David Shoup Tuning

Case Study: I remember reading an article years ago about a Japanese company and their approach to comprehensive tuning on the S2000. Their philosophy was each part of the vehicle must work in harmony with the others in order to maximize performance. BMW engines are no different and every aftermarket part you add to the car can potentially cause issues with others. All systems must work together if you wish to achieve your goals for the car.

Below is a perfect example of why adding upgrades works but you must calibrate them all in order for all systems to work correctly.

As you may know, the B58 gen 2 uses a 5000psi fuel system. The high pressure pump is driven mechanically by lobes on the exhaust cam. While this setup works very well at OEM power levels, when faced with additional load, it can cause restriction on exhaust cam preventing the Vanos system from operating correctly and preventing the exhaust cam from moving to its desired position.

The car in this case was a M340i with the Spool FX400 high pressure pump, S58 injectors, and Dynamic Autowerks upgraded turbocharger. The FX400 being a very well performing pump easily allows the vehicle to generate more than the required level of rail pressure. As you can see in the first picture, the vehicle is seeing up to an extra 400+ psi of pressure over the intended target.

The second picture shows the result of the additional pressure creating restriction on Vanos (variable cam system) exhaust cam movement. Because of this boost and power delivery become inconsistent. Especially in the areas post shift.

In order for the Vanos system to work correctly, the high pressure pump must be calibrated correctly in order to prevent the high pressure system from over pressurizing and therefore creating extra restriction on Vanos.

After I made a few adjustments to the high pressure pump, we can see in the 3rd picture, rail pressure has vastly improved and is no longer over pressurizing the system. While it wasnt quite perfect for this test, its a significant step in the right direction and the end result is Vanos now operates much closer to its intended target.

We can now see in the 4th picture how exhaust cam Vanos follows much closer to its intended target without the extra pressure creating restriction.

The 5th picture shows the end result on boost pressure and load. Boost pressure is much more consistent and load is stable throughout the entire powerband. Power lost as a result of improper cam position has returned.

In summary, this is a perfect example of how parts simply being added to a car must be adjusted correctly in order to create harmony with other systems. The internet will not tell you these parts work closely together and must be calibrated to achieve the desired outcome.

Fun case study on the dyno today!

N54
Hybrid Twin Turbos
Race E85 fuel
Reflex Port injection
DCT

This car absolutely loved timing advance. Boost didnt make much of a difference past 24 psi. Saw a gain of nearly 50whp from ignition advance alone!!!!! 16.5* up top and it was still slightly back of MBT.

On 24 psi, it made 586whp on a mustang dyno!

Hi everyone!

I want to start by saying thank you all for the continued support. Its been a fun and eventful year and its only April!

Several BMW engines I support have seen new major software and/or hardware releases as of late and tuning is constantly evolving for all of these platforms. As such, my pricing model had to evolve as well.

The majority of my pricing structure remains the same as the June 2023 model with a few exceptions. Below is an explanation of those exceptions the thought process behind these updates:

E Series N55 - These vehicles currently do not have MHD+ support and after analyzing time spent during each calibration process, I find they take additional time to tune correctly vs other models. Due to this, I gave them their own unique category in my pricing model to reflect time spent on the calibration process.

*Its important to note that many tuners use commanded wastegate as a way to cut corners and tune the E series N55 quickly. This deactivates P/D factor control essentially setting boost control open loop. I strongly discourage this and all of my calibrations use the OEM style of boost control. This allows my tune to adjust on the fly to changing conditions, drive modes, etc as if it came from the factory.

ReFlex Port Injection Tuning - I find many clients still are overwhelmed by the Motiv Reflex installation and flashing process. A large percentage of my time was spent diagnosing ReFlex issues with connectivity, botched installations, wiring, etc. On nearly every car with a ReFlex I have to remote connect to the clients laptop and load the files directly. Due to this, I increased ReFlex prices slightly to compensate for my time. Since MHD+ and Ecutek offer PI integration, which makes the process easier for me from a calibration perspective, I broke integrated PI out into its own add-on and kept that pricing lower as a result.

Aftermarket Camshaft Tuning - Vehicles with valvetronic require more tuning time to calibrate correctly. I've updated my pricing model to reflect this.

Juan Bujaida in his stock engine b58 representing well! Large frame turbo, ds2, reflex pi, and custom David Shoup Tuning flex fuel tuning. 2000+DA.

Attached is the N54 Build Guide as of January 2024. Its a general guideline with some of my opinions scattered throughout from experience. I hope this helps. -Shoup

Hi everyone, happy new year! I've experienced some clients struggling with purchasing parts and finding out after the fact these werent the correct choices for their build and goals. Its very frustrating when you've spent your hard earned money just to find out your tuner recommends som**hing different or what you purchased wasnt the correct part for your goals.

In the next few posts Im going to sticky specific modifications and upgrade paths based off your BMW engine. N54. N55. etc. Feel free to share these with friends to help the community.

Some interesting info regarding pre-filling your oil filter. Worth a watch if anyone is interested. For cartridge filters, the housing was filled slightly.

Does Pre-FILLING The Oil FILTER Cause Engine DAMAGE? When doing an oil change, it is common practice to change the oil filter as well, but should you pre-fill the oil filter before you install it? I was taught ...

