What's your opinion of the "high-end" German DIESEL tuning boxes? Are they worth the money?

[stevehecht]

I don't know how much extra power this configuration can muster, but these guys seem to play it pretty conservative, maybe because of the DME/IPW concern you've raised. They repeatedly emphasize how they're not running the engine beyond normal ECU parameters. This is not a dyno, but it will give you an idea of what the KS box now produces for the N47d20 (320d/328d): http://www.kelleners-sport.de/images...1220021_en.pdf

I do plan on doing before/after dyno runs this spring. Do you have any dyno shops in the Boston area that you'd recommend?

Finally got one!

I reviewed the Hartge 320d install guide and it appears they are biasing the IPW rather than attenuating the fuel mass sensor. Unfortunately I can't find any dynojet runs so it's difficult to determine if that is allowing more power than altering the fuel mass sensor, but it theoretically may be. Since the DME is not really aware of the true IPW you get around one of the nannies. On the other hand safety becomes more of a concern as the DME is not directly in control of IPW. And of course, more power, higher EGT, more wear, so there is never really a free lunch here.

We've not done much F series diesel testing/tuning yet but I think the cars are starting to turn up more here and there. At some point we'll borrow/buy one and do some dyno testing. If we're able to safely make more power using a direct injector bias rather than a simple fuel mass bias I'm not opposed to it. It's just four more wires. We'd probably switch it over to a CANbus system at the same time allowing reading of every sensor, not just the ones physically connected to. Then maybe we can then claim "superiority" and charge 3x as much.

Since you're very interested in F series diesel tuning I'd say throw one of these on your car, do some before and after dyno runs, datalog some data, and share your experiences with it.