E39 M5 + MarkD tune
 

Last weekend my father and I went to Mosport so I could pick up a part from 325isStephen and to meet MarkD so he could upload his tune onto my fathers M5. Mark was very nice and explained everything that he was doing to the car as he reprogrammed it. The car was supposed to have the Dinan stage 2 software to go with the CAI but the car recently got a software update from the dealer and whoever the tech was that did it he just over wrote the Dinan software, so the car was actually running stock software.... thanks BMW Waterloo. Mark informed us of this when he went to back up the software before uploading his. Needless to say since Dinan claims that their CAI + software is only good for a 5hp increase the change in software went unnoticed in a 400hp car. So anyways Mark uploaded his software with no problems and my father and I headed out. Now, I was in the car for the 2 hour drive both ways and on the way there we did a few hard pulls so I had a good idea of what the car felt like as a passenger. On the way back we did the same, and as a passenger I can say that the car pulled noticeably harder and my father confirmed this saying that the car felt stronger throughout the whole rev range (we never tested the whole rev range as my father rarely (if ever) takes his car to redline in any gear on the street and with Mark's software the new rev limit is 7500 rpm*rockout*... I want to hear what 7500 rpm sounds like on an E39 M5*love* so I'm going to have to try and convince him to go for a drive in the country somewhere :D or wait for the next track day he goes to). In addition to feeling stronger the car was much smoother on the overrun. The car use to really growl and vibrate on the overrun with the Dinan software, the OEM software from the dealer reduced the vibration, but with Mark's software it is much smoother now and has very little vibration, if any.

So take it for what it is, although I haven't witnessed the change in the car first person (i.e. as a driver), I witnessed it as a passenger... the car was definitely stronger, and according to may father the car drives much better now. After meeting and speaking with Mark about his product and his various projects I'd recommend him to anyone that is interested in a software/hardware upgrade. I'm going to be calling Mark again soon to get a chip for my M20 :cool:

Sounds great, but
 

I've met Mark once and he seems very knowledgeable + passionate about his software.
His feedback is pretty stellar, as well.
The only thing I would be extremely carefull about is revving above 7200 rpm.
There are numerous postings on the M5board, showing catastrophic results from exceeding the stock rev limit (even by well maintained cars).
Do a search and you'll see for yourself.

I'm pretty sure you are referring to the s38 motor. I've never heard of that in an S62. Also, a short V8 crank is much less prone to torsional vibration than an inline six. I just did a search and nothing turns up. I've got at least 6 cars in the GTA that have this exact software for over 4 years, without a failure.

hey Mark, do you have anything for E46 M3's??

Yes I do. You should have come out to the dyno day at AutoEvo yesterday!

Every time I am somewhere and Mark is there I just don't seem to get a chance to chat with him!!!!! Every time I looked for him on saturday at Mosport he was on the track, and then I would be running around doing stuff.

Anyone you ever talk to that has delt with Mark or has his products is happy. I still need to get a cip for my car from him, Just seem to have bad timing to meet up with him to talk about it!!

I was wondering where you were also. But I was only on the track for four sessions of less than 30 mins each. You should have asked someone where I was, or looked for me at lunch time, or the Saturday dinner.

Well being the new Board member with the club, I had a bunch of guests there to check out the driving school and was busy with helping with a few things mosta the day, and anytime the skid was empty I was ripping the E30 on it :) and was doing the parade laps at lunch with the guests, and out with the instructors when they had there lapping. Was gonna look for you at dinner, but got caught up listening to the stories of Mr.Derek Hanson ....when a track guru like that is having dinner with you, you listen!

No.....S62 motors...at least 2-3 in the last few months alone...looking for a replacement motor.
All of them talking about high revs (7200-7500 rpm).
One of them, even with conservative Dinan software !
Not sure why these people wanna rev that high anyway, as I understand that that's not where the power is.
Another factor could be, that with prices coming down sharply on E39 M5's, you are starting to get less sofisticated owners, not knowing how to treat these cars right.

I don't expect someone to rev to the limit on a regular basis, I set it there so that the motor is never actually hitting the rev limit. I'll search again, but if any of the cars I have programmed had any problems, I would have heard about it.
The torque drops off when the motor does not breathe as well, and that happens at higher rpms but also the timing is cut back up there quite drastically. By maintaining the ignition timing up to a slightly higher limit, you get more power where there was none before. That is how some others advertise a 43 hp gain on the M30 motor... It's in a region that the stock motor was already shutting down. Just taking it up there on occasion and not cruising there should not be a big risk.. It's mainly just for those times when you have another car trying to pass you and you can stay in the current gear a bit longer. If you have a link to that info on the M5 board, please post it.

Sounds about right!

Painfull read...
 

What not to do...

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39...lew-motor.html

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39...s-learned.html

Someone seems to be blowing a motor every couple of months.....figured that these M powerplants were a little more robust...my neighbour treats his Accord like crap...yet never has to service or repair it.

^ oh geez! Painful reads. People buying these cars for $20-30k certainly drive them differently from people who paid the full $125k.

k this thread is going down the shitter if you ask me, these links show examples of guy's blowing motors doing salt runs, and driving hard, sorry, everyone who has a m5 drives fast, why else would you have an m5???? Seems to be a problem with the bearings.....there are a lot of BMW's with less then 5000km going through the auctions right now with knocking motors. I think the reason be hind these things has NOTHING TO DO WITH SOFT WARE OR REV LIMITS!!!! the bearing design or metal being used or what ever heat traeat they use is not good enought for the high rpms and torque the motors are putting out.

AND YOU CAN NEVER COMPAIR AN ACCORD TO A BMW!!!!!!!!!!!

also would like to know what specific oils these guys blowing there motors are running....hate to say it but to many people buy a fast car, and then cheap out and don't use approved oils......