320d Powerkit Cocktail Party and Talk-Quill PJ

[kuntakinte]

Nice to finally meet all you guys too.
My honest opinion of the powerkit. I think my initial expectations were set too high. As such, when finally behind the wheel, i felt the power to be too subtle at 0-60kmh but slightly more noticeable from 80-120kmh range. I was, to say the least, a little disappointed. But, once I climbed back into my car later, the difference felt more apparent. The powerkit's performance delivery was more linear n had greater urgency, esp in DS mode.
I think it's due to the bad test drive route chosen. Imagine traffic ard jln university area on a peak Saturday afternoon. The traffic one encounters at every attempted acceleration can b frustrating.
I will request for a longer test drive on a better route before I make my final decision. Will call the salesman soon.

Maybe zarcon, who collected his car today can give us a more objective review

Fyi, we were also told the reason why the torque converter was not included in the powerkit was bcos cars made after march 2010 already had the uprated torque converter as standard.

Finally, I wish to thank quill for a wonderfully informative session, the sales advisor, jerry and of course, docray for getting us a headstart.

 

[kong]

Dear All,

Yes.. i was good to meet many of you guys there in person.

Despite the short driving experince, 3 things i can feel different from my stock 184hp ride.

1. No turbo lag. And if there is any, i cant really feel it.
2. Smoother engine power delivery and gear change.
3. Quiter engine noise and clatter, both from inside and outside.

The car accelerate much better and the speed keep on increasing at higher engine RPM. I suppose this is the effect of higher horsepower.

Pulling power is impressive. 5 of us seated in the car and it accelerate from standstill effortless.

Considering the package comes with actual hardware change, rather than just fuel re-map, one can seriously think about it.

Having able to experiece of all this, i have to thank Quill and its SA for the good work.
I feel that Quill has done a very good job in promoting the BMW brand and exposing the car enthusiast to the diesel technology.

With this kind of interaction with its client, Quill has done well in taking care not only its own customer but all BMW drivers as a whole,regardless of where the car is bought from. As a BMW owner, i feel i am appreciated.

Keep it up Quill..!!

Cheers..!!

 

[docrayboy]

Caught the tail end of the cocktail session, met Kong, Flaming(spelling?), Nazli and took the Powerkitted car for a spin with S.A. Alex Tang.....the car drives like a petrol car with more linear power delivery and I just love the low roar of the twin silencers with the Quill car. Picked up Quill's Freebie bag-BM glass cleaner spray, BMW Upholstery/carpet impregnator spray(what does it it do actually to the carpets?,liquid soap for the window washer tub and BMW car shapoo ). Maniac says the goodies alone worth at least 100-200MR! fortunately, there was still lots of food avaialable even near 4pm! But the best part of the day............heard the news that the 325d in the guise of the F30 is coming to Malaysia next June!!!
ALSO THANKS QUILL FOR ORGANISING SUCH GREAT EVENT!! Over 20 of us 320d buffs came for it!

 

[tradingcrew]

Hi guys,

It was definitely a greet session this afternoon and being able to finally put some faces to the names here. Great to meet you all.

For my little short testdrive session, we managed to squeeze five big boys into the car, bro maniac, kong, zul, SA and myself, waited for theroad to clear and floored the pedal and give the brakes a big thump before we reached the roundabout. The tires didnt grab the road too well though.

My humble feelings
1) Engine clattering noise significantly reduced even though I'm standing next to the car
2) Turbo lag grrrrr...eatly reduced
3) Low rpm torque reduced but fast forgotten with more linear greater power delivery after that
4) Everything else just feels smoother....., even the ride is softer. lol

Finally, many thanks to Quill Management for organising this event, the awesome gift pack and nit forgetting docrayboy doing all the ground work. Too bad we couldnt meet. I just wished that we can have more time to digest all the great offers given to us today. Just toooo tempting especially the brake kit.

Hope to see you all soon again....cheers!

 

[kuntakinte]

I hv booked myself in for a more serious test drive trow at 12pm. I will take the plunge if I can b convinced. Any other fence sitters most welcomed to join

 

[ronnie2k9]

Guys, is the performance brake kit worth it ?? Or can get it with a cheaper price of rm6800 ??

 

[doc9802]

I hv booked myself in for a more serious test drive trow at 12pm. I will take the plunge if I can b convinced. Any other fence sitters most welcomed to join

Hi,
I might join you tomorrow =) have loads to ask Quill abt my E92 320d, who's the person in charge to see tomorrow regarding test drive?

