ECU Upgrade, any suggestions?

M54TU Schnitzer · 12-14-2001, 05:55 AM

Hi everyone

I want to get software upgrade for my 330, there are some out there in the market now. And many more choices are becoming available soon. Anyone have suggestions on which is good and which is not?

How about ActiveAutowerke ECU upgrade or Jim Confroti Shark Injector?
Anybody have either one on their bimmer?

thanx,
Frank M54TU Schnitzer

***Bliss*** · 12-14-2001, 11:20 AM

I think M52 ALPINA has the shark injector, maybe he can enlighten us about the shark injector. As for other software upgrades, i was looking into the dinan one. I've heard nothing but positive things about them...except for them to be a bit pricey. I know the software upgrade works well for the 330's, but doesnt make a whole lot of difference for the 325. Well hope it helps. Try www.dinanbmw.com

M54TU Schnitzer · 12-14-2001, 02:55 PM

Hey, Thanx for the help.

M52TU is my buddy, so I've talk to him already. He is very satisfy with his shark injector. I was just wondering if anyone using other ECU upgrade besides shark injector.

http://www.activeautowerke.com/dyno/...nan%20Chip.asp

check this out... dyno for Dinan.
Hope it helps.

Frank M54TU Schnitzer

M52_Alpina · 12-14-2001, 03:06 PM

i recall seeing a dyno graph of a E36 M3 registering a ONE hp increase with the Dinan chip.. thats is totally unacceptable.. with that money you can get a Jim C. chip from TMS or AA's own tuning chip.. and gurantees horsepower gains... (i don't work for them

) i would strongly suggest the shark injector if anyone is looking for ECU upgrade.. i remember the moment when i take my newly sharked 328 out for a spin.. first impression is that the car has a much much stronger acceleration (according to my butt dyno).. and the flat spot from 3000 to 4500~ rpm is totally gone.. and the 7000rpm redline is very useful for accelerating through every gear and especially when you are drag racing another car at the stop light (don't ask me how i know

)

***Bliss*** · 12-14-2001, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by M52_Alpina
i recall seeing a dyno graph of a E36 M3 registering a ONE hp increase with the Dinan chip.. thats is totally unacceptable.. with that money you can get a Jim C. chip from TMS or AA's own tuning chip.. and gurantees horsepower gains... (i don't work for them ) i would strongly suggest the shark injector if anyone is looking for ECU upgrade.. i remember the moment when i take my newly sharked 328 out for a spin.. first impression is that the car has a much much stronger acceleration (according to my butt dyno).. and the flat spot from 3000 to 4500~ rpm is totally gone.. and the 7000rpm redline is very useful for accelerating through every gear and especially when you are drag racing another car at the stop light (don't ask me how i know )

Thats the first bad thing i've heard from them. other than the price.

330DTM · 12-15-2001, 01:07 PM

Hard to say, b/c i read a post on www.radismotorsports.com
about an article in regards with the shark injector used on an E36 M3. For some reason, the owner of this wasn't too happy, but it seems that he only had that one piece of upgrade on his car and nothing else (if i can remember)
Please check out this url and see his write up.
http://www.radismotorsports.com/dyno.html

Anyhow, I may be wrong, but do you really expect big gains from just an ECU upgrade chip? From what I've heard, you got to do more than that. I know your car has a Dinan intake, M54, so if you can afford it, why not go for the Dinan Stage II or Stage III if they have it for the E46's? CMT from dtmpower had a write up and said he was pretty happy about it. I forgot what's included in each stage, but I guess you gotta browse their website to find out more about their products. I just know for the E36's, the Stage II or III came with a larger throttle body (i think), reprogramed chip and a couple more goodies. Sorry I forgot what the rest were.

M52_Alpina · 12-15-2001, 05:34 PM

328DTM, it is hard to say which software is the best.. it is greatly dependent on one's expectations.. for me, i wasn't expecting a great increase in horsepower from a chip.. but it turns out that it is slightly above my expectations.. Dinan is a well known brand (well known for their price too

) but does it mean that it is the best?? i don't believe in brand name products.. all i care is a product's functionality.. i known that Dinan has a stage II software that comes with a overbored throttle body for 328 M52 engines, but does it get rid off the "bottle neck" of the M52 engines.. , an overbored throttle body just does not work, it is like giving a bigger nose to the engine but forcing it to breath through its small lung... may be i am wrong... may be Dinan has good software for M54 or M52TU engines.. but for M52.. i think they are just totally off...

M54TU Schnitzer · 12-15-2001, 09:12 PM

I will go for either AA or shark injector, but definitely not Dinan, too. I posted the dyno with 1hp increase above. Couple of my friends are using the shark injector, they all like it and recommand it to me as well. Dinan products are too pricey. If their products can give me impressive hp/torque gain, I don't mind to buy it even if it's too expensive, but the fact is they aren't.
sorry if I offend anyone that are using dinan products.

M54TU Schnitzer

M52_Alpina · 12-15-2001, 09:36 PM

me, Frank and our buddies (also have shark injector) did a "real world - stop lights drags and rolling starts" test and we are very pleased with the result... sharked cars are actually faster... every mods that we put into our car, we will test it out right away and see if it does make a difference...

330DTM · 12-15-2001, 10:34 PM

Alright, well you guys got a point going on there. I personally don't own those parts either so I can't argue over anything. But I just wanted to share with you what some other thought, but it doesn't mean that they are right either. Anyways thanks for the info though about the Shark injector!