My Powerchip experience (long) - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

ELEVENS · 16th September 2003, 04:08

I wanted to share my Powerchip experience (in short, it was a very good one):

Placed the call on Wednesday about lunch time and talked to Travis. He was very cordial, and asked lots of questions. He was especially interested in my participation on M5BOARD.COM, recognized my "handle", and said I get a $100 discount! He continued by stating that Wayne usually wants to say hi to his buyers, but explained that he couldn't this time because he was down under (in Australia) for a month. After congratulating me several times, Travis said I would get a call from Jesse later that day to finalize the deal.

No call that Wednesday, and no call on Thursday, either. I was feeling both disappointed and maybe even a little angry. I was torn between just giving up on Powerchip or calling them on Friday to "give them what for".

I got home from work Thursday evening, and began mowing the lawn. Then something silvery sitting on my front porch caught my eye. Could it be? YES! A nice aluminum carrying case Fed-Ex'd overnight from POWERCHIP! Immediately, all was forgiven. I'd rather have an overnight shipment of "product" than a phone call anyday!

I was amazed that they overnighted all the cables and a notebook computer in a nice travel case, to a total stranger, on the other side of the country - without even asking for my credit card info! These guys are TRUSTING!

Well, the "ECU read" took me about 10 minutes. Emailed the file to Powerchip, then followed it up later with a telephone call. Jesse took down my credit card info, and emailed my custom ECU file about 5 minutes later. Another 10 minutes and the car was reprogrammed with the powerchip software. On Friday I dropped off the cables and notebook to the FedEx counter using the prepaid shipping label that Powerchip privided. Very convenient.

Performance impressions:

I'll start out by saying that the 2003 BMW software is very good, my only complaints were cold drivability, rev limiter, and speed limiter. To be fair, I asked Powerchip to map the ECU software for Tubis and the AA CAI, neither of which I have installed - yet. So I fully expected the car to run less than well. Wrong. It runs great! Completely gone are the stumbling and "holes" when cold. This alone was worth the price to me. The other reason I bought Powerchip is for 1/4 performance, and that remains to be tested. I am not a big fan of "seat of the pants" dyno. The car feels amazingly strong, but then it did with the stock ECU program, too.

Some had experienced better 1-2 shifting with the Powerchip, but I cannot detect any difference really. I will say that the response of the motor, by blipping the throttle at idle, is outstanding. It was very good before, with Evosport Underdrive pulleys, no fan, IATS relocated, and X-Pipe. But now it's as good as my 383ci minirammed Vette. That's good! Remember though, the Powerchip software is not ideal for my car - until I add the remaining modifications. So it should only get better.

Chalk up another satisfied Powerchip customer. I received another Fed-X shipment today with the 3-year warranty and receipt for payment. In another month I should have the Tubis and AA CAI installed. By that time the weather will be cool, perfect for quarter mile testing!

-Bill

M5manny · 16th September 2003, 04:26

Same thing with me. I thought, very trusting fellows they must be.In the end I was more than satisfied. I have the mods you mentioned that you're about to do, and boy does this car kick butt

atomic80 · 16th September 2003, 04:30

Bill,

I'm glad to hear that your experience turned out to be a positive one! I've been a happy customer of Powerchip since day one! I will admit that I was a bit leery at first even after test driving a M5 with the Powerchip software at the Powerchip/Norcal M5 drive last spring. But I decided to jump the gun anyways and haven't looked back since. I've had the chance to compare my M5 with a non-powerchipped M5 several times and I always end up finding myself missing mine. That's how much I've come to love the Powerchip software. You'll notice that it gets even better after you've driven your car for at least 60 miles after initial programming as it adapts to your car.

Gaspasser · 16th September 2003, 05:28

Those guys at powerchip are awesome. If you think that they forgot about you after the initial installation....you are wrong. I left a message with Travis....two days later I get a message at home, page on my pager, and an e-mail. I got a hold of him and answered all my questions.

Their customer service is second to none.

Gas

tampa_M5 · 16th September 2003, 09:19

so which is better?? the powerchips software or dinan stage one?? the guy that is offering me the Gruppe M intake, Robert, is pushing me towards the power chips software instead of my dinan. He said that the only thing i might miss is the throttle response....but in my opinion it is too touchy....i have never driven an m5 w/o the dinan, so i don't even know what a stock is. i drove a 6 spd 540, but i'm sure its totally different. can anyone shed some light???

my car came with the software from the previous owner....but i'm not stuck on it, especially if it causes the annoyingly unsteady throttle.....i have AA CAI, and just got the IATS kit

, and am planning the Gruppe M intake also....so what would be my ideal.....the powerchips seems very easy to do, and customized to my car, and a 3 yr warranty is nice too....

