Typically, tuners focus on sports cars and supercars, especially in videos showing off what can be done. However, most enthusiasts don’t have supercars and many of them have diesel-powered sports cars, so as to blend everyday practicality and efficiency with fun handling. The BMW 435d xDrive is one such car, as it’s still a fun sports coupe but it has a smart diesel engine and all-wheel drive. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun nor does it mean it can’t be tuned. In this new video from Evolve, we see just what can be done to the 435d quite easily.
A customer brought their BMW 435d xDrive to Evolve for two very simple upgrades. After they were installed, those two simple upgrades made a surprisingly big differences. The first upgrade was an ECU tune, just to make as much power as possible from the stock setup. An ECU tune is probably the easiest and safest way to make more power from an engine. The second upgrade was a new, larger intercooler, designed to allow more airflow and better charge cooling.
Prior to the installation, Evolve put the car on the dyno to see how much power it was making stock. With winter tires on the dyno, the stock BMW 435d xDrive was pushing out around 273 hp from its 3.0 liter turbocharged I6 diesel. After the ECU tune by itself, it was pushing 340 hp. That’s an impressive gain of almost 70 hp. When the intercooler was added, it was making a hefty 359 hp, giving it an additional 19 hp gain.
So two very simple mods that aren’t invasive at all pushed the BMW 435d xDrive’s power up 86 hp. That’s an impressive power gain and one that should make a big difference in performance. Which just goes to show that diesel powered sports cars don’t have to be less exciting than their gasoline counterparts.
