N53 525i to 530i conversion
Discussion
Evening all
After about 3 years of ownership, I've finally got round to upping the power on my N53 525i.
I wanted a petrol touring manual, and the 530i models were about double the price of the 525i ones, plus quite rare. So I went with a cheap 525i in the end, thinking the 25i to 30i was a cheap, common upgrade (though the stuff I'd read before buying was all about N52 engines when I looked again).
I had picked up and fitted a 3 stage manifold for about £150 last year, from a working 530i that had been in a crash.
I then got stalled on trying to download software map the car myself, so sensibly tracked down someone who knew what they were doing.
At a trip to End Tuning today, the guy copied over a 530i map into my car after taking a backup.
Crucially though, he amended this map so that the power class was still the low power one (even though all the map content was 530i related).
This avoids problems with the power status being inconsistent between cas, eeprom and the map.
On the drive home it was really noticeable - power was up all across the board, and the car has gone from being "brisk" to "swift".
It really does cover the ground quite well, and the chassis can easily cope with the power. (Obviously it won't get anywhere near a V8 or turbo powered one, but that wasn't feasible, and they're even rarer)
I had my car dyno'd at 221bhp before doing this (with the manifold fitted bit inert), and will take it to the same place this weekend hopefully to see what the increase is. I'm expecting it to be close to the 200kw factory figure.
It was just under £200 for 3 hours work, so with the manifold on top, a big price saving on a 530i model available at the time. Though I'm a lot more aware of spec now than I was when I bought mine (which was pretty much poverty spec) and the 530i apparently came with more kit as standard.
I had always advised people to avoid the E60 and E90 *25i models because they have hardly any cost savings to compensate the restriction in power.
However, I would change this now to say if the right model comes up with other things being equal, this remap can make a good difference.
Finally, I have declared this to my insurance company at renewal, and my premium went up about 25% or £100. And the 530i clutch is bigger than the 525i, so I have that in my radar to change at some point.
I hope this helps encourage anyone with a N53 who wanted to know more about this.
Ian
After about 3 years of ownership, I've finally got round to upping the power on my N53 525i.
I wanted a petrol touring manual, and the 530i models were about double the price of the 525i ones, plus quite rare. So I went with a cheap 525i in the end, thinking the 25i to 30i was a cheap, common upgrade (though the stuff I'd read before buying was all about N52 engines when I looked again).
I had picked up and fitted a 3 stage manifold for about £150 last year, from a working 530i that had been in a crash.
I then got stalled on trying to download software map the car myself, so sensibly tracked down someone who knew what they were doing.
At a trip to End Tuning today, the guy copied over a 530i map into my car after taking a backup.
Crucially though, he amended this map so that the power class was still the low power one (even though all the map content was 530i related).
This avoids problems with the power status being inconsistent between cas, eeprom and the map.
On the drive home it was really noticeable - power was up all across the board, and the car has gone from being "brisk" to "swift".
It really does cover the ground quite well, and the chassis can easily cope with the power. (Obviously it won't get anywhere near a V8 or turbo powered one, but that wasn't feasible, and they're even rarer)
I had my car dyno'd at 221bhp before doing this (with the manifold fitted bit inert), and will take it to the same place this weekend hopefully to see what the increase is. I'm expecting it to be close to the 200kw factory figure.
It was just under £200 for 3 hours work, so with the manifold on top, a big price saving on a 530i model available at the time. Though I'm a lot more aware of spec now than I was when I bought mine (which was pretty much poverty spec) and the 530i apparently came with more kit as standard.
I had always advised people to avoid the E60 and E90 *25i models because they have hardly any cost savings to compensate the restriction in power.
However, I would change this now to say if the right model comes up with other things being equal, this remap can make a good difference.
Finally, I have declared this to my insurance company at renewal, and my premium went up about 25% or £100. And the 530i clutch is bigger than the 525i, so I have that in my radar to change at some point.
I hope this helps encourage anyone with a N53 who wanted to know more about this.
Ian
Good work.
It’s frustrating that the 3/5 had much bigger changes between the the 25i and 30i compared to the 1 series which was just a rubbish throttle map.
I noticed a big difference between my wife’s old 125i and my 130i when we had them at the same time, so I’m not surprised that you’ve noticed an improvement.
It’s frustrating that the 3/5 had much bigger changes between the the 25i and 30i compared to the 1 series which was just a rubbish throttle map.
I noticed a big difference between my wife’s old 125i and my 130i when we had them at the same time, so I’m not surprised that you’ve noticed an improvement.
Well, the remap has had a fairly immediate impact on my driving.
After 20 years of a clean licence, I get pulled this morning for a brief blip up to 48* in a 30.
