[simoneves]

It appears I'm now well and truly on the slippery slope of modding my 3-month-old 2016 228i THP 6MT. In January, I got Dinan Shockware installed by my local dealer, West Bay Bavarian in San Rafael, and the other week, after much deliberation and fence-sitting (witness the many threads on here that I have started or at least contributed to) I pulled the trigger on an AA8 tune.

I ordered it from Extreme Powerhouse (thanks, Mike!) as they had it at a good price ($664) including free shipping. My only complaint is that after being told they had it in stock, it then ended up being drop-shipped direct from AA in Florida after all, and by FedEx Ground, which took over a week. I guess with free shipping you get what you pay for. Mike's service and response was otherwise awesome, so I'm over it.

So this morning, after a trip to Ace Hardware to pick up some zip ties, a new pair of dikes, and a cheap metric socket set, I dived in.

The instructions on the AA website are for an F30, although I ended up following them pretty closely. The only difference was that I routed the camshaft and air mass sensor cables around the front of the engine (in between the oil filler cap and the rubber block) instead of around the back, as they didn't seem quite long enough (strange, as an F30 is surely bigger).

The AA8 CPU came with a single-sided metal mounting bracket, and I was able to mount it under the passenger-side plastic panel, using one of the bolts holding down a black plastic lid on the back corner of the engine. This required an M10 socket, not M6 as described in the instructions, so I'm guessing the F30 is different under there.



Also, although I managed to pull off the passenger-side plastic panel completely, I couldn't get it to go back on again, until I realized that it actually had three 1/4-turn locking tabs with hex heads on the top side. Once I undid those, it slipped back in easily. and I did them up again. I'm just happy I didn't break them pulling the thing out without undoing them!



Having routed the cables roughly where they needed to run, I decided to start with the most difficult of the four connections, the dreaded camshaft sensors, buried under pipes and wires at the front of the engine.

I had already done a dry run to disconnect the stock plug, so that came out easily, and thankfully I have fairly small hands (cue Donald Trump joke) so I was able to get in there either side of the ~1" rubber pipe that's right in the way. I routed the plug side of the harness around the back of that pipe, so it had a better angle into the socket on the engine, and with one finger on each hand either side I was able to slide the plug in. I then used small pliers to push on the back of the plug to make it go all the way in.

The socket part of that harness was easy, and the other three connections are even easier, barely warranting mention. I now see how a BMS Stage 1 or a RaceChip could be done in 5 minutes flat, because that's all the other three took.

I then connected the provided loopback plug to the other end of the cable, and fired up the engine. No complaints, and according to DashComment (iPhone app in conjunction with my Automatic OBDII dongle), no codes.



I then got to work zip-tying the cables. I tried to put as much strain relief near the plugs as possible, without holding them too tightly, since I'm sure the engine moves a bit on its mounts while driving, so I didn't want that to pull out any wires. The car-side air-mass sensor connection was then kinda floating in mid-air without anything suitable to zip-tie it too (anything that I knew didn't get hot, anyway), but I was able to pull the car-side cable through its mounting point a little (around the back of that aluminum box, whatever it is) so that it didn't flap about too much. I might revisit that part.

The camshaft and air-mass cables were longer than needed, so I did a single coil in the space behind the oil filler cap (above some existing electrical stuff) and then routed the main cable through the break in the rubber gasket and into the space under the plastic panel where I'd mounted the CPU (being careful not to go anywhere near what looks to be a large and very exposed positive battery terminal with anything metal).

The engine cover went back on easily, only slightly squashing the extra cables emerging to the front by the oil filler cap. I didn't do anything particular to restrain the other two that went across the back of the engine, but they didn't seem to be in the way of anything (wiper mechanism etc.) and weren't going to rest on anything hot, so I think they'll be fine.

More pics. The camshaft and air-mass cabling.



The manifold and boost cabling (cable pairs zipped together, then all zipped to the big existing loom at the back)



Right side (showing camshaft/air-mass cable coiled behind oil filler cap)



Left side (showing slightly-floating air-mass sensor cable)



Once this was done, the car was well asleep again, so I removed the loopback plug and connected the cable to the CPU.



