Slight Volvo content: Got the 530d chipped today.

Post 46026 by Not_Gwaredd on 2005-09-27 20:22:52

Well, after what seems like an age, I finally got round to it & got the 530d chipped today. It was a toss up between West Tuning in Thruxton or DMS in Andover. Both offer the same chip with the same results, so it was a matter of who I could screw down the most on the price of £595+VAT. DMS offered it to me for £495+VAT after the 'accidental' David Yu name dropping incident, but West Tuning offered it to me for £450 all in, or as it turned out, £350 + two cars stickered up for the Donnington Tuners GP last weekend. Result. Dropped it off this morning & picked it up just now. I am very sceptical about tuning, as having spent a load of cash in the past on minis & various Peugeots & Vauxhalls, I know that it's very hard, & often dissapointing, when, after you've bolted on your new go faster bit & sped off up the road, you come back & announce that you 'think' it's faster, but are not quite sure. I was expecting this when I picked the car up tonight. After a short briefing from Ray, who reiterated what he said earlier about it being very difficult to get a good dyno plot from an auto (& he was right, it just kept kicking down & spiking on the graph, so it's pretty useless) I was off. I thought about taking it easy & only trying it when I got back onto the A303, but curiosity got the better of me, so it was off with the DSCS & down with the throttle on the back straight of the service road (private, I might add) out of the industrial estate. Wow! What an instant difference. I was genuinly shocked at how much harder the kick was from the turbo. The real proof in the pudding was when it changed from 3rd to 4th gear. On the BMW auto box, 4th is quite a long jump from 3rd, & this would normally catch the engine out a bit, making it feel quite wheezy as it got back into the meat of it's power band, but that has been cured. A big slug of torque is ready & waiting & it just lunges back up the rev range, ready for fith, but by this time, I was approaching 120 clicks & a tight corner, so that was it. A fustrating rush hour drive home ensured I didn't have too many further dables with this new power, but simple things like accelerating away from roundabouts show whatever trickery & voodoo has been performed under the bonnet, certainly has a great affect on the road. Sure, it's not bone crushingly fast, but at least it is now quicker than the T5 was, & it's certainly makes the car much more enjoyable to drive, which is surely what it's all about. As for improved fuel economy? I'll let you know, but tbh, I don't care at this moment in time. There are no power figures worth posting up from the 3 dyno runs, but Ray assured me that a 330d was in last week & that had 177bhp stock & left with 236bhp. He simply applied the same chip to my car, so I'm assuming it's around that power mark. Certainly feels about right. So yes, a big thumbs up from me & for west tuning for turning it around so quickly. That is all. Cheers, Gwaredd.

Post 46028 by volvotuning on 2005-09-27 20:27:34

Nice one!! See, it's easy to make a diesel quicker than a T5 :) LOL. They're good motors the BMW diesels. You must have the pre 2003 engine right? Adam.

Post 46029 by Al115 on 2005-09-27 20:33:50

Good stuff. Of course, it's easy to make a T5 quicker than a chipped diesel... OK it depends on the T5 and the diesel in question! :)

Post 46031 by Not_Gwaredd on 2005-09-27 20:36:04

Yeah, it's the post 2000 one too, 182 ps or summat. God, those chipped 535d's must really fly! Mine needs new injectors tho, as he said it smoked fairly heavily under full throttle (more so than it normally would for all you diesel haters wanting to get a quip in!). I'll go & bag a new set before the warranty runs out in October then! Gwaredd.

Post 46032 by volvotuning on 2005-09-27 20:38:09

Check the air filter too cos that can make em smoke. I'm assuming the remap isn't the cause of the smoke, but if it is then they can fix that too. Adam.

Post 46033 by Not_Gwaredd on 2005-09-27 20:50:35

Nah, it was smoking on the before run too. Will check the filter, it's due a service in 2 bars time anyway, but if I can blag a new set of injectors out of BMW, I will. Failing that, what's a good diesel injector cleaner nowadays? Still RedEx? Gwaredd.

Post 46085 by Wobbly Dave on 2005-09-28 00:31:02

Ps - not as fast as a Furby - LOL Good to see you keeping in touch!

Post 46092 by elliot on 2005-09-28 08:11:36

there is always somthing faster,a 535 at pod this weekend ran a 14.2 at 99mph and i asked him what he had done just chip from DMS,aparently the last RWYB it ran a 13.9sec 1/4 :jaw: ,there was also a seat ibiza running 15.1 sec all day so furby aint that quick ;)

Post 46096 by volvotuning on 2005-09-28 08:49:32

Indeed, there is ALWAYS something faster! That's the whole point in doing things like the 1/4 so you can improve your car and go faster, against a benchmark. Adam.

