Powerchip installed on our beasts! - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

XrayMD · 17th February 2003, 05:34

Well, Keoung (sp?) and Jessie from Powerchip arrived in Marietta, OH early this am and spent the day with Tony and me and our beasts. These guys were great and we had a good time despit the weather.

As Keoung had never seen snow before, we made sure that he got to throw some snowballs, taste some fresh snow and even try to make a snowman!

We had some time to kill because of the 16 hour time difference to Australia to send the programs back and get the new programs via email to install. The process is easy and can be done via the OBD-II port in the car. They went out of their way and did some "extra" reading of the chips in our ECU's to prevent any possible problems and there were none.

Now the bad news!

Because of about 14" of snow on the ground (now followed by freezing rain and sleet), Tony & I were unable to take the beasts out for a run and it looks like it will be a few days before we can post results of the ECU upgrade/reprogramming. I did not reprogram my 3.0 X5 although we did a reading of the ECU and I can get the reprogramming by email anytime. WE did do the mods. to our Mini S and Tony's M3 last week with great results. The Mini S has a very apparent increase in power/torque and as Tony posted previously, he feels first gear in the M3 is now "silly"!

I want to say this. If you are expecting the "chip" to give you a huge increase in power, you have to know that no chip reprogramming can give tremendous gains. We SHOULD realistically see 16 - 20 HP increase but the real difference should be in "drivability". What does this mean? Rather than speculate, I would ask you to be patient until the weather permits Tony & me to really run the beasts and see what's different. I have heard that throttle response will be awesome, like the first time you ever hit the sport button, but all the time.

We were very impressed by these guys and we had a good time with them as well. Powerchips has a great reputation and there are several members on the board form the land down under who have personal experience with this company and they have great things to say about them.

We will hopefully be able to post reports of our experience with the beasts early next week...Mother Nature permitting.

AVOXO · 17th February 2003, 16:14

Sounds Gooooooooooooooooooooooooda!

bmurphy · 17th February 2003, 17:22

As the #4 Powerchip customer in the US, I am VERY impressed. First off, the throttle response is 100 times better than before. And yes, the overall driveability along with the removed rev limiter allow for superior "sport" driving. Wayne with Powerchip told me that the chip could make the car jerky but I have not experienced that problem. Of course, I drive with my foot in the carb constantly. He also pointed out that at 92 octane the chip was pretty much a waste. Therefore, I run a mixture of 93 (about 12 gallons) and 100 octane (about 4 to 5 gallons) in the beast. All of this in conjunction with the CAI and cool temps here in Atlanta and this car is a force to be reckoned with.

About Powerchip, my hats off to them. They are SO professional. I had a very minor glitch when the program was sent and it was remedied immediately and this was at 7:30am west coast time on a Sat morning. No other software company in the world would do that. I anticipate MANY members of this board will be thrilled with their product and outstanding service.

If anyone has questions, post them and I will answer a.s.a.p.

Thanks to Powerchip! And to Apples and the rest of the board.

Murph

Joe H · 17th February 2003, 17:40

"He also pointed out that at 92 octane the chip was pretty much a waste. Therefore, I run a mixture of 93..."

For 91 octane users (CA for example), I guess that would eliminate us from enjoying any benefits from the programming...

Joe

MAH · 17th February 2003, 17:45

I am going to be working with Powerchips soon to test the M5 and CA 91 octane fuel. It seem that Powerchips feels that in order to give us the best possible download, they need to take a car here in CA on CA 91 octane and modify the software to match the fuel and the car. I can't wait.

XrayMD - come on, get rid of that snow, give us a run.

Mark

TonyS555 · 17th February 2003, 17:55

Quote:

Originally posted by Joe H
"He also pointed out that at 92 octane the chip was pretty much a waste. Therefore, I run a mixture of 93..."

For 91 octane users (CA for example), I guess that would eliminate us from enjoying any benefits from the programming...

Joe

Joe,
I think Powerchips has addressed your situation. Check with MAH. I believe he is testing the 91 octane version 2.

XrayMD · 17th February 2003, 18:05

Murph!!! I ENVY you man!!!

Tony & I may be # 1 and #2 but at least you got to DRIVE yours already!!! I can't wait!

DrPaul · 17th February 2003, 18:38

I guess the skeptic in me would like to see some evidence that you gain at least some of the horsepower increase that is advertised. I give credit to Wayne and Powerchips as they refused to sell me a chip for my car because I insisted that I see something close to the advertised horsepower improvements as tested on a dyno. He stated that since one really couldn't measure a better driving experience, it wouldn't be worth the disappointment, because the dyno doesn't tell the whole story. Believe me, I want these things to work because like virtually all here, I always want a bit more. I'd say simply beware of placebo effect (especially a $900.00 placebo), but if you are happy, then that is all that matters anyway.
I hope Wayne and Co. come through for you and others out here.
Paul

XrayMD · 17th February 2003, 18:53

Dr. Paul... there's nothing wrong with a dose of healthy skepticism! We'll let you know. I have pre-dyno results that I can use for comparison. I also have a Tazzo vehicle performance computer that I can post some data from as soon as the roads are dry. It's killing me not being able to drive my baby!

I'm sure that there will be others in the near future with easier access to a dyno that can test before and after. The nearest dyno to me is almost 2 hours away!

I do think that the drivability issue is valid and I know that Tony & I will do our best to try to put this factor into words, as will others. Murph already has actually. I know that the improved throttle response will be there and of course so will raised rev limiter and speed limiter removal. I wouldn't have participated in this upgrade if I honestly thought that that was the only benefit that I would get from the upgrade...I could have purchased the Dinan software for just that

TriflowM5+M3 · 17th February 2003, 19:37

Hey just cause some of us got dupped into buying the stg I dinan software doesnt mean you can throw it in our faces!!!

The stg II is really where any power increases are...but only a small amount. I trust the people who I have talked to about the powerchips upgrade and Im one of the pickiest people on this board...anyone remember how long it took me to get rims? Like a year!