I closed everything up and fired up the engine again. Once more it started smoothly with no CEL or codes, so off I went for a drive. Unfortunately, we're having a bit of a rainstorm here in the Bay Area right now, so I wasn't able to push it as much as I'd have liked, but I did about 25 miles on both winding roads and on the freeway.

Immediate impression was that I could feel some extra shove right from the off, although nothing too dramatic until about 2.5-3K when the boost really kicks in. Even in Comfort, the throttle response difference is noticeable. As spuntyb wrote in his review, it seemed a bit lumpy at first, with quite a dramatic lunge when the boost came in, but that definitely smoothed out by the time I'd done 5-10 miles.

When I finally found an open piece of back road and the rain had let up, I kicked it hard, and oh yes, does it go! On paper, it's a 20% power and 25% torque boost, and I can easily believe that. It feels easily as fast as the several M235is I drove while I was shopping (and which I still slightly regretted not stretching too, hence the tune!) Winding it out to 6K is a lot of fun, and on the freeway home it pulls as hard in 6th as it used to in 5th.

So, initial impressions very favorable. I'll report again in a week or so when it's fully bedded in and I've had a chance to thrash it some more, hopefully when it's not raining (although at this rate, that's going to be more than a week!)

My only concession to caution was then to put the loopback plug, the 10mm socket, the long screwdriver, the dikes, and the small pliers, into a Ziploc bag in the glove box, in case I need to remove the thing while out and about!

Thanks again to everyone on here who was so helpful and tolerant of my rambling thought processes, and again to Mike at X-PH for the sale.

[simoneves]

Forgot to say that I left the dial on the CPU set the default of 6, which AA confirmed is the intended default and the maximum recommended with 91 gas and no other mods. I guess I'll have to un-bolt the CPU to get to the dial if I want to change it, though. Didn't think of that!

[spuntyb]

Originally Posted by simoneves

It appears I'm now well and truly on the slippery slope of modding my 3-month-old 2016 228i THP 6MT. In January, I got Dinan Shockware installed by my local dealer, West Bay Bavarian in San Rafael, and the other week, after much deliberation and fence-sitting (witness the many threads on here that I have started or at least contributed to) I pulled the trigger on an AA8 tune.

I ordered it from Extreme Powerhouse (thanks, Mike!) as they had it at a good price ($664) including free shipping. My only complaint is that after being told they had it in stock, it then ended up being drop-shipped direct from AA in Florida after all, and by FedEx Ground, which took over a week. I guess with free shipping you get what you pay for. Mike's service and response was otherwise awesome, so I'm over it.

So this morning, after a trip to Ace Hardware to pick up some zip ties, a new pair of dikes, and a cheap metric socket set, I dived in.

The instructions on the AA website are for an F30, although I ended up following them pretty closely. The only difference was that I routed the camshaft and air mass sensor cables around the front of the engine (in between the oil filler cap and the rubber block) instead of around the back, as they didn't seem quite long enough (strange, as an F30 is surely bigger).

The AA8 CPU came with a single-sided metal mounting bracket, and I was able to mount it under the passenger-side plastic panel, using one of the bolts holding down a black plastic lid on the back corner of the engine. This required an M10 socket, not M6 as described in the instructions, so I'm guessing the F30 is different under there.



Also, although I managed to pull off the passenger-side plastic panel completely, I couldn't get it to go back on again, until I realized that it actually had three 1/4-turn locking tabs with hex heads on the top side. Once I undid those, it slipped back in easily. and I did them up again. I'm just happy I didn't break them pulling the thing out without undoing them!



Having routed the cables roughly where they needed to run, I decided to start with the most difficult of the four connections, the dreaded camshaft sensors, buried under pipes and wires at the front of the engine.

I had already done a dry run to disconnect the stock plug, so that came out easily, and thankfully I have fairly small hands (cue Donald Trump joke) so I was able to get in there either side of the ~1" rubber pipe that's right in the way. I routed the plug side of the harness around the back of that pipe, so it had a better angle into the socket on the engine, and with one finger on each hand either side I was able to slide the plug in. I then used small pliers to push on the back of the plug to make it go all the way in.

