[Ron435d]

Morning chaps,

I recently had my 435d m sport xdrive remapped by Rick at unicorn motorsport developments, and thought I'd do a quick review, I took a lot of time researching and reviewing different tuners, user experience and overall customer satisfaction and unicorn ticked all the boxes for me this is not to say other tunes/tuners aren't good but unicorn was my chosen tuner.

After I arrived rick was immediately working on my car he got it on the rollers and over a period of about 3h worked his magic, doing lots of test runs on the dyno checking everything prior to mapping. Then equally the same amount of time after the tune was applied checking/tweeking. The end result;

Standard car - 310bhp 499lb-ft
Unicorn stage 1 - 363bhp 575lb-ft
Delta of 53hp and 76lb-ft

The map completely transformed the car, pic up in any gear especially from low down is insane the pull makes me tense my stomach as I know whats coming. The tourqe is amazing I can't help but laugh uncontrollably every time i plant it. It feels strong all the way to 5k in any gear, even comfort is great, push it to sports+ gear leaver into s and use flappy paddles on a open bit of b road and its great especially if you have adaptive suspension = maximum fun.

I can't wait to go back for wagner evo2 IC and another tweek. Rick says it will be near the 400bhp mark and will keep tourqe at the 770nm it already is.

Launch controll is also insane although I try not to launch a atall really. But the times I have it explodes forward. I am running shitty Mitchell run flats may I point out and when I return I will have a set of mps4s on maybe Will help with traction. But nevertheless great experience.

My fuel hasn't changed I still get the same MPG I also run on BP ultimate.

Heres the graph.

Cheers

[Armaan]

Thanks for the write up. I'm thinking of getting my F30 320i remapped at some point this year and am starting to look at a few places around the UK - prepared to travel for a decent tuner!

BM Chiptune have a good reputation and I'll now be putting this company on my list to consider.

I think the time taken on your car specifically is a great selling point, shows that they really customise it and care about what they are doing.

What was your criteria when looking out of interest? Good that they only specialise in a few brands and write their own maps, great reviews too.

[Ron435d]

Originally Posted by Armaan

Thanks for the write up. I'm thinking of getting my F30 320i remapped at some point this year and am starting to look at a few places around the UK - prepared to travel for a decent tuner!

BM Chiptune have a good reputation and I'll now be putting this company on my list to consider.

I think the time taken on your car specifically is a great selling point, shows that they really customise it and care about what they are doing.

What was your criteria when looking out of interest? Good that they only specialise in a few brands and write their own maps, great reviews too.

Where are you traveling from mate?

My criteria was a good reputable tuner, good solid figures, good reviews and good customer feedback and most importantly customer support. I read many reviews about how helpful they are before and after tuning and I rang them a few times before going threw and they really put my mind at ease they were they best. The amount of knowledge Rick has is second to none and he is a BMW specialist which helps.

[Armaan]

I'm travelling from the midlands but do have family there, so can kill two birds once this lockdown comes to an end.

That's exactly what I'm looking for, good customer support is essential for me and glad that Rick is a bmw specialist - definitely puts my mind at ease.

[seenthelight!]

It's great to have recommendations mate. On the other side of the coin, I went with gbw tuning in Oswestry, based on recommendations and feedback. Having had a few problems and not been able to get them sorted, due to no communication on their part, I have given up on them. On the couple of times that I have been down to them, they have proven to be quite unprofessional, not at all like I expected. After a bit of digging, it has surfaced that their customer care is patchy at best on a few occasions. The company has now been rebranded (possibly to distance themselves from bad feedback?) To gkr performance. Beware of these guys, as if it all goes well then great, but if it doesn't ...

[Mikey365247]

Rick is a good friend of mine and you won’t find a more knowledgeable professional bloke ... he’s mapped a good 10 of my cars and customers cars too. There’s loads of people selling generic maps and makes a change for someone to write a custom file these days and I know it costs more but worth every penny.
Glad you like the results 👍

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by Armaan

Thanks for the write up. I'm thinking of getting my F30 320i remapped at some point this year and am starting to look at a few places around the UK - prepared to travel for a decent tuner!

