REVIEW.DYNO | Evolve Automotive Stage 2 Tune

[flipm3]

INTRODUCTION
I have always had such great interest in BMW Digital Motor Electronics (DME) tuning. As technology progressed, so has the complexity and intelligence of these DMEs. What has always amazed me were how there are an endless amount of maps all intertwined in a spiderweb of ways. What has always piqued my interest was that there are a few aftermarket tuners who have really honed the skill of calibrating these maps for better drivability, efficiency, and power. Many years ago, there was a time when there wasn’t really all that much to gain from tweaking these BMW DMEs. In some cases, you would be lucky to not lose power! With great innovations and forward strides in BMW tuning, expert tuners can now pull out very consistent and tangible power from the E9X M3 DME, the MSS60.

The E9X M3 is very responsive to a few simple bolt-ons, the most pertinent being the deletion of the primary cats. After installing my Evolve Automotive X-Pipe with 200cpsi cats, I knew I wanted to get a tune to not just turn off a pesky check engine light (CEL), but to further enhance the power and dynamics of the motor. With the drastic decrease in back-pressure from deleting the primary cats, I assumed that there was room for some proper VANOS tuning to further enhance and increase power and torque. Knowing that BMW designs their tunes to cater to a wild multitude of drivers, I figure that things may lean on the slightly conservative side. Being the power hungry individual that I am, I was hoping that slight tweaks in Air Fuel Ratio and Ignition Targets can help pull out a few ponies here and there.

Given my experience with Evolve Automotive when they helped me transform my E46 M3, I knew that by choosing them to work on my E90 M3 was going to be nothing short of a splendid experience. After getting their X-Pipe, I found it to be rather appropriate to get their tune as well.

PERSONAL REVIEW
Also knowing how intelligent the MSS60 DME is, I wasn’t expecting the most profound bump in power, especially relative to the drastic gains I felt with the Evolve Automotive X-Pipe. Despite that skeptical assumption, upon the first few hundred miles of driving, there was no doubt in mind a tangible difference in all regard.

I requested the following features:

8500RPM
CEL Delete for Primary Cat Delete
Top Speed Governor Delete
Cold Start Cycle Delete
Servotronic Calibration
93 Octane

Sound - Believe it or not, there is a slight difference in auditory feedback from the motor and exhaust. With the Cold Start Cycle Delete, my exhaust is quiet upon first start up. What is very neat is how the motor sounds different as you go through the power range, both in full and partial throttle. My assumption is that this is because of the different VANOS calibration. In my opinion, it sounds more visceral and mechanical. Very enjoyable!

Servotronic - My car doesn’t have any options other than DCT. No MDM. No i-Drive. So I never really got the chance to experience different levels of Servotronic calibrations. When I saw that this was an option with the Evolve Automotive Tune, I was pretty excited because I didn’t really know what to expect. One of my annoyances with the Stock Servotronic Tune was that at slow speeds, the steering felt way too light and effortless. I prefer to have something that has a little more feedback and resistance. With the Evolve Automotive Servotronic Calibration, I found the car to feel like a sports car again! Steering is a tad tighter at slow speeds. At higher speeds, feedback and steering input is very linear and predictable.

Part Throttle - Upon initial tip in of the throttle from idle, response is very predictable and smooth. Transitioning between different degrees of throttle input is very linear. If I input 25% throttle, I feel like the motor is at 25%. If I increase it to 50%, I feel like there is a very nice 1:1 relationship between the throttle input and how the motor reacts. I find this beneficial for those that spend time on the track. Holding and controlling throttle at different loads is constantly going on. With the tune, I find things to simply be slightly less twitchy and more predictable. In all honesty though, the stock E90 M3 did not have bad throttle mapping to begin, I just find with the Evolve tune to be slightly more refined.

