[m3freak86]

What’s being installed: Evolve-R Tune

- 93 Octane
- Catless Ready
- Dyno Mode
- Top Speed Governor Removal

Mods:
- Agency Power V2 Headers
- CPI RT3 Section 1 (no cats)
- OEM 2
- Supersprint Race Muffler
- Macht Schnell Intake Elbow
- K&N Drop In Filter

Ever since I started getting into the power mods, I knew a tune was something I would want eventually to tie everything in and have everything flow correctly. I've jumped back and forth over the years saying I want to a tune the car and I don't. It's been an on-going battle with myself, but over the past year watching the company Evolve get the praise they have gotten, it intrigued me. I started doing my research on Evolve and what it could for the car. I exchanged PM's with Evolve and asked a lot of questions and I got my them all answered thoroughly in detail. They explained things to me that anyone could understand. I am new to the tuning world, so it was a whole aspect of modding that I have never touched or really researched. All that changed once I started hearing more and more about evolve. After putting my headers in and changing my exhaust pieces so many times, I knew I wanted to try and get the most of the performance mods and pull them all together to work as one.

Rewind back to December 2011. Evolve was offering a holiday sale for their evolve tune. Being it was around the Holidays, it was tough to justify getting the tune at that time and tried to work around it and take advantage of the sale. I decided to hold off for the time being and spoil my loved ones a bit instead of myself during the Holidays. In saying that, I made a promise to myself that if Evolve ever offered another sale or had a group buy down the road, I wouldn't hesitate to jump on board. Sure enough, I was surfing the forum and came across the thread for a group buy that Alex (flipm3) set up for the z4 guys. A few of us posted up that we were interested in the group buy if they offered it to us e46er's and a day later, Alex posted up it was being offered to us! Without hesitation, I jumped on the group buy.

Fast forward to my experience with the Evolve tune and software. I received my Evolve cable Thursday June 14. Lugged my desktop into the garage and hooked my computer up to the car. The whole program was extremely user friendly and was very straight forward. Before I knew it, I had my stock ecu file loaded onto my computer and sent over to Sal. I sent it over at 7:43pm. I woke up the next morning to an email from Sal that was sent over at 7:42am with my new Evolve tune with all my questions answered! I Couldn't believe he managed to receive, tune, and send it back in 12 hours. I was extremely excited to get it back, but had a big buzz kill knowing I couldn't load it into the car until after work. It was a long, drawn out day, but I eventually pulled myself away from the office, downloaded the file, and loaded it into the car. Done!

Onto my initial impression of the actual tune. At first, there wasn't anything jumping out at me that I just tuned the car. It drove basically the same as I cruised around town until the car got up to normal operating temperature and jumped onto the highway. Gave it some gas...whoa. "Now I feel it!" I said out loud. I kept getting on the car off of every turn and straight away I could and I really couldn't get enough. Every time I ran through the gears and powerband, the car pulled harder and harder and harder. I can only imagine what the car is going to feel like after it full adapts. The shfits feels smooth without any hesitation. The car had nice pick up in a higher gear crusing on the highway, but I gave it some gas in 6th gear to pass a gar and I had to check which gear I was in. It felt as if I downshifted to a lower gear. It had that much pull! Everything about the car feels stock until you get on it. The idle is perfectly still, no stuttering, no idle hunting or surging. My favorite is gears 3-4. The pull in between those gears is insane! I put about 20 miles on the tune so far, which is nothing, but from what I can feel after only a few miles, it is truly astonishing to feel all the mods I've put into the car come to life. I can't wait to put more miles on just to see how much the car is going to adapt. Needless to say, that evolve airbox is looking more and more appealing to me after my experience with everything.

My overall experience with Sal and Evolve has been nothing short of amazing. The turn around, the customer service, and the actual product is hard to put into words. It has been one of the most enjoyable mods I've put into the car to date. I actually enjoyed doing it! I love adding things to the car, but of course we know most of the time you hit a point of frustration. With this, I literally was comfortable sitting in my driver seat, clean, and stress free. Never once was I confused or didn't know what to do. I just want to thank Alex (flipm3) for all the hard work he has put into putting this together, Sal for answering my endless amount of questions and quick turn around, Jamie at RK, and finally Evolve as a whole. You guys made it all happen and make it one of the most fun mods I've put on the car to date.

