2.7i Tuning - Any Option besides purchasing a chip?

[Dickies1]

2.7i (SETA Block with 885 Head, 272 Cam, headers, free exhaust, headers)
I purchased a chip from Kasslel perfomrance, the dyno shows it's running lean and only made 122HP at the wheel, otherwise running great.

So really hoping to find more HP here.

SSSQuid is not accepting orders right now.
Mark D seems incredibly busy

My question is if anyone knows any other options for a tune? What type of capabilities does a Tuning shop need to tune a car of this vintage?

Thanks

[packratbimmer]

I would keep in mind that the Super eta used an injector that was a bit of an outlier. I state this since you mentioned a lean running condition. Tracking down the reason for the lean burn would be the first concern due to the fact that lean can mean engine death! Back to the injectors - they flow less than stock 325i injectors. Have yours been serviced and flow matched? I would also try to find out when it is running lean - full throttle vs other driving conditions. I would get everything running ship-shape stock and then move forward with tuning. Maybe SSSquid will be taking orders again then.

[e30davie]

Each to their own but I wouldn't bother with any of these chips, straight to aftermarket ecu. Megasquirt makes a plug in. Then you can properly dial it in with no guessing.

or any aftermarket ecu you can make a patch loom fairly easily to run it in oem arrangement (distributor and the oem injetor wiring) very simple engine to run.

put a proper TPS on it whilst your at it, remove the AFM and use map tuning. much better than an unknown chip.

[TobyB]

put a proper TPS on it whilst your at it, remove the AFM and use a MAF. much more fun than an unknown chip.

Modified that to completely change the emphasis, but basically agree with you... while trying to start a fight about the details... ;)

t

[e30davie]

haha, again each to their own. Map makes for a nice easy install. I don't have any experience using a modern MAF, maybe its better I dunno.

I agree that its certainly more fun!

[82eye]

wonder what is up with sssquid ...

[Dickies1]

Thank you all! Looks like I came to the right place here.
I forgot to mention that I replaced the injectors with M50 injectors also.
I'm including the DYNO pull to let you see what I'm looking at. FYI, we think the drop at 3K RPM is
something to do with the fuel sender, the dyno shop ran this in 3rd gear floored. We do NOT feel this
cut-out when driving at all. I realize I need to freshen up the fuel delivery up the injectors.

I will start looking at the aftermarket Megasquirt today as I would much prefer to be able to tune this and not rely on the mystery chips.
I'd like to keep the stock AFM and modify one thing at a time, again car runs really well right now, just want a little more
HP than the M20B25 we swapped out (reused the head/intake) Right now peak HP is the same, we did get a much wider torque band though.

[reelizmpro]

Go plug and play Megasquirt and Turbo while you're at it.

[Dickies1]

Turbo may be in the cards down the line but right now I would love to Plug and Play a tuneable ECU. Please let me know if anyone knows where this
exists? Megasquirt is redirecting me to their distributors, I've reached out to 2 so far, EFI SOURCE says they do not have a Plug-n-Play application for the E30.
Waiting to hear back from DIYAutoTune.com

Thanks,

[Dickies1]

DIY Autotune got back to me, I'm going with their MS3Pro PnP Plug and Play ECU.
This is just what I was looking for, thanks for the help!

[AWDBOB]

DIY Autotune got back to me, I'm going with their MS3Pro PnP Plug and Play ECU.
This is just what I was looking for, thanks for the help!

I would recommend going this route over MS. Supporting a small business in the community with great features at the price point.

https://www.classicdaily.net/products/bmw-e30-m20-plug-and-play-ecu

[e30davie]

Nicely done. Good choice. You'll never go back to mystery chips.

in order to take full advantage of the ms3 you should also install a proper TPS. The oem one is just an on/off switch at wide open throttle and idle. what you want is a full variable one.

I used one off an M42, which is just a generic bosch unit after all,but you do need a little adaptor plate to put it onto the m20 throttle body as the bolt spacing is slightly different. Im not sure what the most cost effective solution is these days but someone hopefully chimes in. I think you need to change the pins on the plug also, i just made my own loom from scratch so I'm not sure. Dialing in the throttle enrichment via the TPS is I think the major advantage of aftermakret ecu. just makes the throttle so crisp compared to oem.

edit - as an example

https://www.iemotorsport.com/product/throttle-position-sensor-adapter-plate-m20-m30/

[It's Soda Not Pop]

I would recommend going this route over MS. Supporting a small business in the community with great features at the price point.

https://www.classicdaily.net/product...g-and-play-ecu

This is the route that I went. Jake is the best. Great customer service

[Panici]

OP just in case it wasn't clear, a Plug-and-play ECU will still need to be tuned either by you or a someone else.

They can come with a base map, but it will need to be dialed in by someone who knows what they're doing.

[packratbimmer]

I would investigate and see what injectors are recommended for the chip you are using. Motronic 1.3 is not adaptive enough to morph itself and adjust to variables such as injector size and fuel pressure. It's a bummer that SSSquid is not available because they require that you share your engine modifications as well as fuel injection modifications and then make your chip. Every time that I have tried non-stock injectors (19lb. Ford style and M50) without a matching tune, the overall result has been poor. I'm not saying that the cars would not run or anything - there was always some issue like poor idle or poor drivability. Wide open throttle was usually okay though.