Velos Designwerks tune for my 2011 X5 M

[hansel22]

[QUOTE=upstateX5M;14616960]The eyes don't lie. You are moving when the light turns green.

Regardless, the fastest Human reaction time ever recorded is .01 seconds. Really, really fast without being a total freak is .13 seconds. But you are .002? You are wasting your time in a BMW. Every top fuel team in the country would hire you on the spot and pay you millions



Time slips don't lie.

[MonacoJoe]

Originally Posted by hansel22

That's a .002 light my man and yes I have the time slips to back that up.

i'd love to agree but it almost looks like you had a rolling start vs. the other guy...not sure what was going on there but it wasn't "even". do you have any where you both launched at same time?

[upstate650]

Originally Posted by MonacoJoe

dude, you are comparing an american muscle coupe with a 5000 lb german suv. seems sort of absurd. why didn't you get an M3? X5M is fastest, best handling SUV out there...save for P-cay turbo S. The X5M is supposed to be for those of us who don't have room/interst in having two cars and want best of both worlds. just not fair to compare to something so different in my opinion.

all that said, thanks for sharing about your experience w/tune.

Because I needed an SUV. Doesn't mean I want it to feel like an SUV.

[hansel22]

Originally Posted by MonacoJoe

i'd love to agree but it almost looks like you had a rolling start vs. the other guy...not sure what was going on there but it wasn't "even". do you have any where you both launched at same time?

Don't have one. It was a street drag night with no clocks.

[Sylvan Lake V35]

Unless that track is set up different than the one I go to, that was a legit run. If you leave early the red light on the tree comes on instantly. In fact you can actually get a bit of a roll before you break both beams not much though. That's how deep staging makes a difference, it makes for a quicker reaction time because you only have To break one beam.

[airbornesigs]

Originally Posted by upstate650

I purchased my X5 M a couple months ago, and have been driving it unmodified to get a feel for its baseline performance and capabilities. Frankly, I have been underwhelmed.

I am coming out of a Mustang GT with a CAI, axelbacks, and a 93 custom dyno tune by one of the best tuners on the east coast. The difference in that vehicle tuned vs non-tuned was unbelievable. It was only an additional 40 or so horses at the wheel, but the increased throttle response (coupled with a manual transmission) made that power instantly accessible. I love that car, and it is for sale if anyone is interested. 78,000 miles of tuned driving and it still screams like a raped ape.

Unbelievably, I am underwhelmed by the X5 M. I generally hit the M button as soon as I get in it, but all that power just seems inaccessible. Unless I am in sport mode and using the paddle shifters, when I hit the gas I have to wait a couple seconds for it to decide what gear it wants to be in and then it finally scoots. Don't get me wrong - once its in the proper gear and the proper RPM range it goes like hell, but I hate the delayed response. Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of automatic transmissions with or without paddle shifters so I am having a hard time adjusting to this thing - I haven't daily driven an automatic since I was 18 and gas was less than a $1.00. I just hate having to work to get power out of a 550 hp engine!

So I decided to take the plunge and tune this thing to see if it helps. Obviously, I am no stranger to tuned vehicles - primarily, I want something safe. I am going to be driving this vehicle approximately 40K miles a year for the next 5 or 6 years, so I am more than willing to sacrifice a couple horsepower to keep the engine safely within its limits. The second most important thing I look for in a tuner is customer service - I am a veteran of the mustang forums, and people constantly lament going with the cheapest or the latest thing, instead of a tuner who answers the phone when they call. When it comes to the tune itself, I want it optimized for the things that matter - throttle response, because you feel that every time you touch the pedal - snappier shifts, because that occurs constantly while you drive - and mid range gains, because that is where we all spend the majority of our time, unless you are actually tracking or stripping these things. Your mileage may vary, but for me, I will take the tune that accomplishes these things rather than a tune that maximizes the high end and compromises the safety of the engine so that the tuner can claim he has the largest gains in an RPM range we will rarely reach.

With those factors in mind, I reviewed all the threads on this site (Yes, all 101 pages of them) and decided to reach out to Velos back in June. I emailed back and forth over a couple days with Ken Hartley, and he answered all my questions. I elected to drive it for a couple months before deciding whether to tune the vehicle, and after deciding to take the plunge I contacted Omar yesterday. He answered a couple more questions for me (always responding to PM's within minutes just as Ken did) and I pulled the trigger. Within an hour or so I received a tracking number from fed ex - yes, they are OVERNIGHTING me the handheld tuner as part of the cost. It should be here by the time I finish this post.

I intend to us this thread as a comprehensive review of the Velos tune and my experience with it for the benefit of anyone considering a tune.

I am also looking forward to the 10-15% mileage gains they claim on their website. At present I am averaging 15.5 mpg in mixed driving. My driving generally consists of 11 miles to work, mostly highway at 80 MPH, and frequent trips (several times a week) to a nearby city that is 110 miles away - those trips are about 50 miles of interstate at 80-90mph, 50 miles of heavily travelled semi-rural state roads with lots of passing zones that I use to great effect (which is where I get my paddle shifting practice) and about 10 miles of stop and go congested traffic.

10-15% mileage gains would be outstanding - I can report that tunes absolutely do increase mileage - I experienced that with my Mustang.

So anyway, looking forward to getting the tune installed and seeing how it changes things. Feel free to ask any questions, and I will answer as best I can.

I drive a 2013 X6M which we have owned for the last 2 years, we recently went on vacation to Tenerife and I rented a drop top Mustang GT for a drive up to the volcano... it was a ford. The End.