Here are some pictures of the process (I have removed my VIN and some other info for my own protection)!



My setup I had to lug down to the garage


Connecting to the car



Calibrating the Stock ECU



Loaddinnggg...



Stock ECU Downloaded!



Evolve-R Tune Installing





I have been evolved

[m3freak86]

FULL EVOLVE-R REVIEW (after 500 miles)

So far, I have put on roughly 500 miles on the tune. I wanted to let the car adapt to reach its full potential before I voiced my opinion on the product. Now that I have gotten a decent amount of seat time with the Evolve-R tune, I believe I can give a pretty accurate review based on my experience.

Evolve-R Tune:

Every time I start the car, the car feels like it has gained more torque and power. I swear to you every mile that the car does, the car pulls harder and harder. More than half of the time I shock myself thinking it's going to stop pulling, but it doesn't. The power is instant from when I put my foot on the pedal to what I feel at the wheel. What I liked most about this tune is the added low end. As we all know, this car is missing torque and if anything, that is what the car needs the most. After letting things adapt, the torque seems to appear more than ever and pushes me back into my seat harder each time. The power band is extremely consistent and strong from a dead stop all the way to 8k. There is no idle hunt, transmission seems to shift better, power is instant... what else could you ask for? I am in absolute love with this car all over again. It's an awesome mod that I suggest any one with power mods to do. This is my first tune of any car I have had and I got to tell you, I am hooked!

Customer Service:

I had a few issues with my tune with the SES light triggering back on after only 3-11 miles of tuning the car. I kept getting a code for the post 02 heater sensors. Sal was pretty stumped and even looked over my tune a few times to make sure things were correct. He even sent me a separate tune to turn the post 02's completely off. Unfortunately, it did not work and it us scratching our heads. I wasn't running post 02 sensors since I had the post 02's turned off. Little did we know, they NEED to be in for both the catless ready tune and the 02 sensor off tune. Installed some post 02 sensors in today, reinstalled the catless ready tune, and the light stayed off. I drove 41 miles and the light never came back on! I will keep a close eye on it, but I was pretty sure the problem was solved after it didn't click on after the normal 3-11 miles. Sal and Evolve have been amazing. They answered my emails, questions, concerns, and even went above and beyond to try and help me out. During his crazy tune fest with the GB, he managed to help me with my issue on a one to one basis. That is great customer service and I can't say enough. A great product, with great results, with awesome service.

Overall:

The Evolve-R tune is a must have. Not only is a a pleasure to work with such a company, it truly works out all the kinks of the stock tune. Power is crazy and shocking every time I drive the car. After all my work put into the car, the tune pulled every single thing together and is using them to the full potential. I am confident the car is going to put down a good number once I get to the dyno. The car pulls like a freight train! Thanks again to all who have been a part of this great experience. Everyone... get your cars evolved. The car needs it!

[VALSBM3]

In for the review. Nice so far!

[jrloM3]

Damn Chris, great review so far. Looking forward to hearing more after full adaptation!

[Shimmy23]

excellent! I appreciate the screen shots!

[///M_Achilles]

thanks for sharing

[OptionLessM]

Sounds nice, OP.

Are you planning to make an addition to the dyno thread?

[m3freak86]

Originally Posted by OptionLessM

Are you planning to make an addition to the dyno thread?

Yes I will be dynoing the car in August.

[Marcb910]

As always a great write up, looking forward to the adaptive part of the review.

[flipm3]

I'm glad you're enjoying the tune thus far! I personally think that I felt the benefits of the tune significantly more than when I installed my headers. Truly amazing what a solid tune can do. I'm sure your car will fully adapt fairly soon, especially if you drive it hard

It was a pleasure mediating the group buy here on M3Forums. I can't take full credit though, since the group buy was originally started by the guys at ZPost. In the end, I think it worked out extremely well for both forums! I am seeing similar reviews and reactions from both sides of the story. Everyone at Evolve Automotive and RK Autowerks were the sole reason that this whole group buy went by smoothly, in addition to everyone elses patience and commitment.

There is no doubt that this day and age is a great time to own an E46 M3. Lots of good header options. Lots of good suspension options. A wealth of information provided through history. Most of all, there was a huge leap in DME tuning capabilities.

Enjoy the nice bump in power in great safety!