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      06-23-2008, 03:28 AM   #1
Paulo28
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Spider tuning box fitted to 320d (177)

Hi All,

This is my 1st post so please go easy on me..

This weekend I fitted a Spider tuning box to my E92 320d se (177) and just wanted to share my experience. I have seen several posts on here about tuning boxes Vs remaps etc. and whilst I don't understand any of the technical jargon, I just wanted to provide my thoughts on the impact is has made.

Very easy to fit, I have never even seen an engine before and it was fitted within 5 mins of opening the bonnet. Really clear instructions.

Only been on a few short drives so far and there are 5 discernible differences :-

1) - the low down power (torque?) is much greater than before. This enables me to drive in higher gears at lower revs. This makes the car actually feel smoother and easier to drive than before (something I wasn't expecting from a £325 box).. This morning I was doing around 30 Mph in 4th at around 1200 revs and it handled it no problem.

2) - it feels more responsive and quicker to deliver the power than before, almost like the turbo lag effect has reduced a bit (not massively, but noticeable).

3) - Engine generally sounds better, basically sounds less harsh / clattery / clunky / tractor like (you choose the description that you recognise)...

4) - Noticeable increase in power through the rev range - feels like a much bigger engine and pulls continuously through the rev range (i expected some sort of exaggerated turbo boost to deliver the power but it really is smooth).

5) - Fuel economy, I know that in theory these things can deliver higher mpg if driven the same as before, and whilst I have driven it a 'bit' harder, my 'range' has increased by around 10%. At this stage I'm a bit sceptical as I don't know if that is a genuine improvement or if it is the ECU miscalculating the consumption because of the box.

In summary, am very impressed with the Spider and so far I have only done about 40 miles, hopefully it will get even better as it 'beds in', am also looking forward to taking it on the motorway to see how it performs there...

Paul
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      06-23-2008, 03:56 AM   #2
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Sounds good, and I look forward to the longer term report.
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      06-24-2008, 02:05 PM   #3
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Fitted mine about 4 weeks ago. Definate power increase mid-range. No noticeable difference with smoothness and an improvement of fuel consumption of about 5%.
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      06-24-2008, 02:11 PM   #4
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I have now adjusted mine so it is on the top setting, this was causing stuttering before, but now works a treat, think I had to let the ecu adapt and get used to the first increase.
The power is now a hell of a lot better, but I will say that MPG is now down a fair bit, I reckon I am now averaging 40 instead of 45. But i can live with that.
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      06-25-2008, 03:44 AM   #5
Paulo28
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gr4z - What setting do you have yours on ? Have you altered it from its original setting ?


gIzzE - What position did yours arrive at ? did you increase it gradually ? How long did you have to run it on full for to settle in ?

Ta...
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      06-25-2008, 04:35 AM   #6
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Mine was on pin 5 or 6 I think, anything higher and it would stutter. But the othe rnight I moved it up a couple and it was fine, so I moved it to the top one.

I also moved the top row, down one.
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      06-25-2008, 04:53 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gIzzE View Post
Mine was on pin 5 or 6 I think, anything higher and it would stutter. But the othe rnight I moved it up a couple and it was fine, so I moved it to the top one.

I also moved the top row, down one.
So you´re on maximum power now? Must be much faster now? I tried higher settings before and it would stutter on higher gears when flooring it. On lower gears the revving was so much quicker!
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      06-25-2008, 05:00 AM   #8
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GIzzE -

I think my bottom one came 4th from left and i have moved it up 1 so far.

Why did you move the top one down ? What does this do and what effect did it have ?

When it stuttered, did you keep it there or lower it down again? Also how long did you run it before increasing it again ?

Sorry, last question, have you lost any 'smoothness' since moving to the top pin ?

Many thanks,
Paul
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      06-25-2008, 05:39 AM   #9
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I have not changed the settings at all. Do you guys have a recommendation as to what to set it to?
What is the top setting for and what is the bottom one for?
Thanks
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      06-25-2008, 09:11 AM   #10
Paulo28
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gr4z,

Apparently the top pin has something to do with the RPM control - Don't know what the effect of this is hence my question to gIzzE as he has changed his down one..

The bottom pin is 'power'... Right = more power.. Where is yours currently set at ?

The danger of going too far right is that you could get smoke or in gIzzE's case 'stuttering'..

DTUK said to me that the adjustment tolerances will very depending on the individual car..
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      06-25-2008, 09:30 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulo28 View Post
GIzzE -

I think my bottom one came 4th from left and i have moved it up 1 so far.

Why did you move the top one down ? What does this do and what effect did it have ?

When it stuttered, did you keep it there or lower it down again? Also how long did you run it before increasing it again ?

Sorry, last question, have you lost any 'smoothness' since moving to the top pin ?

Many thanks,
Paul
Mine also came with the bottom one 4th from the left.
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      06-25-2008, 10:29 AM   #12
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How many pins are there?? I can't remember.


