[jumperjohn]

PPK fitted, first impressions, absolutely great!

Ok, I'm going to try and to write a little more than just, 'great', but initial impressions are just that.

For those of you who drive a 330d you would have read a lot of PPK results, opinions and observations, looked at official graphs and unofficial graphs and probably like me came to a confused understanding, is it worth it or not? Well I'm going to do another PPK fitted thread and try to give the topic some new some thoughts.

If you don't like long threads stop reading here...

...the PPK is worth the money and it's a great addition, book your car in and get it fitted...

If you want to know why, in my opinion, then read on.

Today I picked up my car from BMW and I drove home the 40 miles and included some local known to me roads to gain a good understanding of the differences, this is the downside to my story, a short post fitting drive but there were a lot of different roads to sample so gave a good indication to the changes to observe in the 330d.


Pre-op, the 330d is an excellent car, a great engine but BMW produced the PPK so there is the potential to make the 330d better, obviously I had to have it.

It took a full 24 hrs to fit, the mechanical items take an hour or two to fit, the coding of the new ECU takes a few hours. I picked the car up a day after dropping it off. I paid the bill , took the keys and re-entered the drivers profile via USB to set the seats and satnav etc.

Exciting the garage and driving onto the 30 mph zone gave little in the way to suggest the car had more torque or power. The engine however seemed smoother, less gruff, although the 330d is smooth as standard, it seemed smoother, it's hard to define but defiantly something's changed.

I left the 30 zone into a 40 and then a 60, a lovely winding road. I exited a roundabout and with a clear road ahead I put my foot down.

Pre-op the 330d would pick up power and hurl you forward and you could feel it, due to the acceleration and kick in the bum happening at high(ish) revs, you'd soon hit quick speeds and you and your passengers would know it.

I'm going to try to explain the difference to post PPK fitting as best as I can.

So with a clear road ahead I put my food down, all standard settings, the car picked up speed but with less of a 'fuss'. The acceleration is instantaneous but you can feel the torque kick in much lower down the revs, you can feel more torque and you can feel the extra hp, it's a beautiful, creamy, linear flood of acceleration, not dramatic as before but super smooth and more punch, the PPK has changed the car, it's made the engine breath and gave it muscle. Less dramatic and more punch sounds like an oxymoron but that's the feeling, it's a delight.

I don't know what's in the PPK box of electrics or the coding but the changes seem to enable extra torque earlier, more power, a more relaxed engine, definitely more refined.

I drove on the motorway for a while and all is great, smooth, effortless and joining and exciting were, as before, a breeze but so much more gentle yet quicker?! Crazy but I guess it's like driving a super GT.

I think that could be the synopsis to this, faster, more powerful yet so much more smoother and that makes it so much more enjoyable, reassuring and relaxing.

Graphs, official and unofficial, will show that fitting a PPK will make the 330d quicker, PPK Youtube will show, those hateful videos, of a speedo and you will see, yes it's quicker but the PPK is more than a simple upgrade, more than a remap, more than a bolt on and more than a simple gain in torque and power. The PPK gets involved everywhere, it smooth's out the 300d at every speed and in every situation you will be glad it's there, it really is good.

[Dave_3]

I've always had the MPPK in the corner of my eye, but love the brilliant all-round refinement I have at present so great to hear that, if anything, your refinement has improved. Sounds like you are a happy customer.

Damn. May succumb yet......

D.

[Rich9600]

Great review... Damn you... Now I really want it also...

Highlighting the additional across-range smoothness and refinement is a particularly useful addition to the information already out there.

[....,,,,..,,..]

Great review, nice to see how it feels as it 'beds' in and you get some miles on it.

The improvement to smooth feel sounds good addition.

How was it in with stick to left (sport) and using paddles?

[MarkWoods]

Sounds great, any chance you could spill the beans on the price?

[mcdokika]

Good review.

What does it mean exactly in horsepower ?

How much did you pay for that ?

[Buttons]

Good review, it's got me thinking again!!

Is this specific to certain dealers do you know?

[SkyJawa]

Yeah I reckon its a matter of time before I pull the trigger - just need my neighbour to give me a price (works at BMW dealer - hopefully he can sort mates rates )

[Tengocity]

Sounds good, and retains peace of mind

Though when you say it's "more than just a remap", what do you mean exactly?

In essence the extra power and torque is just from revised mapping in the ECU isn't it?

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Sounds good, and retains peace of mind

Though when you say it's "more than just a remap", what do you mean exactly?

