German BMW tuning specialist, Hartge, is one of the best options out there you can get for your ride. If your car isn’t powerful enough or you just want a bit more juice out of it, you definitely should check them out.
Alongside AC Schnitzer, they have some of the best offers on the market today. Amongst them you’ll find the engine ECU tuning kit for the most popular BMW 5 Series in Europe, the 520d.
In stock guise, the F10 model gets 184 HP and 380 Nm (280 lb-ft) of torque from the 2-liter, 4-cylinder turbodiesel engine, turning into a very efficient machine. With Hartge’s plug-and-play device you can get up to 218 HP and 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) of torque which translates into exactly the power figure of the 525d model.
This is where things get interesting. The power increase is evident and so is the performance. Taken down the road, the more powerful version will outrun the ‘simple’ 520d by around 4 and a half seconds, on the 80-180 km/h (50 - 112 mph) sprint but it does cost.
Going with the Hartge option, you’d have to pony up around €1,266 for the extra power. Going with a 525d instead of a 520d from the get go, at BMW will set you back €4,200 in Germany, as the US doesn’t have these models just yet.
That means you’ll have some serious thinking to do: go with a upper spec Bimmer from the beginning or upgrade it later on? I guess it all depends on personal choice, despite the price difference. If you’re more of an eco-driver, the ante doesn’t really make sense. If you’re a more ‘spirited’ driver, you should probably get it. But which one to get?
At first, the €3,000 difference doesn’t seem like much and, if it were me that had to decide, I’d happily go with the 525d. However, if you decide to go the other way, you should know that, in most cases, you won’t lose the warranty to your brand new car and Hartge products are TUV certified.
There’s also a third case: the second-hand car. In this scenario, getting the ECU tune is the only available solution and for this kind of a price tag, it would be a shame not to get it as it will completely transform your car.
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