DIY tuning

houtan

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Nov 2, 2017
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135i N55 DCT; PS2
fuel pump? port injection? meth?
I want to stay 93 with 3 gal of Ethanol (E20 ish) . Which means 19 psi and 9 ish timing max. I'm early N55 with the late N54 HPFP.
Also, I'm road track / Autocross oriented, so straight line tuning doesn't excite me. Meaning, temps will be a concern and available fuel in large quantities.
Same. Early n55. I can run that boost and timing on E30 and the logs look pretty good. I bumped up to e40 a few days go to get a littl more octane and that was enough to crash rail pressure.

I did have charge pipe meth which resolves everything, even on 91. But I removed the system.

I am going to try this stuff called boostane tomorrow. For very cheap, it is supposed to bump my ACN 91 to 97 octane. Will post back my results but I am hoping it works so I’m not at the brink of the fuel system.

what afr are you running on the track? Would love to drive COTA one day.
 

naschine

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May 2, 2019
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I'm in the same boat! Early N55 DCT E82, M4 flywheel and LM600 turbo about to be installed this winter. Would love to be able to self tune.

How does the public available 98G0B XDF hold up though? Can't imagine (or better: I'm pretty sure) that there wasn't any improvements made in the last two years.

Since most (if not all?) of the XDF development was made by Justin, I'll probably want him to tune my car.
 
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houtan

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Nov 2, 2017
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135i N55 DCT; PS2
I'm in the same boat! Early N55 DCT E82, M4 flywheel and LM600 turbo about to be installed this winter. Would love to be able to self tune.

How does the public available 98G0B XDF hold up though? Can't imagine (or better: I'm pretty sure) that there wasn't any improvements made in the last two years.

Since most (if not all?) of the XDF development was made by Justin, I'll probably want him to tune my car.
Actually, there has been a lot of development on the Xdf by @Sbrach at wedge performance. He developed the HPFP tables that made it into the MHD ots ethanol maps for early e series. Of course, I don’t think they were added to the public Xdf. Not sure why, we would have to ask MHD. He has also done much more development on the Xdf that only he has, which is why I would use him for a e-tune. You can also find logs of his tunes to see how well cars are running.
 

houtan

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Nov 2, 2017
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Looking for input on a weird timing issue i have been seeing post M4 flywheel install as i turn up the boost bit by bit. I have reached out for input separate from this thread, but thought it would be good to post here to get inputs from others as well as so others can learn in case they run into a similar issue.

I started noticing something weird with my timing advance on my 20ish psi tune, where in the mid to upper rev range, my timing suddenly drops significantly or to zero, however, there is no timing corrections. I thought maybe it was too much boost for the octane or plug gap, so I loaded my 17ish psi tune, and the same thing was happening. This was happening on E30 every once in a while, but the log i am going to show you is on 97octane (ACN91 plus Boostane to get to 97 octane). I do think the drop was a little smaller on E30.

Since it was occurring on both tunes, i thought maybe my spark plug gap of .026 was to blame or maybe my coil packs. Taking things one thing at a time, i decided to do the easiest thing first which is reducing the spark plug gap. So i pulled the plugs and gapped them down to .020 (plugs are the one step colder NGK 97506 SILZKBR8D8S). My coil packs are the originals that came with the car, 56,000 miles on them. So this is my log after reducing the spark plug gap, could you please take a look?: https://datazap.me/u/houtan/acn91-rev14d?log=0&data=4-17-21-22-28-29-30-31-32-33-34-35&solo=34-35

The dip in timing advance is still occurring but there are no timing corrections when that happens. Do you know what that means and why it is happening? Is that engine knock? Or am i loosing spark (spark blowout)? Is my octane too low? Would appreciate any inputs from the experts out there.
 

Bnks334

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Dec 1, 2016
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Looking for input on a weird timing issue i have been seeing post M4 flywheel install as i turn up the boost bit by bit. I have reached out for input separate from this thread, but thought it would be good to post here to get inputs from others as well as so others can learn in case they run into a similar issue.

I started noticing something weird with my timing advance on my 20ish psi tune, where in the mid to upper rev range, my timing suddenly drops significantly or to zero, however, there is no timing corrections. I thought maybe it was too much boost for the octane or plug gap, so I loaded my 17ish psi tune, and the same thing was happening. This was happening on E30 every once in a while, but the log i am going to show you is on 97octane (ACN91 plus Boostane to get to 97 octane). I do think the drop was a little smaller on E30.

Since it was occurring on both tunes, i thought maybe my spark plug gap of .026 was to blame or maybe my coil packs. Taking things one thing at a time, i decided to do the easiest thing first which is reducing the spark plug gap. So i pulled the plugs and gapped them down to .020 (plugs are the one step colder NGK 97506 SILZKBR8D8S). My coil packs are the originals that came with the car, 56,000 miles on them. So this is my log after reducing the spark plug gap, could you please take a look?: https://datazap.me/u/houtan/acn91-rev14d?log=0&data=4-17-21-22-28-29-30-31-32-33-34-35&solo=34-35

The dip in timing advance is still occurring but there are no timing corrections when that happens. Do you know what that means and why it is happening? Is that engine knock? Or am i loosing spark (spark blowout)? Is my octane too low? Would appreciate any inputs from the experts out there.

