[itsahappyisaac]

Hi everyone, I would like some input and advice about the right habits for having a tuned N54. It just got very cold here in Minnesota, yesterday I had it out in -5F. I'm new to tuning, I installed my AP (stage 1 sport with DCIs) a few weeks ago. Warmed it up and when I got to 200F I did a moderate pull and noticed a decent amount of hesitation right as my turbos kicked up and noticeably less power . So my question is, how cold is too cold to do any amount of spirited driving? I can imagine these temps would effect output with more agressive timing. Can i compensate for these MN winters with the right ignition setup? Is there a temperature where I should switch to stock maps, and the consequences of not doing so.

[hellokitty]

Could it be traction control engaging and cutting power? I can’t imagine putting down any sort of power in -5f weather.

[tony55343]

I live in MN too , do you have snow tires on the car? I do, and my traction control kicks in all the time when I try to do any spirited driving. I am also tuned , I have MHD stage 1+ currently.

[itsahappyisaac]

Originally Posted by tony55343

I live in MN too , do you have snow tires on the car? I do, and my traction control kicks in all the time when I try to do any spirited driving. I am also tuned , I have MHD stage 1+ currently.

That could be, I only did this when the road looked free of snow and ice but maybe it was still a little slippery. I have blizzaks currently I like them a lot. It didn't feel like traction control as much as an ignition thing. I'm most likely due for a walnut blast (bought @117k 137 currently) maybe that is a factor.

[itsahappyisaac]

Originally Posted by hellokitty

Could it be traction control engaging and cutting power? I can’t imagine putting down any sort of power in -5f weather.

I was at 210 or so when it happened, which brings me to the question if the air can be too cold regardless of you being at proper temp.

[Tim603]

My car is pretty heavily modified and I know she acts a little weird in the winter/super cold temps. I always wondered about this and if low temps actually have an effect.

[rjahl]

Even here in Florida, I notice a big difference in tire grip when the roads drop below 60 degrees. Even dry and clean, the tires don't hold on when it's cold. Michelin tires only had them for a few months. Can't image how they would feel at 30 degrees.

[dpaul]

Originally Posted by itsahappyisaac

I was at 210 or so when it happened, which brings me to the question if the air can be too cold regardless of you being at proper temp.

This seems incredibly unlikely

I'm in Boston, where we rarely seen temperatures below 0F but we see single digits often enough. I've never noticed any issues of the sort you suggest.

[MysticRob]

As others have mentioned, it's not the tune. More likely is the cold causing fitment issues with bits and pieces (potential vacuum leaks) or traction issues when the tires become frozen Flintstone rocks.
I just had my first 30FF code thrown, and on the coldest day thus far. Turns out my aftermarket charge pipe slipped its clamp and came off the lower OEM pipe. I'd done dozens of high boost runs done in warmer weather and never had an issue.

[Unknown_Car]

We got few people from MN here nice.

[valibad]

I just want to say that mine n54 has 7.5 race fmic, inlets, cp, dpipes, tial bov, dci,wallbro 450(e98 on winter) and stage 2 turbos + custom map. I daily drive the car all the time and now in finland we have -28 celcius. I have zero problems, besides traction kicks in all the time xD.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by itsahappyisaac

Hi everyone, I would like some input and advice about the right habits for having a tuned N54. It just got very cold here in Minnesota, yesterday I had it out in -5F. I'm new to tuning, I installed my AP (stage 1 sport with DCIs) a few weeks ago. Warmed it up and when I got to 200F I did a moderate pull and noticed a decent amount of hesitation right as my turbos kicked up and noticeably less power . So my question is, how cold is too cold to do any amount of spirited driving? I can imagine these temps would effect output with more agressive timing. Can i compensate for these MN winters with the right ignition setup? Is there a temperature where I should switch to stock maps, and the consequences of not doing so.

Get an LSD. That will help with snow covered roads in addition to Blizzak WS 80 snow tires.

If it were me, I'd only run the tune spring, summer & fall.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

Get an LSD. That will help with snow covered roads in addition to Blizzak WS 80 snow tires.

If it were me, I'd only run the tune spring, summer & fall.

Oh cmon don't get a damn LSD just for because of the winter driving what a joke

I've been driving me 335is open diff RWD all winter now we've been hit with lots of snow and I've had zero issues. I have Nokian Hakkapeliitta that I bought used a 7/32 thread left. I am also running MHD Stage 2. When the street are plowed I can do a moderate pull just fine. But nothing more. And you shouldn't have to when it's winter. I'm actually considering removing my tune like mweisdorfer is saying and remove the burple aswell.

The only potential issue is ground clearance.

With all the things I've read on forums about RWD vs winter over the years I was looking at which car to get I am just laughing my ass off how wrong everyone is. OK maybe it was a pain with older cars but it is easily manageable and for the pain AWD gives you and removes that drifting fun RWD is so worth.

[Supra2k6]

it's was on the single digits in DC yesterday took the car out after a while. Tires don't hook up for shit but that's common.

