[SOBOSpeedster]

Hey Guys..

I needed some help with some mods for my E60 BMW 540i.

I was looking to do these:

1. ECU remap which would take it up from 306 to 336hp.
2. Cold air intake
3. Better brakes, maybe M5 brakes or equivalent
4. K&N or better Air filter
5. Chamge of headlights as the stock ones are pretty ****.

I would also appreciate advice on any good shops that could help me with this? someone who deals well with BMW mods.

All suggestions even above and beyond the ones mentioned above are more than welome!!

Thanks,

SOBO

[gemballa]

For your car, the simplest mods would be the airfilter. Try look for a carbon fibre one.

A branded exhaust system ie. supersprint without cats. As for brakes, the safest option would be AP racing big brake conversion.

Do not touch your ECU over here, your car will be doomed.

Finally, if you want to go for m5 shattering performance, then plenty of bolt on supercharger kits are available.

[GTO]

First and foremost, look only at bolt-on mods made specifically for the E60 540i. No one will have 540i parts in stock; thus, whatever you want must be shipped in. You have two options:

1. Order online and import them yourself (it's easier than you think). However, for the remap, it's recommended to send your ECU over to Europe, have it remapped, then shipped back home.

2. Get in touch with tuners who have experience with high-end European cars. Petes (Has many a BMW & Audi in his client list) and Racetech (Sample thread) are the two names that come to mind.

[VCheng]

May I politely present a counter-point?

Don't bugger up your nice stock car!

[fre2bpowerless]

2. You can get bolt on intakes (Dinan is a reputable brand for BMW tuning)
3. Most aftermarket BBKs outperform the M5 brakes, also make sure the brakes you decide to get will clear the wheels. You could also upgrade rotors, pads, lines for better braking on a budget.
4. K&N is good as a replacement filter.

I'd suggest you keep the stock headlamps and avoid the remap unless you know someone knowledgeable and capable of executing. You wouldn't want the car throwing random error codes on you.

May I suggest an exhaust upgrade, let the V8 roar

[gov626]

Contact Dr.Nirmal Krishanan (nirmalkrishnan) who is on the forum. He has mapped the ECU on his 530d. I am sure he is the right person to answer your questions.

[SOBOSpeedster]

Hey guys... thanks for all the repsonses..

After doing a little research.. there seems to be a company in Mumbai who claims to be able to do good remaps. They say that they have a European partner and they would connect the ECU via the internet to Europe and get it done by the European guys.. Also, the guy in Mumbai himself says he was doing this in the states for a while before getting back to Mumbai and since back has done many Beemers, Mercedes', Prosche's etc etc and even some nicer cars! The company is called KiiRus.. based in Juhu.. any ideas or feedback about these guys?

Also, the headlights really suck!! and i drive on the Bombay Bangalore highway all the time... in the monsoon and sometimes at night.. I need SOLID lights..

For Air filter and Intake, i am thinking about BMC. As for the brakes.. i will do some more research, but i dont want to increase the wheel size so M5 brakes are not an option! anyone know who i can talk to in Mumbai who can give me a real and honest perpective??

Most importantly, I drive a lot on open roads, but they are not necessarily good roads.. hence dont want too many bolt ons. An ECU Remap makes sense to me.. definately no Turbo.. I bought a 4 liter V8 for the displacement and dont want to ruin it with frequent turbo issues... so far the car has been really good to me.. not too much maintainence..

is it possible to just get better break pads and use the stock brakes?? Does this make much of a difference??

Thanks for the feedback guys.. but looking for more comments and advice!!

SOBO

[accord masters]

I have a E92 M3 . I cannot send out the number for viper on the thread so the admins need to help out here . Here's the mail I'd though - jngoradia@gmail.com

Also for the ecu remap I would suggest send it to a well reputed company like Dinan , ESS etc and not getting it flashed here In India.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by SOBOSpeedster

Hey guys... thanks for all the repsonses..

After doing a little research.. there seems to be a company in Mumbai who claims to be able to do good remaps. They say that they have a European partner and they would connect the ECU via the internet to Europe and get it done by the European guys.. Also, the guy in Mumbai himself says he was doing this in the states for a while before getting back to Mumbai and since back has done many Beemers, Mercedes', Prosche's etc etc and even some nicer cars! The company is called KiiRus.. based in Juhu.. any ideas or feedback about these guys?
Don't get it remapped from anyone locally. Only if its a big known BMW tuning company. I think you should have a word with Racetech. They seem to know their stuff.

Also, the headlights really suck!! and i drive on the Bombay Bangalore highway all the time... in the monsoon and sometimes at night.. I need SOLID lights..
Isn't yours the pre facelift E60? Maybe the facelift versions are better? Also possibly your lights could have faded out with age, new lights may solve the problem. Otherwise you can try changing the bulbs to 55w HIDs.

For Air filter and Intake, i am thinking about BMC. As for the brakes.. i will do some more research, but i dont want to increase the wheel size so M5 brakes are not an option! anyone know who i can talk to in Mumbai who can give me a real and honest perpective??
BMC only seems to make a stock replacement and not a full kit.

is it possible to just get better break pads and use the stock brakes?? Does this make much of a difference??
They definitely make a difference, not as much as a full kit though.

Thanks for the feedback guys.. but looking for more comments and advice!!

SOBO

My replies are above in bold. Was your car at 4 seasons btw?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by VCheng

May I politely present a counter-point?

Don't bugger up your nice stock car!

Worthy suggestion!

Originally Posted by SOBOSpeedster

The company is called KiiRus.. based in Juhu.. any ideas or feedback about these guys?

