Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/)

-   -   Crossing the thin redline into madness. Meet Red, my old new BMW 328i (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/204534-crossing-thin-redline-into-madness-meet-red-my-old-new-bmw-328i-7.html)

Ahem.
<vader> I find your lack of a shout-out for the friend who installed both your radio trim AND your bootmod3 disturbing. </vader>

Hahaha, does this count?

Ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between; please meet ghostrider (he's just THAT BIG a Nicholas Cage fan). He's equal parts handyman, technophile, and broseph par excellence. And yes, he handled the install for my car's ambient lighting and initial Bootmod3 tune like a champ. A+ installer and all-round mensch, would revisit again.

As with all great bromances, we met right on here on the big T and as luck would have it, he ended up getting an immaculate 328i himself a few months after I did. It's an awesome spec too, snowy white on the outside, flaming red on the inside. Dee-lish-ious, if I do say so myself. It's already been de-catted, and runs a Bootmod3 tune as well. 'Nuff said, here's a pic of it, it really is a sight to behold in alpine white.

Bite your tongue, heathen. It's a Top Gun reference!


I continue to blame you for this. I was happy with my Cruze, oblivious to the lure of the 328i until I read your thread. Also, thank you for putting me on to Bootmod3 - I know I was the first of us to bite the bullet, but it was your idea. Have you done the transmission tune yet?

You can continue to blame me now and thank me later. I accept thanks in cash, kind, and very kind.


No thanks needed, one good turn always begets another!. I did do the TCU tune, but I honestly can't feel any difference, man. I'd be straight up lying if I said anything otherwise.

It's perhaps a placebo, but the car feels a touch more eager in sports and sports+ when I put the hammer down, which is probably down to the ECU and TCU tunes doing a tango. I guess I'll only really feel the effects if and when I go stage 2.

I suggest you hold off a bit and pull the trigger on it when you're bored and want to play around a bit with the car. It's an easy-peasy job you can get done on a whim anyways. I love that about Bootmod3!

Before you go for a stage 2 tune, do read about the countless N20/26 engines that have run into issues after a stage 2 tune. Stage 2 is not really recomnneded for this engine and has destroyed many 328i's globally.

Thanks for the heads-up. Yes, I know of it, and it makes me very wary. The idea, broadly, is to get the uprated intercooler and downpipe and run the car on stage 1 during the week, and switch it to stage 2 temporarily using bootmod for when I want to put my hair down. Will that be problematic? Perhaps. But I’ll only go down that road if I’m fairly certain it won’t be iffy. Last thing I want is to make Red the prettiest automotive art piece in Bombay.

Hi turtle.
What an absolute beauty your report was! Had me gripped from the first word that you penned close to an year and a half back, till the latest of its updates. To be frank, I was gripped not because of the beauty of the car (which deserves a separate paragraph below), but because of your brilliant and humorous narration! Man! Big fan! Enjoyed each & every word and vibe in the report. Good show man.

Coming to the car, what an equally stunning beauty the red devil is (goes without saying). My eyes are popping out. However, to comment any further, one should first be deserving enough to even start to speak about the Bavarian beauties. (read Aukaat) lol: Therefore, I dare not venture any further.

Cheers buddy. Happy munching miles and wishing you many more visits to the petrol bunk :)

Thank you, Dhanush. It has warmed the cockles of my heart no end to see the response on here to my mad musings.

Nonsense. All of us floating around these parts of the interweb are bound by one common credo; a love for cars. Whether that's a K10 or a G63, it's a thread binding us all together. Unless you love the Prius, in which case all bets are off.

To you too, Dhanush; whether it be on two wheels or four!

Congrats on joining the 328i Club!

Many months ago I remember iliketurtles mentioning the same when we had met up, and it was very keen on doing. Awaiting you two guys long term report on the same!

@iliketurtles: your updates have given me a lot to think about myself during this quarantine period! Keep them coming!

I have been thinking of going Stage 2 as well, coupled with the TCU tune so want to hear about your updates. Like you said, reliability is key; so I am going to be following this in detail.

From what I've read, with the supporting hardware there really aren't many issues that come up from going stage 2; please correct me if I am wrong.

Interestingly, even I got my 328i detailed by Glosswerkz recently : pic attached! They did a brilliant job!

From what I gather people who've had issues with Stage 2 did it without changing charge pipes, or upgrading their intercoolers. You also need a high-flow or a catless downpipe.

I'd be really interested to read about issues on Stage 2 - could you post a couple of links?

I read about these issues mainly on forums like bimmerpost and bimmerfest. Some links are -
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1695383

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1476333

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1479717


I also think that going for the OTS stage 2 bm3 won't be the most reliable option but a custom tune should be just fine as mentioned by many on the web. Trouble with searching about issues with the N26 engine is that a lot of people have posted in other engine sections such as the B48. You'll have to read through alot of posts to find their claims.

Hola mano! Good to bump into you.

My advice, for whatever it's worth, is to get the TCU Tune for sure (from Quantum, unless you have BM3). Reliability really is of the essence. I've consumed information about BM3 voraciously, like you wouldn't believe. Of course, something could always go wrong, but with the right hardware bits and the right installer for those mods, I am confident everything's coming up Millhouse.

That's my belief as well. The major issue with the N20 is the timing chain, much more so than blown motors from a tune. A majority of those poor fools ran JB4, with higher boost than BM3, minus the mods. I leaned on Mike, from xtreme powerhouse, extensively before I pulled the trigger on it, and the fact that thousands of BMW owners are running it with no problem is of great comfort. Get the right hardware, and you'll be golden.

I've thought about this long and hard, and I'll be doing the catless downpipe and changing the charge pipes first, because they're inexpensive and essential mods, and continue to run the stage 1 91 octane tune for now. Keep stage 2 for later, once you're suitably bored and need to satisfy that all-too-familiar itch lol:

Looks like they did a fantastic job, and I'm glad they're gaining traction. Incidentally, I signed up for a weekly waterless wash as well, and I'm going to make it a long-term arrangement. It's fully deserved for the sheer quality of their work.

Hombre, I read through these threads, and found very few mentions of blown motors as such. I'm not saying BM3 is bulletproof, nothing ever is, except Kal El. If you run its tune (any tune, for that matter) without the right mods or the right grade of fuel, you're just asking for trouble.

I'm not a betting man, but I'm willing to bet very good money (by putting it where my mouth is) that BM3 will be largely trouble-free.

A friend of mine (who eventually went stage 2 on Bootmod3 just a few months back, with the right hardware) actually reached out to them because the initial tune they shared saw the car running too lean and they shared a few custom tunes with him basis the logs he shared. That said, I ran their pre-defined stage 1 91 and 93 octane tunes and it's running without any issues whatsoever.

I have indeed heard of N26s having a few issues, including the well-known case in Delhi. The major thing with the N20 is the timing chain. That's a real doozy if it craps the bed, and there's a whole thread in bimmerpost dedicated to cataloging its failures, of which there are many!

The thing I've come to realize with Germans is that they need preventive maintenance, and are very particular about maintenance intervals. Get that right, and it's half the battle won. I always wanted a high-maintenance redhead in my life, but this was not what I had in mind!

I wish you all the best for your Tuning endeavours. I will wait for your post after you decide to go ahead with the tune. Seeing all these petrol F30s get tuned makes me want to go in for a Stage 1 tune on my 320i LCI too. Maybe your persuasive way of writing will get to me too and you'll see a 270hp 320i post come up :P