[opinion914]

With a downpipe on order I'm looking for the current go-to tuning option. Not looking for highest HP/TQ but rather a tune that will take advantage of being DPF-less and perhaps allow for EGR removal. I see Malone, AARodreguez, CodeMyCar in NJ, etc.
For off-road use only, of course.
What's the consensus fella's?


Thx.

[Tonyt915]

Unless you just have to have the emissions deleted I would check out KermaTDI. Wish I would have gone this route the first time. I’ve had to go round and round fixing issues with a bad tune and delete. KermaTDI tune works with emissions equipment without issues. I’ve run ENABLED who’s wagon has all emissions equipment. He was faster, quieter, and 0 issues in his 328d touring. We did 4 runs and he pulled on me every time. He also gets better mileage than I do.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by Tonyt915

Unless you just have to have the emissions deleted I would check out KermaTDI. Wish I would have gone this route the first time. I’ve had to go round and round fixing issues with a bad tune and delete. KermaTDI tune works with emissions equipment without issues. I’ve run ENABLED who’s wagon has all emissions equipment. He was faster, quieter, and 0 issues in his 328d touring. We did 4 runs and he pulled on me every time. He also gets better mileage than I do.

Which tune did you have the first time?

*EDIT* NM, looked back and saw that it was Mission Performance.

[opinion914]

Very helpful, Tony, Do you hear more turbo spool when catless?
Thx.

[CTMike]

I installed KermaTDI tune 2 weeks ago and it’s been wonderful. Still have all emissions equipment, no CELs... just puts a smile on my face each time I drive.

[Tonyt915]

Originally Posted by opinion914

Very helpful, Tony, Do you hear more turbo spool when catless?
Thx.

Nope, still sounds stock with the windows up and the radio at a normal volume. I also have the AFe Momentum intake and with the radio off, windows down, sunroof back, in a tunnel that echos, backed up against the wall, with low sulfur diesel, a south wind, the trans in drive with the engine under load and wot.... I get to hear the turbo spool if I stick my head out the window. And 90% of the noise comes from the intake. Lol If you stand behind the car while someone else drives it sounds like a mini power stroke, but you never get to hear it while driving. So if you like to spend copious amounts of money to impress everyone else but yourself with the sweet sound of a turbo... get the delete

[opinion914]

Ha. Well put.

[lilredjettdiwagon]

Originally Posted by CTMike

I installed KermaTDI tune 2 weeks ago and it’s been wonderful. Still have all emissions equipment, no CELs... just puts a smile on my face each time I drive.

Do we have any way of getting KermaTDi on our F30s in the Great State of Texas?

[CTMike]

Originally Posted by lilredjettdiwagon

Do we have any way of getting KermaTDi on our F30s in the Great State of Texas?

Sure thing, just check out their website... they Fed-Exed a little console that hooks up to the OBDII along with instructions to read/download a file. Send that file to the folks at KermaTDI... they modify and return it back... and you use the console to load it back up over the ODBII. 20 minutes later... more HP, torque, and fun.

[graphicjunkie]

Yea, I don't want to keep sounding like a poster boy for KermaTdi, but I will. I ran a crappy piggy back for a couple of years. The ONLY thing I liked better about the piggy back tune vs Kermas tune, was the surge of power. Granted, that came at the cost of a good deal of turbo lag. Yea....wait for it...wait for it...zoom! But beyond that, it fell on it's face top end. it didn't have the same midrange power. It didn't rise to the occasion on the down shift. Even though they CLAIMED better economy, I never saw it.
But with the new tune from KermaTdi, which I've had for about a month now...I love it.

almost non existent lag
power off the line
linear power throughout the rpms
pulls clear up to about 4500 rpm
downshifts are snappy
The modified Eco Pro mode is USABLE now, and ENJOYABLE.
I'm seeing a calculated increase of economy from about 37mpg, now up to 42....consistently
even though I drive way more aggressively now...for SOME reason.

AND!!! I'm still completely street / emissions legal.

Oh yea, and no more getting thrown to limp mode, no more check engine lights.

Do yourself and your car a solid. Get the tune that was done right...

[FaRKle!]

So I'll add an interesting data point, I was running the JR stage 2 tune for a bit more than a year, and last week switched to the KermaTDI tune to try.

If I had to describe the KermaTDI tune in one word, it'd be "smooth." They really did a fantastic job reducing turbo lag and keeping a smooth power buildup throughout the rpm range.

Prior to this tune I wondered whether most of the lag felt in the OE and JR tunes was due to actual turbo spool up time (turbo lag) or lack of exhuast pressure driving the turbo (boost threshold). Lag can be fixed, however boost threshold is pretty fixed. After getting the KermaTDI tune, I was pleasantly surprised that most of the lag you feel with the OE tune, or JR tune, is in fact turbo lag, and not boost threshold.

One "downside" to the smoothness is that the car doesn't really "feel" as fast as it used to. This can be explained by the more abrupt surge in acceleration felt when the OE or JR's tune finally gets the turbo/boost going, and increases the rate of acceleration quickly (3rd derivative, or "jerk"). That said, I do notice a faster initial launch from a stop since there's less lag and power starts to come on earlier.

