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      04-12-2019, 10:44 AM   #1
Byhlinder
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Best BMW i8 Tune

Hello everyone.

There are quite a few tuners of the i8 around but does anyone have any personal experience of any of them?

Wich one to pick? Is it worth it? Is the difference noticeable?

Hope you can help a beginner in this out!
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      04-14-2019, 01:52 PM   #2
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https://www.vividracing.com/tuned-ec...151449513.html

See link above. Got this tune on my car about a month ago. It has run flawlessly for 1,000+ miles without any errors/codes/lights. I’ve heard that some of the other tunes cause problems, this one seems to be good. Would recommend— the gains are minimal. I’d say I “felt them” but that is perhaps more placebo affect really.

(I have not yet had a chance to verify the speed limiter was truly removed, haha)
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      04-18-2019, 09:42 AM   #3
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Gintani; I’ve had the tune for over 20,000 miles. Never had an issue. Torque improvement is what you feel the most, top end improves as well. I’ve roll raced a couple of M4’s, one convertible that I pulled on very little, a coupe that I lost to by very little. Overall very pleased with my tune.
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      04-18-2019, 09:59 AM   #4
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Gintani; I’ve had the tune for over 20,000 miles. Never had an issue. Torque improvement is what you feel the most, top end improves as well. I’ve roll raced a couple of M4’s, one convertible that I pulled on very little, a coupe that I lost to by very little. Overall very pleased with my tune.
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      04-18-2019, 11:24 AM   #5
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IMHO: BMW has already pushed the little 3-cyl Mini engine to its limit. I'm not going to stress it any further with a custom tune...
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      08-28-2020, 08:31 AM   #6
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Any other opinions on tunes?
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      08-29-2020, 01:09 AM   #7
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The car is fine as it is. Don't bother.
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      08-31-2020, 08:25 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leto1701 View Post
The car is fine as it is. Don't bother.
Ha!
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      09-01-2020, 04:36 AM   #9
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Yorkshire is the cheapest tune out there. Sends you a Powergate 3 to do the tune remotely and has had good customer service. Performance is equivalent to the dyno tune I had done on my i8 at a BMW Performance Shop nearby. My 0-60 went from 4.3 to 3.95. https://www.yorkshiredpfcentre.com/bmw-i8-tuning-tool
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      09-01-2020, 04:10 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patsgarageonline View Post
Yorkshire is the cheapest tune out there. Sends you a Powergate 3 to do the tune remotely and has had good customer service. Performance is equivalent to the dyno tune I had done on my i8 at a BMW Performance Shop nearby. My 0-60 went from 4.3 to 3.95. https://www.yorkshiredpfcentre.com/bmw-i8-tuning-tool
I've watched this video and a number or your others. How is the drivability with this tune? Any quirks?
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      09-02-2020, 02:13 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leto1701 View Post
The car is fine as it is. Don't bother.
Agreed.
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      09-02-2020, 06:45 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leto1701 View Post
The car is fine as it is. Don't bother.
Agree
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      09-03-2020, 12:32 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leto1701 View Post
The car is fine as it is. Don't bother.
+1
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      09-03-2020, 08:59 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leto1701 View Post
The car is fine as it is. Don't bother.
Quote:
Originally Posted by F5506m View Post
Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coastal i8 View Post
Agree
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxxsirrah View Post
+1
This seems to be a popular opinion. Have any/all/some of you had a tune on the car and felt it was not worth it (or is it that you never felt the need to try one)?
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      09-03-2020, 11:27 PM   #15
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Never felt the need. The car performs just fine for my needs.

I have tried “chips” on other cars over the years. Sometimes you’d gain something on the top end but lose something somewhere else. Overall I never really felt any measurable improvement. Usually it was kind of a guess and the conversation afterwards went something like “ I think I can feel a difference...can you feel it?”

I really can’t believe that somebody with a laptop and a few hours on a dynamometer could come up with something better than the thousands of hours and millions of dollars that BMW engineers spent without sacrificing something.
Either drive ability or reliability.

Since I’m not planning on entering any drag races...just seems like a lot of trouble and also a risk of screwing something up for a questionable 3 tenths of one second.

Just my opinion.

Last edited by Coastali8; 09-03-2020 at 11:45 PM..
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      09-04-2020, 05:55 AM   #16
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I partially disagree with the last post. Take porsche 911 turbo's for example, whilst being a Porsche and engineered by the best people in the world, they are still subject to emissions, durability etc etc. I had two of them and both were remapped. It was night and day. Out of the box, they were fast but dull and boring. Once remapped, they were like different cars. Millenium falcon response and acceleration.

The aspect where i agree is that the i8 engined is already highly strung and the car is already very responsive out of the box. Personally i never felt the need. I did explore the possibility though but since any tune will only affect the ICE, i thought it would be a/ dangerous and b/ marginal gains.

In my mind the best way to proceed would be to scout Mini forums since this is the same engine and these have been tuned for years sometimes very successfully.

