Hey m3posters I just wanted to take a minute to write up a small review on my current set up which is Akra Evo exhaust matched up with the ESS Tune. My last M3 had Malek's MRF full exhaust system which was awesome but I wanted to switch it up so I went with this set up.
Thank you:
Before I get started I wanted to thank
Jesal@IND and
Roman@ESS for getting me a great price and fast delivery of the exhaust and the tune. I will note even though I am a sponsor of the forum I paid the same prices as you guys do and I will say it was worth it. Both vendors were top notch to work with both before the sales and after.
Install of exhaust:
The fitment of the Akra Evo system is spot on. There was no issues what so ever. Almost fit better then OEM IMO.
Tune Install:
Roman shot me over the new flash install set up. What a breeze to do. You simply click in a small flash drive in your laptop, install the software then plug the cord into your car and down load your cars codes etc.. this process took roughly 30min very fast. I then took that info and emailed it over to Roman and within 16hours I received the tune via email. I installed the tune from my laptop and was all done in less then 15minutes. It was so easy I did it!!!
The cool part is once its on your laptop you can flash it back to stock at anytime, pretty sweet set up.
Why tune:
For me the main reason I went with the tune was to erase the cold start cycle. My last exhaust although was absolutely insane sounding (the best sounding exhaust out there IMO) was way to loud for my neighborhood on cold starts. I heard a couple complaints and to tell you the truth it made it so I dreaded walking down to the garage and starting her up each morning. The tune had some addition to the cold start which was all just a bonus.
Why Akra Evo:
My last exhaust was the MRF and it was great! I really loved that exhaust however I really like to change it up with every car I get. I never do the same thing twice, so with that being said I wanted to try the EVO since it has such a cult following and lots of positive reviews. I shot
Jesal@IND a PM and within 2 days it was delivered and ready to install at the dealership
Akra EVO + ESS Tune first impression after 1200 mile service was done
:
Shifting - The car really seems to shift a lot smoother. This is my 4th e92M3 all of which have been 6MT so I def have something to compare it with. The car just runs a lot smoother nothing really else to say about that
Power - The car seems to scream now! The low end pull is def noticeable IMO. Its not ridiculously different then stock but you can def feel the power increase. I was really really impressed. Also I really love the throttle response this is greatly improved from stock.
Conclusion:
The Evo is a very expensive system but you know what they say you get what you pay for. The craftsmanship of this system is a work of art. Def justifiable IMO. The sound is very nice not to loud not to quite. Its def loud when you want it to be though
I really feel as though the ESS tune is one of my favorite mods to date. I really enjoy the benefits that it has given me and I would recommend it to anyone.
**I installed the tune myself and not at the dealership. like all mods, mod at your own risk.
cheers
jimmy