Cobb AP or JB4

[Cleanest135i]

Hey guys so I just picked up a 2009 135 and I am trying to decide which engine management to go with. I think I am deciding between the Cobb AP and the JB4. Just wondering what the main differences are going to be and trying to decide if there is a reason the cobb is almost twice as much and if its worth it or not. I plan on going exhaust and possibly downpipes in the future but that will most likely be the extent of my performance mods. I appreciate the help and am really looking forward to getting into this car and seeing what it can do.

[dbchun]

installation/de-installation of the JB4 is a bit more complicated, requiring you to pop the hood and access the ecu box whereas the Cobb AP installs through the OBD port which is easily accessible from under your steering wheel

if you take your vehicle in for warranty work/maintenance that may be something to consider as its always advised to remove tune, regardless of manufac

i don't own either so i can't say anything about its performance, but i'd say start with a forum search theres tons of discussions related to this comparison

[John Dempsey]

Cobb AP FTW

[MPBK]

Originally Posted by Cleanest135i

Hey guys so I just picked up a 2009 135 and I am trying to decide which engine management to go with. I think I am deciding between the Cobb AP and the JB4. Just wondering what the main differences are going to be and trying to decide if there is a reason the cobb is almost twice as much and if its worth it or not. I plan on going exhaust and possibly downpipes in the future but that will most likely be the extent of my performance mods. I appreciate the help and am really looking forward to getting into this car and seeing what it can do.

How about BMW engine management?
The engine was designed for it. What's wrong with that?

[Cleanest135i]

Originally Posted by John Dempsey

Cobb AP FTW

Care to elaborate as to why?

Originally Posted by MPBK

How about BMW engine management?
The engine was designed for it. What's wrong with that?

I'm not opposed to it if its going to get me similar power for a similar price.

[Cleanest135i]

I have done some searching and so far the cobb guys are saying cobb is better and the JB guys are saying the JB is better. I guess I am looking for someone who has had or experienced both to chime in and give their feedback. The car is out of its regular warranty and is under the certified used warranty so I dont think I'll be taking it in very often for service hopefully. I dont mind if its a hassle taking it in an out I guess I'm looking for the best features & power for the money.

[thebigragu99]

MY review




Hey guys, I been running the jb4 for 3 months on map2 with fbo and thought it was a good tune, but was lacking the low to mid end grunt.I haven't been happy with the performance of it feeling laggy and dead past 6,200 rpms.I tried to get terry to help me make me a new map to feel more snappy but no luck with that.I also noticed that the piggys more the (JB4)doesn't feel consistent with power going from pull after pull.It feels like the car is pulling *and very sluggish.

I thought the tune was ok, but as also lacking smoothnes being unrefined part throttle and wot at low rpms.I have been asking around about the new cobb stage+fmic aggressive and been getting answers like, (you can't compare the two)ones a piggy, and the other is a real flash.I deceided to take the cobb test ,and give it a try since cobb gives a 30 day money back.It was a pain in the butt removing the jb4 and was simple to load the cobb,only thing it took 20min to completely load the map.

I finally took the car for a rip with the cobb aggressive map 2, and thought it felt very smooth power but not night and day.I drove it for 50 miles ripping around a little to feel it out,and the car started to wake up.I came home and said to myself wow it feels really smooth and a bit more power when compared to the jb4 .I then deceided to to plug the cobb and see the features.I pluged it in and choose current map selection and noticed it said MAP STAGE 1 AGGRESSIVE,then I started to scratch my head saying wtf this was map 1 no,it can't be.I uninstalled the map and tried loading the map 2 fmic aggressive again, to make sure.It finally loaded in and I checked the current map and it finally said, MAP 2 FMIC AGGRESSIVE ST.

I smiled and started to laugh that it was only stage 1 .I had to take it out again for a ride and feel the real map I had loaded from the get go..I left my house and hit part throttle and the car jumped like a manic I said to myself,O boy this thing is going to be wreakless.I got to the ramp of the hwy in 2 gear at 3,500 rpms and went wot,the car went side ways almost into a 360 till I gained control again (NEVER HIT THE BREAKS WHEN THIS HAPPENS OR ELSE YOUR CRASHING)

I kept my foot on the throttle and went threw the gears feeling the car ripping all the way till 7k changing gears till I hit 145.I then tried doing a pull in 3rd gear and the tires broke loose still ,WOW.THE CAR REMINDS ME OF A EVO 9 WITH A FP RED FBO ON PUMP GAS.I can't belive how great of a job cobb did on this tune.I tip my hat to them for a sick ass tune!!!p.s guys you made my a cobb fan!!

[ken1137]

Cobb AP 1) easy install and uninstall 2) Stage II.
EG I go back to stock in Winter and will re-install in Spring when the Performance tires go back on and takes only 15 minutes. Select the MAP you want and go in the house and wait

FYI...from an engineer ... it has nothing to do with ones ability to work on cars either as some may point out regarding why one would or would not select the JB4.

[stevenc]

Run a JB4 for a long time now. Its really is a fantastic tune and continues to set all power and speed records...

[John Dempsey]

Originally Posted by Cleanest135i

Care to elaborate as to why?



I'm not opposed to it if its going to get me similar power for a similar price.

