[Ph0zenstone]

Had my car tuned at VAC in Philly last week. First off, hats off to Mike for the great customer service and the tour of their facilities. It is night a day what they do compared to other shops. Full machine shop, 20+ employees, track-ready shop cars, full inventory of parts they sell/use/make,etc.

First impressions - didn't feel shit lol. On my 120 mile drive home (110 highway), I think the car didn't have a chance to really adapt to the new tune because it honestly felt like stock and I was at a constant speed for the most part. I had removed my BMS PBX the day before and there was a huge difference between stock feel and map 3 of the BMS. At this point I was asking myself was it really worth it? The good news is that the dyno does show some true gains even before adaptation.

Day 2 - about 30 miles of mixed city and highway driving. Felt slightly improved throttle response but nothing crazy and still unmatched to the BMS PBX. First gear still feels rather sluggish but between 2500-3500 rpm in second and third gear I feel there is a slight pull.

Day 3 - another 30 miles mixed. Tune still seems to be adapting which kinda sucks because its hard to do a true evaluation and know when it's "fully" adapted (if ever). Doesn't really feel much different than day 2 (maybe slightly but minimal).

Day 4 and beyond - I will continue to update as it progresses. After a month or so I plan on getting another dyno to see what final results are. At this point I can't really see the difference between this and the PBX but will give it some more time before my final verdict.

Car: 328xi
Motor: N51 (3 stage intake manifold), Steptronic
Mods: magnaflow exhaust, k&n drop in w/charcoal delete
Dyno: Mustang dyno (11-13% less than dynojet)
Baseline: 177 HP, 167 lbs torque (about 198 HP and 187 lb on Dynojet)
W/AA tune: 183 HP, 178 lbs torque (about 205 HP and 200 lb on Dynojet)
Gains*: 6 HP, 11 lbs torque (about 7 HP and 13 lb on Dynojet)

*Keep in mind I have xdrive and Automatic so there is a huge drivetrain loss. Also the dyno was done immediately after the tune was installed without letting it adapt yet.






Here's a cool pic of their showroom eye candy

[MonsterM]

Thanks for posting this! How much do they charge for the Dyno? Also, I have a N52 (RWD) and I felt a very noticeable power increase in the mid and high RPM range immediately after the tune. It could be that the N51 with the three stage manifold may respond a little different and take a little more time to adapt. I also noticed that looking at the AFR table it seems you have the revision 3 installed.

[Ph0zenstone]

How can you tell it's revision 3?

[MonsterM]

Originally Posted by phozenstone

How can you tell it's revision 3?

I really can't, I just compared the AFR to other Dyno readings.

[Propagator]

Thanks for posting the dyno result. It's very informative. 6HP is 3~4% of the total WHP, so that should be equivalent to ~100lbs difference in chassis weight. That's not huge, but it's not nothing either.

[Ph0zenstone]

Originally Posted by Propagator

Thanks for posting the dyno result. It's very informative. 6HP is 3~4% of the total WHP, so that should be equivalent to ~100lbs difference in chassis weight. That's not huge, but it's not nothing either.

yeh i'm having a hard time finding people who have posted dyno's after the tune. Really the only one i saw was AA's dyno which shows similar gains (minimal) but somehow they boast 15-20HP gains. I guess they mean 15-20 for 325i owners who have done the 3-stage intake manifold swap.

[MonsterM]

Originally Posted by phozenstone

yeh i'm having a hard time finding people who have posted dyno's after the tune. Really the only one i saw was AA's dyno which shows similar gains (minimal) but somehow they boast 15-20HP gains. I guess they mean 15-20 for 325i owners who have done the 3-stage intake manifold swap.

Did you see this one? It is the most recent one from AA. If I am not mistaken its a N52 328Xi.

[MonsterM]

Another good one in this thread:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=727141

[Ph0zenstone]

Thanks - looks like the 216HP is dynojet which is about 193HP on the mustang. Ill have to get a dyno after a few more weeks to let it adapt and see how close i get to that

[kamek]

I was starting to think I was crazy for thinking the tune didn't do much for my N51 328xi...

[andrey_gta]

Good stuff.

[MonsterM]

Originally Posted by kamek

I was starting to think I was crazy for thinking the tune didn't do much for my N51 328xi...

