What is the best performance software?

[antcamp]

Hello all, looking to get some opinions and thoughts on performance software. Im not comparing prices I just want the best one. I know there's the conforti shark, sprint booster, bavauto's programmer, afe software, yada yada yada. Which ones have you used, heard the best things about, and actually felt good results?

[HokieZHP]

The popular choices here are Shark and Eurocharged

[johnrando]

I have AA, which is fine because I got it at a group buy price of $300. I'd probably go Eurocharged if I didn't already have AA.

[antcamp]

have you driven any cars that were eurocharged? did you feel a difference after you installed the AA?

[johnrando]

No, but Eurocharged did some of the work (they can explain it better) for AA. Plus, I have a STEP, and Eurocharged's s/w addressee's the STEP too. Finally, yes, I did feel a slight difference... butt dyno said the throttle was a little more responsive, my gas mileage went up (added unexpected bonus), and the car seemed quicker. HOW-EV-A, it wasn't a big difference, it was subtle. So, is subtle worth that coin? That's up to you. It was to me, but I needed something more so I spent it. Word is, a tune with headers is really the way to go, but you can't pass smog in Cali w/aftermarket headers. Separately, Dane swears by his Shark Injected car.

[BCS_ZHP]

Shark FTW! I drove Keith's (Kayger12) car before he bought it and I knew immediately it was Sharked. Without a doubt the quickest/fastest ZHP I've ever driven and I've driven at least 20 of them.

[webster]

i have the shark. love it. endorse 100%.

[HokieZHP]

I just looked at both the shark and eurocharged, the shark has high power claims, 14hp/11tq compared to the EC 11hp/11tq

Both remove speed limiter, improve throttle response, raise redline and smooth out power delivery.


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[328ioc]

I would agree with both options but an added bonus with eurocharged is that if you add anything such as headers I believe they will remap the tune for free.

I say eurocharged.

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[Newjack]

I would agree with both options but an added bonus with eurocharged is that if you add anything such as headers I believe they will remap the tune for free.

I say eurocharged.

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+1

I don't think any are really "better" than the other. But you definitely get the most bang for your buck if you go Eurocharged. That's what I will go with when I get headers.

[UdubBadger]

I'm biased but will just refer back to this thread of Wil driving my vanos seal power lagging Eurocharged zhp.

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7373


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[SureShot434]

I'm biased but will just refer back to this thread of Wil driving my vanos seal power lagging Eurocharged zhp.

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7373


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+100 ^

[M3TA5IN]

I'll throw eurocharged up again, and yes my car is tuned by them.

[midlandtech]

I'm sharked and love it. It's not night and day but it does sharpen the edges on an already well designed car. I may add that I have exhaust and intake work done too which I am sure helps to some extent


~Steve
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[Nivo]

He has been getting good real results with custom tuning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzZHdPukEoI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3oyAuwA11E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=UG&hl=en-GB&feature=plcp&context=C4c7d671VDvjVQa1PpcFOOGsaDqXPJaHs5mfh7xhgS XDfXs1ohQhg%3D&v=29UIzDHNtwg

http://forums.yuppieracing.net/showthread.php?7579-2002-BMW-E46-330ci-Dyno-tuned-19whp-23wtq

[cakM3]

He has been getting good real results with custom tuning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzZHdPukEoI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3oyAuwA11E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=UG&hl=en-GB&feature=plcp&context=C4c7d671VDvjVQa1PpcFOOGsaDqXPJaHs5mfh7xhgS XDfXs1ohQhg%3D&v=29UIzDHNtwg

http://forums.yuppieracing.net/showthread.php?7579-2002-BMW-E46-330ci-Dyno-tuned-19whp-23wtq

Yeah Nivo,

Bren is the guy to go to for custom tuning from what I have heard...:thumbsup

[HokieZHP]

Yeah but how much does something like that cost?


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[Nivo]

Yeah but how much does something like that cost?


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Last I remember it is like $395

[johnrando]

That's a good price for a custom tune.

[zhp43867]

He has a price list (Bren). Then again those videos show higher power than he claims.

Primary options:

- Epic/Bimmerworld
- Eurocharged
- ESS
- Evolve (Big $$$- Kick ass team)

I might go with Epic, maybe Eurocharged. I'm really not sure. It wouldn't take much to convince me, but I'm looking for technical data- not subjective things.

Udub: what about the dyno?

[das boots]

I just saw this when I was browsing RealOEM. This might not be considered a software. More like a hardware since this is a chip. Does anybody have any input on this???? Possible option to softwares?

http://www.gfchips.com/bmw330i.aspx

[wsmeyer]

I'm Sharked and love it. The butt-dyno feels a slight increase in power but even the wife commented on how much smoother the car ran and asked what I did to it. I don't need to extract every last hp from my car, so I didn't do a whole lot of research on the different tunes. Jim Conforti has a great reputation in the BMW community and even though I don't have a great reason why, the ability to shark and de-shark the car myself in just a few minutes sealed the deal for me.

