MegaSpeed 335d Tune + DPF Delete Review - Toronto, ON
 

This review is mostly for those few Canadians (and some North Eastern Americans) considering tuning their 335d's.

I recently purchased a 2009 335d from Ottawa ON and started in on looking for interesting things to do to it. Coming from a highly modified Diesel Jetta, tuning was something I was familiar with and hoping for.

After doing some research I heard good things about MegaSpeed and their Canadian Counterpart Jarek at JR Auto Electronics in Oakville. I contacted Jarek after reading a few reviews (from NRG?) and we arranged to have my Car tuned while I was in Toronto next. One of the things I wasn't keen on was sending my ECU away - I was very happy that they could tune it on-site (still having to remove it from the vehicle for re-flashing, however).
After speaking with Jarek for a only a few minutes I knew he knew what he was talking about and felt much better about the whole process. He has tuned many 335d's and X5d's and keeps in regular touch with each of them. He even put me in touch with a few customers so that I could satisfy my interests further...

The tuning took a good full day (I just left the car with them) but it was well worth it.
Driving home I could feel the increase immediately. It was a little slick out and just rolling into the throttle gave me a nice twist in the corners - very impressive. Throughout the following week I really felt the car come together as the ECU re-adapted to my driving.
One of the biggest differences was the fact that the Car had a very large amount of power all the way through the range - it didn't fall off just over 3500 like it did before - it held very strong all the way to 5K. I also found the shifts to be quicker and smoother. All around the car was much more fun to drive.

After a few days I got thinking of other things (looking for more) and contacted Jarek about possibly removing the DPF. Jarek mentioned I could get some additional power by removing the DPF and having it re-tuned for this removal. I was a little concerned about this as I've heard (from the UK) about DPF removal and how LOUD the car gets (or at least hearing a new resonance) and that wasn't something I wanted. One of the things I love about this car is just how quiet and smooth it is....

But eventually I gave into temptation and went for it - And I'm glad I did!

I've had the car now for about 5 days since the DPF removal and second re-tune and I'm almost positive I've gained another 10-15% in power. You have to be careful as you can break loose very easily if you aren't careful! It's very difficult not to smile as your roll onto the throttle - it just throws you back in your seat like I've never felt before. This whole process has really turned the car into a completely different machine - a real monster!

The best part is that the car isn't any louder what-so-ever. The car idles and cruises with no audible difference. The only time I've noticed a difference is when I rev up between 3-3.5K. I can slightly hear the engine more than I did before. To be honest, I like it - sounds kind of like a V8 and it is by no means obtrusive. If you didn't have two 335d's beside each other I can guarantee you couldn't tell any difference.

Another benefit of this process is that the DPF isn't technically removed but the internals are extracted and a by-pass pipe installed. The Pre-Cat is still active and the exterior of the DPF is exactly as it came (but wilth a few new "welds"). I'm fairly certain this is why there isn't any more sound. All said and done, you can't visually tell that anything has been done to the car, even if you remove the belly pan and have a look - so that's a plus for me - as I'm trying to keep the engine compartment looking stock.
Now I don't have to worry about re-generation and clogging the DPF on my short (but very fun) drives to/from work.

I also noticed a decrease in fuel consumption on the second half of my drive home. I haven't done many KM's since but I'm seeing the needle sit in the 5-6L/100KM range while cruising at 120KM/h. Before, I was seeing between 6-7L/100KM. Only time will tell but it's looking very good.

All in all, it was a great experience and Jarek was very accommodating on my strive for more. I'm already thinking of new things he can do for me...

I would highly recommend this if you are considering getting a tune...

Good stuff and great review man. Did Jarek have to do some coding for the DPF removal so as to not trigger any SES lights? Does this affect the urea/DEF part of the car at all?

You really need that Quaife LSD now and you're REALLY laughing!

x2 Good questions!

Hi Guys,

Yes he did have to do some modifications to remove the re-genreation cycles and DPF related entries in the ECU. He's done a few and works very closely with MegaSpeed on that part so I wasn't worried. I haven't had any problems with SES lights or malfunctions. All is good.

