EMP TUNING, moving the discussion out of the shadows

Venom77

Private
Feb 22, 2017
36
27
0
Arizona
Ride
335I
With all due respect from all of the tuners here and in this thread - the only thing you all have is your experience and customer support. A couple of VERY well known LS tuners here in town love to just do open loop tunes. Sure the car runs great at the track and makes numbers on the dyno, but mileage and driveability suck. People flock to them in droves though because a. they don't know any better, b. references, and c. they make big numbers.

Eh, Op has more experience than just customer support.
 

Kervio

Private
Jan 7, 2017
43
15
0
As v8bait stated, these cars are EXTREMELY forgiving to garbage tuning... which fosters plenty of growth of "tuners". In most other communities, this kind of copypasta amateur tuning wouldn't fly. It would lead to blown engines left and right and the "tuner" would be ran out of the community.

It takes a LOT to mis-tune an n54 to the point of destruction. Quote me on that.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Boosted_135

gabrielgray

New Member
Jan 1, 2018
2
0
0
Ride
335i
Who are the top tuners for n54 platforms then? I’ve had negative experiences with motiv and so have a few of my friends. I’ve had positive experiences with emp but if there’s better options out there I’d def like to at least explore them. I have over 30k into my 335 build currently
 

Venom77

Private
Feb 22, 2017
36
27
0
Arizona
Ride
335I
Who are the top tuners for n54 platforms then? I’ve had negative experiences with motiv and so have a few of my friends. I’ve had positive experiences with emp but if there’s better options out there I’d def like to at least explore them. I have over 30k into my 335 build currently

Twisted tuning, Wedge performance, V8Bait
 
Who are the top tuners for n54 platforms then? I’ve had negative experiences with motiv and so have a few of my friends. I’ve had positive experiences with emp but if there’s better options out there I’d def like to at least explore them. I have over 30k into my 335 build currently

I can appreciate the numbers. I have three project cars with well over 100k invested. I just sold my stock turbo R&D car because I moved the v8 OTS N54 maps to beta and picked up a z4 35is to play with.

Below is a dyno from a 6870 I did the first round of tuning on early December. Gate was a 17 psi and BoostBOX wgdc was around 40 to 50%. This was pump E85 with stock vanos and stock knock sensors. With vanos tuning we can make more power earlier in the pull and hold power a bit more past 7000. The car ended up making 938.96 whp, but tune below is usable and not some dyno queen.

Let me know if you have questions, we can take it offline.

BoostBOX 30 to 36 psi with Stock VANOS.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Wedge v15 BoostBOX VANOS with Stock Knock Tables Info.jpg
    Wedge v15 BoostBOX VANOS with Stock Knock Tables Info.jpg
    126.3 KB · Views: 210

ATL-IS-N54

Sergeant
Nov 20, 2016
261
61
0
ATL ga
Pretty much, you're right about everything there except on z axis a value of 1 is like 100% closed throttle, and a value of 0 is disabled, in the factory table you see the values rise with increasing boost over target. Flash only with this table it means if boost hits target like it should you'll get throttle closures, and this can cause throttle codes. You should give yourself more credit you have a pretty good understanding.
I’m no tuner but curious and technically inclined... u guys just proved my theory on this table is correct :) yay I got one right! Lol, Now just copy and paste into my “do not tune like this” bin ;)
 

ATL-IS-N54

Sergeant
Nov 20, 2016
261
61
0
ATL ga
I can appreciate the numbers. I have three project cars with well over 100k invested. I just sold my stock turbo R&D car because I moved the v8 OTS N54 maps to beta and picked up a z4 35is to play with.

Below is a dyno from a 6870 I did the first round of tuning on early December. Gate was a 17 psi and BoostBOX wgdc was around 40 to 50%. This was pump E85 with stock vanos and stock knock sensors. With vanos tuning we can make more power earlier in the pull and hold power a bit more past 7000. The car ended up making 938.96 whp, but tune below is usable and not some dyno queen.

Let me know if you have questions, we can take it offline.

View attachment 7948
Bad ass man! Keep up all the good work!
 

veer90

Lieutenant
Nov 16, 2016
1,000
774
0
West Nyack, NY
Ride
e90 335i 6MT
Explain ? Is it because of the stock DME pulls timing and it corrects fuel?