The socket part of that harness was easy, and the other three connections are even easier, barely warranting mention. I now see how a BMS Stage 1 or a RaceChip could be done in 5 minutes flat, because that's all the other three took.

I then connected the provided loopback plug to the other end of the cable, and fired up the engine. No complaints, and according to DashComment (iPhone app in conjunction with my Automatic OBDII dongle), no codes.



I then got to work zip-tying the cables. I tried to put as much strain relief near the plugs as possible, without holding them too tightly, since I'm sure the engine moves a bit on its mounts while driving, so I didn't want that to pull out any wires. The car-side air-mass sensor connection was then kinda floating in mid-air without anything suitable to zip-tie it too (anything that I knew didn't get hot, anyway), but I was able to pull the car-side cable through its mounting point a little (around the back of that aluminum box, whatever it is) so that it didn't flap about too much. I might revisit that part.

The camshaft and air-mass cables were longer than needed, so I did a single coil in the space behind the oil filler cap (above some existing electrical stuff) and then routed the main cable through the break in the rubber gasket and into the space under the plastic panel where I'd mounted the CPU (being careful not to go anywhere near what looks to be a large and very exposed positive battery terminal with anything metal).

The engine cover went back on easily, only slightly squashing the extra cables emerging to the front by the oil filler cap. I didn't do anything particular to restrain the other two that went across the back of the engine, but they didn't seem to be in the way of anything (wiper mechanism etc.) and weren't going to rest on anything hot, so I think they'll be fine.

More pics. The camshaft and air-mass cabling.



The manifold and boost cabling (cable pairs zipped together, then all zipped to the big existing loom at the back)



Right side (showing camshaft/air-mass cable coiled behind oil filler cap)



Left side (showing slightly-floating air-mass sensor cable)



Once this was done, the car was well asleep again, so I removed the loopback plug and connected the cable to the CPU.



I closed everything up and fired up the engine again. Once more it started smoothly with no CEL or codes, so off I went for a drive. Unfortunately, we're having a bit of a rainstorm here in the Bay Area right now, so I wasn't able to push it as much as I'd have liked, but I did about 25 miles on both winding roads and on the freeway.

Immediate impression was that I could feel some extra shove right from the off, although nothing too dramatic until about 2.5-3K when the boost really kicks in. Even in Comfort, the throttle response difference is noticeable. As spuntyb wrote in his review, it seemed a bit lumpy at first, with quite a dramatic lunge when the boost came in, but that definitely smoothed out by the time I'd done 5-10 miles.

When I finally found an open piece of back road and the rain had let up, I kicked it hard, and oh yes, does it go! On paper, it's a 20% power and 25% torque boost, and I can easily believe that. It feels easily as fast as the several M235is I drove while I was shopping (and which I still slightly regretted not stretching too, hence the tune!) Winding it out to 6K is a lot of fun, and on the freeway home it pulls as hard in 6th as it used to in 5th.

So, initial impressions very favorable. I'll report again in a week or so when it's fully bedded in and I've had a chance to thrash it some more, hopefully when it's not raining (although at this rate, that's going to be more than a week!)

My only concession to caution was then to put the loopback plug, the 10mm socket, the long screwdriver, the dikes, and the small pliers, into a Ziploc bag in the glove box, in case I need to remove the thing while out and about!

Thanks again to everyone on here who was so helpful and tolerant of my rambling thought processes, and again to Mike at X-PH for the sale.

Good on ya for posting some pics. I did the *exact* same thing with the 1/4 turn bolts on the engine cowl. Almost broke them off putting it back on.

This tune is fantastic. Mine has smoothed out even more after several hundred miles. Just perfect.

Isn't it the tits?

[SteveInfante]

So if you can run 93 then is there a different tune selection? What about E85?

[simoneves]

Originally Posted by SteveInfante

So if you can run 93 then is there a different tune selection? What about E85?

