Remaps UK to run the BMW 330d on 3 different remap options

author - Ed Richards

With fuel prices soaring and the green brigade telling the motorist to drive around in electric yogurt cartons and organic ones at that, it would seem that the UK is fast approaching a society where the performance hungry driver has no place in the universe, let alone on this planet, or does he?

Performance has always inherently been related to the thought of huge turbo’s, V8’s, petroholic 5.0 litre engines that suck in small animals through the air filter and spit a raging pit bull terrier out of the back!

But this has changed and the Germans were quick of the mark.

Seeing a gap in the market German manufacturers like BMW and VW/Audi invested heavily into the research and development of the diesel, yes they smell funny, they smoke and scare small children, but hear me out. The new generation of diesel engines doesn’t do any of these, in fact they do quite the opposite. For instance take a look at the exhaust pipe of the new BMW E92 330d for instance, its spotless and I really mean spot less. Take a listen to is straight six cylinder engine and one could be fooled into thinking its actually a petrol and a meaty one at that. Then get behind the wheel and one will be simply amazed at the performance and shocked when one see’s the MPG figures reading near 50 mpg at motorway speed! BMW claims the 330d has a Combined figure of 49.6 mpg and kicks out 231bhp, with a 0-62 of 6.7 secs, now that doesn’t sound very diesel’y does it!

Andy Percival at Remaps UK Ltd in Cheshire said , “I thought I’d let you know about a little project I’ve been running for the past few months” His project was aptly named Project Remap 330d… the clue is in the title.

The project vehicle in question is the new BMW 330d E92 Coupe, with the tiptronic box, Andy at Remaps UK says, “this is the best engine and gearbox combination for the tuning method we are going to use, as the torque figures this engine produces would make mincemeat out of a manual gearbox’s clutch’ and added ‘for the economy remap or a performance economy remap blend, the manual box is more than capable, it can also handle a performance map without any problem, but, what we have planned is full race, and lots of brake horses, and lots of brake horses, unchecked can break things. ”

Andy and the team’s plan at Remaps UK is to run the BMW 330d on 3 different remap options, firstly the economy remap, then the performance economy blend and finally a full blown race remap.

The economy map was developed after many different evolutions of the old E46 maps, Andy went on to say “the old E46 330d 184 bhp was a fantastic motor and paved the way for the new breed of modern diesel engines… we had some great fun tuning the E46 all those years ago and took great pleasure looking at the shock on the M3 drivers faces after a show down at the lights! Especially when they saw the badge… Diesel! The E46 still has a big following today and for good reason; it can still hold its own against the big boys and is still a very tuneable and capable machine. ”

When the final evolution of the Remaps UK remap file was finished and installed on the eagerly awaiting BMW E92 330d Coupe the first thing that was noticed was the mid-range punch, and also the extra 28bhp it got! This car now drives and feels like it should have done from the factory. On its first decent motorway run figures where rarely less than 64mpg! At one point the vehicle range showed 760 miles. On a 3 litre diesel these figures are truly staggering when you consider the speeds as well, ahem!

Andy went onto say, “over the years we have seen a shift in trends on what customers want, 3 years ago we rarely sold any economy maps as everybody wanted performance remaps, but as we developed the various remaps we instantly noticed the increase in engine efficiency even of the performance map. It seemed the by-product of all the performance maps we did, gave a significant improvement in mpg. It was at this time we diverted funds into this development area which finally produced the remap option we now call the blend, or the best of both world map option which is the performance remap and economy blended together like a good whiskey” He also added, "now with soaring fuel prices we can provide a significant quality remap solution whilst improving your mpg as well, having your cake and eating it springs to mind.”

Onto the performance economy blend remap option and the most popular choice for today’s customers according to Remaps UK, Cheshire. Andy explained, “this map is probably the best bang for buck for customers wanting the extra performance without the extra running costs, in fact this is the opposite, it costs less and you get a lot more. ”

In fact the BMW 330d Coupe got an extra 48 bhp taking it to just under 280 bhp, Andy stated, “this level of performance increase is right on the balance or performance against increased efficiency, it is a knifes edge and takes a lot of skill and experience to get it just right, trust me on this one, the testing and development was extensive, but the finished results are fantastic. Performance is nothing like the car in standard for, it breathes so much better and sings so sweet when you open up the taps, yet take your foot of the gas mpg figures shoot up with a combined average up 8 mpg over standard… very, very happy with this result, the BMW 330d is a truly outstanding piece of engineering and is growing on me from day to day. ”

Finally Andy at Remaps UK unleashed the full race remap option on the new BMW 330d Coupe, he said, “this is what we would consider a stage one pro race remap and would be considered for track use or the like, there is a lot more in there to give, but as I have mentioned before it has to be drivable and reliable, this map ticks both of these boxes” Adding, “there is no point having the car just sitting at the first set of traffic lights with its tyres smoking whilst the guy in the tuned up Corsa pats himself on the back and heads to the pub to tell his friends of his easy victory, its all about balance. ”

He added a few cautious words of warning though, “engine tuning and remapping is most definitely an art form as well as science and engine tuning understanding, there are many companies out there setup overnight supplying unrealistic figures and low prices which bring in the not so clever punter, if you don’t know what you are doing it can all go horribly wrong. ”

So, how did it perform, in short the results were unbelievable, the transformation was truly astonishing. The sheer acceleration pins you into the back of the seat in what can only be described as a complete assault on your senses. The power delivery is so smooth whilst being progressively aggressive in the same breath; it feels like a totally different car. “We’ve created a monster” Andy added with a smile.

The rolling road showed the car pushing out just over 300 bhp, 306bhp to be precise, but it felt a lot more. Andy said, “this has to be one of the best tuneable engines out there at the moment, BMW and Audi with both of the 3.0l blocks have hit the nail smack bang on the head, you just can’t go wrong with either, superb performance and fantastic economy” He continued to say, “me personally would always go down the route of the BMW as I prefer the driving characteristics and balance of the chassis, but still hold a hell of a lot of respect for the Audi’s. ” He stated, “the performance of the race map is in another league, we took the car up to the Lake district for a weekend run, the car averaged 58.8 mpg on the motorway at proper cruising speeds, if you know what I mean” And added, “the on road driving characteristics were really impressive, of the mark nothing could touch it and 3rd gear is epic” He also joked and said, “think the guy in the 335d wondered what was wrong with his car, sorry” and continued to say, “all in all a thoroughly enjoyable remap test, very impressive results across the board” finally adding “now to get hold of a BMW 335d Coupe to work the Remaps UK Magic on. ”

Andy finished by saying, “It has been my pleasure to take the time to explain the ins and outs of this project and I have hopefully given a more detailed insight into the world of engine tuning and remapping, It has been a very enjoyable project and have loved every minute of it. Many thanks from all the Remaps UK Development Team, now, who’s got the keys to the 330d? ”

For further details of this project or any other please visit www.RemapsUK.com or call us now on 0845 269 4064 , or email info@remapsuk.com

Contact Information

Andy Percival

Technical Director

Remaps UK

(44) 0845 269 4064

info@remapsuk.com