In essence the extra power and torque is just from revised mapping in the ECU isn't it?

There is a larger intercooler too.

[Gorsh]

Thank for the write up, a very good description.

Makes me want it too.. no, need it lol.

Would appreciate knowing how much it cost - and did you need the brakes too? (I would as mine are standard).

[Andrewthefirst]

Great post mate.

I've only 800 miles on the clock but I do want!

[d4springer]

Sounds great, think this will be my next mod anyway, been putting it off but may as well just go for it. Didn't realise it took so long to fit though!

[jumperjohn]

Hello,

I haven't driven the car since it was fitted but I'll have a drive tomorrow to test the left shift and sport mode config.

To answer some other questions.

My car's mileage is around 9500k so quite run in but should loosen up more, can the PPK 'bed in', I'm not sure but maybe it could.

The price fitted was £1350 all in, kit and fitting. This involved a lot of ringing around dealers in the south, beware as some don't have knowledge of the PPK. BMW Hook however did have knowledge and they took care of the work and were excellent. From order to fitting took just over 2 weeks so not too much of a wait. This issue was with not ordering the kit but courteously car availability, a good experience though.

Horse power and torque increase is improved, there are official stats 259 to 286 bhp but various post PPK fitting data shows, for the 330d, increasing the engines output to around an average 303bhp and 650 Nm torque. If my car achieves this I have no idea but it is quick, but in a smooth linear way.

Tengocity. Correct, a remap is simply tweaking a set of parameters within the ECU or utilising a piggy back system to interfere, in several ways depending on the piggy back, with the ECU, but this is where the PPK is different, as it's a replacement ECU. As I've said I don't know what's inside the ECU but it seems to give more than just a squirt of extra torque and BHP, it's made the engine less gruff ( not that the standard 330d is gruff) but something is subtly different, the way the new ECU is programmed the power is given to you quickly, at a rapid pace and it seems to change to a higher gear better than before, perhaps quicker, and meets the next gear at exactly at the right point to continue the push forward.

A larger intercooler if fitted but what impact this has on the performance I don't know. I can't imagine there is any direct impact but perhaps it helps with maintaining the performance if full power is used for a long time. BMW test these things quite well so I'm assuming under testing whilst the car was under load over a period of time the suggestion by BMW engineering was to fit a larger intercooler, so they do.

The length of time to fit is 1 or 2 hours, there then is a lengthy coding between the garage and Germany to update the PPK and download the black magic.

I will have another drive tomorrow, I hope, and do the side shift and sport config. I may come to 'THE MEET' and let you guys interested to have a go so you understand what I'm rambling on about, it's difficult to put into words the feeling but if I said that after fitting it is faster then it doesn't really do the PPK justice.

[NISFAN]

Good to hear someone else enjoying the PPK difference.

Just wait until you need to accelerate into that gap, or overtake. It just rockets off compared to standard.

[matt@stratford]

I'm keen on this also.

For those who have had it done, what's the % uplift in insurance like? Especially as a mod and not before you collected the car from new

Thanks
M

[Andrewthefirst]

Guys, what does the PPK do to fuel economy when normal driving? I assume it doesn't really affect it?

[Buttons]

How much bigger is the inter cooler?

Not concerned about the physical dimensions as such, just wouldn't want it hanging out the front of the car in a Chav scooby kinda way - does the car still look stock?

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Buttons

How much bigger is the inter cooler?

Not concerned about the physical dimensions as such, just wouldn't want it hanging out the front of the car in a Chav scooby kinda way - does the car still look stock?

It isn't visible from the outside, and so long as you refuse the M Performance stickers on the sills, it doesn't increase its chavviness at all

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by Andrewthefirst

Guys, what does the PPK do to fuel economy when normal driving? I assume it doesn't really affect it?

Either zero effect or slightly better, definitely not worse unless you use the extra ponies continuously.

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by Buttons

How much bigger is the inter cooler?

Not concerned about the physical dimensions as such, just wouldn't want it hanging out the front of the car in a Chav scooby kinda way - does the car still look stock?

The PPK one has one extra row in it, but is physically the same letterbox size. If I lined up two cars, one with PPK the other without, you would not notice the difference without kneeling down to count the rows.

[Gorsh]

Would I be correct in assuming the £1350 cost did not include new front brakes?
If it did - great!, but if not could someone please give me an idea of the cost including them - my understanding (from another thread I read on here but can't quickly locate now) is BMW won't fit the PPK without the uprated brakes.
Thanks.