The Urea injection is still active but we are working on getting rid of that. I don't really care much myself as it's a normal part of the car but he is working on a way to remove that as it isn't necessary anymore now that there is no DPF.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Is it just me or does the Canadian removing emissions systems from his fossil fueled vehicle seem ironic?

Any black smoke? post DPF removal. Good info, I too have been looking into tuning, is this guy off of speers road, if yes I think I had my E320 CDI tuned by him.

I haven't noticed any myself but I can't say I've been looking. The only draw towards no DPF is that my tail pipes are a little sooty now... but I don't care. My previous Jetta was the very same way and smoked like a freight train. I just wipe them off when I wash the car (once a week) and they are good for the next week.

If I had of been smart (and a little more daring) I would have done it all at the same time. Very worth it as far as I'm concerned. One less thing to worry about down the road also.

And yes, he is off of Spears Road.

Emissions ready codes
 

I was wondering if the emissions ready codes say okay or incomplete after doing this tune?

Here in Virginia I am required to have an emissions test done. They connect to the OBD2 port and scan the emissions ready codes.

I think scanning ECU will show DPF removal but just a tune will not show. So in your case you shld be ok with an ECU remap alone. Don't do DPF etc.

Hahaha I like your comment.......but 1 or maybe 5 diesel cars doing this is not even close to the petrol/gasoline powered V8's or V10's and the pickup trucks when it comes to bad emissions....

Lets ask DOT and MTO here in Ontario Canada, why are pickup trucks in the different category of vehicles when it comes to emission standards ???

How about Industrial emissions, in my humble opinion this whole emission thing for passenger cars is an over kill.

Thread revival! How's the mileage? Did you dyno?

This is directly from Jarek:

Thanks, Greek! DPF delete & EGR lockout sound great, but those gains are pretty modest all things considered, no?

I haven't had it Dyno'd yet (very soon) but I'm thinking we are probably about 75-80HP and 100-115ft/lb over stock so it its quite an improvement.

I did my tuning stages :

1. Just TUNE
2. DPF Removal and Re-TUNE

And I noticed about an equal amount of increase each time.

Will keep you posted tho!

Just looking through what they've posted, and what you've said, I think you might be a bit ambitious on your #'s. Would love to see a dyno to get some hard figures. I might consider taking my car up to them for at least the DPF and EGR removal, though.

You'd drive up all the way from SoCal to Toronto?! That would be over 2,500 miles to get here.

I would drive if I could from Puerto Rico LOL. But frankly a gain of 10 percent would be on top of my Renntech flash would be 30 ponies and wow that would put us GTR Range as far as torque or better yet the M5d.gracias greek instead a Quafie id look at this!@!!!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Bimmer App

How are you planning on dealing with drive clean in Ontario. They use an OBDII reader and check for readiness of the sensors etc.

I'm not expecting this to be an issue at all. All of the sensors are functioning normally but with different limits in the map. I also don't have a CEL either and I don't imagine anyone going that deeper into it for $29.99 - But we will see.

If this is anything like the retune done for vehicle straight pipes (even via Cobb), obdII would still read as ready/ok for emissions test, but I don't know that this is the case here. If I could see some Dynos and the gains are worth-while, I would drive up from DC for tune, DPF, and EGR. Although, I wouldn't gut a $2200 particulate filter; I'd much rather pull it for later use and have a dowpipe fabricated.

GMaur, you should see if they will pay for a free dyno for you for marketing purposes. I'd love to see the true numbers fromr the delete +tune on our ca/us spec vehicles. Candidly, if the gains are about equal to Jbd/RENNtech/evolve, I may still roll with it just to eliminate the possible service hassle of the DPF and EGR in the future.

I wonder if the increased particulate/soot in the exhaust will have any effect on the Cat and SCR cat which are downstream of the DPF? It would seem to increase clogging/contamination potential and reduce the life of these costly components; however, maybe the increase is such that it's effect is not significant.

You could easily get a fake emissions test.

I would if it were worth the trip, yes.

Sweet man. If you decide to come down then I'll meet you there.

Gmaur, think you might be able to get them to dyno it for you for advertising purposes? If not, I think I may be curious enough to chip in slightly for your dyno cost. Lets see them results :D