Looks like a torque reduction (limiter) at play? There are two other limiter pids you can try logging.

It's got nothing to do with spark plugs. Knock feedback would be seen as timing corrections. "Spark blowout" would be felt as misfires. Not an ignition related issue. I don't know the logic but looks like a tuning thing. Might even be an intentional part of the tune.
 
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houtan

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Nov 2, 2017
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Thanks. I am hoping it's a tuning thing, but i am outside of my knowledge at this point so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. I have dialed back boost (18psi) and timing (8ish) for now and timing doesn’t dip like that anymore. Also upped the boostane to get to 99 octane.
 

Stokes

Sergeant
Jan 26, 2018
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Houston, TX
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2011 BMW 135i
Same. Early n55. I can run that boost and timing on E30 and the logs look pretty good. I bumped up to e40 a few days go to get a littl more octane and that was enough to crash rail pressure.

I did have charge pipe meth which resolves everything, even on 91. But I removed the system.

I am going to try this stuff called boostane tomorrow. For very cheap, it is supposed to bump my ACN 91 to 97 octane. Will post back my results but I am hoping it works so I’m not at the brink of the fuel system.

what afr are you running on the track? Would love to drive COTA one day.

Sorry, I disappeared there for a while. I've been targeting 12.5 AFR on 93OCT.

I'll have to look into the boostane stuff. I finally gave in and went commanded WGDC and the boost curve is so much better, but I found everything is so much more sensitive to fuel scalar and/or timing and/or act torque. I might just have to give in and pay someone to give me a tune so I can compare and see where I wasn't getting it. Tuning for me is purely hobbyist because I like to tweak little things, so please don't follow what I do. lol
 

houtan

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Nov 2, 2017
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Sensitive in what way? When I am updating boost and timing, I really don’t touch anything else and the logs look good. Look at my last post on boostane, it seems to be working great.

also I would lower your afr to 12.2 if you melted your turbo.
 
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Stokes

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Jan 26, 2018
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2011 BMW 135i
Sensitive in what way? When I am updating boost and timing, I really don’t touch anything else and the logs look good. Look at my last post on boostane, it seems to be working great.

Probably obvious to others, but I'm still learning and noticed that timing and fuel scalar impact boost considerably. Also, finding out that reported torque impacts timing. Leaning how each is related helps and makes sense one you realize it. I think i'm at a point where my commanded table is fine, now to tweak only one at a time (timing, reported torque, fuel scalar). It feels a like like doing a rear alignment... camber first, then toe. uh, toe changed camber, camber again, toe again, repeat until close enough.

also I would lower your afr to 12.2 if you melted your turbo.

Accidentally asking the stock N55 turbo to hit 18psi at redline is why it died. I was trying to get it to hold closer to 14 psi at redline in all the wrong ways (now I know). I only tested the setup up to 4th gear. I learned quickly that the higher the gear, the more the load and more likely to hit target. 7th gear on a long straight and my overly aggressive approach killed it.

I intend to watch temps more once I get a tune I like. I'm aiming lower than most with the PS2... 18 psi max .
 

houtan

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Nov 2, 2017
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Probably obvious to others, but I'm still learning and noticed that timing and fuel scalar impact boost considerably. Also, finding out that reported torque impacts timing. Leaning how each is related helps and makes sense one you realize it. I think i'm at a point where my commanded table is fine, now to tweak only one at a time (timing, reported torque, fuel scalar). It feels a like like doing a rear alignment... camber first, then toe. uh, toe changed camber, camber again, toe again, repeat until close enough.



Accidentally asking the stock N55 turbo to hit 18psi at redline is why it died. I was trying to get it to hold closer to 14 psi at redline in all the wrong ways (now I know). I only tested the setup up to 4th gear. I learned quickly that the higher the gear, the more the load and more likely to hit target. 7th gear on a long straight and my overly aggressive approach killed it.

I intend to watch temps more once I get a tune I like. I'm aiming lower than most with the PS2... 18 psi max .

Interesting. Would love to hear more on the timing and fuel scalar impacts when you have time. I’ll have to double check but I think my fuel scalar is stock. Load to torque I don’t touch either (except when I hit that torque limiter). I do always have to maps, a regular and a race, the difference between the two being timing. I’ll have to load each up and see if boost is different.

Pushing the stock turbo is very common and it’s proven to be durable. I probably asked the turbo for 100wgdc for 20,000 miles. Since you’re on a track, which is a more strenuous environment, the lower afr should help cool things from what I understand.
 

Stokes

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Jan 26, 2018
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Anyone here have a cheat sheet for what each Tq Limit log variable represents and the values themselves?

Why? I'm getting a value of 4 for longer than a blip during upshift for Tq Lmt 3. I suspect my reported torque is too low and that's representing slipping. Gonna raise reported torque and see what happens, but would be nice to have a reference on those logging variables if anyone can help.