I think there must be about 8?


The top one was 3 from the right and the bottom one was 2 left of this.

I initially moved the bottom one over two places, but this was then on the same pin as the top one, because they share ground I had to move the top one over.

This caused what I can best describe as a pinking, it sounded clattery.

So I moved the top pin back to where it was and moved the bottom one up again, so one from top I think.
This caused it it to stutter, a bit like over fueling, so I put it back to one behind the top one, probably 5 from left and only one up from default.


Then the other night I decided to try and move it up again, one from top was fine, so I moved it up to the top one, again it was fine.
It feels quite lively now, definitely quicker than the 163bhp 120d did, and that felt quicker before I moved it to the top.

Other thing to note is I started using Millers a bout 4 tanks ago. I know it says you get 10 tankfulls, but I use a bottle in 5. That may of helped, but I don't know enough about these things??
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      06-25-2008, 10:53 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gIzzE View Post
How many pins are there?? I can't remember.


I think there must be about 8?


The top one was 3 from the right and the bottom one was 2 left of this.

I initially moved the bottom one over two places, but this was then on the same pin as the top one, because they share ground I had to move the top one over.

This caused what I can best describe as a pinking, it sounded clattery.

So I moved the top pin back to where it was and moved the bottom one up again, so one from top I think.
This caused it it to stutter, a bit like over fueling, so I put it back to one behind the top one, probably 5 from left and only one up from default.


Then the other night I decided to try and move it up again, one from top was fine, so I moved it up to the top one, again it was fine.
It feels quite lively now, definitely quicker than the 163bhp 120d did, and that felt quicker before I moved it to the top.

Other thing to note is I started using Millers a bout 4 tanks ago. I know it says you get 10 tankfulls, but I use a bottle in 5. That may of helped, but I don't know enough about these things??
Let me see if I understood correctly...the top one is back at default position?

Inspired by your success with changing to the top one on power (and couldn´t wait for your answer ) I changed the top one step back and increased the power to two steps from the right. This caused the car to stutter before but now it was working fine. I´m thinking about more power now
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      06-25-2008, 11:05 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dj Mastergrind View Post
Let me see if I understood correctly...the top one is back at default position?

Inspired by your success with changing to the top one on power (and couldn´t wait for your answer ) I changed the top one step back and increased the power to two steps from the right. This caused the car to stutter before but now it was working fine. I´m thinking about more power now

No, now one left from defaultm like you and the power is on maximum!
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      06-25-2008, 12:52 PM   #15
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There are 9 pins
I have the settings (from the left):
top row 8th pin
bottom row 5th pin (in the middle)

Have put the power (bottom row) up one to 6th pin and will try later tonight.
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      06-25-2008, 04:25 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gIzzE View Post
No, now one left from defaultm like you and the power is on maximum!
OK! Mine is much quicker now and without stuttering...and I still have some power settings left to try with!
Took it for a drive this evening and its much quicker in second gear. When I first fitted the box with default settings it was quicker in third gear and onwards, but in first and second it wasnt that much of a difference.
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      06-25-2008, 06:05 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dj Mastergrind View Post
OK! Mine is much quicker now and without stuttering...and I still have some power settings left to try with!
Took it for a drive this evening and its much quicker in second gear. When I first fitted the box with default settings it was quicker in third gear and onwards, but in first and second it wasnt that much of a difference.
So what is your setting now? I will give it a try...moving the lower pin one to the right hasn't made much of a difference for me.
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      06-25-2008, 06:31 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by gr4z View Post
So what is your setting now? I will give it a try...moving the lower pin one to the right hasn't made much of a difference for me.
I´ve moved the upper pin one step to the left and the lower pin about four steps to the right. I think its two more steps to go on power. If you want to know exactly where the pins are on mine I can count tomorrow.
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      06-25-2008, 06:43 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dj Mastergrind View Post
If you want to know exactly where the pins are on mine I can count tomorrow.
It would be cool if you could find out - thanks! I have (from the left):
top row 8th pin
bottom row 6th pin
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      06-26-2008, 04:10 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gr4z View Post
It would be cool if you could find out - thanks! I have (from the left):
top row 8th pin
bottom row 6th pin

Move the bottom one to pin 9 and the top one back to pin 5, if it doesn't seem right put it back to pin 4 and see how you get on with that.

I would guess each pin is about 3bhp.
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      06-26-2008, 05:22 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gIzzE View Post
Move the bottom one to pin 9 and the top one back to pin 5, if it doesn't seem right put it back to pin 4 and see how you get on with that.

I would guess each pin is about 3bhp.
Thanks gIzzE, my box came with the top one on 8 so quite different form yours! This effects RPM yes?
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      06-26-2008, 05:33 AM   #22
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Not sure what it affects?? I would think it is altering the timing of of the injectors, but I haven't got a clue??
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