M2 Tuning potential Vs M4. M4 wins

[JoeyBananas]

For anyone concerned.

Thought this was an interesting thread from a pretty respected source.

http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38826

Hey guys,

A local customer was generous enough to come out for a few hours so we could poke around under the hood, take some logs, and do a little dyno testing with his new M2. He has around 1000 miles on the clock I believe.

Per usual I'll try to keep it brief and to the point:

The good:

1) Car looks super awesome in person and really attracts a lot of attention on the road. DCT drives and shifts great.
2) The tuning scheme is the same as the M235 EWG. Meaning our existing F Series N55 EWG JB4 is fully compatible from a hardware perspective. Some minor M2 specific software changes will be added, of course.
3) All of the cool in dash controls we've added to the F Series JB4 are compatible. CANflap works, in dash boost gauge works, map switching works, boost by gear works, 6cyl timing logging works, and it even logs the DCT trans oil temperature.
4) The platform appears to be E85 friendly. More on that later.

The bad:

1) This is simply based on my initial few hours with the car. But from a performance perspective, it appears to be basically an N55 with a tune from the factory. It's not in the same universe as the S55 M3/M4 motor and even appears to be a step down from the B58 found in the new 340i.
2) On normal pump 91 octane fuel running its factory 15-16psi boost profile it had fairly significant timing pull and only put down 330whp. Subsequent pulls did even worse as it heated up.
3) We added an E30 mix on the dyno and the factory power jumped up nicely to the 350whp range and it was also more consistent. Even at this power level though the car had a strange behavior where it would momentarily drop boost for no apparent reason, resulting in a noticeable "hiccup" in the dyno chart. Maybe something that will be fixed via a future software update or perhaps related to the E30 itself without tuning in place for it.
4) I raised boost around 3psi just to evaluate it on the E30 mix and the result was pretty respectable power. Around 390whp. Which, is what the normal 335 F30 EWG cars make on E30 at roughly the same boost level.

Potential Tuning Gains:

E85 Mix: I expect we'll be able to get power up to around 425whp.
91 Octane: There is no power to be picked up via tuning on 91. Just the extra features via the JB4.
93 Octane: I'm hopeful with good 93 octane we can pickup at least 15-20whp and similar torque.

Bottom Line:

It's a cool little platform. But basically appears to be a more aggressively tuned M235.

[trey100]

Sucks for the M2 but for most applications, it has enough power. And it keeps the gap between the M2 and M4.

[F83]

Interesting but not surprising. That said, the N55 is a great engine.

[ASAP]

This was supposed to be some shock?

Its an n55...

[mc3456]

It's an awesome value for what it is. BTW...I installed an AFE Scorcher in my GF's M235 and it really woke up the engine. Seriously, much better than stock. Love driving it as a change of pace from my F80.

[shahano]

I had read the the N55 in the M2 has S55 pistons. Is that correct?

[W///]

Originally Posted by shahano

I had read the the N55 in the M2 has S55 pistons. Is that correct?

Correct

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by ASAP

This was supposed to be some shock?

Its an n55...

For most people, no, but remember how some have said it has 'less lag' than the S55 and perhaps equal tuning potential.

BMW did the smart thing with the M2 and made to distance it from the M4 in the real world. The 'S' engine code still means something..

[chillindrdude]

i wonder how much weight one could lose from a M2 with a full strip, CF hood, trunk lid, and lighter wheels.

i'd love to see the performance of a track prepped car.

[shortseller]

Originally Posted by chillindrdude

i wonder how much weight one could lose from a M2 with a full strip, CF hood, trunk lid, and lighter wheels.

i'd love to see the performance of a track prepped car.

This thought might be what BMW ultimately had in mind for the extreme enthusiast, while filling gaps, being affordable, etc. I bet would kill current track times.