Unichip upgrade on E87 120d

Status
Not open for further replies.

applehero

///Member
Hey Guys
I'm new to the fanatics club and the forums... I'm driving a E87 1 series 120d, pre facelift. I'm looking at doing a performance upgrade by using a piggy back ecu system. It seems that Unichip is widely used, but haven't heard from anyone in particular that has done this upgrade on the 120d.

Has anyone done this upgrade, and what performance upgrades I can expect? Also which are the reputable specialists, and who has a good experience with a particular specialist?

I went in to see SAC in centurion, they haven't done a 120d before. So trying to find someone that has done this mod before.
 

Twinz

Forum - Support
Staff member
Don't bother with a unichip....or piggyback on a 120d...there are great flash tunes available and undetectable by dealer diagnostics. I flashed my 120d the day it came off the showroom floor and it has been 4 years trouble free. Unfortunately, i do not have anyone in Joburg/centurion i can refer you to...and depending on the flash expect over 400Nm...dis lekker by die see.:thumbsup:
If you want to know how a common rail turbo diesel work and how to squeeze all the power from that turbo there are other things you can do to it, in addition to the flash but it is really unneccessary
 

Sherwin@xcede

BMWFanatics Advertiser
Official Advertiser
Hi there, is there any particular reason you want to use a Unichip? I'm not knocking the piggy's, but the 120d has an ECU perfectly capable of running the car with added boost. Simple get someone to remap the car and you will have no issues. With piggy's you need to cut into the wiring harness and "fool" the ECU into doing what you want. Why?
 

applehero

///Member
Twinz@Rennzport said:
Don't bother with a unichip....or piggyback on a 120d...there are great flash tunes available and undetectable by dealer diagnostics. I flashed my 120d the day it came off the showroom floor and it has been 4 years trouble free. Unfortunately, i do not have anyone in Joburg/centurion i can refer you to...and depending on the flash expect over 400Nm...dis lekker by die see.:thumbsup:
If you want to know how a common rail turbo diesel work and how to squeeze all the power from that turbo there are other things you can do to it, in addition to the flash but it is really unneccessary

The reason why I wanted to go for a unichip type system is for a couple of reasons... The main one is that I can change the fuel map, under different conditions. For example there are 5 settings, which include race and high altitude, which could be useful for my application. This could end up being a gimmick, but considering the huge increase in torque, it's possible that you could get varying levels of tune to allow for different conditions.

I suppose that is the main difference between piggy backing and just flashing... And if you wanted the performance back to standard, you could just reflash the settings back.

400Nm is huge, considering that's the theoretical torque output for the current M3!

In your opinion, what motor would constitute having a piggy back system?

XPower said:
Hi there, is there any particular reason you want to use a Unichip? I'm not knocking the piggy's, but the 120d has an ECU perfectly capable of running the car with added boost. Simple get someone to remap the car and you will have no issues. With piggy's you need to cut into the wiring harness and "fool" the ECU into doing what you want. Why?

Hey, it's more the fact that I can remove the system very easily if I want to. As well as allowing for different settings under different circumstances... So if I really want to give it a go, I can for a short amount of time. Without worrying about the Exhaust Gas Temperature getting too high. And have a less aggressive setting for around town.

Yeah, the unichip system does modify the inputs into the ecu. So it's not as pure as having the ecu doing exactly what you want. But I want to keep the ecu as original as possible. And the system can be fitted with connectors that plug into the ecu, so no cutting...

Although it looks like there's a dealer in joburg that stocks an ac schnitzer ecu that will give similar performance gains. Which will probably cost alot...
 

Twinz

Forum - Support
Staff member
applehero your first post made alot of sense...everything after that does not. sorry i can help you any further.

@1two...my 120d has been running without any problems what so ever. other than the tune the car is completely stock. Also don't compare a turbo charged diesel with a NA petrol...like the post above comparing a turbo diesel with an M3 tq...:nono:
 

applehero

///Member
Twinz@Rennzport said:
applehero your first post made alot of sense...everything after that does not. sorry i can help you any further.

@1two...my 120d has been running without any problems what so ever. other than the tune the car is completely stock. Also don't compare a turbo charged diesel with a NA petrol...like the post above comparing a turbo diesel with an M3 tq...:nono:

I get what you're saying. That's why I said theoretically the same amount of torque. Obviously an M3 has just about three times the power, so there is no real grounds for comparing the two. Just an interesting note...

1two5guy said:
Can the stock clutch handle 400nm? May need to fit an uprated one.

That's a good question... Considering I have a slight feeling that it's on it's way out anyway...
 

dvst8

///Member
Excede are getting good gains from the 120d.
One of the guys who has just been mapped got 193.8Hp/459Nm ATW (K.A.R.-25/02/10).

Worth giving them a shout.

:)
 

applehero

///Member
dvst8 said:
Excede are getting good gains from the 120d.
One of the guys who has just been mapped got 193.8Hp/459Nm ATW (K.A.R.-25/02/10).

Worth giving them a shout.

:)

Wow, that's a HUGE increase! I saw that on another post. I'll give them a shout...

Thanks :thumbsup:
 

WerriesM5

///Member
Hi there, I had a 120d pre face witch I put a diesel torque piggy back on, never had it on a dino but top speed on the GPS went up from 218Km/h to 232Km/h!! And it ran with a face lift 130Kw 120d in town.
It had onley 2 small plugs to install, I turned it to max power and left it there.

Fuel consuption was beter when driving normaly on open road, but was terrible in town ( I used the extra power!!!!)

I baby my cars clutches so it never gave me problems with the chip on.
 

STREETRACER

Active member
applehero said:
Hey Guys
I'm new to the fanatics club and the forums... I'm driving a E87 1 series 120d, pre facelift. I'm looking at doing a performance upgrade by using a piggy back ecu system. It seems that Unichip is widely used, but haven't heard from anyone in particular that has done this upgrade on the 120d.

Has anyone done this upgrade, and what performance upgrades I can expect? Also which are the reputable specialists, and who has a good experience with a particular specialist?

I went in to see SAC in centurion, they haven't done a 120d before. So trying to find someone that has done this mod before.


Bud Go to DASTEK in PTA / CENTURION behind the air force base or phone them! ask to speak to jacqueline and tell her Petri Banks from Streetracer sugested you! If you want more info send me a PM but expect up to a 40% increase in power and about 10-15% beter ecconomy! stock clutch will keep up if you not going to abuse it!
 

Wynand 120d

New member
dvst8 said:
Excede are getting good gains from the 120d.
One of the guys who has just been mapped got 193.8Hp/459Nm ATW (K.A.R.-25/02/10).

Worth giving them a shout.

:)

Hi, I also bought a 120d and want some more out of it. What did you do at the end of the day? Where is this excede guys at?
 
Wynand 120d said:
dvst8 said:
Excede are getting good gains from the 120d.
One of the guys who has just been mapped got 193.8Hp/459Nm ATW (K.A.R.-25/02/10).

Worth giving them a shout.

:)

Hi, I also bought a 120d and want some more out of it. What did you do at the end of the day? Where is this excede guys at?

Hey there. Recently did ATM stage 2 flash with downpipe/decat with Rennzsport and honestly the car feels brilliant. Dyno will be done in the next week or so to see results. Morras did something similar and got mad gains.
 

Twinz

Forum - Support
Staff member
Welcome Kevin. :thumbs:

I skriked when i saw how old this thread is. :smilebounce:

Probably better if we move it to your own thread then you can keep us updated on your car build & plans.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top