Hi everyone, I was invited by a good friend and client to the BMW driving experience at the BMW plant in South Carolina. I'll be there from Sunday through Tuesday so responses may be delayed since I'll have limited access to my laptop and email until i retuen. I'll do my best to reply as fast as possible. If you have any issues please send me an email.

Thanks for your patience and I look forward to working with you.

Hi everyone, I want to start off my saying thank you for your support. I've been busier than I have and I cannot thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to work with you.

I enjoy spending time with each client, working with them directly, and making the tune not only a calibration, but an experience. I enjoy teaching clients about the process, what I'm adjusting on their car, and the thought process behind the changes made. I make a point to inform my clients how to interpret their datalogs so they aren't flying in the dark which is all too common in this industry. By the time the calibration is complete, you should feel comfortable with my tuning process and the calibration.

Lately however, due to the volume of requests I've been receiving, I've been unable to provide that level of 1 on 1 service and am forced to spend the critical time I have on just the calibration. On average, I'm currently receiving between 100 - 150 emails every 48 hours and I simply cannot keep up.

Since I don't want my clients to feel that im "too busy" or im always swamped with work. Im making some pricing changes going forward. Also, with the change in our economic landscape, my cost of doing business has also increased so I need to account for these changes as well. Thank you for your understanding and please know these changes are will benefit of everyone.

-Shoup

On the dyno today with Tche's gen 1 B58. This is his daily driver so the goal was safe, consistent power, without stressing the transmission.

Mods:
-AFE drop in filter
-DA aluminum inlet
-VRSF catless dp
-Dorch stage 2 hpfp
-Stock lpfp
-BM3 FF kit
-E40 ethanol blend mixed with Cali 91
-Custom tune on MHD by me David Shoup Tuning :)

Impressions: Overall I was able to accomplish the goal of solid, safe power. Tche wanted to make sure I didnt hurt the transmission so keeping the torque in check was key. The big battle on this setup making sure the Dorch stage 2 can keep up this big ultra flow turbo. This turbo really moves some air and shines on higher boost levels between 30 to 35 psi. To take full advantage I recommend an auxiliary fuel injection system because the DS2 certainly struggled on higher boost. That said, im happy with the results, especially on E40 and only 26ish psi up top.

Thanks Tche for giving me the opportunity to work with you.

Late night ethanol blend tuning session on Joe's Supra. Full flex fuel, tuned on ecutek. This thing rips!

The headlight intake makes a big difference especially on the colder nights. Iat stayed close to ambient all night after multiple pulls! If you're drag racing this modification helps significantly!

As the last few hours of 2022 comes to a close, I want to first wish everyone a safe and happy new year!

2022 was a great year for David Shoup Tuning and I'm eternally grateful to everyone who trusted me with their vehicles' calibration. This year marked many accomplishments that I'm really proud of:

Stock turbo b58 1/4 mile record
Hybrid turbo rwd b58 1/4 mile record
N55 ewg stock turbo 1/4 mile record

This year I tuned more s55, s58, and supras than the previous year. I also saw an increase in f10 and f90 s63 and s63tu cars ranging from stock turbos to large hybrids and aftermarket cams.

For the n54 I was able to test several new features to be released in 2023. It is still one of my favorite platforms to tune and it's been fun to put out many very fast single turbo and hybrid turbo cars over the past year.

Another large portion of my clients have been n55 pwg both E and F series. I've put more hours into testing and development on these than I can count. I wanted to say thank you to those dedicated clients running log after log to work out every last detail. My pwg tunes are smoother than ever and much more powerful thanks to your dedication. No commanded wg or mhd+ cheats - all mapping done using oem control and I'm super proud of it!

For 2023 my goals are to continue to grow with every platform i currently support. I'll also be picking up 2 more manufacturers over the next year - Toyota and Audi. It'll be a slow start but I'm excited to bring on the new platforms as time goes on.

In summary I wanted to thank all of you for being a part of this and I appreciate every client and shop that helped make 2022 such a great year.

-Shoup

Hi all, im currently in the path of hurricane Ian. It is expected to hit our area tomorrow. Responses may be delayed until after the hurricane passes and if I have power / internet. Thank you for your patience and understanding. To those affected, please stay safe.

Hi all, thanks for your patience while I was away. I'm back on the grind today. The remainder of the week will be dedicated to existing clients and catching up on emails.

Hi all, I will be away on vacation from 5/21 to 6/1. Im currently working on existing clients only. For any potiential clients, thank you for your patience and i look forward to working with you when i get back.

-Shoup

Some S55 tuning with Nostrum High Performance dual hpfp's, stage 2 injectors, and Hybrid turbos. Full E85, DCT, M2c. DI only, no pi or m**h. It had a bit more in it but ran out on the dyno. With a bit more time, I think 750 may be possible. This car is rowdy on the street and has enough power as it sits. 🥳

Hi everyone, just a friendly psa to not use some random muffler company just to remove a resonator. There are many companies making great exhausts for our cars. No need to do this:

Big announcement! Nostrum has released the stage 1 injector for the S55. 33% more flow! N55 will be soon to follow.

This is a huge step in the right direction. While pi control is certainly improving, its still a Band-Aid. You always want to maintain the factory DI as long as possible not only for its benefits but for its level of control. No more pi rails, additional injectors to worry about, injector controllers, etc.

If anyone is interested or has additional questions please let me know.

Hi all, im having an problem with my email. If you're waiting on a revision or reply, please send another email. Thank you very much and i apologize for the error.

-David