I can't say anything for fuel economy or regen frequency yet, but I'll add those data points as they come in. With the JR stage 2 I was doing regens about every 200-225mi with diesel fuel (renewable diesel was about every 350mi). I just hit about 200mi on the KermaTDI tune so will see if regen happens soon.

[Enabled]

Nice point.
At first, my old ALH Jetta (slightly bigger turbo, fueling mods, tune) felt much faster than my stock 328d wagon. This was in the first month of ownership before tuning the BMW. So I had my wife drive the 328d while I drove the Jetta for a little road comparison and I couldn't keep up at all with the 328d even in stock form. Smooth and linear can be very deceptive.

Flat and thick torque curves, plus a buttery smooth transmission make it the way it is.

[tcubed]

A few questions
- How do you know when a regen is happening on these?
- Has anyone seen a Dyno with this Kerma tune? I called and they don't have one so I am wondering how they know the HP-TQ gains.
- One person mentioned running our of Urea after 3k miles, this is a little concerning since this means the tune is dirty and causing the DPF and SCR to do alot more work. Thoughts?
- If this tune reduces turbo lag then they must be dumping alot of fuel into the system to get the turbo to spool up quickly. Maybe that is why the urea usage is so high.

Thoughts?

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by tcubed

A few questions
- How do you know when a regen is happening on these?
- Has anyone seen a Dyno with this Kerma tune? I called and they don't have one so I am wondering how they know the HP-TQ gains.
- One person mentioned running our of Urea after 3k miles, this is a little concerning since this means the tune is dirty and causing the DPF and SCR to do alot more work. Thoughts?
- If this tune reduces turbo lag then they must be dumping alot of fuel into the system to get the turbo to spool up quickly. Maybe that is why the urea usage is so high.

Thoughts?

1) I use Torque Pro and monitor DPF EGTs. They go to 950-1300F when a regen is happening. Otherwise they're more like 450-850F in normal operation.

2) I haven't seen a dyno, but I was told that they have dyno'd them and that's how they got their hp/tq numbers.

3) I'm not putting much stock into the DEF useage comment yet. Too many unknowns such as when was it last filled?

4) It could also be that the VGT vane positions have been optimized to build boost at lower exhaust flows.

[Tonyt915]

Not sure on the others but I agree on comment 4 about the vane position. At cruising speed mine are programmed to be closed so it doesn’t produce boost, in milliseconds of the throttle being pressed they open up to produce boost.

Also of the DEF refill, there were occasions where I didn’t get 5000 miles between fill up on factory tune, because I did auto cross and was hammering the throttle daily driving. Don’t think it’s due to the tune. Probably more of a “ I got a new tune, and now I can’t keep my foot off the throttle cause I’m excited “ so the car uses more def.

[DieselSport]

Originally Posted by graphicjunkie

Yea, I don't want to keep sounding like a poster boy for KermaTdi, but I will. I ran a crappy piggy back for a couple of years. The ONLY thing I liked better about the piggy back tune vs Kermas tune, was the surge of power. Granted, that came at the cost of a good deal of turbo lag. Yea....wait for it...wait for it...zoom! But beyond that, it fell on it's face top end. it didn't have the same midrange power. It didn't rise to the occasion on the down shift. Even though they CLAIMED better economy, I never saw it.
But with the new tune from KermaTdi, which I've had for about a month now...I love it.

almost non existent lag
power off the line
linear power throughout the rpms
pulls clear up to about 4500 rpm
downshifts are snappy
The modified Eco Pro mode is USABLE now, and ENJOYABLE.
I'm seeing a calculated increase of economy from about 37mpg, now up to 42....consistently
even though I drive way more aggressively now...for SOME reason.

AND!!! I'm still completely street / emissions legal.

Oh yea, and no more getting thrown to limp mode, no more check engine lights.

Do yourself and your car a solid. Get the tune that was done right...

You said that the modified ECO mode was usable now, what do you mean exactly ?

[Enabled]

Originally Posted by tcubed

A few questions
- How do you know when a regen is happening on these?
- Has anyone seen a Dyno with this Kerma tune? I called and they don't have one so I am wondering how they know the HP-TQ gains.
- One person mentioned running our of Urea after 3k miles, this is a little concerning since this means the tune is dirty and causing the DPF and SCR to do alot more work. Thoughts?
- If this tune reduces turbo lag then they must be dumping alot of fuel into the system to get the turbo to spool up quickly. Maybe that is why the urea usage is so high.

Thoughts?

There is a dyno posted now.

[tcubed]

Nice, Interesting comparing it to the JR stage 2. Curves look about the same but JR actually shows more HP + torque stock and tuned. However I suppose the altitude difference between the two dyno's could account for that difference. Might have to give Kerma a try. Just want to make sure they did it right first :-)

[Enabled]

Each dyno is different from the next. I do know that this was the same dyno, runs within 5 mins of each other. 4wd car running in 2wd mode via software (some extra friction loss is expected, hardware still present).

Also, completely stock emissions equipment, logged for safety in many conditions for 20,000 miles. Safety routines still present, and will protect the engine and drivetrain.

[Aqua-Holic_11]

Great read about the tunes for the 328d. Does anyone on this forum have experience with the Kerma tune compared to the DUDMD tune?

[FaRKle!]

DUDMD is pretty unknown on these forums. I've only seen their stuff on Facebook.

[CleanKM]

Any of these allow the EGR to be kept closed forever?