter discharge.) My BMW mechanic made me take an appointment at the dealership and if the problem is not solved with minor tweaking, they'll have to replace the engine. Just wanted to share that with you guys cause if you ever ear that kind of sound....you might get a brand new engine for free!

Bad news is that they are going to replace it with another 174HP ...I asked for the new 200HP engine but they said no!

The problem you speak of isn't limited to only the 323i 2006 engines. It was pretty much any N52 engine in the 3-series line up (I don't think it was effecting anything in the 2007+ model years). Anyway, it is the infamous metallic ticking noise that showed up on some cars when starting cold, especially. There was a valve lifter bleed procedure that didn't seem to solve the issue... apparently there is a modified cylinder head out for affected units.

I haven't had any such issues with my 323i (knock wood) and it is now 2 years old and has over 40,000 kms on it. I would imagine that you would get a new head and not a new engine.

Vincomo, I can connect you with the guy I know... you may want to wait until the valve tick thing is resolved for you before you consider messing with any software mods, though!

[new2u]

I knew there was something wrong with the engine!
(Cold start, metal clicking noise...)
Thanks for sharing info, and I'm too very excited to hear about this possible engine tweaking.

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by new2u

I knew there was something wrong with the engine!
(Cold start, metal clicking noise...)
Thanks for sharing info, and I'm too very excited to hear about this possible engine tweaking.

PM me if you'd like details. Clairvoyant did it and says he feels the difference so I'd be interested to see what others think.

I still haven't heard if he has found a dyno in Ottawa area yet to test though... however he didn't do the before dyno so we will get a good idea of where he is at but not the full detailed effect.

[epiphone3]

I just got another email from Clairvoyant... he says his fuel economy has improved a bit...

[clairvoyant]

This is the dyno used by D&R auto far in Richmond, ON. They use Turner dynapack software, I still can't believe the figures here.
I guess the only way to tell is to run this thing in a closed motor sport training circuit.
I can not go hog wild on the highways specially when po-po/5-O are on which-hunts for speed demons.
By the way, BMW engines are solid diamonds, above 7000 rpm all day no problem if you read some of those endurance races in Europe.
The catch is you have to pour >93 octane

[dagjohnsen]

Originally Posted by clairvoyant

This is the dyno used by D&R auto far in Richmond, ON. They use Turner dynapack software, I still can't believe the figures here.
I guess the only way to tell is to run this thing in a closed motor sport training circuit.
I can not go hog wild on the highways specially when po-po/5-O are on which-hunts for speed demons.
By the way, BMW engines are solid diamonds, above 7000 rpm all day no problem if you read some of those endurance races in Europe.
The catch is you have to pour >93 octane

223 rwhp!

Thats a lot!

To be honest that sounds like flywheel horsepower to me.

Anyway you were looking for 218 so anyway your well off! Congrats! :-)

[epiphone3]

yeah, definately flywheel horsepower.

And there you have it my friends, I am right. A 2006 Canadian 323i has been converted to a European Spec 2006 325i.

And by the way, the dyno chart also proves that the Canadian 323i has the 3-stage intake manifold... you can distinctly see the points where the stages open. Looks like the first stage ends at 3100rpm, second state is 3100 - 4400 rpm, third stage is above. So do the doubters, that is dyno proof that the 323i has the 3-stage intake manifold.

Actually, more proof that this worked is that the engine revved past 6500rpm... stock 323i has the rev-limiter/fuel cut-off at 6500rpm.

Clairvoyant, what are all the other lines that I see on the plot there?

I am gonna try and do this in the first half of 2008 and I will do a BEFORE and AFTER dyno.

ANyone else want to give a go, I got the contact for you. PM me.

[clairvoyant]

Other lines there were because they did a test run to get the proper grip on the tires. I was too cheap to run a separate dyno chart, therefore those lines overlapped.

Originally Posted by epiphone3

yeah, definitely flywheel horsepower.

And there you have it my friends, I am right. A 2006 Canadian 323i has been converted to a European Spec 2006 325i.

And by the way, the dyno chart also proves that the Canadian 323i has the 3-stage intake manifold... you can distinctly see the points where the stages open. Looks like the first stage ends at 3100rpm, second state is 3100 - 4400 rpm, third stage is above. So do the doubters, that is dyno proof that the 323i has the 3-stage intake manifold.

Actually, more proof that this worked is that the engine revved past 6500rpm... stock 323i has the rev-limiter/fuel cut-off at 6500rpm.

Clairvoyant, what are all the other lines that I see on the plot there?

I am gonna try and do this in the first half of 2008 and I will do a BEFORE and AFTER dyno.

ANyone else want to give a go, I got the contact for you. PM me.