See my thread in the F3x N20 forum. AA should really provide more info...

[simoneves]

@spuntyb, definite mammarian tendencies so far, yes!

[FSociety]

Originally Posted by simoneves

See my thread in the F3x N20 forum. AA should really provide more info...

Why arent they ?

[simoneves]

I think my car likes its new upgrade. Look what it left me on the garage floor today.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by simoneves

I think my car likes its new upgrade. Look what it left me on the garage floor today.

LOL

[simoneves]

After reading an old thread about AA8 in the F30 forum, with more technical details from Andrew from AA than I have heard since, I tweaked the box down from Map 6 to Map 4 over the weekend. The boost doesn't come in as strongly, but it doesn't seem any slower once it does. It's smoother to drive, and I feel more confident that nothing is going to go pop.

[scottyn]

Sounds like a nice set-up. What do you think of the Shockware?

[CalCarNut]

Nice write up!

My only suggestion is to change the white zip ties to BMW-like black ones to blend in more

Congrats and have fun!

[simoneves]

Originally Posted by scottyn

Sounds like a nice set-up. What do you think of the Shockware?

It wasn't a radical transformation, but I could definitely tell the difference. It's certainly a bit less floaty, which is a good thing. The ride in Comfort is still fine, although subjectively I feel like there's a bit more road noise. Maybe I'm dreaming that last part, though, as I had it done a while ago now and I'd only had the car a couple of months before that, so maybe it's just the tires bedding in.

[simoneves]

Originally Posted by SoCalDave

My only suggestion is to change the white zip ties to BMW-like black ones to blend in more

I know, I know... I had the white ones lying around, and I'd already used a couple of them before I realized they weren't big enough for the other places, so I took my wife's car and went to buy longer (and black) ones. I promise to use all black ones next time round.

[CalCarNut]

lol. Everyone's a critic, i know

[simoneves]

OK, so five weeks and 800 miles later and I have to say I'm less and less convinced by the AA8 tune, or at least less convinced that it's working properly.

The power is definitely there sometimes, and when it is, it's plenty, but the smoothness that others claimed would come simply hasn't come. I've tried Maps 4 and 5 as well as 6, but there was no effect on the power delivery (other than them being a bit slower, which was fine as 6 was pretty manic). I have it on 5 right now, and the delivery is all over the place. Sometimes it comes in smoothly without me even trying (around 2000-2500) and other times it hesitates and there's a big kick around 3000. When doing a hard pull (up to 6000-6500 in each gear) there's still a huge slump between the gears (6MT), worse than I remember when it was stock. It feels like it takes at least a second to get boost in the next gear, especially 2-3. Of course, hard 3-4 is pushing 100mph so I've only done that a couple of times.

I've checked the harness connections several times, and at least once pulled the battery (having read that that forces a reset of the ECU's self-calibration) and I have never had any OBD2 codes either during install or later. I always wait for it to warm up properly before really flooring it. I usually use Valero 91 (Bay Area, California), which my previous two N52s were always happy with, but I have tried Chevron and Shell as well with no difference.

I'm going to put the bypass plug in today and reset the calibration again and drive it for a bit like that to reset my brain too, to make sure I'm not just mis-remembering what it was like before.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Have you considered a JB4?

[simoneves]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

Have you considered a JB4?

Too complicated. I wanted something simple to remove, but couldn't bring myself to accept the bargain basement BMS Stage 1. I read enough good reviews of the AA8, including more than one that said it smoothed out after a few hundred miles, to feel good about it, but it's not doing that for me.

Honestly, part of me wonders why I even bothered. The car was plenty fast for me, and for the traffic on 99% of my driving, when it was stock...

[simoneves]

This afternoon I put the bypass plug in, to return the car to stock behaviour, even though the harness is still installed. I did this with the battery disconnected, so the ECU will have done another reset of whatever it resets. I then went for a 10-mile drive, waiting until it was warm before pushing it.

Of course, it doesn't have the same shove at WOT, and yes, consequently it feels slower, especially in Comfort, but it is WAY smoother. No kicks, no hesitation, no pause in the boost when shifting hard.

