(this photo doesn't have anything to do with the words below; I just dig the image)
Before and after. That's how we test the cars in our longterm fleet. We test them when they first arrive, and then we re-test after we've driven them for about a year.
As our longterm 2008 BMW 135i is nearing the end of its stay with us, a few weeks ago we performed the "after" testing. Our 135i produced the following acceleration performance after its year with us:
Stock 0-60--5.1 seconds (4.8 seconds with one foot of rollout like on a drag strip)
Stock 1/4 mile--13.4 seconds at 103.4 mph
Even more recently, we had DME Tune reflash our 135i. Do the nature of the space-time continuum, we had to test it at an even later date. We would have preferred to test both configurations (stock vs reflash) on the same day but Einstein frowns upon universe tinkering.
Click the jump to see the result of the DME Tune reflash.
DME Tune 0-60--4.9 seconds (4.6 seconds with one foot of rollout like on a drag strip)
DME Tune 1/4 mile--13.2 seconds at 105.1 mph
Thus, the reflash sliced 0.2 seconds off its acceleration time and bumped up the trap speed by almost 2 mph.
Not bad, but it sure feels a lot quicker than those results indicate. Indeed, the midrange punch of the DME Tune reflash is substantial.
When we're running through the gears during an acceleration run, though, we only see the midrange once. In every gear outside of first gear, the engine is operating around peak power and redline.
It could be that the DME Tune reflash is relatively conservative at higher engine speeds relative to what it delivers at lower engine speeds. Just a guess.
Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor
nealibob says:
04:10 PM, 05/25/09
So you would say the reflash makes the 135 a more enjoyable city car? It's a shame you can't swap out first gear for a taller top gear at the same time, since this car really doesn't need first anyway.
mlowery85 says:
04:15 PM, 05/25/09
We have a new 135i with a 6MT in our garage and I can't imagine how the car needs anymore low-end torque. It is ridiculous as it is.
jenlain says:
05:53 PM, 05/25/09
I actually thought the photo was a very relevant "incredible hulk" reference, due to the green tint.
altimadude00 says:
08:07 PM, 05/25/09
$300 for .2 of a second? I was expecting more by the way you guys were hyping it up.
audisport says:
11:09 PM, 05/25/09
altima, only $300 for .2 is pretty good. Dollar for dollar you usually can't beat an ECU upgrade/chip.
cx7lover says:
01:14 AM, 05/26/09
Obviously there is more of a gain in how it drives.
bkochuk says:
06:38 AM, 05/26/09
Reflashing is fun, but I would rather keep the warranty intact for $300--if it was my personal car.
blueguydotcom says:
07:24 AM, 05/26/09
Go for the dinan bump (it is on the 1 too now, right?). You get to keep the warranty and it should easily outperform this little mod.
stingray454 says:
11:12 AM, 05/26/09
Wow, it's pretty incredible when you think not long ago, a car that could hit 60 mph in the 4 second range was very fast, and few cars (stock) could do it. In the mid 1980's, there were maybe a handful of production cars in the whole world that could do it, and they were on the high side of the 4 second range, almost 5 seconds. Now, it seems like there are hundreds of new models that hit 60 in the 4 second range or better, the 135 being one of them.
indy_mistert says:
11:49 AM, 05/26/09
btw... Dinan has popped up in a few of these threads. Last I heard, they were no longer quite so endorsed by BMW (as they used to be). I believe Dinan will extend a warranty to their customers... but you are S.O.L. @ the BMW stealership.
135iguy says:
12:53 PM, 05/27/09
...(@indy_mistert) that's why you go with A.C. Schnitzer, and I am glad Edmunds has decided to unlock some of the true potential of this car. It is a shame, because it could've been offered by BMW this way. My guess is that the "M" guys walked down the hall and told the kids messing around with the little 1ers to knock it off...;)
rubley says:
07:28 PM, 05/28/09
I'm so sick of this "0-60 -- X.X seconds (Y.Y seconds with one foot of rollout like on a drag strip)". It's wrong, it should be written as "0-60 in X.X seconds. 60 was achieved in Y.Y seconds with one foot of rollout". I've emailed several times, no one at Edmunds seems to understand the difference. You can't have a 0-60 time measured from a non-zero start. Rollout has nothing to do with 0-60 time. Uggh
drmillerM3 says:
12:25 PM, 06/ 9/09
Hehe, it may be close to straight line speed as the M3, and it's pretty impressive, but that's where it ends. The M3 is better in every way. It's a great, smaller, cheaper alternative though. Can't go wrong with either ;)
Personally I still prefer my e46M3. Why can't BMW make more cars that look like those.
PDXLager says:
03:49 PM, 06/13/09
@rubley you can't have an "ATM Machine" either but life goes on.