Your comments and help is very much (archive)

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: The car is much better now with the GIAC (Garrett Integrated Automotive Corp) software in the EPROM. No more pings and knocks from early ignition of the fuel. Much more stable now. Happy that I can take it past 4000rpms. Waiting for a time to G-tech it, but don't know where I can do this within LA (apparently 0-60 times are measured when the G-tech says go and you have to slam on the brakes when you've reached 60 or something says a friend). G-tech or not, the difference is huge. Without dyno and actual test speeds/times I guess the only frame of reference is my experiences with it so here goes my best shot at a not so biased point of view...
: The car pulls pretty damn hard from stop. It literally screams as you floor it when you're stopped. Shifting (automatic) is slightly rough, but it always is when you're flooring it. But the difference is that there's 6psi of boost in the engine at 6000rpms and suddenly shifting to 2nd will feel a little rough because it's dropping down to 3000rpms or so (I'm not sure exactly how much). The car pulls throughout 1st and 2nd very very hard, but 3rd and especially 4th is somewhat disappointing. I always imagined that after the S/C was in place that I'd be pulling hard up to 130+, but it seems that is not the case. With the 4 speed auto apparently it really doesn't pull so hard when you're in 3rd at around 3-4k rpms. However when you reach about 5-6 it pulls much harder but for me that's too late because I don't want to do more than 75-80mph on the freeway (which is the only place that I can find myself in 3rd-4th gear). The truth is I haven't done a 0-100mph from dead stop though I'd really like to try it to see how hard it would pull in 3rd after revving up to 6000rpms in 2nd. But I must say the design of the automatic makes me wish I had a manual in order to better control the shift points and the gears. In all seriousness I really like the (reserved) power under my foot when I'm just driving normally (i'm not always trying to test the limits of the car you know!). For the 528i owners out there I want you guys to know that, for me it's a real power trip to go from a 528iA to a 528iA S/C. It's kinda nice to know that I've got 6psi of potential boost whenever I need it. I mean for anyone who's ever had a 528i I'm pretty sure at one point or another you've lusted for a 540i. Or in your quest to search for modifications for your car someone's said, "Why don't you just buy a 540i?". Easier said than done. I'm not claiming that my car is as fast as even a 540iA because I really don't know and I won't know until I actually run the tests. But ever since I started playing around with the car I've thought about improvements to acceleration, power, speed, etc. I never wanted to sell the car or trade it for a 540i because to me the car itself has some sort of symbollic value that cannot be bought or replaced. Furthermore if you're like me, you weighed the cost of the 540i (when I got my 528i it was basically a 10K difference out the door and I think still is) and decided that you wouldn't need the 4.4l anyway. In all seriousness sometimes this board puts very little or no emphasis on the 2.8 liter in comparison to the 4.4. it's smaller but that should not prevent you from enjoying all that it's capable of doing and more. Anyway, that's just my opinion in regards to the overall general E39 boards reactions (of what I've seen) to the 528i.

: HOWEVER, I apologize for sidetracking SO much, what i meant to say is that it's really nice to be able to feel thrown into the back of your seat and hear the engine roar as you rev through the gears. It's just like everyone says, "It doesn't affect the overall driveability of your car but when you want it, the power is there". I couldn't emphasize it more. The car retains the same feeling more or less and the powerdyne unit is practically silent except at 1-2000rpms in first gear only then can you hear it ever so slightly, in fact if you didn't listen for it you wouldn't hear it. I think I got a little too sidetracked though, I can't really remember where I was leading, but anyway, in conclusion I will work on controlling the gears with the responsiveness of my foot while the computer learns my fondness of flooring the accelerator every once in a while. One thing I think I might have forgotten to mention was that there's a lot of room to accelerate. What I mean is sometimes I get irritated that I can't always have the pedal to the metal because I must be a law abiding citizen but when I'm driving normally, there's just so much room between the accelerator and the kickdown button (more than there was before) that it's soooo tempting just to floor it for a second and slow back down and repeat over and over again. I guess that's what I meant about having the power available but not always using it. If you're like me you love that feeling of acceleration as you drop to a lower gear and pull hard, but you do not like the roughness of the gears trying to connect and that sudden thrust as you're jerked back into your seat pulling at 5-6k rpm for half a second then shifting up again. I guess that's a flaw with autos but I imagine that you can't escape it completely with manuals. What I just described is a common experience (IMO) among auto owners who sometimes floor the accelerator while cruising and experience that sudden jerk of shifting down to 5-6k rpms and then suddenly shifting up again. Anyway, I guess either I'm repeating myself or just making myself very clear in either case it's really late and I'm going to bed. That last point was to show that it's a common experience, but the S/C magnifies the effect of the roughness. In the end though, as I go to bed, I know it is worth it though. I'm not afraid to admit it but there's a little bit of boy racer in me that wants to be able to at least imagine that my car is a little faster than others! :) Thanks all for following my occasionally incoherent thoughts, hope no one was offended (people get edgy sometimes when you make incorrect assumptions, statements, and even opinions) and I hope you all enjoyed my post.

: PS It took me so long to type this that my dial up disconnected and I ddin't even notice... :)

: PPS I'll post a pic tomorrow, partly because Stepan's not interested in pictures... just kidding Stepan.

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