[JoshuaevansF87]

I recently went stage 2 on my M2 vrsf catless DP BM3. When flashing it said that intercooler is required for Stg2 witch I am not running will I have any issue when the weather gets a little warmer?

[detroitm2]

When flashing it said that intercooler is required for Stg2

I think you answered your own question.

[VisualEcho]

Yes, IC is required for Stage 2.

[JoshuaevansF87]

Originally Posted by detroitm2

I think you answered your own question.

Just wanna get some other opinions

[detroitm2]

Originally Posted by JoshuaevansF87

Just wanna get some other opinions

No real opinions to be had here. If you wanna run Stage 2, you should have an intercooler.

[nioh_lbbm2]

You literally read that they need X in order to do Y from the source itself but still need to ask a third party?

[MONSTAR]

The stock intercooler doesn't even keep up on a stock car

[akkando]

Originally Posted by JoshuaevansF87

I recently went stage 2 on my M2 vrsf catless DP BM3. When flashing it said that intercooler is required for Stg2 witch I am not running will I have any issue when the weather gets a little warmer?

I know you want to hear an opinion like it's fine to run with the stock IC, but no one we'll tell you that, with the exception it should be mechanically safe (engine won't explode)


The stock intercooler sucked with the stock tune. Temperatures increase quick on that thing and power is pulled when temps are high. Don't think it will take long for you to feel reduced power on stage 2 tune with stock IC. You're going to be making less power than stock maybe after one pull because the temps will be so high the car ecu will pull all the power until it cools off. Don't believe me? You have BM3 take some logs and see for yourself what happens to IAT temps after one decent pull. Then do another and watch timing.

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by akkando

I know you want to hear an opinion like it's fine to run with the stock IC, but no one we'll tell you that.


The stock intercooler sucked with the stock tune. Temperatures increase quick on that thing and power is pulled when temps are high. Don't think it will take long for you to feel reduced power on stage 2 tune with stock IC. You're going to be making less power than stock maybe after one pull because the temps will be so high the car ecu will pull all the power until it cools off. Don't believe me? You have BM3 take some logs and see for yourself what happens to IAT temps after one decent pull. Then do another and watch timing.

This.

Even on a stock car you should replace the IC and charge pipe at a bare minimum.

[JoshuaevansF87]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

This.

Even on a stock car you should replace the IC and charge pipe at a bare minimum.

I have replaced the stock charge pipe with a vrsf one. Gonna replace the ic when the weather gets a little warmer I don't drive it much in the winter.

[widetyres]

IME, an intercooler is required for stage 1!

I had loads of timing pull on the 93 stg 1 map and had to use the 91 map (but still used with 93 fuel).

[chief1richard]

Originally Posted by widetyres

IME, an intercooler is required for stage 1!

I had loads of timing pull on the 93 stg 1 map and had to use the 91 map (but still used with 93 fuel).

What hp gains did you get with your stage 1. Was it a noticable bump. My warranty will be expiring soon and it may be on my list of mods.

[chief1richard]

If I remember correctly, The M2 stock intercooler is one used from all prior models that had a turbo engine. They did not make one specific to the M2. When you take it out you will see how cheap it is. Not fitting for an M model.

[widetyres]

Originally Posted by chief1richard

What hp gains did you get with your stage 1. Was it a noticable bump. My warranty will be expiring soon and it may be on my list of mods.

Hi,

I didn't, but someone in the UK shared the attached map with me prior to me buying my license.

The chart only tells so much; the stock hardware is not really capable of running a tune - sure the above looks ok on a single dyno blast, but the IATs rise rapidly and within a couple of runs through the revs down a county lane, the car starts losing power due to heat soak.

Also, IMO, the stock tune was nicer to drive, with more of a rush to the redline and much less tendency to immediately overheat. The later BMW tunes (assuming you have a recent ISTEP) were actually very good. TBH, at that time, if I could have backed out the tune I would have returned to stock (but switching to the "stock" BM3 map is not the same - I think that it is a copy of an early BMW tune, but BMW made big improvements themselves on the stock tune over time). Therefore, TIP, if you do tune, backup your ECU first.

This is not a knock against PTF's work, but just the reality faced by such a crap intercooler being on the car from the factory.

Originally, I had no plans to do Stage 1, but I knew that that I was going to go to do Stage 2 eventually, and a BM3 license popped up at a price I couldn't let pass on. TBH, doing Stage 1 just accelerated the rate I moved to Stage 2.

Stage 2 is another thing altogether though, and absolutely worth it! My car is putting down 431bhp (crank) and has a power to weight ratio of 288bhp/tonne - that is super quick!

My recommendation: Don't do stage 1 in isolation, at least do it with an intercooler. (The only trouble is that once you have done that is that you are only 1K away from stage 2, so most just skip stage 1)

WT