Dude, you have a beautiful sedan. Please don't mess it up by going to such outlets. Avoid the Kiirus & Viper type of small suppliers for such a high end automobile. Stick ONLY to brands that are well-proven at the international level (e.g. Dinan). Pay 15 - 20% more for a high quality product & service, it'll be well worth it.

For Air filter and Intake, i am thinking about BMC.

Have heard very good things about BMC

Originally Posted by accord masters

the number for viper

I wouldn't take my Jeep back to Viper, forget a BMW 5 series. Look, when we are talking about such an expensive car (even more expensive to sort right), what's needed is a solid organisation & technical knowledge. One man shows such as Viper are not tuners. Neither can they match the infrastructure & in-house expertise of guys like Petes or Red Rooster. Either ways, all that Viper would do is import the stuff, which you can very well do yourself. It's not like he's got his own garage for installation, or has the necessary technical understanding either.

Also for the ecu remap I would suggest send it to a well reputed company like Dinan , ESS etc and not getting it flashed here In India.

+100 to this suggestion.

[accord masters]

@ GTO - please read what i write carefully before going all crazy and deleting stuff ( i know your going to delete this too ) so ya i said ive sourced all my parts from him and according to my info my M3 would be more expensive here than the 540 and the jeep ( not showing off ) but just making a statement on your comment of not taking "expensive cars to small outlets" . Sourcing parts doesn't mean that viper would sit and tune the ecu himself it meant that he could help him out in dealing with the ecu chipping companies as he helped me out in getting the parts i ordered for my M3 .
Secondly , on importing stuff yourself let me tell you that is a pain in the "neck" as most of the times the customs people would tell you that an individual is not allowed to import car parts on his own name ( been through that ) so all i suggested was that he could help him out with "SOURCING" stuff only on the basis that he helped me out and everything worked out to be fine . Hes free to go to other places but hes on this forum asking for suggestions so every one can give their own "free" suggestions .
Also , why does a post asking a fellow member to PM me for some details eg. phone number get deleted . You want me to share phone numbers on the forum i can do that i have no problems .

[GTO]

Originally Posted by accord masters

@ GTO - please read what i write carefully before going all crazy and deleting stuff

Also , why does a post asking a fellow member to PM me for some details eg. phone number get deleted .

Accordmasters, you need to understand that we completely discourage sharing of information via PM. Why? Simply because if info is shared via PM, only 1 person benefits. However, if it's posted on the public forum, many more members & guests stand to benefit. The purpose of this public forum is NOT to share information privately; it's to do so publicly.

Second, your post sharing the contact information publicly has been retained. I suggest you view things in the correct perspective before "going all crazy" yourself. The only two posts that were deleted were on the lines of "PM me for more info" and "I cannot PM!!". If you wish to discuss this further, please use the contact us form.

my M3 would be more expensive here than the 540 and the jeep ( not showing off ) but just making a statement on your comment of not taking "expensive cars to small outlets" .

Please read my post again and understand its meaning. I said I would NOT take my Jeep or a 540 to such an organisation. Heck, I have seen a Rolls Royce being done up at a roadside garage in the Juhu lane....I couldn't care less. I am perhaps more particular about the upkeep of my Jeep than that RR owner who has 15 year old kids hammering away on his car. It's your car and you can take it to whoever you want to. We are only here to advise.

I still insist on well-known brand names with in-house technical expertise & support infrastructure. Especially for a high-end car. The kind of indepth knowledge & hands-on experience that a company like Red Rooster or Petes has cannot be matched by one-man shows who don't even have a single full-time mechanic on their payroll.

on importing stuff yourself let me tell you that is a pain in the "neck" as most of the times the customs people would tell you that an individual is not allowed to import car parts on his own name ( been through that ) so all i suggested was that he could help him out with "SOURCING" stuff only on the basis that he helped me out and everything worked out to be fine .

A lot of us have managed too without any issues. And why import parts from one person and fit them at another garage? If things go wrong, there can be a lot of finger-pointing. I'd rather do the sourcing AND fitting at the same place itself. I am sure established companies like Red Rooster would willingly take care of both functions. I suggest you also give Mr. Leelakrishnan's magic hands a try the next time, for your M3 too. Among other things, he's the only tuner in the country to have a dyno for tuning inhouse & an entire army of highly trained technicians. You can't get much better than that.

For years together, enthusiasts had no option but to go to rubbish vendors & their shoddy services. The end result was usually the car owner suffering. For the first time in years, we have large organisations driven by enthusiasts who are bringing world-class products, services, knowledge & infrastructure to the tuning scene. Try them out, you won't be disappointed.

Hes free to go to other places but hes on this forum asking for suggestions so every one can give their own "free" suggestions .

Absolutely. My reply to your post was my suggestion.

[R32_GTR]

Originally Posted by GTO

you need to understand that we completely discourage sharing of information via PM. Why? Simply because if info is shared via PM, only 1 person benefits. However, if it's posted on the public forum, many more members & guests stand to benefit. The purpose of this public forum is NOT to share information privately; it's to do so publicly.

Why have the feature PM built in at all then??

I was under the impression that the purpose of a public forum to to connect with people who share some common interest.. some users might not want to divulge information in public.

Having said this, Pete's and Racetech should be a good bet!!

Note from Mod : Please refer to the suggestions thread where this post of yours has been quoted and answered to.

[accord masters]

+1 to what R32 GTR said

[petroheadkaran]

Sobospeedster: Please buy a second hand 760li and sell the 540 to me!! No mods required.

PS: Big fan of this car!