BMW Blog

Many of the best vehicles on the road are European luxury vehicles, with BMW and Mercedes dominating the scene. For sports car enthusiasts, getting the most out of their car is a great way to maximize speed and performance. Tuning a BMW is not extremely costly as some might think, as there are many solutions available for the average car owner to begin tuning their BMW.

Chip Tuning

Tuning a BMW in order to obtain optimal speed involves swapping the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) chip, or adding a super charger to the current engine. The most cost effective of the two is swapping the ECU chip. BMW equips all of their cars with an ECU chip which contains factory settings loaded onto it. This little chip controls things like the air to fuel ratio and RPM limitations. These chips are designed to improve gas mileage, but they do so at the cost of performance. Providing a BMW with a new ECU chip means the standard factory settings are erased, giving the car a gain in horsepower, as well as overall performance. It should be noted that this gain comes at a loss of fuel efficiency and on the rare occasion, emission standards.

Components

While tuning the engine can lead to maximum performance, there are other ways to increase horsepower and performance. Mufflers and transmission adjustments can give a gain in horsepower, while increasing vehicle performance. There are many different components available for BMW on the market, including components for some of BMW’s most popular models, such as the M3, M5, and the M6.

Tires

Tuning the wheels and tires is a must for any driver and to achieve the highest driving performance, its important to make sure the car has high quality, thick rubber tires in order to increase performance and safety. Since tires are the only contact the car has with the road, making sure they’re of high quality can mean the difference between maintaining control in a tight spot, or losing control and causing an accident.

For speed enthusiasts, installing a BMW will light weight rims can mean a lighter vehicle, but also great styling of your choice. Many people choose to install new rims on their car as a personal reflection of their style, but lighter weight aluminum rims could mean the difference in speed tests, as well.

Body Modifications

Decreasing your car’s resistance to air can mean a speed increase for your vehicle, but it can also work to save fuel and increase overall performance. Many good body kits include a spoiler, hoods, and side skirts in order to help your vehicle achieve maximum speed. While these modifications are extremely functional, many people opt for them simply to make the car look better.

Suspension Modifications

Modifying the stock suspension in a BMW means obtaining complete control over the vehicle even at top speeds. By replacing the car’s struts, shocks, and damper kits with specially modified replacement parts, the cars response time and steering will be top-notch, even at high speeds.

Supercharger Kits

For the ultimate in performance, its recommended that any BMW enthusiast who wants to tune their own car, install a supercharger. A supercharger is not a beginners project, as it involves a lot of work. However, the results from installing one of these devices is simply amazing. A car can gain anywhere from 100 to 400 horsepower from an install. Superchargers work by forcing lots of oxygen into the combustion chamber of the engine. Because the fuel has more gas to react in the burning process, you achieve greater speed. This does come at the cost of lower fuel economy and a severely reduced emissions output.