BM Chiptune have a good reputation and I'll now be putting this company on my list to consider.

I think the time taken on your car specifically is a great selling point, shows that they really customise it and care about what they are doing.

What was your criteria when looking out of interest? Good that they only specialise in a few brands and write their own maps, great reviews too.

I can recommend Jason at BW Chiptune, he’s one of the leading tuners of these cars in the country, you’ll be hard pushed to find someone better.

[Ron435d]

Originally Posted by Mikey365247

Rick is a good friend of mine and you won’t find a more knowledgeable professional bloke ... he’s mapped a good 10 of my cars and customers cars too. There’s loads of people selling generic maps and makes a change for someone to write a custom file these days and I know it costs more but worth every penny.
Glad you like the results 👍

Good to here similar feedback. Although it was this exact feedback from other posts which made me research them/him more. Yes really pleased with the result its a joy to drive. Can't wait for this to be all over maybe get 1 or 2 track days In altho alot more work is needed first.

[Techno 9000]

Another satisfied customer of Rick here. Had a custom map done last October and it hasn't missed a beat since.
I'd seen that Rick had a good reputation on an Audi forum some few years ago and haven't heard a bad word on here either.

[Armaan]

Looks like I'll be taking mine to Unicorn after this lockdown then! Will post up the results...might be a few months away yet though

[Ron435d]

Originally Posted by Techno 9000

Another satisfied customer of Rick here. Had a custom map done last October and it hasn't missed a beat since.
I'd seen that Rick had a good reputation on an Audi forum some few years ago and haven't heard a bad word on here either.

Nice! What car have you got and what was the results just out of interest?

[Ron435d]

Originally Posted by Armaan

Looks like I'll be taking mine to Unicorn after this lockdown then! Will post up the results...might be a few months away yet though

Well I'm glad we were of assistance for you mate keep us all posted!

[Sullym6]

I have been looking at unicorn for a while now and if it wasn't for the social distancing measures I would have had it done by now. Good to hear another positive review

[Techno 9000]

Originally Posted by Ron435d

Nice! What car have you got and what was the results just out of interest?

Same as yourself, a 435d with same before and after remap bhp figures as yourself. My torque was capped, at my request, to 510lbft.

[g9icy]

I've been considering the Evolve remote remap but might give Unicorn a consideration.

What are your thoughts on the torque figure being over the 750 mark? I've been warned over 700 could cause problems for the drive train and gear box.

[Ron435d]

Originally Posted by Techno 9000

Same as yourself, a 435d with same before and after remap bhp figures as yourself. My torque was capped, at my request, to 510lbft.

Nice! Where abouts are you from mate? And do you have any plans to take car further? I'm currently contemplating xhp but don't want to compromise daily driving usability which some seem to be reporting.

[anielsen71]

Originally Posted by Ron435d

Nice! Where abouts are you from mate? And do you have any plans to take car further? I'm currently contemplating xhp but don't want to compromise daily driving usability which some seem to be reporting.

Hi there
If you go for xHP stage 2 it will be better shifting than OEM. More smooth but faster.
Do it and you will not regret it.
I to have a 435d mapped to aprox 370hp/750nm. Have been like that for aprox 55kkm with no issues at all

[Ron435d]

Originally Posted by g9icy

I've been considering the Evolve remote remap but might give Unicorn a consideration.

What are your thoughts on the torque figure being over the 750 mark? I've been warned over 700 could cause problems for the drive train and gear box.

I was initially going to go with evolve as I like the convenience of the evolve r remote device sent up but it was the diagnostic checks I'd read about unicorn which tipped it in my favor the constant runs Rick did before and after remap reassured me. Plus evolves dyno wasn't working at the time so at the time unicorn suited my preferences.

Regarding torque, this was something I researched and researched till I was blue in the face. It the general consensus the the zf8 has a limit of 700nm repprted by zf however this is argued to be very Conservative. Some say 750 etc i think some newer boxes it was 750nm. Some are running 800+. My personal opinion is you could run over 800+ but the more you push it of course the more strain you are putting on your box. I also think that even if you were to run 700+ the amount of time you will be actually putting full torque threw the drive train is not as much as people think.

