[ilya335]

After clocking over 16,000 miles, I feel like the car has finally broken in and that I’ve gotten enough seat time both on and off the street to really appreciate it. I am quite happy that I decided to pull the trigger early and get the tune after only a few thousand miles of ownership. I can’t say enough about the improved driveability of the vehicle. The throttle response with the tune feels perfect, especially with DCT. Even though many call it an automatic, I still feel that it takes a fine touch, and a bit of seat time to drive the car smoothly, especially off the line. I would say the throttle response is between the comfort and power mode with the car stock. The response is spot on with the clutch engagement and I can get nice quick launches when needed. The added power throughout the rev range is also great, especially considering the convertible’s extra 400lbs. The tune definitely added the much needed low/mid end power and really pushing the limits of the top end.

I also wanted to mention my experience with the cold start warm up disabled on the car. I was a bit concerned that it wasn’t good for the engine, but having clocked over 14k miles with it disabled, I can report that I’ve experienced zero issues. I was a bit concerned it would cause problems but I’m so happy I got rid of it. The car’s throttle response and clutch engagement feels the same all of the time. No more cold jerky starts and the computer constantly slipping the clutch. Around 14,000 miles, my car went into limp mode while I was visiting red line on a cold night. I had an engine warning light and emissions light. Since I live in the Los Angeles area, I decided to give Mike a call and see if he could get a read of the car. I dropped by Mike’s the next day and he took a read of it. The faults indicated pointed towards a faulty thermostat sensor. Mike recommended not clearing the codes, and taking the car to the dealer. I chose not to flash the car back to stock since my tuned X6 never had any issues at the dealer. To keep the story short, my dealership replaced the thermostat sensor and the tune was not affected. I tested the car out multiple times, taking it all the way to redline with no more limp modes or check engine lights.

On a different not, about 6 month ago I decided to finally give Euro MDM a try. All I can say is WOW! I am so angry at myself that I did not get Euro MDM programmed the day I got the tune. If you think the regular MDM is good, the Euro version of MDM absolutely blows it away. Having taken the car to the track, I felt that the stock MDM cut in way to early, and didn’t allow the limited slip differential to do its magic. Even on the street, when making quick right turns off the line, the car would cut throttle even in MDM, even though I knew from experience that it could easily grip with no drama. Once I got Euro MDM I literally couldn’t stop smiling while driving the car. It is much less intrusive and allows the differential to do most of the work. Even when you push the car past its grip limits, Euro MDM allows a bit off oversteer before intervening. It’s the perfect blend of allowing you to have a bit of “fun” with the car without losing control. On the track it’s a huge difference since you can get on the throttle a lot earlier without the stability system kicking in. At the same time, the system is still there in case things get a bit harry. It’s an awesome learning tool if you want to progress to driving the car completely DSC off.

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of positive reviews regarding the DCT software from BPMsport and decided to give it a try. I’ve only had it for a few days and haven’t had much time to drive but so far I’m very impressed. The shifts are definitely much smoother and faster. The S5 and S6 shift modes almost feel like SMG with the car actually getting a “kick” during full throttle shifts. It also seems to be slipping the clutch a lot less from a start and while parking. I’ll post up a full review once I have a little more fun with it. Thanks again to Mike Benvo and BPMsport.