This is a review of the Velos tune I received and also comparing it to the BMS Stage 1 tune for anybody trying to decide between the two
This past week I jumped on the Holiday promotion for the Velos tune after reading many stellar reviews of it and I wanted to offer my insight moving from the BMS Stage 1 to the Velos tune. I’ve had the BMS Stage 1 installed in my X5M for roughly 2 years and prior to that I had the BMS stage 2 installed in my 550i for 2 years. I loved the power it provided at WOT and how you could take about 15 mins to pull it out before taking the car in for service.
First thing I want to say is the customer service is TOP notch, big shout out to Stephen for helping me so much. These past few months have been crazy for me and I would be emailing him anytime from 8-10 pm central time, Stephen would consistently reply within an hour or so despite the fact he’s on the East Coast. He walked me through everything and answered every question I had and emailed me to make sure everything was alright. Do not hesitate to contact these guys if you have any questions about anything.
INSTALLATION
I am personally not a very techy person, which was why I loved the BMS tune. Unplug two plugs, plug them into the tune and back in, easy as pie and I've never had a single warning/error message with it installed. For the Velos tune, reading and writing the ecu was intimidating at first but after installing the software and updating everything It couldn't be easier. Plug handheld into car > read ecu > email velos > download tune > write ecu. It does take longer to install/remove the tune because of the inherit complexity of it however you don’t run the risk of breaking tabs or pinching wires like with the BMS stage 1 tune. I did freak out a little when error messages started popping up on my dash during the install, however that is completely normal and after turning the car on and off about 4 times it cleared all the codes.
*** The instructions call for "Battery Stabilizer" I used a Deltran Battery Tender and it worked perfectly
https://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Batte.../dp/B00068XCQU
PERFORMANCE
After the 5-10 minutes of driving to allow the transmission to adjust, I could feel the power that the Velos tune provided. Granted, all this info is coming from my finely calibrated butt dyno but there is a significant difference in the feel of the vehicle after installing the tune. With the BMS Stage 1 you wouldn't really know it's there until you mash the pedal and watch the rpms climb. With the Velos, even in normal driving mode there's gobs and gobs of torque at low rpm and barely any turbo lag anymore. The Velos tune felt like it made a lot more power throughout the entire rpm range versus just at the top end with the BMS Stage 1. 1st and 2nd gear pulls are scary fast, transmission shifts are very crisp and the 7000 rpm limit is fantastic. All the other reviews weren't kidding when they said that the tune really wakes the car up and makes it feel lighter.
OVERALL
Comparing the BMS Stage 1 and Velos tune is like comparing apples to oranges in a way. The BMS Stage 1 is a piggyback module while the Velos is a comprehensive tune. The BMS Stage 1 is also much more inexpensive compared to Velos. However the common denominator in the comparison is the relative performance to dollar ratio aka value. If you want a little more horsepower without breaking the bank then BMS Stage 1 is the way to go, however if you have the money then the Velos tune is well worth every penny and more.