Exhaust Manifold Question

[thule]

To cut the story short, I went to JFA and Torque Gear yesterday while on my way back from Senawang. Didn't have much time to talk longer since I was rushing back to Pahang. I enquired about the exhaust manifold for BMW E60 525i and both shops quoted approx. RM2800. But what they told me next was quite confusing and I didn't have much time to wait for them to elaborate longer.I'm not very technical but according to what they said to me... once I change the exhaust manifold, I can feel the difference instantly. However, in order for the engine to run to its full potential, they told me that I have to send my car to be TUNED! Now this is where things started to get confusing... JFA asked me to take my car to tune the engine right after changing the manifold. He recommended RS Impressive in Puchong. since I didn't have much time to listen longer, anyone here can shed some lights? By TUNING, does it mean re-map the ECU?? He also told me that it cost several hundreds ringgit for my engine to be tuned. Then this guy Andrew from Torgue Gear told me that the stock ECU in our engine can't be tuned, as the chip is not re-programmable and eraseable... how true is this? In that case, how on Earth that every tuner claimed that they can re-map the ECU in order to get full potential from our engine? One thing that he claimed is that to use piggyback computer to bypass the ECU but he then further claimed that the ECU is smart enough to learn that its being bypassed and eventually go back to its original settings. All these are laymen terms in which I know how to write... too technical and I will get confused even further.So my question is.. anyone here has changed their exhaust manifold before? Did you bring your car over to those tuners (if possible, list down the name and location of the reputable tuners) to be tuned? What is the cost like? Thanks for the comments!!! :top:

 

[-azfar-]

wow didn't know exhaust manifold costs that much if i'm not wrong, yes, you have to tune the engine via ECU re-map if you want to maximise it's potential. but i'm pretty sure it's doable since bernard of BVO is doing ECU re-map for E60 as well. better wait for sifus to come and enlighten your doubts btw share the results once it's done !

 

[fabianyee]

The only way to tuned your E60 is to have an ECU remap...

And yes, to fully optimise whatever mods u have put in, it's best to have a custom remap which will work for ur car specifically..

 

[glock_8]

the header has this cat ...by replacing it means u'll have a cat delete header right? (i am not sure if its the same with my n52b25 engine)

so these two shops advice you to send the car for tune up right after.....would it be becos there will be a CEL lights up? appreciate if anyone can advice since i am planning to kill the cat too

 

[chili e30]

call this guy tim 017-2001336 just ask him all the question he can answer it cause he did so many de-cat & to answer you guys question is foc just mention my name nigel.

 

[ess530i]

you can send it to bernard for tuning:

http://www.bmwclubmalaysia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34694

they are right that tuning will give you full potential for the mod but then again even without changing the headers your car isn't running at its full potential and a retune will highly likely give your stock car some gain. so u may not need a retune afterall if u're satisfied w the headers alone. your concern should be the CEL (check engine light) which nobody can guarantee rather than performance gain which most can easily guarantee

let us know if u have any feedback from tim