[Drewligarchy]

I have a 2019 M550i for about 3 years. I bought at 30k miles and it is at about 45k miles now. When I bought it I looked at 2020+ too for more power, but this was the cleanest used car I could find, was a CPO (though the warranty is now done), and most importantly - I desperately wanted the Mediterranean Blue / Cognac interior + some other options. I was coming from an SQ5 at the time, so the 2019 seemed more than fast enough.
I love the car still, and have been investing in some aesthetic things lately. I just got the wheels refurbed, and they look great. Just dropped it off this morning at a preferred detailer for paint correction and ceramic coating as well.

This weekend, for the first time since I had the car, I discovered Bimmercode. I proceeded to spend all weekend tweaking things just to my liking and it's amazing how much it increases enjoyment of my car.
It was not long before I started watching yotube videos on MHD and BM3. Needless to say, I don't know how you could not be excited by the prospect of downloading horsepower. I downloaded MHD just to check the status of my ECU, and it can be OBD unlocked.

This led to ton of research. While I love BMWs and driving them, I don't know anything about cars mechanically. That said I am a bit tech savvy. I don't track or race, I just like most of you, am into "spirited driving"
Seems I have a couple options if I want to go through with it.

- The easiest seems to be to just purchase a license for the BM3 OTS map and I can flash that in like 10 minutes. If it's anything like programming with Bimmertech, it doesn't seem too difficult. While I know it provides logging, I don't really know what to look for if something goes wrong. This is my main concern with this method. I was thinking of using a lower octane map to keep it more conservative, but part of me feels like if I am going to tune it - I might as well get the 20% HP boost at 93 octane.

- Find a local tuning shop and have them do everything. This seems like a good option, but there are so many options, I don't really know what would be best. DME in NJ seems like you can't go wrong, but they are far. In Long Island, TKX seems promising - and they, I believe, use Active Autowerkes profiles which seem to be positively referenced in the forums.

- Get a tuning shop / service to flash my car remotely. The benefit is you can pick whomever you want, though the chances of something going wrong during flashing seem greater since your doing extensive remote work. Also, I'd be able to log the tune and have someone who actually knows what the hell they are doing be able to tell me if the tune is running (relatively) safely on my engine. I saw that Bimmercode has a service called "Awaken" which does just that, but there are plenty more popular options as well.

- Just leave it stock and try to forget everything I’ve learned you can do ��

From a physical standpoint, my car is completely stock - and I'm just looking for a bit more power. I am pretty religious with maintenance. My wife an I also have an IX on lease, but the M550i is my daily driver. Come to think of it the power of the electric car, made me want a bit more for my own - and to potentially bring it to 2020 - 2023 M550i levels. The IX is sort of like driving a bank vault, but it freaking flies in a straight line.

Also, the N63TU2 and other N63 engines don't seem nearly as popular as others to tune, in part I’m sure, because of perceived reliability. While I've never had an issue with my car, I have only put 15k miles on it. I know there is always a chance of something going wrong, but I really don't want to F-up my engine. That said, if I were to tune - this would be the point in the lifecycle of the car when I would.

So, ultimately, would you recommend I do a stage 1 tune without any other modifications? How worth it is it? How risky is it? As BM3 has been out for quite some time, and the N63TU2 map has been out for 5 years I think - how many of you have blown up your engine? Will I lose drivability / smoothness with a modest tune? In terms of goals, the 523 HP that BM3 quote on their 93 octane map would be what I would want to aim for.

[TweilyB]

I got a 2019 M550 bought it at 30k miles and now I'm around 47k miles after a year and a half. I decided to pull the trigger on a BM3 OTS stage 1 tune. You can really feel the power bump and for the 2k miles I've had it for, zero issues. The process of installing the tune is pretty quick and simple especially if you have their OBD2 wifi adapter. You could also datalog the car on your own within BM3 and learn more about it.

You honestly can't go wrong with the other options as a stage 1 tune is safe.

[Drewligarchy]

Thank you! I am also looking into custom tunes in long island, and Gintani has a shop near me. has anyone used their custom tuning for BMW?

[dtriggr]

I’m running a stage 1 93 ots map on from bootmod 3 right now ~6000 miles. 2019 m550.

Downpipes delivered today and I am going to try and get them in this weekend.

The BimmerCode sport gauges i maxed out at 640 so… I’m almost afraid of what stage 2 e85 will do when I put those in and do a flex fuel pump and lines.

My experience is that people call you a liar when you talk about specs lol.

Do it.