Full Throttle - I certainly noticed more power! Under 3000RPM, there is more urgency for the car to get up and going under full load. Example, when in a higher gear cruising in the highway, the motor certainly accelerates faster from a starting motor speed of 2000-2500RPM. This is for sure apparent when zipping around town and not always having that instinct nor time to downshift a few gears. Above 5000RPM, I feel is when the tune really starts to wake up. When I had the Evolve X-Pipe and Stock Tune, despite the huge improvement from Stock X-Pipe, I felt like it was losing momentum after 7000RPM. With the Evolve Tune, the pull is absolutely constant all the way to 8500RPM. As expected, all “flat” spots in the powerband were eliminated.

DYNO RESULTS
2009 BMW E90 M3 DCT
DynoJet248X at Dean's Performance, St. Charles, IL
4th Gear | 93 Octane
Evolve Automotive Stage 2 Tune
Evolve Automotive X-Pipe w/ 200cpsi Cats
Evolve Automotive DCT Software

SAE with AFR


UNCORRECTED with AFR


CONDITIONS


IGNITION


SAE - Evolve Automotive Stage 2 + X-Pipe vs 100% Stock

DYNO ANALYSIS
Looking at things from an overall perspective, take note of the changes in shape of the curve between the Evolve Tune and Stock Tune. Dips and flat spots are improved and in some cases removed all together. At the latter half of the powerband, the shape of the curve takes a bit of a steeper positive slope. I believe this truly depicts the feeling of not running out of steam on the higher end of the power band. Gains throughout the RPM can get as high as 18whp and 12wtq! AFRs are not too far off stabilized stock targets. The upper power band was leaned out ever so slightly. Ignition targets are really not changed all that much from the Stock Tune. I think at most it hit about 1-1.5º higher. I am assuming that majority of the gains are from proper VANOS tuning for the primary cat delete.



VIDEO
Keep in mind that this video was taken within the first 10-15 miles for flashing the car, so not much time for the car to adapt to the near targets. None the less, power and acceleration improvement were vastly improved! Car also had a full tank of gas and packed trunk!

OVERALL IMPRESSION
I am not disappointed by any means. With all the recent modifications I’ve done to the car recently, the Evolve Tune just gels it all together. Solely looking at power/torque enhancement at full throttle, the Evolve Automotive X-Pipe was more noticeable than their tune. But looking at the overall driving experience, the tune really smoothens and refines everything as a whole. The reason why I love ///M cars is because of the driving experience. Doesn’t have to be the fastest or quickest. Doesn’t have to be the highest horsepower reading. I just simply ask that it be fun to drive in every instance. The Evolve Automotive tune does just that with compromise! It makes the car more enjoyable with it’s improved drivability, neat features, and improved power.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this lengthy review and perusing through some of the dyno graphs and data. This review is based off about 250 miles of driving feedback. I will most certainly update when I find appropriate. My goal is to continually log data to see how the motor and tune work in conjunction and I’d also like to start doing some timed acceleration runs!



Stay tuned for more!

[happos2]

Terrible pun.

Glad you enjoy the tune!!

[f32458]

Awesome work you did. Very nice write up! I am still waiting for Sal to send me my file! Can't wait any longer. Enjoy your Evolved M3 in good health! Keep us posted!

[spool twice]

Thanks for the review! Can't wait to get on the dyno myself I too noticed a more aggressive/noticeable sounding exhaust note on my stock exhaust right after installing the tune.

I really love how the stage 2 tune got rid of the 4,000-5,500rpm torque fall/dip; 44rwhp gain from X-pipe+tune is amazing!!

Servo is great too, I no longer push the "M" button to make the steering heavier like I normally did prior to the servo tune, the car feels more stable with the heavier steering (but Sal is working on a custom file for an even heavier on-center feel, because I'm strange like that )

[regular guy]

Awesome results and great review flip!

[mkPOTO]

very nice, now you make me want to go to the dyno and see what im making! Very impressive!

[Imran@Evolve]

Looks good.

On a serious note thanks for taking out the time for another in-depth look and analysis with all the data displayed to show how much of a difference a tune can make.

[aussiem3]

Hope the speed indicated on the video clip was not done on public road.

[Sales@Evolve]

It's been a pleasure as always working with you Alex.

