[kitw]

Here's my review of the Cobb Accessport.

I have used a Juicebox 2, a Procede V3 and a Juicebox 3 on my 08 e90 335i. that car was sold and replaced with an e90 M3, but we ended up getting an 09 Steptronic e90 335i for my wife. Since I ended up driving the 335i, I wanted to make it a bit faster but wanted to avoid anything that would be any sort of a hassle for her. This meant nothing that the dealer could easily see, etc or that I would have to get under the hood to remove before going into service. Having pulled the various piggy backs in and out numerous times, I decided I didn't want to go that route again.

I was pretty happy with the later iterations of the Procede and JB3 powerwise, my car made about 340rwhp with the stock exhaust and intake. About 370rwhp with downpipes and stock exhaust.

My current steptronic 335i is completely bone stock, even the air filter is stock. I heard about the Accessport and loved the fact that I wouldn't need to ship the ECU out and that I could switch maps at anytime, plus it has datalogging and a code reader built in. I was concerned that Cobb was new to the N54 market and wouldn't have figured out the intricacies, but I've had experience with several of their products in the past and they are usually spot on.

Historically, their base maps are fairly conservative and leave some power on the table with safety as a key priority, and protuning is what gets the most out of an Accessport. That said, these maps seem pretty aggressive and are running a decent amount of boost! I was pretty impressed power-wise. I'm running the Stage 1 91 Octanev2.0a map. Still, they are fairly conservative, as I ran more boost on my 08.

I haven't dyno'd my 335i, but after installing the Accessport, the power difference is immediately, although very controllable. One of the things the early Juicebox 2 and early Procede revisions had issues with is that while full throttle felt great, I got some weird behavior at part throttle, and the boost was on or off. Later revisions definitely helped that, and I never go to try either of the CANBUS integrated products, so caveat this review with those facts. I'm completely thrilled with the way the car performs now. My wife can drive it and not notice unless she happens to step on it and the car just goes. l love the control I have over boost, part throttle is exactly that and I never felt that boosting out of control feeling that I used to get in my 08 at times.

Initial installation took a little while and Cobb didn't had a ROM that matched my ECU at first, but they turned around a new ROM in about 4 days, and I was up and running. I initially had some driveability issues (they ended up going to a single map for Manual and Auto), such as some compressor surge when I was letting off the gas at part throttle with some boost built up. The car would buck and make some noise if I did that. They got a new map to me a day later that completely fixed those issues. After a day or two of adaptation, I was completely happy. No weird behavior, just smooth strong power.

The AccessPort is not just a portable flasher, but as you probably know, it can do datalogging and can check and clear codes as well. Pretty well rounded device... and yes, it's tiny! Thicker but the same length and height as an old motorola startac when folded. (geez, I just dated myself as an old guy with that comment.)

These datalogs were done when it was cold outside, so they probably look better than they would at warmer temps. But, the datalogging engine is very powerful and captures a lot of data. It's just a quick 1st - 2nd gear run, you can see some wheelspin in first, as evidenced by the near vertical rpm graph.

things to note:
- Just a touch of throttle closure right after the shift
- timing is solid
- boost is very consistent, about 12.7 psi at peak, down to 10.8 psi at redline - clearly there is more power to be had with more boost. Later runs show a touch more boost in higher gears, never going above 12.7, but holding a bit more to redline
- I am probably running up against the limits of the stock air filter

Hope this helps!

[gaifaun]

fellow E90 LCI AW!

great write up, are you going to dyno the car anytime soon?

I honestly think you are fine with the stock filter, for stage 1.

[kitw]

Originally Posted by gaifaun

fellow E90 LCI AW!

great write up, are you going to dyno the car anytime soon?

I honestly think you are fine with the stock filter, for stage 1.

When I had my Procede, I made an additional psi of boost and about 10 whp just by changing out the intake with no tuning. I think it could be leaving something on the table... but we'll see. I can't wait for their stage 2 maps, etc!

[msamo28]

how does the cobb accesport 335i feel like powerwise compared to the m3?

[ETS Michael]

Driveway looks like a helicopter landing pad

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

For future reference you should log from 3rd gear. Enjoy it.