Evolve-R or ESS?

[R.a.y]

Hi all,

Recently I've come up with the funds and decided that my next mod will be a new tune and i've been reading up but still could not decide between Evolve and ESS. I've read somewhere that Evolve has had some issues with the z4m which makes me lean a bit more towards the ESS. However Ive heard great things about both. Does anyone know the difference? and why you would prefer one over the other?

Any input would be wonderful! Thanks in advance!

Ray

[beta]

Honestly, I would tell you to not spend money on a tune. There are many many mods I would do again before doing a tune.

Before tune I'd do (in no particular order): engine mounts, ssk, wheels and tires, suspension, headers, exhaust, etc.

[DRedman45]

I am running evolve without issue, and the power is definitely noticeably smoother across the board, and I am very happy with their customer service. ESS does the job just as well from what I hear, and they have done a fantastic job tuning their superchargers.

A lot of m3 guys like to run ESS chargers and evolve software, and make a nice increase in power. Which brings me to what turned me off about ESS...There was a thread on *********** where a guy reviewed the evolve tuning vs ess for his ess supercharger. And he ended getting a handful of pretty angry/nasty emails from ESS, which he posted. I knew where they were coming from, but they should have been a bit less harsh. Anyways...whenever I supercharge my car I WILL use ess, and I am sure it will be great from the reviews of guys on here

[GuidoK]

yes, well, ESS has a bad name on *********** (i'm guessing you're referring to that forum), and it's pretty obvious that not being a financial sponsor on *********** is part of that reason.
Not saying that on *********** everything is bad etc (some really FI nuts and geniouses at work there), but there is a kind of atmosphere around there that the financial sponsors are sacred. But they fuck up too, everybody does sometimes.
There you get only one side of the story and maybe somewhere else another side. Just read between the lines.

edit: B*-boost is in the swearfilter hahaha lol but we know who were talking about

[DRedman45]

Yeah I know what you mean, and I knew that they had their own little issue with whoever runs BB, and I always take it with a grain of salt....But the emails were still a poor choice of dealing with the situation, and I know everyone gets mad and attacks the keyboard from time to time. Either way, I still find ESS to be a very reputable company, and wouldn't hesitate at all to use their products.

[GuidoK]

Somehow I think that that email catfight already had a long history. Alle these guys know each other IRL I think.
But ESS should be the wiser company. They have a very reputable name which has been earned by their large lineup of kits with very high hardware specs.
I mean: there is a big difference in tinkering on kits developed and produced by others and claiming you can do this or that, or actually developing a kit, manufacture and selling it and take claim. So in that scale Evolve can only stand in the shadow or ESS, AA, VF, HPF etc.

But nowadays with a lot of bmw being turbocharged from the factory it's much more software focussed (the bulk of it) and developing hardware is usually limited to a downpipe and intercooler. Choice in actual turbo's and custom made intakes etc is getting more limited, so companies who haven't (been able?) to produce hardware can grow because software is easily faster developed. That means more competition for ESS.
I mean: I have no idea what ESS is developing at the moment besides ecu flashes.

Still I like BB as a forum because there's a lot of knowledge there and it is an interesting bunch of people with more variety in engines.
Only the sponsor overkill and connected attitude is a bit obvious. Some members are affected, others not

[pal]

Active Autowerke has a tune for the Z4M along with a tool (Simon) that can be used in a home garage to self flash. And it saves your stock file so you can go back to stock when you want.

I am thinking about the AA flash ...

[beta]

I'm still going to say that for the extra smoothness, and the 10 ponies you get, there's better uses of $500. Our cars are already maxed out from the factory.

And yeah that thread on bb was amusing to say the least

[mfanatic325]

If you're going to upgrade the headers and/or the rest of the exhaust system, then a tune is worthwhile. Otherwise, I agree with Beta. Spend it on stuff that will make more of a difference in terms of daily driving feel.

[drbvac]

+1 I agree that unless major changes to intake and exhaust the engineers at BMW are not a bunch of dummies - the M's are getting everything possible out of a naturally aspirated motor.

[R.a.y]

Sounds reasonable. I'm only getting the software because I'm still waiting on the DKF spipe along with the xpipe.I am definitely aiming for more free airflow. On another note, i know that modying the exhaust would help the software for more gains but would an intake make a reasonable difference? In terms of an intake, I'm still debating whether or not the gains are worth it o.O

[beta]

Originally Posted by R.a.y

Sounds reasonable. I'm only getting the software because I'm still waiting on the DKF spipe along with the xpipe.I am definitely aiming for more free airflow. On another note, i know that modying the exhaust would help the software for more gains but would an intake make a reasonable difference? In terms of an intake, I'm still debating whether or not the gains are worth it o.O

Intake is not proven to provide any gains, and dynos show that if there is a gain it's only 5hp at the most for something like gruppeM. While other intakes (like simota) cause all kinds of problems and reduce performance.

Intake is for noise. Which can be worth it as the noise can be pretty great. Depends on your budget and priorities.

[R.a.y]

Thank you all for your responses. Definitely gained an insight on what i'm looking for. As of now i'm most likely going on the path of ESS tune + Supercharger

so far i have done, RogueEn SSK w/ ZHP shift knob + CSL Wheels w/ toyo proxes + Mstache2 front lip + H&R springs (temporary until i have funds for KWV3 & swift springs)
up next DKF S-pipe & Xpipe + RPI Axleback