Post 46109 by Not_Gwaredd on 2005-09-28 10:12:56

Dave, Murphy's car is pretty impressive & I'm never gonna beat something that light & nimble off the lights (mine weighs in @ 1708KG unladen!), but it'd be closer than you think. It's all irelavant really, as unless you have something REALLY fast, on the road, it doesn't make much of a difference at all, especially at motorway speeds. For example, how many times have you been slightly miffed that when the road clears, your not putting as much of a gap as you thought you would between you & that boggo rep oil burner? It's all good fun tho, & that's what it's all about. Cheers, Gwaredd.

Post 46112 by volvotuning on 2005-09-28 10:21:48

The 535D is mega quick though, I must admit. And you can turn those into M3 beaters, in a straight line of course. Adam.

Post 46114 by Murphy on 2005-09-28 10:30:23

I can hit 100 mph in around 16-17 seconds. That is quicker than a Golf 5 GTI, Astra VXR, Focus RS, Megane 225, Audi S3, Civic Type R, Clio V6 etc. But that is where my progress stops. a 3 litre 6 cylinder anything will start making progress on me at that point. So as Gwaredd says - his is the big cruiser, similar to the T5's (but quicker;)), it pulls all the way to double the speed limit and more - where as my little 4 pot has to stop for a rest - lol. 2 different cars, I would still have a good go though ;).

Post 46122 by Not_Gwaredd on 2005-09-28 11:41:18

Not sure how fast the 530 will hit 100 from rest. Maybe a timed run with a stopwatch is in order this weekend. I recon if I strip all the leather, carpets, sound proofing & the 5mm thick glass from it, it should be fairly nippy. p.s. 0-100 in 15/16 is brilliant. My old Pug 306 Gti-6 would do it in 20 secs & that thing flew! Looks like light weight & lots of torque is the way to go, rather than high revs lots of power. Move over Vtec boys! Cheers, Gwaredd.

Post 46133 by V8guitar on 2005-09-28 12:36:29

Blumin diesels...mumble, grumble...Jumped up tractors! Its ain't right, I'm tellin ya, it ain't right! There is a conspiricy here by diesel producers and you are all falling for it....

Post 46938 by Murphy on 2005-10-03 10:28:27

Did you do some timed runs Gwaredd ?

Post 46942 by Not_Gwaredd on 2005-10-03 10:44:10

Forgot all about it TBH. I was too engrosed with my new wax. Must get my prioritys sorted!

Post 46944 by Murphy on 2005-10-03 10:47:58

A shiney car is a faster car though ;)

Post 46971 by aeroresh on 2005-10-03 13:11:01

On the subject of DMS, Ive had my Range Rover TD6 installed with their upgrade and can honestly say its the best executed remap Ive ever had :) As standard the car is slow and lethargic, taking around 13 secs to 60 and wont really pull above 80 mph. :pants: I timed the car with the DMS upgrade to 60 at 9.3 secs using GPS!..now rated at about 226 BHP.... And it pulls like a train at high speeds. Its as quick as the V8 but I still get 26 mpg. :B_steerin

Post 46972 by Murphy on 2005-10-03 13:28:31

The V8 is much quicker than that - i can appriciate the transformation in the Diesel, but the 280bhp and 325 lb/ft V8 isn't shy !

Post 46995 by volvotuning on 2005-10-03 15:48:14

Gwaredd, did you check the air filter? Adam.

Post 47031 by aeroresh on 2005-10-03 17:14:17

[QUOTE=Murphy]The V8 is much quicker than that - i can appriciate the transformation in the Diesel, but the 280bhp and 325 lb/ft V8 isn't shy ![/QUOTE] Yeah, but thats only peak power...and its non turbo which means most of the oomph is top end. Ive run with a few V8 L322s for comparison, and give or take the V8 could not pull away at speeds even upto 3 figures. :sinner:

Post 47042 by Murphy on 2005-10-03 17:37:32

I can see what you are saying. I own a diesel which i believe to be quicker than the next 180hp 1300 kg petrol car turbo or not. But there is a reasonable amount of difference in power - and similar torque for longer between your diesel range rover and the V8. I think top gear did a similar thing between the 535d and the 540i [4.4]. The petrol was still quicker by a reasonable amount, and that was 275hp / 350lb/ft v's 280 n/a petol and 325 lb/ft. So surely the same V8 in a range rover, v's a lesser powered diesel will have a greater gap in performance ??