Edit: For DCT
 

Stokes

Sergeant
Jan 26, 2018
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I found this from MHD in another thread:


There are 14 different torque limiters (1-2-4...2048). For instance
1- DTC kicking in
4- some trans requests
2048 - hit rev limiter while shifting (sometimes incorrectly referred as shift bog by the jb4 users).

I've seen 128 and 1024 as well. Still wondering what 4 means.
 

houtan

Lieutenant
Nov 2, 2017
611
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135i N55 DCT; PS2
Probably obvious to others, but I'm still learning and noticed that timing and fuel scalar impact boost considerably. Also, finding out that reported torque impacts timing. Leaning how each is related helps and makes sense one you realize it. I think i'm at a point where my commanded table is fine, now to tweak only one at a time (timing, reported torque, fuel scalar). It feels a like like doing a rear alignment... camber first, then toe. uh, toe changed camber, camber again, toe again, repeat until close enough.

Finally had a chance to test if timing change impacts my boost. Based on the log below, i am not getting any impact. Maybe there is something different between our tunes? This log is the exact same map as the log above that i posted on Jan 17th, but i reduced timing from 10.5 to 6 degrees.

Also, my fuel scalars are not stock ahaha. Sorry, don't know why i thought that. Maybe because i don't touch them after setting them where they are at, which was probably three years ago.


Log: https://datazap.me/u/houtan/v15-lower-timing-test?log=0&data=3-13
 

fryj00

New Member
Feb 8, 2020
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Hey, guys, I've spent a lot of time over at N54tech but I'm new to this forum...so hello!

I'm trying to get more knowledgeable about flash tuning my 2011 335xi. I have a good setup with my JB4 but I'm kind of annoyed at how it ties up some of the CAN bus comms to various modules...plus I just like to learn cool shit.

Anyway, I saw earlier in this thread that sbach was having trouble getting high wgdc during spool and then later seemed to have figured it out and was getting 100% wgdc during spool. I didn't see any detail on how he achieved this, though. Any ideas? I can't seem to get more than about 61% wgdc during most of spool mode.

I am using the stock PID system.

Thanks - Bryan
 
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Stokes

Sergeant
Jan 26, 2018
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Houston, TX
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2011 BMW 135i
Finally had a chance to test if timing change impacts my boost. Based on the log below, i am not getting any impact. Maybe there is something different between our tunes? This log is the exact same map as the log above that i posted on Jan 17th, but i reduced timing from 10.5 to 6 degrees.

Also, my fuel scalars are not stock ahaha. Sorry, don't know why i thought that. Maybe because i don't touch them after setting them where they are at, which was probably three years ago.


Log: https://datazap.me/u/houtan/v15-lower-timing-test?log=0&data=3-13

I'm starting to think my O2 is starting to go. I get interesting flat line @ 0 STFT values sometimes. So many things seem to impact other things, I need to write down the relationships I see. For instance, I've noticed (I think your post brought this to life) that if reported torque gets high, timing sensitivity seems to go up. I mean by this, that I can run 8 degrees with E20 and get 6 degrees of timing pull on multiple cylinders. I drop load table by 5 % at the load area and then I can run up to 10 degrees with no other changes. Is that a placebo effect, real, or something wrong with my dme? No idea. But, I am pretty sure I'm chasing a fuel scalar ghost. As long as it's trying to remove fuel, I'm just leaving it, even if it gets to -9 and then within a day or two it seems to magically be within a +/-2 range.

This is a hobby (learning) for me. Not my profession, nor do I intend it to be. So I caution anyone from learning from me. LOL
 

Stokes

Sergeant
Jan 26, 2018
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Houston, TX
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2011 BMW 135i
Not sure if I asked this here or not. Anyone know how to log P-factor error and D-factor error on MHD for N55? Do I have to use TestO to get those. It seems to be out of the box for the N54... so the PDF says, but it also says it is there for N55, but it's not.
 

Anon1

Lurker
Apr 13, 2019
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2013 135i DCT
I scoured the bowls of the internet and managed to get my hands on a large set of BMW Damos :D

ECUs:
DME8.4
DME8.6
DME8.x
ME9 N40
MEVD17.2
MEVD17.2.3
MEVD17.2.4
MEVD17.2.6
MEVD17.2.8
MEVD17.2.G
MEVD17.2.S
MEVD17.2.U
MSD80
MSD81
MSD87
MSV90

PM me for a free link.

Lets work together and get these XDFs populated!

My car is a 2013 so I am working on filling out the 9E60B XDF.
 

Stokes

Sergeant
Jan 26, 2018
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Houston, TX
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2011 BMW 135i
I just ran across a recent post in another forum where some one was sharing their knowledge on the various tables. I believe they also were more focused on the 9e60b xdf. If that is you, then glad to have you over here. If not you, I'll find the link as they seemed to make a lot of progress.

My interest lies with the 98g0b and trying to sort out how to tune a larger turbo (aka getting PID right).
 
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