Mark D'Sylva Chip for '89 535iA (Australian)

[Trevor]

Finally!

After a couple of hellish weeks at work I found 10 minutes to fit the new (Australian) performance chip that Mark D'Sylva sent me to test on the 535iA.
And no, being for Australia doesn't mean that it's installed upside-down!

I'm based in Sydney and run my E34 purely on Shell Optimax which has an octane rating of 98.4 For the tech-heads, Optimax has a density of 760 kg to the cubic metre (sorry don't know the imperial). I also add a bottle of Wynns Petrol treatment (with injector cleaner) every 3-4 tanks of fuel.
Okay, so running one of these beauties is not going to be cheap. I'm sure if you're like me, that was not why you bought your E34.........

Enough said.
Fitted the chip today. It's a damp rainy Sunday, so probably not the best day to get out on the road and trial a new chip. Oh heck!


The chip that Mark sent me has a 6000rpm limit. I believe there is also a 6500rpm limit chip so will look in to that also.

Firstly, the car started first time with the new chip (phew, did not blow the motronic). I let it run for a few minutes before taking it out for a spin.

Already there was a noticeable difference in performance with the idling. Exceptionally smooth and even. What really impressed me was when I turned on the air-con with no discernable alteration to the idling (winner!).
Previously, switching on the air-con made a huge difference to the idle, and impacted performance. Now I hardly know that it is on.

Acceleration showed a huge improvement, with a strong smooth increase right up through the power bands. Power seemed to be better than before. (This was in "E" mode). Put the trans in to "S" mode and the beast really performs Again, very strong smooth acceleration with rapid auto changes.

Now, it is pretty wet today so I have not been able to really open her up, but from the short drive I had I'm already really impressed with the results.

Apologies to the "P" plate driver in the ford station wagon who thought keeping up with me after I came out of the roundabout was a good idea. Smile on my face as I glanced in the rear vision mirror to see him fish-tail to a very interesting parking manouvre on the footpath.

Hopefully I can find a ricer or two and coax them in to an embarrasing (for them) duel. The real test is to find an SS Commodore or Monaro CV8 (GM Muscle cars) and see if I can keep up with them from a standing start.......

I've a week of driving to let the chip settle in, and will post a follow up on fuel economy and general performance.

[Paul in NZ]

that petrol octane rating is RON......your equivalent octane rating is down a few points but detonation control is the same...now i must delve into my car and give mark some non cat numbers!!!!sounds too good to miss!

[MarkD]

that petrol octane rating is RON......your equivalent octane rating is down a few points but detonation control is the same...now i must delve into my car and give mark some non cat numbers!!!!sounds too good to miss!

Hi Paul,

your 98 RON is close to the 93 or 94 AKI available in NA.
Also, I have not made a chip with a 6000 rpm rev. limit but for some reason that seems to be the limit in Trevor's car. It should have had a 6500 rpm limit. I'll send him a 6800 rev limit to see how that works in his car. There's a possibility that his DME has a non-standard clock crystal in it, which would then casue the rev. limit to be lower. (some M5's had a different crystal frequency for some reason).

Mark

[Geoff Hoad]

All because you couldn't keep up with me in our pre-Christmas drive!

Glad to see you got one and are enjoying it!

Cheers,

Geoff
'94 525iA

[Sheqel]

Nice work there. Can I ask how much you paid for the chip? (in AUD)

I've got a 535iM that I bought from Sydney (I'm down in Melbourne). Also with 8-series alloys (damn you! )

[Trevor]

That's right Geoff.
I'll wait for the 6800rpm chip before signing up for the track day on April 12th.

[Trevor]

You've got mail

[Trevor]

A couple of days in and I'm suprised that I haven't lost my licence yet!
What really gets me with the EAT chip in is the instant low down torque. Before there was a bit of a lag in acceleration before the engine seemed to kick in, but now the response seesm to be instantaneous.
I'll be looking for a desetered freeway some night soon.

[Paul in NZ]

s your car a cat or non cat car?????

[Geoff Hoad]

Mine's a cat verion ('94).