Finally installed successfully. Had to completely reinstall bmw tools on my new laptop before I could sort out the alpina issues. Recoded the recommended files in NCS without issue. Battery drain was a bit of an issue since my tender is pretty weak, still waiting on my new CTEK charger to arrive but I made do. Stage 3 went on without issue. Made sure and gave the trans plenty of warm up time before I started fiddling with it.
Impressions compared to Alpina:
- D is MUCH improved. Shift points and reaction to inclines is excellent. I don't feel like a tortoise anymore waiting on my engine to warm up.
- S is aggressive and the logic is smart. It tends to hang the revs a bit after letting off and stays in gear much longer than before. Don't think I'll be spending too much time messing with S, it just feels weird to trust the car to select the appropriate gear during spirited driving. If you want the extra punch to move and get away from people, it's definitely a step up.
- M is snappy and strong. I'm not having issues with jolting but I can tell the trans needs a few more miles to get adapted to the new settings so I didn't push it too hard. Shifting seems about the same as Alpina in terms of reaction at the moment, but again, this could largely be because the car is still getting used to it. I'm going to avoid a trans adaptation reset as recommended unless it has issues sorting itself out on its own. I don't think it'll come to that but who knows, still too early to tell.
About pricing:
While it seems like a bit much to pay for the license and a flash together, I look at it in the sense that most custom DME flashes would run you about the same amount. Plus, you have the ability to completely customize a flash to your liking or have someone else dial in your individual setup.
With this platform continuing to drop in value and younger/inexperienced owners becoming more prevalent, it's easy to see why so many can't justify it for the money when they gripe about the cost associated with known maintenance items (injectors, waterpumps, etc) and will stick with Alpina. The fact is you can argue till you're blue in the knuckles on the boards/groups with the keyboard warriors but it just isn't worth it. If you're on the fence, give it some time and let this continue to develop. It's still really early in release and can only get better with time and more fiddling in the settings. Remember, the OTS maps are version 1.0 and the feedback from beta testers was pretty weak to say the least (based on everything that's been shown publicly anyway) so naturally there's going to be a few kinks.
I'll update on my end after I give the car some time to settle down a bit. Thanks.
