The idea behind it is that heat soak causes a loss in power. Typically I would agree but I think that it will vary region to region. When I lived in Texas, I would have definitely looked at something like that, but being over here in Germany, the climate is much better and it may not really give you much.
With the above in mind, to summarize, this is my reasoning:
1) I saw on numerous dyno tests how much the JCW parts were worth without a remap. Say a tad over 50% (of the promised power increase). The remaining 50% or so was up to the ECU remap.
2) With a larger crank shaft pulley, modified bypass valve, JCW airbox mod+filter and a manifold I assume that my car now already differs quite a bit from a standard JCW. I therefore further assume that the standard JCW ECU map will not necessarily be any more ideal.
3) GP has a slightly tweaked ECU map with a raised rev limiter (7100?). As far as the latter, I would not go for anything crazy, but perhaps 7200/7250. I guess this is roughly what you get from MTH.
These are the three main drivers why I am curious about what a professionally made ECU tune could do for me at this stage. But again, to be clear, I do not expect the difference to be as dramatic as in the case of my JCW upgrade.
All this being said, I also hear what Roland is saying and I do appreciate his concerns about long term durability. I fully agree that if the tuner does not know what he is doing this might be a very costly experiment hunting for that last HP. The tune should stay on the right side of conservative. This comes back to the "professionally made ECU tune" under point 2). And ideally, as DaFlake pointed out, this could be based on the existing JCW map as I quite like it: smooth and progressive.
In my own case it is the question what can be done around the area where I live - Warsaw is not exactly the place where you can find tuners with several tens of MINI ECU tweaks under their belt (though MINIs are getting more and more popular here too). So either I trust some of the local shops to do the job (there are quite a few with BMW tuning experience incl the one I pointed out in the first post) or then find some other "remote tuning" solution.
Well, originally I thought that I just wanted to have a bit more powerful car. But it ended up being quite a bit more than that - mostly because the forum and the challenge of trying to learn.
Besides, it seems to be a nice way of winding down after a tough day at the office
I am finally booked in for a custom/dyno ECU map for this Friday @ a local tuning shop. I decided to bite the bullet and try this out. I will also raise the rev limiter to MTH level, i.e. 7300ish...and if the shop is able to do exhaust work, I will try to get the flat section of the JCW exhaust (http://www.mini2.com/forum/engine-dr...results-8.html) fixed too.
- The starting point (194hp/222Nm) is some 20-30hp off from where it should be. My car produced these figures even with the JCW kit only and I would think that the manifold alone should give me some 8-10hp on top of this. I already took the car to BMW earlier after the previous dyno test and asked them to do a thorough check (S/C belt, boost, T Map sensor...), but they did not find anything.
2) Is a custom tune worth it? Well, it seems so
- While I was very disappointed with the absolute hp figures, I was pleasantly surprised with the deltas they managed to produce with the new map. Almost 10% improvement in max torque (222Nm=>241Nm) and almost +8hp max power. The latter is in the same magnitude with a manifold! Perhaps more important than the max figures are the improvements in lower end of the curve - the deltas there seem to be even bigger than the max deltas.
It has been raining cats and dogs today, so much for a good test drive. But from what I could tell at least the throttle response was much sharper and the car felt better (no flat spots, hesitation). Did not manage to raise the rev limiter nor fix the exhaust. Let's see if I get these done next week.
...but...ggrrrrrr I still do not know what to do to find those missing 20-30 horses. Do I have to drive all the way to UK (again) to find somebody who could pin point the problem?!?
Some possibilities for you Sam..
- Down on compression
-Down on boost ...air leak .
-Restrivtive air filter (power drops away a bit early ooking at the graphs)
- Bypass valve spring broken which losses boost
-Conservative RR, or one with inadequate fans...you need to monitor the intake temp off the OBD2 port and say your not happy if they cant keep it below say 40 deg C
GTT Crank pulley gives only about 4bhp top end but a nice increase across the mid range.
Manifold? Not sure on your setup but the JCW Motorsport one gains 3bhp on a GP......... I do know that.
-JCW210 is typically are about 195-197bhp not 210bhp .
It may be a 'little bit of everything' rather than one thing.
Best Regards Roland GTT
My air filter should be cleaned, that has been on my todo list...might well do that over the weekend. Perhaps will regain one or two HPs, who knows
I will also next week get the winter tires changed at the BMW dealer - will go there with a new checklist. Maybe there really are multiple small things...
Fully agree with Roland's view of JCW cars under performing. My car made 192.5hp/221Nm already last December just after the installation of JCW kit (without any other mods) on the very same dyno and with the same dyno operator (old image attached). Though this was with 205/45/17 run flat winter tires vs. today with 215/40/17 Eagle F1s - so not 100% comparable.
I have a head and a cam planned for early next year. I would just like to sort out the existing mods before that.
What have others tested with similar setup? About 220hp I reckon?
On the positive side, at least made some progress today - the local guys seem to know their ECUs!
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I still do not know what to do to find those missing 20-30 horses. Do I have to drive all the way to UK (again) to find somebody who could pin point the problem?!?
carefree 