If your car is custom tuned on the summer if anything it should perform better on cold AKA Turbo weather time. Unless Elevation is playing a role where you are. but lack of traction and TC on will make the car studder a lot with very little acceleration

[catcher22]

My car loves the cold and drives better every winter than summers, hands down.

For your scenario, with the extreme cold temps, it's most likely fitment issues and things expanding and shrinking at a greater rate causing leaks and resulting in heavy adjustments.

[Bimmer_Engineer]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Oh cmon don't get a damn LSD just for because of the winter driving what a joke

I've been driving me 335is open diff RWD all winter now we've been hit with lots of snow and I've had zero issues. I have Nokian Hakkapeliitta that I bought used a 7/32 thread left. I am also running MHD Stage 2. When the street are plowed I can do a moderate pull just fine. But nothing more. And you shouldn't have to when it's winter. I'm actually considering removing my tune like mweisdorfer is saying and remove the burple aswell.

The only potential issue is ground clearance.

With all the things I've read on forums about RWD vs winter over the years I was looking at which car to get I am just laughing my ass off how wrong everyone is. OK maybe it was a pain with older cars but it is easily manageable and for the pain AWD gives you and removes that drifting fun RWD is so worth.

I totally agree...it was cold as hell here last week...below 40*F for christ's sake...and the RWD handled it just fine!

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Bimmer_Engineer

I totally agree...it was cold as hell here last week...below 40*F for christ's sake...and the RWD handled it just fine!

I was in even colder! Past 2 days at 6am when I leave it's been -23c ( -9*F ) and no traction problems. Even when there was the big snowfall it drove well.

Now in terms of noise and all that oh boy it's not super but everything reverts back to normal once it warms up lol.

Cracking or creaking over bumps because of all the ice on the car, this weird wind noise as if a window is down, probably a seal that shrinks under cold, shiftier metal clicking when shifting and going over bumps.

[Antetokounmpo]

OP has an xi... there is no way he is spinning on dry roads in any gear above first. If the throttle cuts coincide with going over bumps, then yes I can see it, but that's the only way.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Antetokounmpo

OP has an xi... there is no way he is spinning on dry roads in any gear above first. If the throttle cuts coincide with going over bumps, then yes I can see it, but that's the only way.

Oh you're right.

[Jklad]

To rule out misfires you could always fully disengage your tc and see how badly your wheels spin! Just watch out for trees and poles lol.

I experience the same thing in cold, it was 20f here last week and did a second gear pull, little hesitations felt like misfires but are really traction control kicking in. This is on a very mild tune on snow tires, "dry" pavement. Your car even stock or with a weak tune will break traction and kick in the tc. Think about it - even in the summer, without fully disengaging traction control, if you do a full throttle pass through third or forth gear on the highway and log you will notice throttle closures in your logs.

I use a mild tune in winter - it's not necessary, but easy enough to update. Imo there's really no reason to be going wot with 400+ hp on frozen, salted /wet pavement, you won't hook (maybe the xi guys do a little better, i can't say)

[dcorn]

OP, you haven't ever noticed these same symptoms after the tune and before the cold weather? Other than traction control (unlikely with an Xi, but who knows), I don't see any reason why the car would hesitate because of cold weather. Hell, the car should love the colder weather keeping IAT's down, you should actually get higher boost with the denser air.

I just got a walnut blast done and my car runs noticably better than before. The car only has 69k miles and it would stutter and hesitate under boost while accelerating, which has completely gone away with clean valves. I'd say take the tune off until you get that work done.

Now, if the car was running perfectly before the tune and cold weather, it's possible the denser air charge has thrown off the air/fuel ratio and caused a misfire problem, but I feel like you'd hear a lot more about that on the forum.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Oh cmon don't get a damn LSD just for because of the winter driving what a joke

I've been driving me 335is open diff RWD all winter now we've been hit with lots of snow and I've had zero issues. I have Nokian Hakkapeliitta that I bought used a 7/32 thread left. I am also running MHD Stage 2. When the street are plowed I can do a moderate pull just fine. But nothing more. And you shouldn't have to when it's winter. I'm actually considering removing my tune like mweisdorfer is saying and remove the burple aswell.

The only potential issue is ground clearance.

With all the things I've read on forums about RWD vs winter over the years I was looking at which car to get I am just laughing my ass off how wrong everyone is. OK maybe it was a pain with older cars but it is easily manageable and for the pain AWD gives you and removes that drifting fun RWD is so worth.

I don't know how winters are in Quebec. I know the worst winters in the 48 continental states are in Minnesota, which is just below Winnipeg. From what I understand Winnipeg has some of worst winters in all of Canada.

So, definitely an LSD would help in the state of Minnesota or states like that.

While I agree, the e90 being perfectly balanced, in terms of weight distribution, has it easier than most RWD cars due to its physics. Couple that with elite snow tires like the Blizzak WS80, and in most situations, as long as you drive conservatively, one shouldn't have too much difficulty traversing 4" of snow on the roads.

An LSD coupled with elite snow tires adds another level of protection when the roads get slick.

You can't argue physics..

In addition, I'd take any trans tunes or ECU tunes off during the winter months. Having your tires spin that much faster, on slick roads, doesn't help your cause.