Sigh. What to think?

[BarryJI]

Simon, you know the one word I have for you: Dinan. I'm not dismissing these other products, and some of them feature more aggressive tunes, but it's obvious that you want a refined tune, not a fire-breathing track setup. Dinan tunes are expensive because they are extensively tested and warranteed. If you are not a seasoned wrench-turner or serious hobbyist, why drive yourself crazy with all the maps and variables offered by these products, especially on a brand-new car? And I am very dubious about the claims I hear regarding the extent to which some of these tuners have cracked the ECU codes for the most up-to-date BMWs. I am not flinging mud at any of these products, nor questioning their integrity or denying their usefulness to a specialised type of consumer; I'm just saying that you have to have to have a certain level of technical commitment and a high tolerance for risk to subject yourself to the enormous potential downside. The Dinan S1 tune makes my 228i as fast from 0 to 60 as a stock M235i, if not a tad faster, and has never given me so much as a millisecond of anxiety; no hiccups, no CELs, no non-linear power delivery. And if I had a 235i, I would have sprung for the Dinan S2 by now, which will get that car from 0 to 60 in 4 sec flat. If you're not an autocrosser, track rat or drag racer but just want a really well-sorted DD, what use could you possibly have for more than that?? Take a look at this video; it's about how to balance performance with stability when making tuning products for expensive new cars.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by BarryJI

Simon, you know the one word I have for you: Dinan. I'm not dismissing these other products, and some of them feature more aggressive tunes, but it's obvious that you want a refined tune, not a fire-breathing track setup. Dinan tunes are expensive because they are extensively tested and warranteed. If you are not a seasoned wrench-turner or serious hobbyist, why drive yourself crazy with all the maps and variables offered by these products, especially on a brand-new car? And I am very dubious about the claims I hear regarding the extent to which some of these tuners have cracked the ECU codes for the most up-to-date BMWs. I am not flinging mud at any of these products, nor questioning their integrity or denying their usefulness to a specialised type of consumer; I'm just saying that you have to have to have a certain level of technical commitment and a high tolerance for risk to subject yourself to the enormous potential downside. The Dinan S1 tune makes my 228i as fast from 0 to 60 as a stock M235i, if not a tad faster, and has never given me so much as a millisecond of anxiety; no hiccups, no CELs, no non-linear power delivery. And if I had a 235i, I would have sprung for the Dinan S2 by now, which will get that car from 0 to 60 in 4 sec flat. If you're not an autocrosser, track rat or drag racer but just want a really well-sorted DD, what use could you possibly have for more than that?? Take a look at this video; it's about how to balance performance with stability when making tuning products for expensive new cars.

Dinan tunes are expensive because they are extensively tested

No ... thats not why they are expensive
All companies do extensive testing or else you would have damaged engines all over the forums

If you are not a seasoned wrench-turner or serious hobbyist, why drive yourself crazy with all the maps and variables offered by these products, especially on a brand-new car

Just because you are not seasoned does not mean you should choose a product that offers less features
You can get any tune and leave it on the default map if you do not want to mess with the extra features


I'm just saying that you have to have to have a certain level of technical commitment and a high tolerance for risk to subject yourself to the enormous potential downside

What are these enormous potential downside when you pick a tune different than Dinan?

[BarryJI]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Dinan tunes are expensive because they are extensively tested

No ... thats not why they are expensive
All companies do extensive testing or else you would have damaged engines all over the forums

If you are not a seasoned wrench-turner or serious hobbyist, why drive yourself crazy with all the maps and variables offered by these products, especially on a brand-new car

Just because you are not seasoned does not mean you should choose a product that offers less features
You can get any tune and leave it on the default map if you do not want to mess with the extra features


I'm just saying that you have to have to have a certain level of technical commitment and a high tolerance for risk to subject yourself to the enormous potential downside

What are these enormous potential downside when you pick a tune different than Dinan?

Re. downside: Look no further than simoneve's last couple of posts in this thread.