Hmmm maybe the N51 responds a little different to it and takes some time to adapt . I was a bit skeptical after reading your review but I immediately felt the difference with the tune and it exceeded my expectations in terms of power. My first impressions were that this is a bit more than 15 hp. I will try to get a dyno run within the next few weeks and Ill report back with the results.

[SflBimmer8484]

Originally Posted by MonsterM

Did you see this one? It is the most recent one from AA. If I am not mistaken its a N52 328Xi.

2013- Auto N52 Rwd with 500 miles on it and 19inch wheels

[Ph0zenstone]

how long after the tune was they dyno done? Immediately?

[mike-y]

Originally Posted by phozenstone

yeh i'm having a hard time finding people who have posted dyno's after the tune. Really the only one i saw was AA's dyno which shows similar gains (minimal) but somehow they boast 15-20HP gains. I guess they mean 15-20 for 325i owners who have done the 3-stage intake manifold swap.

yeah, if you have a 325i, the gains are huge, and totally worth it. Here's my dyno of the 325i before and after the tune+manifold. Also, the gains are over a stock engine+PBX which gave me about 8-9 ft lbs of torque and hp in the midrange.

Also, I waited more than a month to get the car dyno'd. It took the car weeks to really learn the tune. IMO, just one or two tanks of gas really isn't enough. And it seems to learn faster if you do long pulls in each gear, I don't think just cruising doesn't really do much for it.

[Ph0zenstone]

Originally Posted by mike-y

yeah, if you have a 325i, the gains are huge, and totally worth it. Here's my dyno of the 325i before and after the tune+manifold. Also, the gains are over a stock engine+PBX which gave me about 8-9 ft lbs of torque and hp in the midrange.

Also, I waited more than a month to get the car dyno'd. It took the car weeks to really learn the tune. IMO, just one or two tanks of gas really isn't enough. And it seems to learn faster if you do long pulls in each gear, I don't think just cruising doesn't really do much for it.

That can't be whp? I find it hard to believe 235whp even with 3-stage and tune. Unless that dyno is even more "friendlier" than dynojet. I am gauging on the "heartbreak" mustang dyno which tends to be more realistic.

And why is there such a large discrepancy in speed and rpm in our baseline vs AA?

[mike-y]

^that's a dynapack dyno, which is load-based, not inertia-based like a dynojet. Also, the dyno bolts directly to the car's hubs, so there is no wheel weight to spin. So this particular dyno reads higher than a dynojet by about 15-20hp from what I've seen. Mustang dynos read much lower, but it really doesn't matter AS LONG as you use the same dyno for the before and after pulls. you are looking for the delta between the tune, not the overall number. The dyno owner said that my "after" pulls were right in line with what he's seen 330i's make in his shop, so I was happy with that.

Looks like they stopped your dyno at around 6500rpm? You might of made more power if they ran it to 7000, but it's hard to speculate exactly... and for a mustang dyno, those are decent numbers.

[M3takesNYC]

The bottom line is the n52 left very little on the table, or atleast the 255 output versions. The ones where you add the 3 stage intake and tune are pretty good gains but otherwise just a tune really leaves a hand ful of HP on the table. I had an n52 back in the day and was a nice little engine, smooth and sounded great.

As far as adaptions, within 4 dyno pulls of WOt a car is adapted so not even close to a month, multiple tanks or even 30 minutes. Do a few hard pulls on the dyno between mods and your computer adapts.

If it took a computer months or tanks to adapt it would obviously be unable to do its job as the job of adaptions is not there for us to add mods to and make more power, the computer adapts to ever changing conditions such as heat, load, octane/detonation sensing etc. Changes are extremely quick.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by phozenstone

Had my car tuned at VAC in Philly last week. First off, hats off to Mike for the great customer service

Did you get a cheesesteak at Tony Luke's?

[Ph0zenstone]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

Did you get a cheesesteak at Tony Luke's?

no but i prefer Jim's Steaks anyways

[ska///235i]

My 325xi auto with 3 stage manifold, AA tune, PE, & euro intake has noticeable gain...sorry no dyno

My car felt like ass at first till I reset all adaptation with a scan tool..you can also try the old fashion gas peddle reset

[Ph0zenstone]

Thanks for the tip...will reset using my bt tool