For me and despite my taste for very fast cars, the i8 is really well resolved as is.
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      09-04-2020, 11:21 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cbecker33 View Post
I've watched this video and a number or your others. How is the drivability with this tune? Any quirks?
The best way I can describe the tune is that if feels like a normal car, now. Manufacturer's always want the utopian flat HP and Torque curve and the i8 is pretty close. What it feels like, stock, is it puts you back in the seat and it leaves you there. After the tune, it puts you in your seat and then keeps pushing you deeper until it shifts. Shifts are snappier so it feels like you're getting additional acceleration on shift change because torque limits have been reduced. Normally 55mph driving, to immediate foot on the floor, has less lag. It's not a drastic change to the car, by any means, but for someone like me who was considering selling the i8 for a car that gave me better feels, I now want to keep it because this tune is giving me what I wanted.

Normal day to day driving / commuting or grocery getting feels the same. The changes are only happening with increased throttle position.
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      09-04-2020, 11:41 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coastal i8 View Post
I really can’t believe that somebody with a laptop and a few hours on a dynamometer could come up with something better than the thousands of hours and millions of dollars that BMW engineers spent without sacrificing something.
I couldn't believe it either. In fact, I never wanted to waste my time at a dyno trying to squeeze anything more out of the car since it felt very well tuned. And, I didn't want to prematurely break it. I decided to provide my car as a test platform and learn some things, and then convert it back to stock. However, I was surprised at what I learned, the results I got and have now become a believer that someone with a laptop and a dyno can do a whole lot more than I expected, safely.

The manufacturer has to build the i8 so that it operates perfectly in all the different environments and all the different fuel qualities around the world, while reducing fuel consumption, noise, CO2 and emissions. So, the same computer codes are loaded into cars destined for Dubai, Alaska, Australia, etc. What tuners are able to do is customize the coding to the fuel we have in the US (91 or 93 for premium) and our climate, considering a high and low ambient temps that we may encounter. Since I know my car is going to run quality 91 or 93 in the continental US, it can be tuned to take advantage of that quality of fuel. You still have factors of safety that nothing bad will happen to the car, as long as you don't transport the car to Australia with the world's worst fuel qualities or Dubai where it's hotter.

Besides ambient temps and fuel quality, are also limitations on torque that are made in order to improve efficiency and fuel economy, specifically in the i8. The mid-engine is coded to wait for the electric motor to fill in torque at low RPM before it rolls in with more power, unless the battery is depleted. But, the mid-engine can be coded to operate as if there is no battery power left to operate the electric motor, so it won't hang around and wait for until a certain RPM to provide more torque. That creates a noticeable difference in feeling and G-force at low RPM. It also slightly increases emissions, although not bad enough to fail a smog test, because the mid-engine is still operating as if the battery is dead without any torque limitation. However, removing low RPM torque limitations would likely detonate Australian fuel. So, they have to consider this when coding the mid-engine.

These are the things I learned when talking to the folks that modified the coding, who also had no interest in using this as a selling point. I paid $0 for my time on the dyno as well as the tune because I was providing my vehicle as a test platform. I truly intended on driving the car for a month to give feedback then reverting to stock, forever. After learning what was going on inside the coding, I felt better and came out with a better understanding.

That said, there's nothing wrong with keeping the car stock and enjoying it. I was getting bored with it and planned on selling it to get a car that felt like a tuned i8. I'm keeping the i8, now.
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      09-08-2020, 11:32 AM   #19
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I still bear scars from moderating the N54 tuner wars. That engine had significant tuning potential. I was skeptical, but tried a simple device that resulted in slightly higher boost. There was a noticeable power increase, maybe 5-10%, resulting in a lot more wheel spin. I installed a LSD, modified suspension, reduced weight, forged wheels w better tires. Then a much more sophisticated tune, again the results were transformative; the inexpensive 335 was now in the range of a M3. I had no reliability issues, but some folks who were pushing the tuner envelop did, and BMW rightly cracked down.

Tuning the i8 does not have much room until a serious effort to modify both electric and ICU in concert are made. I love the i8 just the way it is; that said, I would love to get more power, more wheelspin and snap when in sport mode. For those of us who want more performance, the options are limited. Mild tune, better tires, weight reduction.
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      09-08-2020, 11:52 PM   #20
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Pat, which tune are you running now? The stage 1 or "Pat's tune"?
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      09-09-2020, 04:44 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Body Massage View Post
Pat, which tune are you running now? The stage 1 or "Pat's tune"?
I've been testing all the tunes. I wanted to get more dyno time but it's hard right now as they shops are under-staffed and not available for folks that just want to do baseline testing.
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      09-09-2020, 11:27 AM   #22
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I'm with you in that I'm more about seat of the pants feel and am not too concerned with peak gains or pushing this powertrain to the limit. Is there an appreciable difference between the two tunes?
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