Motorsport Ignition - Bimmer LIFE Tuning

Velocity26

Specialist
Feb 7, 2017
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Tampa, FL
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2010 335i
I see this upgrade on the home page, but I rarely see anything about it on the forums or anywhere else. It looks like a really good concept that has benefits that are not being offered by other systems. I would love to hear what others have to say about it. Am I missing something?
 

dyezak

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May 4, 2017
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From the way I understand its function, you have to run a custom tune with their ignition system because they are using smart coils. That means you can't flash back to stock and putter over to the dealership for work. That's fine for some people, but it's a drawback for others.

The other option is Precision Raceworks pending kit that uses dumb coils and allow for (potentially) similar performance when tuned with a custom tune to take advantage of them. But because they are dumb coils you can flash back to stock and drive around.

The big win for smart coils is you eliminate a lot of the burden from the DME to light the spark. All the work is now in the coil.
 
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Velocity26

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Feb 7, 2017
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Actually, all of the "aftermarket" options require that you make changes to your flash to take advantage of the new coils. I think that they can work with a stock flash but are much better with a modified flash. Maybe someone at MHD can give us the scoop, but I think they have already modified their installer so that it is as simple as clicking a check box.

What I like most about this system is that it reduces the strain on the ECU/mosfets, while all of the others are still driving the coils through the mosfets and that is the limiting factor. We all have heard about people that have had to replace mosfets in the ECU with stock coils and whatever upgrade coils you use will be limited by the power that the mosfets are capable of handling. By using smart coils, they take the load off of the ECU and allow you to use much more powerful coils while drastically reducing the load on the mosfets. It's like running a relay instead of running the power directly from a switch.
 

V8bait

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Nov 2, 2016
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Actually, all of the "aftermarket" options require that you make changes to your flash to take advantage of the new coils. I think that they can work with a stock flash but are much better with a modified flash. Maybe someone at MHD can give us the scoop, but I think they have already modified their installer so that it is as simple as clicking a check box.

What I like most about this system is that it reduces the strain on the ECU/mosfets, while all of the others are still driving the coils through the mosfets and that is the limiting factor. We all have heard about people that have had to replace mosfets in the ECU with stock coils and whatever upgrade coils you use will be limited by the power that the mosfets are capable of handling. By using smart coils, they take the load off of the ECU and allow you to use much more powerful coils while drastically reducing the load on the mosfets. It's like running a relay instead of running the power directly from a switch.

MOSFET failures are for injectors. The DME IGBT has never had a failure that I know of. The way the PR coils work is by increasing wire gauge and wraps, so resistance (amp draw) is similar to the factory pencils, but even with stock tables the coil inductance is much higher so you get around 2x the energy without even tuning. Greater gains with a tune.

Smart coils are great but must be ran with a 5v falling edge signal to perform right. I've not seen the BL setup in person but if they are inverting the signal I'd be worried, in testing this cut output and heated them up nicely. To run smart coils IMO you should remove/bypass the DME igniter, but that's work most are not interested in performing.
 
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ninjacoupe

Specialist
Apr 25, 2017
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I have the Bimmerlife ignition. I was in the first batch to ship. It works as advertised. Smoother starts, bigger gaps. Pulls strong. I have tested the N20 plugs at .028 to 30 psi and it pulls clean. I will propably settle on .026 at 34 psi Car is down due to a bent rim.. damn pothole ugh. Should be able to get it fixed. I am wanting to try the GT-r plug out. The Coils actually fit really well into out head. Better than stock lol. Alex made the changes for me to my dwell tables but they are available to anyone that wants them. I can go into tuner pro and copy and paste them, they are not a secret or being kept secret at all. If you have a custom tune that is locked by your tuner then your tuner must make the changes.