 

[kuntakinte]

Doc9802, I dont think any technical person is on standby trow, just the SA. Do dropby if u wish, just as pez is also dropping by at 12pm too

 

[tradingcrew]

I hv booked myself in for a more serious test drive trow at 12pm. I will take the plunge if I can b convinced. Any other fence sitters most welcomed to join

Let us know how it goes Bro....

 

[Zarcon]

hey ya all...glad to have met some of you fellow diesel owners in quill yesterday ....
almost felt like a diesel gathering ... lol

anyhow... i think some of you is hoping for some honest review on my powerkitted 320d.... managed to bring it around npe from subang to kl thru some slight traffic .... and back from KL to subang past midnite when the roads were pretty empty....

guess it gives me a good feel of slow-mid-high speeds... and ....


.... to be continued...rushing for dinnerlar ... hehe...

 

[docrayboy]

hey ya all...glad to have met some of you fellow diesel owners in quill yesterday ....
almost felt like a diesel gathering ... lol

anyhow... i think some of you is hoping for some honest review on my powerkitted 320d.... managed to bring it around npe from subang to kl thru some slight traffic .... and back from KL to subang past midnite when the roads were pretty empty....

guess it gives me a good feel of slow-mid-high speeds... and ....


.... to be continued...rushing for dinnerlar ... hehe...

Tension lah Zarcon bro......you are keeping us so excited waiting for your full review!! hee hee!!

 

[Pez]

Met with Doc9802 one of a kind E92 320D, damn sexy car! N just now saw the car again in sunway pyramid, was parking behind u doc huhuu seriously wishing if i couldntrade mine for urs

 

[kuntakinte]

Was at quill's on sunday and prior to meeting Pez and Doc9802 later, I had the opportunity to test drive the powerkitted 320d for a longer drive along Jalan Damansara. I try to emulate my daily drive as much as possible, so as to obtain a more objective review of the differences in driving charateristics post-mod, by locking the gearshift in D most of the time as opposed to our earlier session where we 'thrashed the car since it's not ours'-mode in DS.

To cut a long story short, my simple conclusion
- more responsive low-end urgency to 'get up and go'. Our stock car suffers from some lag between the 800-1500 rpm range but the PK car was just raring to go on a slight depress of the pedal. When i relooked the torque/hp curve, I find this characteric, although welcome but rather odd, since the stock and PK curves were dead similar up 1500 rpm when the PK shifts sharply to the left thereafter. I will attribute this to the performance exhaust that was included in the PK test drive car as the car should theoretically breath easier with a more unrestriced flow. I am hoping Zarcon can confirm if he still gets this low-end urgency if the performance exhaust is not installed together.

- I can safely say that above 1750 rpm onwards, the PK car is more responsive, esp in the 80-120kmh run-up, which corresponds nicely to the power/torue curve provided by BMW but I do have to objectively say, it is noticeable but not really significant 'in-your-face' kind of g-pulling forces

- In DS mode however, the PK car shines but truth be told, altho' DS mode is stock car is already very significant, the PK car just pulls and pulls all the way to redline if you want. The stock car seems breathless after 4k rpm

- Noise level outside of PK car seems quieter than stock but clatter sound was higher inside the cabin. Maybe the car was thrashed too hard the day prior

- still can't understand why the ride comfort on the PK car is significantly better than stock. Rear was less bouncy/thrashy as evident by a friend who was with me.

- driving in manual mode on sweeping bends was also a joy as the improved torque allows you to downshift only once to be in the torque sweetspot powerband as you enter the corner (as opposed to twice in stock car depending on the speed you enter the turn), and accelerate off the apex

Verdict
- The PK is a 'nice-to-have' and certainly has better and useful low-end grunt > 1500 rpm (subject to zarcon confirming the same w/o the performance exhaust). Quite frankly, the PK will appeal to those to like charged-driving as the freer revving nature is heaven-sent. In normal day driving, 380nm is more than enough for most people since the stock DS mode already provides a more agressive map.

- I am still on the fence as I hope zarcon can give us an honest review of the low end grunt that was most noticeable in the PK car compared to the laggy stock car in D mode. If he feels the same improvement on his car, I am all for it as I already have the home minister's approval for this mod (tip: to get this approval, just tell them they are blessed that your indulgence is only with cars and not women)

lastly, just wanna give a shout to pez and doc9802 who didnt get to really test drive the car due to timing (cos apparently, quill had an appointment test drive somewhere else). Doc9802's unique e92 320d with red leather and 19' bmw performance 5 spoke wheels (the same one offered by quill for $17k with rubbers) was really sexy. Glad for him that he has been driving with the DPF for the past 5k km and no OBC error so far. Bcos he was smoked by a GTI at 200kmh, he has enquired and provided info to quill for them to check if the PK can be fitted to his car

 

[docrayboy]

Great write up kuntakinte bro! Another budding motoring journalist in the making! Well for me, I've got no choice since it can't be installed on my Dec 2009 320d . So, I better save up and wait for the F30 325d next year!