.......please help me decide....i don't want to lose the higher rev limit, or the governer removed so i will need a replacement software i'm sure. also, to those of you that have done it, is there contact info, or a special deal for our board members, and maybe $$$$ info??

thanks,

----Jonathan

Need4Spd · 16th September 2003, 17:11

I think this is the link for Powerchips. You need to give them your screen name for this board and they usually offer a $100 discount. My install went about the same as Bill's (Elevens), although they didn't tell me that one or two of the software buttons or labels were in German so there was a bit of head-scratching and Babel Fish translating in the middle of the night. Of course I was using my laptop for the install so that meant a trip upstairs to my kids' computer. Wayne had given me his cell phone no. to call but it was past midnight so I didn't really want to. Got it figured out anyway and got it installed and while it wasn't like a hugh difference, the throttle response is noticeably better and more linear. And of course, no more top speed governor. I think you will really like it. Your stock ECU program is swapped back to the EEPROM key that you send back to them, so I think they keep it for you for a while in case anything goes wrong and you need to revert to stock.

tampa_M5 · 16th September 2003, 18:08

thanks for the link.....i'm still not sure if i'll like it better than my dinan stg 1. it seems they have the same results. i just don't like the REALLY touchy throttle given by the dinan. the powerchips' might be a little smoother, plus i have also heard that dinan's kinda blocks any perfomance gains that could have been seen w/o it. i personally didn't notice this when i did my AA CAI. but not i'm gonna put in the Gruppe intake as well as the IATS upgrade. i'll just have to think about it...

---Jonathan

chunpng · 16th September 2003, 18:14

Quote:

Originally posted by tampa_M5
so which is better?? the powerchips software or dinan stage one?? or a special deal for our board members, and maybe $$$$ info??

thanks,

----Jonathan

Jonathan,

I had the Dinan chip, and got the Power Chip to replace it. Absolutely no comparisons, the Power Chip makes the car much more pleasurable to drive - hands down.

The throttle is now truely linear, power delivery is butter-smooth in all gears at any RPM, and all the engine hesitations, (engine hot or cold) are all gone. As an added bonus, my gas mileage went up by at least 1-2 MPG. I'd take the PC over the Dinan in a heart-beat. BTW, you have a 30 days free-trial period with PC, so you have plenty of time to decide if it really pleases you.

As for discounts, mention this board and you get $100 off the list price of $990.

Good luck.

CP

gsfent · 16th September 2003, 18:18

Tampa_M5
I have a similar setup on my car, Dinan CAI, and Hamann exhaust. It came from the prior owner with the Dinan software (so I can't compare stock either). However, I can tell you that the PC software made a noticable difference in power and throttle response over the Dinan Stage 3. The difference was like hitting the DSC switch in terms of power feel, and the car is smoother, especially when cold. If you are not happy, I believe there is an official 30 day $$ back guarantee, and there have been some threads where Wayne honored that after the 30 days if you are not happy. Too many board member shave done the switch and perhaps with a lone exception, everyone has raved about the product and the service. It really is a no brainer IMHO.
Regards,
Jerry

tampa_M5 · 16th September 2003, 18:32

to both you guys that just wrote back, thank you so much for those couple lines of info....it is just what i needed to hear. i am going to order the powerchips right away. i was just looking at dinan's site....(which is down as far as the price list goes, unless your a computer guy and will know how to get in anyway....the link was messed up

) but....as i was looking to maybe go to the stg 2 and save a little money over the powerchips....but if you had stg3 and didn't care for it, i'm sure i'll be in the same boat.....so you basically answered my question. when i bought the car, i had it CPO'd so my warranty would be to 100k miles, and the dealership did the same for the dinan....that made me at least know that it was covered, but it seems that powerchips does the same but for only 3 years which is fine with me....if is good software and doesn't mess up to begin with, it won't down the road. again, thanks for the replys. do you think they can put it over the dinan, or will i have to remove that first, and then also i heard you can tell powerchips what mods you have and they extra customize it for your car....is that true?? and is there a particular contact, or just go through the site?

----Jonathan