The Dirty Side To Tuning

I'm writing this after having a funny experience earlier this week (Monday).

A couple of weeks ago me and a business associate went to see a renown BMW tuner in Morgan Hill after being told by my customers that inter coolers and other accessories we're now available for the X6 50i.

When we got to their facility we asked the gentleman behind the front desk what was available for the X6 50i and his reply was, nothing at the moment but they we're working on some stuff. For those of you who have been to this company you will know there's a glass window which separates the front desk area and the workshop.

During the conversation I noticed a metallic black X6 50i which had stock gun metal coloured wheels and Texas plates, while looking at this car the gentleman from behind the desk said that this car had been brought to their facility from Texas.

The VP and the sales manager of this company came out from a separate office while I was talking to the gentleman behind the desk and said "Singh Autosport" and I replied "yes". I then introduced myself and Goshan from ESP. We talked about ECU tuning and they said they still didn't have anything for the X6 50i or X5M/X6M.

We started talking about horse power gains and I told them I stand behind my product, I also mentioned we get 32hp from a E60 M5 while everyone else gets 5-10hp. The M5 and M6 have been tested time and time again.

We've had a lot of their customers come to us in the past, they've always complained that this company has very little knowledge of whats new with regards to ECU tuning.

After showing us a new intake for the 135i BMW which is due to be released soon and another conversation about how they weren't able to programme the new 135i/335i/535i BMW's, we left. Before I left I said if they needed help with tuning we could tune the cars for them, this is something we never do but I said it as a kind gesture.

2 weeks later I got a call on Monday morning (03.15.10) around 10am from a gentleman who said he had a X6 50i and he wanted to get it programmed. The call was from a 408 number. I told him I was actually in town and said to come to the Fremont office.

We were working on a 2010 Audi S4 in the back of the shop and this Indian guy walked in. He introduced himself and said he called regarding the X6 50i. We went out for a test drive in my X6 50i and then returned to the back of my shop, his car was parked at the front.

I asked if we could see his car and he agreed, when I looked at his car I noticed it was the X6 50i which I saw at the workshop in Morgan Hill... exact car with the Texas plates. I then got suspicious because a lot of tuners who have no knowledge of tuning always try to steal other tuners files so I asked the gentleman if that car was at the facility in Morgan Hill... he ignored the question so I said "this car is from that tuner in Morgan Hill" and he said yes it was. He then told me the car had been there for 4 months and the tuner in Morgan Hill wasn't able to tune it.

The fact that he lied to me I started to talk crap about the company in Morgan Hill and he got really defensive. We went on a short test drive and when we returned we went to the back of my shop. I asked him if I could test drive his car and he agreed. Once I jumped in the drivers seat I noticed a picture of a young white girl next to a pair of brown shades, she looked between 3-5 years old (I don't have any kids so I wouldn't know her exact age). As my suspicion grew more and more I asked this Indian guy if he was married and he replied no, I then asked if he had kids and he had realized I've seen the picture of the young white girl to which he replied "you know how it is" and I replied "no I don't know, tell me". He continued with his lies and at this point my mind switched off.

When we pulled to the back of my shop I asked if he was from that company in Morgan Hill and he didn't reply... , I then asked if I could look around his car and he got defensive again and said "NO" to which I told him to leave and go back to where he just came from.

We found this funny to see how a company which most people recognize in North America with BMW tuning could behave this way.

2010 McLaren SLR

We programmed this 2010 McLaren SLR the otherday. The customer didn't want to change the crankshaft pulley so we just programmed the ECU and TCU.

Exhaust Recommendations

We get asked all the time about exhausts/headers, etc. so I'm going to give you my thoughts and recommendations.

Audi/VW = Milltek

BMW = Supersprint

Exotics = Capristo or Quicksilver


Here is a picture of the Supersprint headers for the BMW M5. You can see the excellent build quality and these give you real power gains, that's why they're used and recommended by the best BMW tuners in the world.

With Supersprint headers, you'll never get a check engine light. Even though the 02 sensors can be disabled, it's not recommended. Every sensor in a car has a purpose.

Elite Speed Performance aka ESP Tuning

Customer's in Northern California can contact ESP Tuning with regards to their tuning needs. ESP have the capability of tuning all the cars on our price list.

43238 Christy St
Fremont CA 94538
Phone: 510.926.3475
email: info@elitespeedperformance.com
website coming soon: www.elitespeedperformance.com

You can contact Goshan at ESP Tuning.

VW CC 2010 Tuning

We tuned this VW CC 2010 a while ago, from what we know it was the first VW CC 2010 to be tuned in North America.



Wheels were supplied by DP Engineering. The car will be featured in the April 2010 issue of Euro Tuner.

Live Tuning?

I’ve always found this a hilarious subject. You’ll find a lot of tuners who offer ‘Live Tuning’ (they’ll offer to tune your car on a dyno).

I just want to explain something without getting too technical. If you’ve had or are considering getting your car tuned on a dyno, make sure the person tuning the car also has your vehicles factory diagnostic computer.

I’ve come across too many ‘Muppets’ in my time who will ‘rant and rave’ about their knowledge, or how they know how tune a car a dyno. Ok, first of all I just want to clarify that every car has to be tested on a dyno before a tuned file can created.

So many dyno's out here are incorrect so, if your dyno isn’t measuring correctly and your tuner has tuned your car on that dyno knowing very well that the dyno is incorrect then guess what?? Your car isn’t tuned properly. What starts off on the wrong foot, you know where I’m going with this. The correct way to create a file is to use a dyno which measures correctly. If your not happy with the results, delete the adaptation values using the factory diagnostic computer (BMW = GT1, Mercedes = Mercedes Star Diagnosis, Ferrari SD2/3, etc) and start again. For example we were like with many cars in North America the first company to programme the BMW M5 E60. After programming the car we then connected the GT1 to see how long it would take for the car to go through its adaptation period, the result was 105.4 miles. What this means is once your M5 has been programmed it will take that many miles for the file to fully adapt, even though you’ll feel the gain right away (the car will get faster and faster as it goes through this stage).

Some tuners will swear that the car adapts right away, we all know that’s nonsense. When we create a file for a car, yes we do use a dyno but we also road test it too. Different climate and weather conditions are important factors to consider, you don’t want a car that shows high numbers on the dyno but yet drives very poorly on the road.

Common sense would tell us that we should feel and see the power gains as oppose to framing your dyno sheet and having you’re a*& handed to you at the races or traffic lights.

A flashback... to 1993

While packing for the move to Los Angeles I found some old car magazines. We use to do a lot of engine work back then and we once installed a BMW M5 engine into a 7 series back in 1993. We used the original wiring loom, ECU, instrument cluster, etc., from the M5. We called it the M7 and had coverage from all the major magazines, I got that car up to 172mph and it still kept going. Some of you guys might find it funny but 18" wheels were the 'in thing' back then.




I'll also try to find some pictures or articles of us working with Cosworth engines in 1990. Even though the company was only registered 6 years ago in North America, the owners of Singh Autosport have been around since the days of Turbo Systems, Turbo Technics, Dewitts Race & Rally, BBR and not forgetting Connaught Design.