If every time you drove you car full WOT half warmed up, launched it every traffic light you came to and generally act like a tw@t then your going to be more at risk. However if like me you run 770nm which your not using alot of the time, waited till engine and box was warm. Correctly inflated tyres, correct fuel and service procedure and apply WOT 20% of the time (overtakes, having a bit of fun up the dual carriageway with the gold r that pulls up beside you for 5 minutes mins) in 4th gear mid rpm, then I seriously doubt your going to do damage.

Plus Rick said basically the same. I also searched for box issue related problems with people under 800 nm and if few and far between and you can be sure how they treated the car. So for me with Rick's reassurance I said anything around the 750 mark I'm comfortable with. He said my car was already strong from standard and responded well to map.amd when he said same regarding torque I felt comfortable leaving it at the 770 if produced.

But this is completely your decision and please don't take my words for gospel like any tuned cars were pushing them past there albeit detuned factory parameters but still pushing it which brings life expectancy of parts down but if you keep up.with servicing maybe more often than should take extra care you should be good.

Hope this helps.bud

[Ron435d]

Originally Posted by anielsen71

Hi there
If you go for xHP stage 2 it will be better shifting than OEM. More smooth but faster.
Do it and you will not regret it.
I to have a 435d mapped to aprox 370hp/750nm. Have been like that for aprox 55kkm with no issues at all

I think stage 2 seams the sweet spot for me. Soon as I have the cash I'm going to order obd connector and licences and stage 2 and attempt it myself I prefer to do it myself because if I don't like it I can revert to stock. If I go to tuner and I don't like it its a 4h round trip for me. Can you purchase individual stages still? I'm sure I read you have to buy all 3 I could be wrong though!

[anielsen71]

Originally Posted by Ron435d

I think stage 2 seams the sweet spot for me. Soon as I have the cash I'm going to order obd connector and licences and stage 2 and attempt it myself I prefer to do it myself because if I don't like it I can revert to stock. If I go to tuner and I don't like it its a 4h round trip for me. Can you purchase individual stages still? I'm sure I read you have to buy all 3 I could be wrong though!

You can only buy all at a time.
And you can easily map it yourself. No big deal.
I ran stage 3 for a month or so, but think it's too extreme for a dd. I switched to stage 2 and that works well for me.
I had recently M perf brakes fitted and got an update on all modules.
By that the xHP map was overwritten and for a while I had the OEM map on the gearbox.
Mapping to xHP again, I really found out how much better it is👍.
And with the torque limiters gone with xHP, your ECU map really can be used 👍👍👍

[Ron435d]

Originally Posted by anielsen71

You can only buy all at a time.
And you can easily map it yourself. No big deal.
I ran stage 3 for a month or so, but think it's too extreme for a dd. I switched to stage 2 and that works well for me.
I had recently M perf brakes fitted and got an update on all modules.
By that the xHP map was overwritten and for a while I had the OEM map on the gearbox.
Mapping to xHP again, I really found out how much better it is👍.
And with the torque limiters gone with xHP, your ECU map really can be used 👍👍👍

Nice!! I am.going to do some more research in it however because I kind of like the limiters in place especially increasing torque considerably. I may be being to cautious however and sort of waiting on custom feedback to see if people are all ok which seems to be the case.
What was your main difference not just in faster shifts on stage 2 what else did you find makes it worth it?

[anielsen71]

Originally Posted by Ron435d

Nice!! I am.going to do some more research in it however because I kind of like the limiters in place especially increasing torque considerably. I may be being to cautious however and sort of waiting on custom feedback to see if people are all ok which seems to be the case.
What was your main difference not just in faster shifts on stage 2 what else did you find makes it worth it?

If you want torque limiters on, you Can set them individual in every gear in latest version of xHP.

It shifts faster, does lockup in lower gears faster which means there's less "rubberband" feeling starting from a green light. It feels more smooth despite being faster.

Overall a much better drive.