Yes the stock DME does have safeties in place, but it can only do so much. It's not perfect - the DME will let you cruise along with bank 1 and bank 2 AFRs mismatched and let you do WOT pulls at 15:1, but will intervene if you go full retard and try to blow up the motor

Fuel can be corrected +/- 34%. Timing can be pulled, and the throttle can be closed. That's usually enough to limit power and stop a badly tuned motor from going boom.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: V8bait
Nov 5, 2016
615
624
0
Bay Area
Well its about time this came to light. Thank you Justin for having the balls to post it. Ken has been telling me about this for months now. I have emails from EJ just a few months ago where he could not even install a set of inlets, literally he could not understand how to get clamps on, and needed help. While this has nothing to do with tuning, it shows his lack of understanding, and general experience for working on vehicles, warning signs to say the least...
 

langsbr

Captain
Apr 5, 2017
1,266
771
0
Ride
07 335i 6MT e90
Eh, Op has more experience than just customer support.

Don't misunderstand please, I'm not saying he only has customer support, but that the only thing ANY of the tuners have is their experience and their reputation. Justin's reputation precedes him, as do many others.
 

Slowvert135i

Corporal
Oct 24, 2017
112
43
0
Shelton, ct
Ride
08 135i e88
I don't have anything bad to say about aj or emp as a whole.... I will state that over the summer i paid for a custom map for my car... 08 135i fbo stock turbo 93oct 21psi requested.

The first few revisions were nice the car ran fine and was still on low boost. Then we got to about rev7 supposedly targeting 19psi but the car would not make more than 16.5psi. Next few revs car still only makes 16.5psi targeting 19-21 and once i let off the throttle during a log car would throw overboost codes. Ajs answer was that my car was fucked up and something must be broken..... Mind you that on the ots mhd2+ the car made 19psi all day no codes no issues. So he suggests that i tear into the car to find a problem..... Ordered plugs, coils and boost solenoids to start. Well im a lazy fat fuck so i never used any of the parts that i purchased... I ended up speaking with a buddy of mine that tunes lots of other platforms and i asked him to look over my logs and such so i emailed him the files i received. He calls me about 5 min later... "What the fuck was that guy doing? Do you mind if i send you a map to try?" So he send over a map of his own. First map no codes and making 17psi... After a few more revisions the car makes 21psi no codes no problems. Not sure what issues aj was having and i dont really care. Car is fine now so no harm no foul im out 200$ for a tune that never happened but hey thats fine. Still getting fucked by "wolfbuilt" for much more money lol.


Well thats just my input on the matter.
 

Slowvert135i

Corporal
Oct 24, 2017
112
43
0
Shelton, ct
Ride
08 135i e88
Im not too familiar with most of those names, but i do know of a few. They all seem to be quite knowledgeable based on what ive read. Maybe one day i will inquire about a tune from one of them but as of right now my boy doug has been doing some killer work with my car.
 

doublespaces

Administrator
Oct 18, 2016
9,303
4,331
0
AZ
Ride
2009 E93 335i
Im not too familiar with most of those names, but i do know of a few. They all seem to be quite knowledgeable based on what ive read. Maybe one day i will inquire about a tune from one of them but as of right now my boy doug has been doing some killer work with my car.
The two Jakes I know are @MOTIV Motorsport who used to go by the username @jhershorin. The other one @jyamona doesn't tune so much as reverse engineer.

The two Justin's are @V8bait and @Twisted Tuning

Chris is @CKI@Motiv also known as 3000GT MR I believe.

Ken is @WedgePerformance

Andy is @AD-ENG

Most of these guys have been around this platform a while, some I know since before me and that was 2009. They've seen all the steps from piggy backs to cobb to open source flashing to mhd.

If someone can't tell you the history of this platform further than a couple years and the tuners who have been there along the way, I'd have a hard time taking their word for much when it comes to knowing who is best. There are a few people on this board that know. I've seen their names for many years.

If someone got interested in this platform from youtube, remember we still had motorola razrs when these cars came out and we were buying and boosting them. They probably were in grade school still and somehow claim to know everything.
 

Omar@VaderSolutions

Lieutenant
Premium Vendor
Oct 19, 2016
535
409
25
NY & AZ
vadersolution.com
Ride
N54 135i & N54 335i
If someone got interested in this platform from youtube, remember we still had motorola razrs when these cars came out and we were buying and boosting them. They probably were in grade school still and somehow claim to know everything.
wow that just hit me lol i was begging my parents to get me the razr 2 when the 335i first released and then my two cousins got one ( one vert one coupe) . i had no idea it was boosted i just thought of it as a regular non m 3 series, then one cousin with the coupe bought a helix piggy back lmaooo , we installed that thing and put race gas in it then boom, the 335 was the first fast car i felt in my life lol never had the feeling of my stomach being pushed back until that moment, mind you this is all back in 07-08 lol