What was very interesting for me was to show you that we don't use huge ignition targets or very lean AFR's to achieve respectable power gains which can be felt on the road.

Excellent data logging and data matching. Hopefully the rest of the community will follow in this testing manner.

[mkPOTO]

Originally Posted by aussiem3

Hope the speed indicated on the video clip was not done on public road.

we flew out to mexico.. haha

[E92M3GT]

So we can summarize:

- Evolve X pipe +27hp
- Evolve tune +17hp

For a total gain of +44hp...

Wow !

To flipm3: thanks for your time and contribution to this forum, nice to always see real life facts !

[Someone?]

You made 44hp with there X-pipe and tune only? if so you need a Dinan intake & pulley kit, with those two add ons im sure youll hit 400hp.

Also anyone have a link to the Evolve x-pipe, never seen it.

[E92M3GT]

Originally Posted by ibmike

You made 44hp with there X-pipe and tune only? if so you need a Dinan intake & pulley kit, with those two add ons im sure youll hit 400hp.

Also anyone have a link to the Evolve x-pipe, never seen it.

Here it is (I am considering getting one with their tune):

[Black Gold]

How much is it

[M.Hagen]

OP - Thank you for the write-up and detailed report. Those gains are very significant!

Do you have any exterior video of the car from the rear?

I am trying to decide what solution is best to *slightly* increase the exhaust note of the car. There aren't many videos out there of X-pipe only M3's without some form of aftermarket rear muffler section.

[flipm3]

Originally Posted by M.Hagen

OP - Thank you for the write-up and detailed report. Those gains are very significant!

Do you have any exterior video of the car from the rear?

I am trying to decide what solution is best to *slightly* increase the exhaust note of the car. There aren't many videos out there of X-pipe only M3's without some form of aftermarket rear muffler section.

Hi M.Hagen

Here is a video from when I dyno'd JUST the X-Pipe.

The full review is in my signature below.

I have another video of the dyne session with the Evolve Stage 2 Tune, just haven't had time to splice them together. I will do so hopefully this week and update the thread for aural and visual pleasure.

[IMG]

Awesome dude,good stuff !

[M.Hagen]

Originally Posted by flipm3

Hi M.Hagen

Here is a video from when I dyno'd JUST the X-Pipe.

Thanks!

Looking forward to the next video

[Imran@Evolve]

Originally Posted by KennyPowers

How much is it

PM sent.

[M3PO]

Glad you made some power with their tune because I sure didn't.

[spool twice]

Originally Posted by M3PO

Glad you made some power with their tune because I sure didn't.

If I followed this correctly, you upgraded from an Evolve tuned 120E file right? And then went to an OEM 240E and gained like 20+rwhp? Strange that you didn't see gains; where the dyno conditions the same? Does the car feel any different with vs without? Were you able to log the car on both dyno runs? Sorry for all of the questions.

[M3PO]

Originally Posted by spool twice

If I followed this correctly, you upgraded from an Evolve tuned 120E file right? And then went to an OEM 240E and gained like 20+rwhp? Strange that you didn't see gains; where the dyno conditions the same? Does the car feel any different with vs without? Were you able to log the car on both dyno runs? Sorry for all of the questions.

My car had 100E. Round numbers the car made 350WHP on stock software (with "full" bolt-ons).

On 100E tuned by Evovle, the car made 370 WHP (round numbers again). So those were good gains.

I was a bit disappointed with 370 though. I was hoping for ~390ish like the LCI cars were making. So I switched to 231E (OEM software) and it made 370 WHP again (untuned).

So I was hoping that I would get the advertised gains of 15-20 again and make my goal of 390 when I flashed it to tuned 231E. However, with tuned 231E, the gains were small enough that they are within the uncertainty of the dyno measurement and basically it made 370 again.

Just for grins, since it was free, I figured I'd ask for an upgrade and retune to 240E to see if maybe my 231E was a dud for some reason or another. Again, the car made 370.

So I don't think something is "wrong". 370 WHP seems to be consistent with early tuned, full bolt-on cars but, for whatever reason, my gains didn't come the tune.