Hi Everyone!
This past Tuesday, I had the pleasure of having Alex perform an Engine Tune and DCT GTS flash on my 2011 E90 M3. First off, I'd really like to acknowledge Alex for his great customer service skills, and vast knowledge about BMWs! Like everyone has mentioned, he has great patience in answering all your questions before you commit to any sort of purchase. Overall, just an amazing experience.
So, after asking all my questions earlier this season - I put the tuning on hold as I needed to switch my attention to my wedding which happened this summer. Now that things have settled down, I got back in contact with Alex and made the purchase. It was a very quick and simple transaction through his website. Ordered Monday, and the equipment arrived the next day! (I live in Toronto, Canada - FAST!)
That Tuesday evening, I set up some time with Alex to get all the software/drivers ready on my laptop which takes a bit of time depending on your windows version etc. (I used a SurfacePro 3, i5) Then we were ready to remotely tune and flash my M3! Throughout the whole process, Alex stayed in constant communication with me over the phone or through text and walked me through what was going on.
We started with the Engine Tune which requires you to make a backup of your current map/settings (takes about 35 mins and I also found out I was running on an old 190E version). Then we flashed the current 241E base map in to get everything up to date. Once that completed, it was time for the Tuned flash. I chose a 91 Octane Tune, with Servotronics Tune, kept Cold Start, retained stock Rev Limiter and Speed... took about 10mins or so to load, done!
Next step, DCT GTS! We ran in to one hiccup (which was my fault) where my laptop battery died partly through the DCT Flash which scared the **** out of me but Alex was super calm the whole entire way reassuring me not to worry, and to just plug the laptop in to get some juice and we'll pick back up where we left off.
After about an hour or so of charging the laptop, we hooked back up and Alex was again on his way flashing the DCT. When the flash finished, I went for a quick spin around the block and on the highway and immediately could tell how much better the car was running. Engine smoothness and responsiveness was improved, DCT shifting was also smoother and faster. The "jerkiness" normally felt when driving around is almost completely gone (DCT owners will know what I'm talking about). The driving experience is just flat out amazing now and the only thing I can say is, I should have done this sooner! I loved the car before but I just love it even more now.
Thanks again Alex, if I'm ever in your neighbourhood in the future - I owe you a beer!
Oh and the amazing thing about this is Alex did a lot of the remote programming through his iPhone! So cool! Hahah
I'll provide a future update on my longer term impressions of the tune!
