DME Re-map recommendations please

Steve Medlock

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British Zeds
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May 11, 2016
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Tenterden, Kent
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2.8 Roadster
My Z is going to be in bits for a while no doubt so I thought I would get my MS41.0 DME remapped for the M50 manifold etc. The prices vary considerably and being software, it must be hard to know if they've delivered what you wanted. So any recommendations please?
 

mrscalex

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I did some looking into remaps a while ago when I was exploring how to clone factory DMEs.

My conclusion was many of the people on ebay just have copies of the same DME dumps that circulate freely and with the same cables as I now have (about £30) are just blindly downloading them onto the DME. They are not experts. So be careful. It's not to say you won't end up with something useful. But who knows.
 

Steve Medlock

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Tenterden, Kent
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Thanks chaps. Yes, as Rob says, its a bit of an unknown purchase if buying on ebay or similar. I've emailed Enda and I'll see what the response is.
 

Sajk

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I had my 2.8 tu done by Active Autowerke in the states. I am in South Africa. You go through multiple cycles with data logging in between. Not as good as being on a dyno but much better that an unknown ecu from eBay. The price of the tune includes flashing and logging software. If you invest in a tailpipe wideband O2 sensor you can also assure yourself that your tune is safe and provide much more accurate data logs. Being on a dyno is first prize however. Canned tunes rarely do mode than bump the timing a tad and add a bit of wot fuel. No account of your fuel and air quality is or can be taken into account.
 

mrscalex

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I had my 2.8 tu done by Active Autowerke in the states. I am in South Africa. You go through multiple cycles with data logging in between. Not as good as being on a dyno but much better that an unknown ecu from eBay. The price of the tune includes flashing and logging software. If you invest in a tailpipe wideband O2 sensor you can also assure yourself that your tune is safe and provide much more accurate data logs. Being on a dyno is first prize however. Canned tunes rarely do mode than bump the timing a tad and add a bit of wot fuel. No account of your fuel and air quality is or can be taken into account.
Sounds like sound advice.
 

Dino D

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I had my 2.8 tu done by Active Autowerke in the states. I am in South Africa. You go through multiple cycles with data logging in between. Not as good as being on a dyno but much better that an unknown ecu from eBay. The price of the tune includes flashing and logging software. If you invest in a tailpipe wideband O2 sensor you can also assure yourself that your tune is safe and provide much more accurate data logs. Being on a dyno is first prize however. Canned tunes rarely do mode than bump the timing a tad and add a bit of wot fuel. No account of your fuel and air quality is or can be taken into account.
My understanding (from End Tuning here in UK who has been doing these for a very long time) is that ECU in the M52B28 is old and not very clever like high performance modern stuff so dyno tuning is not that beneficial for them.

Active Autowerke say:
An increased RPM limit (for manual applications) is another great feature the Active Autowerke E36 328i software provides owners. With this raised rev limit, you have the ability to enjoy more usable power which had previously been restricted under the stock parameters.

The raised limit is known to cause issues with the oil pump nut falling off- the ‘eBay’ seller I used was keen to point this out. He also advised against doing a ‘pop bang’ map. eBay is just the medium you buy through.

These guys don’t even warn against the raised limit issues which does make me wonder.
 

Steve Medlock

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British Zeds
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Tenterden, Kent
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2.8 Roadster
Either of you guys know where my small vacuum connection goes/came from? I just can't see anything that it might have been connected to.
 

Steve Medlock

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British Zeds
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Tenterden, Kent
Model of Z
2.8 Roadster
Well my ECU just arrived back from End Tuning. If nothing else, its a pretty efficient service! I am expecting that it will do what I asked though and feel fairly confident in that. However, I'm waiting on power steering bits and injector service bits so probably at least another week before I get to fire it up.
 

Sajk

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My understanding (from End Tuning here in UK who has been doing these for a very long time) is that ECU in the M52B28 is old and not very clever like high performance modern stuff so dyno tuning is not that beneficial for them.

Active Autowerke say:
An increased RPM limit (for manual applications) is another great feature the Active Autowerke E36 328i software provides owners. With this raised rev limit, you have the ability to enjoy more usable power which had previously been restricted under the stock parameters.

The raised limit is known to cause issues with the oil pump nut falling off- the ‘eBay’ seller I used was keen to point this out. He also advised against doing a ‘pop bang’ map. eBay is just the medium you buy through.

These guys don’t even warn against the raised limit issues which does make me wonder.
As far as I know the oil pump nut issue is an issue with M54 3.0 because of the harmonic vibration set up by the bore/stroke ratio. 2.8 is square meaning bore and stroke are the same and I believe do not suffer from this vibration at higher revs.

In terms of the DME being dumb... Well it can control fuel and timing perfectly which is pretty much what you need for a remap in order to push the spark advance for your fuel and environmential conditions and bring the AFR down from 14.7 to something that creates more power at wot when its on open loop.

What else does it need to be able to do on an engine that does not have infinitely variable vanos.

In terms of the increased rev limit on an M52tu with the stock intake manifold it is not a benefit apart from making people feel good. Stock it falls off a cliff from a breathing point of view way before that. With an M54 intake manifold and intake cam it pulls all the way and would go boom without a rev limiter.

If I am incorrect about the DME being tuneable or the oil pump nut I would love to be corrected so I learn something.

Edit

I would NEVER run a tune without being able to verify actual AFR and knock with my air and my fuel. Engines that melt pistons are hard to fix. Canned tunes are a really bad idea without you being to verify that they are safe.
 
Last edited:

Steve Medlock

Zorg Guru (II)
British Zeds
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May 11, 2016
Points
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Location
Tenterden, Kent
Model of Z
2.8 Roadster
The only thing I can report so far is that I have plenty of low and mid range power and certainly none of the power loss that seems to be experienced with the M50 manifold on its own and I'm very pleased with that. The car really does seem to have loads of power but I can't say if that's all real or partly my expectation. On the lighter side, one of the options that he offered was an overrun burble. I had good burble and popping before and I think maybe I've lost some of that actually but I need to get the roof off tomorrow so I can hear it better!
 

Dino D

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Kent
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2.8 Manual
@Sajk - @Lee can tell you first hand how a 2.8 M52TU goes boom at high revs due to the oil pump nut backing off.

@Steve Medlock - glad you happy, you might have cured some vacuum leaks which were causing extra burble. Mine needed at least 60 to feel right after the manifold was done. Exhaust note did change and more induction sound is noticeable. I call it ‘straight six therapy’!
 
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