VM topmount with precision gen 2 6466 E85 PI (tested E80)
 
Feb 1, 2017
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The DME IGBT has never had a failure that I know of.
They fail quite often actually. Ive seen 4-5 in the last year, all of which also had melted coils.
Smart coils are great but must be ran with a 5v falling edge signal to perform right. I've not seen the BL setup in person but if they are inverting the signal I'd be worried, in testing this cut output and heated them up nicely. To run smart coils IMO you should remove/bypass the DME igniter, but that's work most are not interested in performing.

Care to elaborate on this more?

The BL coil upgrade takes the factory negative "signal" and coverts it to the +5v signal required for the smart coils. The factory circuit draws ~7a, the BL draws .005a, eliminating additional heat, which is also near the Injector mosfets on msd80. Some might be concerned with the time it takes to convert this signal, which is a legitimate concern.


Here is a scope with the time it takes to convert the signal. 1 usec. To put that in perspective, an engine running at 7,000 rpm, the BL coil kit would be .04 of a degree slower than factory. Needless to say, it's not a concern :)

IMG_3814.JPG
 
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V8bait

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Nov 2, 2016
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They fail quite often actually. Ive seen 4-5 in the last year, all of which also had melted coils.

I've never seen a single IGBT fail and I've repaired many DME's for MOSFETs, many had blown coils or injectors after the failure but never seen one kill a IGBT. It's possible, but I've been around since 2009 and the only MSD80 failures I've seen are MOSFET and a few PSU's.

Care to elaborate on this more?

The BL coil upgrade takes the factory negative "signal" and coverts it to the +5v signal required for the smart coils. The factory circuit draws ~7a, the BL draws .005a, eliminating additional heat, which is also near the Injector mosfets on msd80. Some might be concerned with the time it takes to convert this signal, which is a legitimate concern.

Sure, when I was toying around I tried various ways to fire the smart coils with the external igniter, without using any signal conversion. I was able to fire them with the igniter switching the signal ground and feeding the signal a constant 5v or 12v, they sparked pretty good still (the R8 and the LS still beat bmw lol) and had decent dwell control, but compared to how they fired with the clean TTL signal from the function generator, they had significantly lower output. They also got warmer, but that could have been the built in igniter not the coil per say. It was still concerning.

Yeah that delay you show isn't anything I'd worry about. It's good to know you're driving them properly.
 
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Feb 1, 2017
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I've never seen a single IGBT fail and I've repaired many DME's for MOSFETs, many had blown coils or injectors after the failure but never seen one kill a IGBT. It's possible, but I've been around since 2009 and the only MSD80 failures I've seen are MOSFET and a few PSU's.

The ones I've seen have all been on completely stock cars. Being at the dealer I probably have seen a bit more volume. I couldn't tell you if it was the dme that took out the coil or the coil that took out the dme, just that all of them had melted coils and bad dme's
 

Terry@BMS

Sergeant
Platinum Vendor
Jan 23, 2017
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I wonder if we'll have to change our JB4 2STEP and NLS logic for these? The basis of it is cycling power to the coils.
 

ninjacoupe

Specialist
Apr 25, 2017
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That's interesting Terry. I have both. Haven't tried it out yet. I'll have the car out Thursday and give it a try. I'll be sure to log it as well for you
 

135Pats

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Nov 17, 2016
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The ones I've seen have all been on completely stock cars. Being at the dealer I probably have seen a bit more volume. I couldn't tell you if it was the dme that took out the coil or the coil that took out the dme, just that all of them had melted coils and bad dme's
Hi Alex,

Do you have an ETA as to when the coils will be back in stock? I'm happy to pay today, OE spark is breaking up north of 25PSI and I'm tired of it. Website says out of stock but perhaps it just hasn't been updated.

Thanks!
 
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Feb 1, 2017
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Hey, no the last batch sold out in a couple hours. Will be about 2 weeks for the next batch. I'm also working on getting them more mass produced to help with the demand. If you would like to pre purchase send me on message on the Facebook page and I'll set you up.

Alex
 
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