 

[Zarcon]

Wows….cant help while reading the thread by kuntakinte and realised my name keep popping up .. haha… Nonetheless am glad to be able to share some of my initial experience on the powerkit.

Erm… please do bear in mind that I am no motorsport expert and this is just my personal opinion on a day or two of driving the car around.

1) First impression is definitely the reduce in lag … you know how is it when we usually are just cruising around and the gear shift is up at low rpm … and when the urge to notch it up a bit comes…. U step on it and it has a slight down-time before the power surges in … that has gone or reduced so far on my driving experience.

2) I think the vast improvement comes at overtaking experience, whereby at mid range speeds (my version is around 80-140).. it gives me more confidence now to overtake in tight spaces as the response from the throttle is much quicker. It does give it a “step-and-go” feel, much like driving in DS mode (previously before kitted) but I am able to do this now in normal mode.

3) Next up is at higher speeds… I don’t know if this is possible or not but while I was “trying” out the car on empty roads… I tend to “step-on-it” with my eyes glued to the road till I feel the need to check on my speedometer. Usually when I do that and check it does not show speeds of 180kmh, but it did this time about. (hoping I don’t get into trouble with the police on this thread). I mean on paper it just says the reduced time after powerkit only happens around 80-120.

4) Now the experience in DS mode (after powerkit)…. This one please do give me some time as i have not really tried it out much yet. Had a little mishap while in a parking lot the other night, reversed into a hidden curb… L … added a bit of wrinkles into the side skirting; gotta get the part fixed before I go zooming around … just in case.

Anyhow…overall I think so far it has been money well spent on the powerkit although I don’t think I have unearthed the full potential of it yet. But nonetheless…. I think there might be some slight disadvantage as now that the car seems to have some added fun on it … cant help but think about the effects it might have on the brakes if the “fun” is put to test on longer period of driving. Just spent about 7k to make it faster… now have to think about spending around 6.8k to make it stop better. Haha.. I guess that might be good marketing from BMW or quill…

Do not that this review has been written on the back of driving a 320i for almost a month (no disrespect to the owners out there – just thought it might have an effect on my review). Having been deprived of a turbo-diesel for a month… getting back the car itself does seem like a big improvement already. J

Cheers to all the diesel owners out there… and will try to put in a bit more input the next time about.

P/s: please don’t come cucuk the behind just because the reviews might have sounded to make the car a little faster….

 

[ronnie2k9]

Bro Zarcon, time to come out for TT session !!! Tonite ?? =D

 

[3er]

Yup, was there and sentiments reflect whats been posted already. Really makes me wanna get it. Banana brakes are nice too but the total package will exceed what I'm willing to pay for. Then again....

On the way back to Quill, along an empty stretch of J Kemajuan, i goosed it more. An X5 probably underestimated the clip i was doing, came out of a side road to cross the other way. With horns, Xenons on HI, ABS engaged, the BBK stopped the PK car with 3 car lengths to spare. (The Quill SA woke up....). I wanted so much to finger the X5 but thought otherwise. I was impressed with the banana shoes...

 

[kuntakinte]

Great write up kuntakinte bro! Another budding motoring journalist in the making! Well for me, I've got no choice since it can't be installed on my Dec 2009 320d . So, I better save up and wait for the F30 325d next year!

Looks like I m nearly sold on the powerkit. I think it's a good investment if we intend to keep the car over the next 3 years. For me, my next ride will either be the face-lifted f10 520d or facelifted f30 diesel options or the new twinpower turbo petrol engines. Since money dont grow on trees, this timeline thus justifies my investment in the powerkit

The new f30 with the 2liter petrol, 4cyl twin scroll turbo churning out 245hp and 350nm from 1250 rpm looks like a delicious option. Unless of course, BMW comes up with another ground breaking diesel technology

 

[kuntakinte]

Some members asked where I got the M sport carbon fibre front splitters on my car. They are replicas imported from taiwan. Seems like eurotuner has brought the original in. Click here http://bit.ly/oeM1zi

 

[ronnie2k9]

Some members asked where I got the M sport carbon fibre front splitters on my car. They are replicas imported from taiwan. Seems like eurotuner has brought the original in. Click here http://bit.ly/oeM1zi

Where and how much do you get it from ?? Original is too expensive...