I say cobb access port because ive had a great experience with mine. No doubt you will be happy with either one you get!!
Here is my experience with cobb, I installed it about 3 months ago, it was my first big mod to my car and the difference was night and day. Im currently running stage 1 agressive on 93 octane but am going to switch to stage 2 when i get downpipes. I really like the fact that cobb comes out with new updates and its all free to download. And ive had to take my car in for warranty twice and a regular service once and just uninstall it and have not had a single problem with it.
Now from looking at dyno sheets and everything performance seems to be similar. However i do believe the jb4 and cobb go about making the power slightly differently, it seems like cobb is boosting slightly higher but jb4's have more timing advance. Not sure that either is better. Hope this helps.

[1speedbike]

The JB4 does more with timing and less with boost. The AP increases boost a lot but leaves timing.mostly alone. JB4 users tend to max out at 14 psi without meth, 16-17 with. AP users seem to get up into the 20's. I just don't see it as being as safe or good for the engine. Procede and Burger have near.impeccable safety records except for a couple of beta users who used the wrong parameters early on in the game. Cobbs been doing subies for a while now, and not to be a snob, but they haven't been in the game long and I just don't completely trust em yet.. The install shouldn't scare you unless you're really mechanically inept, I bought this car as a complete automotive moron and now I can do the JB install and uninstall in less time than the AP takes to upload its software. Also, the JB has, as Steve said, set all the speed records

Don't know about the stage 2, but:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=_7EHSJIw5E0

Not trying to start yet another tune war, since this is what these threads turn into. Just search, do you own research, and make an informed decision. This is just my 2 cents.

[thebigragu99]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

The JB4 does more with timing and less with boost. The AP increases boost a lot but leaves timing.mostly alone. JB4 users tend to max out at 14 psi without meth, 16-17 with. AP users seem to get up into the 20's. I just don't see it as being as safe or good for the engine. Procede and Burger have near.impeccable safety records except for a couple of beta users who used the wrong parameters early on in the game. Cobbs been doing subies for a while now, and not to be a snob, but they haven't been in the game long and I just don't completely trust em yet.. The install shouldn't scare you unless you're really mechanically inept, I bought this car as a complete automotive moron and now I can do the JB install and uninstall in less time than the AP takes to upload its software. Also, the JB has, as Steve said, set all the speed records

Don't know about the stage 2, but:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=_7EHSJIw5E0

Not trying to start yet another tune war, since this is what these threads turn into. Just search, do you own research, and make an informed decision. This is just my 2 cents.

Jb4 is a modified mbc!.The cobb is far too advanced for either jb4 or proceed.The cobb stage 2= fmic only really touches 18 max and that's at 4,000 rpms then begins to slower taper.The 20 psi people are seeing is the throttle closure at shift.I had all the tunes and the cobb is rock solid in every way.You think 15 psi and 13 * is safe with 13 afr?

[ModBargains III]

Both kits are great, you cannot really go wrong here. Everybody will have their own opinions on which one is better in comparison, you just need to go with the one you feel most comfortable with

[JB4-335]

Originally Posted by Cleanest135i

I have done some searching and so far the cobb guys are saying cobb is better and the JB guys are saying the JB is better. I guess I am looking for someone who has had or experienced both to chime in and give their feedback. The car is out of its regular warranty and is under the certified used warranty so I dont think I'll be taking it in very often for service hopefully. I dont mind if its a hassle taking it in an out I guess I'm looking for the best features & power for the money.

If your scared to enter the ECU area go the COBB. If you want power and a sh!t load of features go the JB4.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

As many have said you can't go wrong either way. The JB4 takes a little longer to install, but costs less, and offers some very unique features. Like in dash gauge displays, steering wheel controls, on the fly map switching, MAXCool, CANFlap, startup gauge sweep, etc. On the performance end there are are a lot of options also with it.

Mike

[BFD99]

I love my JB4. I run half E85/Half 91 octane and on Map #7 and there isn't much in my area that will hang with my car. Supposedly close to 390whp with this race map and it feels every bit of it.

[Cleanest135i]

Thanks for all the responses guys I'm leaning more towards the Cobb from what I'm reading. Does the Cobb have a map that would work on an E85 mix or only the Jb4? I'd like to run E85 but the closest station is about 14 miles or so away which isnt super far but far enough for it to be annoying. Lots of things to think about but so far I think I'm going to go Cobb. I'm coming from a turbo s2000 that was putting down about 420HP which used a standalone AEM EMS so this is all a bit new to me but I'm excited to see what this car can do.

[John Dempsey]

Originally Posted by Cleanest135i

Thanks for all the responses guys I'm leaning more towards the Cobb from what I'm reading. Does the Cobb have a map that would work on an E85 mix or only the Jb4? I'd like to run E85 but the closest station is about 14 miles or so away which isnt super far but far enough for it to be annoying. Lots of things to think about but so far I think I'm going to go Cobb. I'm coming from a turbo s2000 that was putting down about 420HP which used a standalone AEM EMS so this is all a bit new to me but I'm excited to see what this car can do.

im also curious about this

[gnpower]

Are there any current issues with Cobb and JB4?

[BFD99]

My JB4 works just fine. No issues here.

[ModBargains III]

None of my JB4 or COBB customers have ever contacted me after purchasing in regards to a complaint. Either choice is good to go

[dcho]

i'd say one of them is clearly the better choice depending on who you speak to