powerchip

[bones712]

looking at having a powerchip installed next wk by powerchipgroup.com, does anyone have any experience with there products???

They run a program through the obd11 port at one of there dealers and fro what i have heard, work well acroo the range. 12 hp increase and 12 ft pds of torque for 400 bucks installed seems steep.

Ant thoughts?????

Thanks for your help

[spidertri]

The M44 computer is pretty much optimized from the factory, there is a little more power to get out of it but since it is NA you're not going to see huge power gains from the reflash.

Technique Tuning and Dinan are the only other chip makers I know of and they are both pretty pricey for what they offer as well.

Do you have an M42 or M44? M42s responds to software much better than the 44.

[MPWR]

I'm thinkin' run away! A generic ECU reprogramming service does not fill me with confidence. It is not hard to get more power by reprogramming an ECU. It's much more difficult to do it well- without say, damaging the engine.

If you really want to reprogram a BMW, stick with a tuner that does only BMW. Conforti/Turner or Dinan come highly recommended. Dinan software can be put into a brand new BMW, and BMW will still fully honor the factory warranty- so you know it's not going to break anything.

Either way, you're still not likely to get much more from an M44 with new software. You will have to run on premium gas at all times, and you really may not notice at all another 6hp.

[Will'sBimmer]

Take the 400 and find you a 6cly engine man! I have known some people to get some M50's or M52's for 400 or more but always less than 1000. That will get you more power than anything. Of course there is more to it than just an engine. Good luck to you with whatever you choose. But check out this rally car build thread on here. The guy there got his 3.0l engine for 350 bucks I think.

[CaptDarius]

I've seen what powerchips claim. Idk if its true though. They SPECIFICALLY claim 12 hp/tq gains for the M44 on their website last I checked.Dinan offers a maximum of ~8 hp/tq gains ( http://www.dinancars.com/store/product.php?productid=976&cat=397&page=1 ) and they also increase the powerband by increasing the rev limiter. As far as the shark injector, I was just looking for it to add it on here but I couldnt find one for the M44 engines :/

This is from powerchipgroups website concerning the OPs original post..

http://www.powerchipgroup.com/Datasheets/2/Bmw0010.pdf

I too would be interested in hearing what people experienced with ECU upgrades, have to say about them.

[pdxmotorhead]

With good fuel the Dinan chip will pull the same power. They are just conservative as to the rating to CTA.

It would be interesting to see if they(powerchips) use pump or barrel "91" octane. There are special race gas blends that are rated 92 or 93 octane that will dyno significantly higher than standard pump premium.

Dave

[CaptDarius]

If i had to pick between the two, I'd choose Dinan simply because of its reputation. Powerchip seems "too good to be true"

OP: I just want to make sure you are making an informed decision. I'm in the process of decided who's software do I want to have running in my ECU and if there's one thing I can telll you is that the opinions for each vary. My advice is if you can afford it, the go for it and let us know how it goes.

Remember one thing, if its installed at a BMW dealer, expect them to include a friendly labor charge + tax. Investigate whether they will charge you or not. I know for Dinan reflashes at a dealership they definitely charge. I think I once read on here they charged some guy $150 in labor for the reflash? IDK if anyone has had the same experience.

Also, do you have the M42 or M44? What year and model do you drive? The M42 has a chip thats replaced while the M44 is reflashed. The M42's Dinan chip is $100 cheaper and gets the M42 more gains...

http://www.dinancars.com/store/product.php?productid=949&cat=396&page=1

The m42 and m44 respond differently to this mod..

[bones712]

My car is a 97 ti w/m44. The powerchip in my area is installed by www.rennology.com who specialize in Bmw/Vw/ etc and the 400 dollar fee includes reflash and labor. Dinan does the reflash , but to my understanding charge for labor,

Any thoughts????

Thanks for all the help and input,

The powerchip also raises the rev limiter and eliminates the top end govenor.

Merry Christmas to all...

[CaptDarius]

Dinan charges 0.5 hrs worth of labor so its all about the labor rate at the shop you have it installed, I'd say if you had the money for the power chip, go for it :) It would be interesting to read up your review on their product.

[MPWR]

My car is a 97 ti w/m44. The powerchip in my area is installed by www.rennology.com who specialize in Bmw/Vw/ etc and the 400 dollar fee includes reflash and labor. Dinan does the reflash , but to my understanding charge for labor,

Any thoughts????


Which is cheaper is absolutely not the right way to pick engine software. But for the record, reflashing is the labor. The Dinan software is $300, and it will cost 1/2hr of labor to have it flashed to your ECU. If labor is $120/hr, 1/2hr is $60, which means the total would come to $360. Your mileage may vary depending on shop rates.

Pick software based on which one you trust your engine with. Do you still want to be driving this car in two years?

ECU software is not a very popular mod for M44 owners. That might tell you something about its relative value. Some engines really respond well with new software. The M44 does not- BMW's stock software for it is not very restrictive. For that same money, you can probably get an ass kicking set of tires that will improve your performance more than software could ever hope to. That money would also buy you most of a new set of Konis or Bilsteins, which again will improve a ti more than software possibly could. Or you could rebuild your cooling system (to make sure the car is still running in two years), and maybe have enough left over for an E36 front cross brace.

[CaptDarius]

Pick software based on which one you trust your engine with. Do you still want to be driving this car in two years?

ECU software is not a very popular mod for M44 owners. That might tell you something about its relative value. Some engines really respond well with new software.

I concur with you, I just said that because he just seemed convinced on using a power chip. BMWs are VERY expensive so if Dinan can create a product that will not void BMW warranty, I'd think its a good thing lol.

Also, in my experience, cars do not respond well to ECU upgrades alone ( there are obvious exceptions ). When I used to own a neon, an ECU upgrad was around $400+shipping+core charge. The programming was done by Howell Automotive and it was a really outstanding program (cut off A/C when WOT, learning software that adapts itself to endgines like cams, intake, exhaust) PPL on avg netted 12 hp/tq from that mod. I also had a honda and same thing. I think the favorable thing about the ECU upgrade though (and maybe its the only thing?) is that it extends the powerband by bumping up the rev limiter. Now whether the stock M44 cams can take advantage of the powerband increase or can make any useable power past the stock limiter, i do not know. :tongue:

[bones712]

I took the communitys opinions to heart and finally had Dinan software installed in my 97 ti, after a 100 mile trip back via interstate, i have to say that i am happy with the results, more power would be nice but i'll take what i can get. the combination of the software and a fogged airbox 4" hose cold airtake make the car much more enjoyable. The thing that i noticed most was the throttle response at all rpm's and a smoother distribution of power throughout the band with more pull and quicker revving throughout.

Thank-you to all who responded.

[CaptDarius]

Congrats! :D