ECU Tuning Options on a European Car (323Ti)
 

Hi Fellas, I'm not sure if anyone here will have an answer to this question, but the European section seems to see very little traffic so I thought putting it there might not yield any responses. I have a 323Ti and would like to flash the ecu in order to get a little more DD oomph from the car. Back home in Canada, I have a Dinan CF intake and short shift kit which I am sending over to myself here in Munich to install on the Ti. I have a friend who has a ECU from his 323i coupe in Canada that is flashed with Dinan stg. 3 software. I was planning to get it off him and install it in my car here while I am pretty positive it will work fine with a simple ECU alignment but I had read the following on the Turner Motorsport website which made me wonder if American tuning is useless on European cars (or if its purpose was to make 'restricted' American model BMWs more like the stock European models?)

"Software makes changes to the stock BMW software in the areas of fuel enrichment, transition fueling, camshaft timing, ignition timing, and VANOS control to take full advantage of 91+ octane fuel. BMW ‘de-tuned’ cars for the North American market in the event inferior fuel was used. Software reverses those changes to gain more horsepower and torque."

So I am wondering if the Dinan software (or Shark, or any brand) is used in order to make our cars more like their "non-restricted" European counterparts? Which if so, I am already I guess a step ahead of the game and ECU flash/tuning, or atleast from a American tuner, might not be worth it for me?

I'm also wondering if it is worth it to use the Dinan ECU I can get, or whether it is better to search for the popular tuning options out here locally (in Germany) seeing as they may tune differently because the car is a European specific model?

I know a lot of the board is from America so getting a clear answer might be difficult. That being said, any insight is appreciated. T.I.A.

I have not seen a calibration file from a 323TI euro but generally the Euro car's have a more aggressive mapping structure over Canada/US models

What people don't realize is that the DME used is a MS41 but inside can be many versions of software for different delivery country's and fuel grades

The Dinan code will probably work fine after alignment but if you get knocking you should change out the injectors and or slightly increase fuel pressure to deliver a better mixture

best of luck!

Those were the exact thoughts which lead me to wonder if our tuning in Canada/America are simply efforts to achieve the performance levels normally set on European model BMWs. If that was the case, I would be at no advantage utilizing any tuning from outside of Europe and ought to better acquaint myself to the tuning scene or popular tuners here.

Many Thanks for a insightful first response Barrie! Cheers

I was just talking to a BMW mechanic friend of mine (back in Canada, not Europe) about this and he brought up a good point that I had not thought of. If the European cars are generally tuned more aggressive from the factory, and therefore the Dinan ECU (or any Canadian or American tuning software) would almost just be an equivalent to what the factory European tune is, why are the output numbers on a European 323Ti and a CAD/US 323 coupe, with the same M52B25 engine, identical? 170HP and 181 lb. ft. Torque.

In that case, if the Dinan bumps horsepower and torque on a CAD/US 323i coupe, should it not do the same on the European 323Ti?

If the more aggressive European tune doesn't show up in the numbers, where do you see it? Or are the European output numbers just understated?

T.I.A.

Take a read from your 323ti in European and then I will compare it against the US/SPEC 323 software and I will tell you quickly what is going on :)

tool to read the DME http://www.ebay.ca/itm/OBD2-Galletto...item1c1f443c96