Engine performance chip

[murdock]

I have got a 3 series BMW 320 diesel 150 bhp and want to get a bit more power out of it.. I am thinking about getting the engine chipped and want to know if anyone out there has had this done on their car. can they harm your engine ? Can you notice the extra power ? Any other advice please .Thank you.

 

[breezer]

I was lead to belive chipping your car is like overclocking a pc, it works, but for the effort, hassle and strain on main components not worth it.

also voids g'tee

 

[big-all]

assuming the engine is engineered with sufficient margins the gains are far outweighed by the disadantages as the down sides are dispropourtionate dont know the exact figures but somthing like a 20% increase in power requires a 40% increase in engine wear a tear a 40% increase in required maintanace so a yearly service would be reqired every 8.5 months and your engine that may have failed at 10 years may only last 6 years

other things to take into account increased fuel /oil /spares/ consumption

your suspention drive train and brakes will probably require improoving

your insurance may go through the roof and as said above your g tee may be nul and void

 

[murdock]

Thanks for your replies - I have taken your comments on board and I think I wont bother.

 

[Softus]

Any other advice please .Thank you.

If you think that BMW makes cars that requires merely a different chip in order to make them more powerful, faster, more reliable, and all-round better cars, then please go ahead and fit the chip.

On the other hand, if you believe that the manufacturer has done its best to deliver a car that is the best balance of useable power, reliability and economy, then go spend your money on something more useful. Beer, for example.

 

[anobium]

Not sure if this is relevant but why do some motor manufacturers put limiters on the engine to keep the speed down?
I have seen them advertised with such.

 

[Softus]

Not sure if this is relevant but why do some motor manufacturers put limiters on the engine to keep the speed down?

To stop them being over-revved. What other reason could there be?

 

[anobium]

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:39 pm Post Subject:

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anobium wrote:
Not sure if this is relevant but why do some motor manufacturers put limiters on the engine to keep the speed down?

To stop them being over-revved. What other reason could there be?

That the braking system, suspension, tyres, etc was not designed for the vehicle to go any faster safely.!

 

[Softus]

That the braking system, suspension, tyres, etc was not designed for the vehicle to go any faster safely.!

That seems very unlikely, since any limit that such a device places on the car's speed is immediately irrelevant as soon as it rains.

 

[Steve]

maybe its something to do with speed limits,

which if thats the case, IMO they should all be limited to 70.

why put any higher limit on it, when its not legal to go any faster?



@ the op, why do you want your, already fast, car to go faster?

 

[Softus]

maybe its something to do with speed limits,

which if thats the case, IMO they should all be limited to 70.

why put any higher limit on it, when its not legal to go any faster?

It's legal to faster than 70mph in lots of places - just not on UK public roads.

 

[Ron Gamma]

warranty - if the engine blows up whilst still in warranty then they pay for it and their cred gets knocked as well.
take the stress out of the engine and it'll run longer before blowing.

it also means that they can sell hotter versions with different limiters & chipsets. if we all poked a paper clip up the back of the ECU they wouldn't make any money from car park one-upmanship

 

[nickso]

Not sure if this is relevant but why do some motor manufacturers put limiters on the engine to keep the speed down?
I have seen them advertised with such.

are you talking about the 155mph limit imposed on many german cars these days?

ive read thats purely a gentlemans agreement between certain manufacturers to prevent tiresome one-upmanship advertisements that had started to appear. they also think it makes them look more responsible when they appear to be ignoring the quest to improve top speed over faster acceleration.....dont see that it works myself.

BMW 320 diesel 150 bhp

@ the op, why do you want your, already fast, car to go faster?

150 bhp, depending on the weight of the car, is hardly "fast"

 

[mattysupra]

The top speed limit is a so called " gentlemans agreement between certain manufacturers " 155 for german cars, 122 i think on jap cars. Also same with power. Germans can make any car producing what power they want. The jap cars are not allowed to produce more than 280 bhp! All tho there supra's, skylines etc are more on 330bhp but on spec sheet only 280 bhp. Bit of a strange loop hole that if they say it only doing 280 bhp they can sell the car even tho it is producing more! As for "chipping " your car there is no side effect on your engine if looked after properly. manufacturers de-tune there engines so they can with stand people missing services and most of all using low quality fuel. Tesco's etc. If you chip your vehicle you need to run it on high quality fuel! Shell optimax, BP super plus etc. You also should use better oil and service a little sooner depending on how hard you drive it. Your breaks / drive chain etc will be fine. The manufacturers made these to cope with full pay load. Guess you wont have a car full of people when you want to use extra power. Also all turbo cars respond very well to "chipping". Dont buy one of these resistor chips on ebay. Load of rubbish. Super chips are reliable but best part of 400 quid.

 

[gcol]

Got my golf turbo diesel remapped just before Christmas. Cost me £250 but I got a deal cause I kinda know the bloke that does it. Usually costs about £350. I am having to have an uprated clutch fitted this Thursday cause the standard one can't handle the extra torque. Went from about 230 to 300 ft lbs.