William.

[zhp43867]

Conforti has a great reputation with some people in the BMW world. The AFRs on his tunes seem odd on the dyno, and some cars do better than others. For example, the 325/330 get much less benefit than the 323/328 when Sharked.

[UdubBadger]

He has a price list (Bren). Then again those videos show higher power than he claims.

Primary options:

- Epic/Bimmerworld
- Eurocharged
- ESS
- Evolve (Big $$$- Kick ass team)

I might go with Epic, maybe Eurocharged. I'm really not sure. It wouldn't take much to convince me, but I'm looking for technical data- not subjective things.

Udub: what about the dyno?

company wants me to wait till the headers thing comes out. I'll be doing a stock, tuned, stock headers, tuned headers. Will probably be this fall from what the supplier says.

If I find a good deal on pulls I'll go do it out of my own pocket now that my vanos is done on just what the car is now.


BTW guys Bren is a powerchip distributor and those 19whp/23wtq were not on a ZHP but a stock 330i. I don't see that much going on a ZHP based upon what everyone else has been doing. The custom tune bren is making isn't anything others haven't done before. We custom tune most of our cars also. Not knocking them, they know their stuff. Just saying its pretty common. Those video dynos are about what most others make anyway.

Conforti has an edge with useability for sure, being able to go back/forth is great for that price too but its also a canned tune (meaning mass produced) so if you go adding other mods you are always getting max power. For some, thats not a big deal so to each his own.

[webster]

i cared more about the throttle mapping adjustments and low-end/off-idle improvements the Shark advertised than peak HP increase. i mean how often are we running our cars to 6k+ rpms really? with regard to the former claims, i felt palpable improvements in each respect.

the only problem was getting the proper voltage supplied by the steady state charger to perform the flash. THAT required buying a new battery...

[UdubBadger]

i mean how often are we running our cars to 6k+ rpms really?

you should come commute with me for a day ;)

[zhp43867]

you should come commute with me for a day ;)

Haha +1. I'd say I redline my car 5-6 times a day- usually 1st and 2nd gear at once, so 10-12 times technically.. By redline I mean 6400ish+ but still.

Also I was never under the impression that the normal 330 yielded higher chipping numbers than the ZHP, they always seemed neck and neck in that regard. For example Conforti says they get more out of the zhp than the ZSP 330s I believe...

[das boots]

Are the Conforti chips California compliant? Even though a chip was made by JC for the E30 M3s, I still have to remove the chip every time (once every 2 years) to have the M3 smog checked. Failed once, but the moment I removed the chip...I passed with flying colors. So, for this year's smog, I never put back the chip. Thinking of selling it. Hate to keep pulling it out and putting it back in. Cat converters also do deteriorate.

[jayjay_dee]

My step ZHP is Eurocharged and im very happy...

[johnrando]

I just saw this when I was browsing RealOEM. This might not be considered a software. More like a hardware since this is a chip. Does anybody have any input on this???? Possible option to softwares?

http://www.gfchips.com/bmw330i.aspx

Weird that I haven't really seen a lot of chatter on this option on any of the BMW E46 forums I visit.. Doesn't mean it's not viable, but certainly makes me wonder.

[zhp43867]

I'm gunna go with Epic. Then maybe in the future I'll get Eurocharged to compare! Variety is the spice of life.

[HokieZHP]

What're the pros of epic? I'm close to bimmerworld so I'm considering it


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[antcamp]

Ive decided...found an AA dealer right around the corner from my shop that can have it programmed by lunchtime

[WOLFN8TR]

So which one is recommended for use on a Steptronic? I heard Shark isn't available for Step, true?

[bimmeryota]

I've got the dinan stage one tune on my ZSP and I really like it but I've heard that the active tune is much more aggressive. I daily my car so I prefer something more conservative just in case there's a longevity difference...

[johnrando]

Shark used to be for manuals only, so that's why I didn't get it. Now it's available for STEP. The others more or less always were available for STEP. I'll add that Eurocharged says their s/w addresses STEP performance, I don't think AA does. Dinan, for example, charges separate for STEP s/w and their Tune.

[WOLFN8TR]

Cool. Thanks for the info John.

[Jon D]

Of course the best software is the one you have.... ;)

which is mine ;) AA

[Eurocharged]

Of course the best software is the one you have.... ;)

I agree ;)

[M3TA5IN]

I agree ;)

^ I'm with this guy

[zhp43867]

Active showed lackluster results when there was an E46fanatics group buy fwiw.

[Hornung418]

Eurocharged has taken the bulk of AA's tuning responsibility IIRC.

Horney...via TT.

[UdubBadger]

Not necessarily but we did a lot of
work for them last year and through that work they developed a lot of "stage II" versions of their software.


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