N55 Cobb AP Initial Release

For those of us who have been waiting for the E9x N55 Cobb AccessPort, the initial release will be available by Christmas.

According to the thread, it will only be available for the 2011 N55 (maybe because of ECU version differences?), and as a long-time Cobb user I suggest waiting a while so others can work the inevitable kinks out. Still, this is good news for folks who have been looking forward to a handheld tune on the N55.

Cheers.

This is an official release for the Cobb AccessPORT for the N55 135i, 335i, and 335xi. It is not a beta test and everything is ready to go!

The original post is short on details. I wonder if it will be bout $900, like the N54 version?

Also, has something changed in the last several months, or is the N55 still a low headroom engine?

Originally Posted by ModBargains.com

This is an official release for the Cobb AccessPORT for the N55 135i, 335i, and 335xi. It is not a beta test and everything is ready to go!

What the heck happened to the original E90Post thread I linked to that had the HP and torque numbers for the Stage 1 Aggressive map? Did you guys replace it or something?

Anyway, I'm a happy customer of ModBargains but I have to disagree with you here, or at least the semantics of your post.

I know from experience with Mazda and Subie tuning that version 1.0 of Cobb maps are basically beta tests, and customers end up working out a bug or two that Cobb could not have possibly foreseen under daily driving conditions. Also, according to the original E90Post I linked to, this release is only good for 2011 N55s and only includes Stage 0 (never heard of that one, is it like the N54 Stage 1 Drive map?) and Stage 1 Sport and Aggressive maps, with Stage 2 and others (DPs, E85, etc. I assume) to be released as time goes on.

So, just the fact that the release is limited to 2011 N55s means that everything is not ready to go for a good numbers of N55s.

All that said, I may pick up the tuner now if you all will be doing a group buy with a decent discount, and the wait for more refined maps (e.g., v2.1) Stage 1 maps to be released before putting the tune on our E93.

Originally Posted by Squidget

Also, has something changed in the last several months, or is the N55 still a low headroom engine?

In the original post I linked to, the HP and torque gains for the Stage 1 Aggressive map weren't terribly impressive. It was about 60% of that of the Dinan Stage 2 tune, but then again the Cobb AP is less than half the price after the Dinan install cost is considered.

Then again, these are v1.0 maps, and Cobb has in the past always achieved more gains as it's refined a particular map.

EDIT: I found the original post I linked to. Maybe my link above was changed because the post is from a non-Fest sponsor, but the numbers quoted in it are "+31 HP, +72 FT/LBS On the stage 1 aggressive map." So if that's correct, it's really about two-thirds of the way to Dinan Stage 2.

Originally Posted by Verts4Ever

EDIT: I found the original post I linked to. Maybe my link above was changed because the post is from a non-Fest sponsor, but the numbers quoted in it are "+31 HP, +72 FT/LBS On the stage 1 aggressive map." So if that's correct, it's really about two-thirds of the way to Dinan Stage 2.

OK, yeah, that sounds about right. It's a shame that that the N55 doesn't have as much headroom as the N54. It's still a fine motor, and it's still worth tuning for better throttle/turbo response, even if the the raw power numbers don't change much.

Since I don't have the original link, I'm curious if there's a dyno run yet. I (snobbishly) want to know about the area under curve.

Originally Posted by Squidget

Since I don't have the original link, I'm curious if there's a dyno run yet. I (snobbishly) want to know about the area under curve.

Hopefully it's okay for me to note that the thread is posted over in the N55 tuning section of E90Post.com, and it has a dyno chart attached to a post on the second page. If that actually is a dyno of a N55 Cobb AP tune (I'm assuming it's of the Stage 1 Aggressive map), it looks about as peaky as the comparable N54 map.

And I agree completely. For a DD, I'm more concerned about the area under the curve rather than the shape, although I'm also not particularly fond of super peaky engines (like our former S2000) in DD conditions.

Originally Posted by Verts4Ever

And I agree completely. For a DD, I'm more concerned about the area under the curve rather than the shape, although I'm also not particularly fond of super peaky engines (like our former S2000) in DD conditions.

Definitely. Any small-displacement naturally aspirated engine, like the S2000's F20 series, is always peaky. It was still an excellent motor in an excellent car.

COBB N55 tuners to start getting shipped out!!

Originally Posted by ModBargains.com

This is an official release for the Cobb AccessPORT for the N55 135i, 335i, and 335xi. It is not a beta test

From Cobb's announcement yesterday on E90Post:

"COBB is extremely happy to announce the release of the AccessPORT for the N55 powered 2011 BMW 135, 335i and 335xi. . . . This is a Beta release"

Note to Squidget: The thread I just linked contains a dyno chart from Cobb's site.

Note to ModBargains: You really should mention in your posts that this release of the N55 Cobb AP is limited to MY11 N55s as indicated at the bottom of the product support page.

Still wondering about the "Stage 0" map, i.e., whether it's equivalent to the N54 Cobb AP Stage 1 Drive map. Also, there don't appear to be MT- vs. AT-friendly throttle maps yet.

Cheers.