The BMW 330D built from 2012 onwards, is no slouch in standard form, so what are the added benefits of remapping this already powerful German saloon?
In standard form this car is pushing out a healthy 258bhp and 560nm of torque, after writing the ECU (the brain of the vehicle) with our performance map, these figures change to an impressive 310bhp and a mighty 650nm of torque.
The process
At Remap Kings we have three different systems that allow us to talk to a wide variety of vehicles, covering most makes and models. These different systems are utilised in one of two ways, through the OBD2 diagnostic port or a method known as ‘Bench’ whereby the ECU is removed from the vehicle and the changes carried out on a bench wired directly to the ECU pins – the BMW in question uses the latter.
Before starting any work, the vehicle is checked over for any faults or issues, including plugging in a state of the art OBD diagnostic machine. This bit of kit will read the ECU and associated modules fitted to the car for any stored or current fault codes and displays them. With no faults present work can commence on removing the ECU ready for the read/write process.
Removing the ECU
With most modern BMW’s the ECU is located in a plastic box in the engine compartment, easily accessible with the bonnet open. A lid is secured on top with a series of screws, once the lid is removed the ECU is visible in all its glory. Two plugs connect the main harness to the ECU itself, this slide and pull off with ease, the unit itself is then pulled out upwards from its box.
With the ECU now safely on the bench it’s time to connect our tuning box and load up the necessary software on the laptop.
Talking to the ECU
With the ECU now removed from the vehicle we can start the process of extracting the current data, also known as ‘reading’. First, we select the correct hardware version on the remapping software, this allows the software and ECU to ‘talk’ through the tuning interface. Once the correct option is picked it’s time to connect the cable to the ECU, this requires carefully reading a diagram of which different colour wires connect to which pins.
Once all the equipment and cables are connected the current data and parameters are read and backed up in case there is the need to revert to original settings.
It’s file time
After all the above has been carried out, it’s time to select a performance remap file for the vehicle. In this case the customer requested that his sports display (a digital BHP & torque read out display) is altered to show the extra increase in power and torque – something that we can do.
After the correct file has been selected, in this case a Performance Map, it is downloaded to the laptop ready to be written to the ECU. The write process does exactly what it says on the tin, writes the tuned file to the ECU.
The final steps & one happy customer
Once the remap file has been written to the ECU it’s time to refit it back in the car. After refitting, the car is started and the OBD diagnostic machine reconnected to check for any faults before road testing the vehicle. Instantly the customer noticed the transformation to the car after carrying out the work, smiling like a Cheshire Cat the whole time! With more low-down torque, sharper throttle response and generally more power in all gears, it’s no wonder why BMW 330D’s are such a hit with Remap Kings!
