1996 E36 -- Reprogramming the ECU

[E36Ron]

Can anybody report their experiences regarding performance reprogramming of a 1996 M52 ECU?

I have seen tools for sale that claim to improve performance, acceleration and economy by a simple plug-in-and-press-a-button series of actions. They claim the device will retain, and allow reinstall of, original factory settings (apparently needed if the car goes in to the dealer for any reason).

But this black box stuff all kinda feels pretty scary to me.

Any comments?

Thanks,

-- Ron

E36Ron

[hitmachine101]

My father and have seen at least 6 M3s in the past couple years the 95 3.0 motor and the 96-99 3.2

I can personally tell you that the programmable software your talking about -- the plug and go -- does in fact work

either jim confoti or shark is what id recommend( it may be expensive but i wouldn't go with a knock off)

my experiences are about 2mpg extra on the highway, nothing on the around town mpg

the acceleration isn't all that noticeable but its there
the biggest difference that ive noticed is that the govener is completely removed,,,
stock the car stops pulling around 115, it feels like thats where the fuel starts to be restricted

when that software is installed the car keeps pulling extremely hard past 115, its almost scary so hold on

but do your self a favor and dont be cheap with the fuel -- if you put 87,89, even 91 in the tank, your going to regret that.... 93 always

[E36Ron]

Thanks, Hitmachine101, great info and great advice!

The item I had seen was the Power Programmer from Bavarian AutoSport, Part No. BAVPP3I3MS4142 on their site at ************, for $360.

My concern about the "black box" approach is that you have no way of knowing what parameters are changed within the ECU, nor whether the restore function truly works. So you are entirely dependent upon the reputation of the vendor.

They say that the restore function is needed because the ECU is routinely reprogrammed back by the dealer if you take the car in for a service there (is this true?), after which the Power Programmer will no longer work.

Lifting the RPM governor speed limit is an obvious feature fix (given that BMW tells you they deliberately limit it), but the real value for me would come in more throttle response from 3,000 rpm to 3,950 rpm (where max torque is and after which the acceleration is already plenty scary as the revs just keep on shooting up), as well as more mpg at highway speeds.

Do the makers of the two items you recommend give you more technical information and detail on their products?

Thanks again,

-- Ron

E36Ron

[hitmachine101]

Im not sure with the entire BMW dealer thing, I looked at the product you are looking at and it looks like the other two I mentioned before

I would ask Jeron on the Dealer question, I personally would say that the dealers wouldn't have a problem with that being injected. Theres so many professional tuners that use basically the same product that I think they would come to expect it by now. I personally do all the work on my cars and haven't ever had to bring it to a dealer yet ( knock on wood ) so im not exactly sure

and your right about the rev limiter -- forgot to mention that, personally i don't know about that because im a wus and don't push my car that hard ha ha

but it will most defiantly help with the torque in the 3000-3999 range, when driving the stock 96 m3 that i had and then driving my 97 with the flash programing in it its a difference that is noticeable

and for your parameters, call your site and get the info out of them -- thats a relatively expensive part and its going into the brain of your car -- make sure your convinced they know what there doing -- ask questions