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Here are some of the engine protection tables. For instance, on the top left is oil protection, which shows if oil pressure drops below a certain PSI at a certain RPM, you can tell the engine to cut power, or shut down, or whatever. It’s all user definable. The same goes with coolant. You can input a rev limit when cold, or shut the car off completely if it exceeds a certain water temp, or if there’s a lean AFR situation.
This graph shows how nice and three-dimensional and color-coded the graphs are with the new AEM software. It helps in keeping track of the part of the map you’re working with. What we see here is the graph and table for the car's VE.
Here is the table to control cam timing, which is crucial when tuning the dual-VANOS S54 motor that has infinite cam timing adjustability. This is where the power is made. G35 and 350Z users will be able to control all four cams!
Here we see the diagnostics page, which is a new feature. It allows you to test all of the inputs and outputs for any faults or errors.
This dyno graph shows the difference between the base map supplied by AEM (blue), to the previous ECU flash we had from Randy at Epic Motorsports (red), to where the car is now after a custom tune by Chad on the AEM Infinity. Taking in a new baseline prior to tuning, we were at the same 323whp level we were in Part 3 using our original wheels and tires to keep the test fair. Still, Chad managed to squeak out another handful of ponies with 7-8whp peak gains after 7000 RPM.
At an impressive 328whp (321whp SAE), no matter how much more ignition timing you throw at this S54, it won't make more power. In fact, 22 to 29 degrees of advance didn’t change anything. It was all in the variable cam timing, which is where Chad found the additional ponies. He also left us with 100 more RPM to play with.
When we originally tested the Epic tune, owner/tuner Randy told us, “that's about all we’re going to get”. And he was right. The car wouldn’t make any more power without a full custom tune from him, but he was a thousand miles away.
After we told him of our new AEM venture, given our factory ECU mishap, he quickly told us we should net a few more ponies with the capabilities of that computer, and he was right again. The difference Chad got between the green and red runs not only shows how much more capable the Infinity is over the already powerful S54 computer, but also how good of an S54-factory ECU tuner Randy—who’s known to be among the best in the BMW market—is as well.
Go to the next page to see some of the trick CAN BUS features, a launch mode video to 125mph, and to see what other M3 was tip-toeing through the MKC building…