( * That's their estimate, looking at my dash cam it's more like 45, but I'd be splitting hairs.)
I've always said on here if I get caught speeding, I will take in on this chin, which is what I will do. Luckily the threshold for summons is 50mph, so I have squeaked under that by 2mph.
It was an unmarked astra - impossible to tell it was police until the lights came on. I shall have to be a bit more careful from now on.
After 20 years of a clean licence, I get pulled this morning for a brief blip up to 48* in a 30.
( * That's their estimate, looking at my dash cam it's more like 45, but I'd be splitting hairs.)
I've always said on here if I get caught speeding, I will take in on this chin, which is what I will do. Luckily the threshold for summons is 50mph, so I have squeaked under that by 2mph.
It was an unmarked astra - impossible to tell it was police until the lights came on. I shall have to be a bit more careful from now on.
Update - today was when Surrey rolling road could fit me in.
Car went from 221bhp (as 525i) to 252bhp (with 530i map plus inlet manifold)
Torque is higher lower down (no doubt the 3 stage manifold)
But overall it wasn't the gain I had been hoping for - the stock figure being 272bhp.
The chap at Surrey rolling road did say however that he had tested an e60 530i the other day and it only made 260bhp, so this was probably fairly realistic power for it (but I didn't ask whether it was the N52 or N53 model, which of course are different)
I'm still glad I got the remap done, but it has taken the shine off slightly.
Plus I think a combination of waiting for 3 points to arrive and seeing if I can get stratified mode active (see other update today) means I'm not actually ragging the thing round all day anyway.
Incidentally the rolling road ran a VW caddy van before me that did 520bhp! God knows how much he'd spent on it - there's always a faster car somewhere.
Ian
Car went from 221bhp (as 525i) to 252bhp (with 530i map plus inlet manifold)
Torque is higher lower down (no doubt the 3 stage manifold)
But overall it wasn't the gain I had been hoping for - the stock figure being 272bhp.
The chap at Surrey rolling road did say however that he had tested an e60 530i the other day and it only made 260bhp, so this was probably fairly realistic power for it (but I didn't ask whether it was the N52 or N53 model, which of course are different)
I'm still glad I got the remap done, but it has taken the shine off slightly.
Plus I think a combination of waiting for 3 points to arrive and seeing if I can get stratified mode active (see other update today) means I'm not actually ragging the thing round all day anyway.
Incidentally the rolling road ran a VW caddy van before me that did 520bhp! God knows how much he'd spent on it - there's always a faster car somewhere.
Ian
Ian Geary said:
Update - today was when Surrey rolling road could fit me in.
Car went from 221bhp (as 525i) to 252bhp (with 530i map plus inlet manifold)
But overall it wasn't the gain I had been hoping for - the stock figure being 272bhp.
The chap at Surrey rolling road did say however that he had tested an e60 530i the other day and it only made 260bhp, so this was probably fairly realistic power for it (but I didn't ask whether it was the N52 or N53 model, which of course are different)
I'm still glad I got the remap done, but it has taken the shine off slightly.
Ian
Don't forget BMW power outputs are measured in PS and the rolling road may use DIN measurements which are always a bit lower. Plus no 2 rolling roads get the same results so you can only really work on the comparisons between 2 results on the same equipment. Car went from 221bhp (as 525i) to 252bhp (with 530i map plus inlet manifold)
But overall it wasn't the gain I had been hoping for - the stock figure being 272bhp.
The chap at Surrey rolling road did say however that he had tested an e60 530i the other day and it only made 260bhp, so this was probably fairly realistic power for it (but I didn't ask whether it was the N52 or N53 model, which of course are different)
I'm still glad I got the remap done, but it has taken the shine off slightly.
Ian
I don't know what BMW claimed for the N52 530i, but in E90s & 91s it was 258PS rather than 265PS in E92 and 93s, 130is and facelift Z4s for some reason.
And the BMW claims are for new cars rather than ones that have done some miles.
If it goes much better surely it was worth it?
bmwmike said:
Should have got the engine issues sorted first (not going into stratified mode).
Sort of..One reason I got a "before" dyno done was to have a comparison. As it made 221bhp before, in pretty sure the engine is healthy.
All the injectors /coils were sorted long ago (when they were shot performance was noticeably shaky).
The subsequent stratified issues were cat performance related or perhaps lack of proper adaptations being reset, but they didn't affect the performance mode to my knowledge (again the 222bhp output suggests not)
Fair point about ps Vs bhp. I did use the same rolling road to compare like with like.
Ultimately I'm glad I had it done, and still feel it was better than waiting for a 530i - an equivalent 530i at the time was £2k more, and one sold recently for over £8k I think.
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