I contacted Henry earlier in the week to setup a time/date for us to do the GTS Flash work on my M4 and was pleased when he suggested we get together at the weekend to get it all sorted. So today, I spent a good hour and a half battling my way through North London traffic (I'm sure there must have been a quicker was) to make the rendezvous point and meet up with Henry. Thanks to Henry for taking the time out to do the work on the car, much appreciated mate.
Like many others have, I just wanted to provide some feedback on the GTS software settings, so others can get a feel for just how much they might change the ride characteristics of your car.
Steering
I am going to start with what was probably the least important part for me and that was the steering. Someone mentioned above that despite the fact it’s supposed to get heavier post flash they felt as though it had gotten lighter, this was also my initial reaction, and following a 40-mile drive home, I’m convinced. I have my M1 setting on comfort all round, lowest gear setting and traction control on full – it’s my “kids in the car mode”. Well, post flash the drive out of London in the same traffic I came in on just seemed easier. The steering felt lighter, which makes the whole car feel that little bit more manoeuvrable. Tempted to say maybe it’s just me, but given I’m not the only one saying it, I think there’s an element of you make your own mind up on this one. When switching to M2 – which for me is the polar opposite end of the scale, everything on maximum attack and MDM mode, I can’t honestly say it felt much different to pre flash. Perhaps time will tell on this one....
Diff/DCT Settings
One of my biggest grumbles was that the car struggled to lay down its power a lot of the time. For me this was in a number of situations – from a standing start, cornering, even coming off roundabouts in 3rd gear, I often used to get a twitchy rear end. That might be in part to the standard Conti tyres that are on the car, however I am sure there is an element of the car having a driver who’s always had 4WD or FWD up until now. This update, therefore, was the big one for me. WOW what a difference it makes. All of a sudden, I can get the car away from the lights quickly with virtually no slip, and where I would previously have had a twitchy back end coming off roundabouts, the car just powers away now, the difference is night and day. Really happy here.
The DCT is also much smoother up and down the gears now. In full auto mode when you’re taking it easy, the car moves up through the gears much swifter now, as in it changes at a lower RPM and doesn’t hold onto gears for quite so long. Again it’s a night and day difference and almost feels more like the standard BMW 8 speed auto now.
MDM
Because of the improved grip I’ve mentioned above, I didn’t get an opportunity to really push the car to see how the MDM reacted. Having read feedback from others, I can well believe the improvement. I’ll feedback on this in due course.
Throttle Response
The Kangaroo in the fuel tank finally appears to have done one, WOOT! No more skipping about when pulling away from the lights using the paddles. Another big one for me and a great result.
Exhaust Note
Firstly I should mention that I’ve done the exhaust mod to open up the flaps in the exhaust permanently. I noticed the slight change in the exhaust note once Henry had done the flash, it’s a slightly deeper burble than before the flash, not a huge difference but it’s there. What did pleasantly surprise me is that it’s gotten rid of the droning you get at 70mph on the motorway. Anyone who’s done this mod and has the DCT box will know what I mean, but with the GTS settings it now appears to have gone, or at the very least been hugely reduced. An unexpected bonus, I'm very pleased with.
Conclusion
All in all, I’m exceptionally happy with the GTS flash, mainly because you can actually feel a night and day difference in some of the settings. For me it’s the GTS spec Diff/DCT settings that are the icing on the cake, the car now feels hooked up and genuinely powerful, whereas before I always expected to get some major slip and as a result lose power, which obviously takes away a lot of the fun factor.
Others that have had the GTS software flash done have suggested it makes the car feel totally different. For the most part, I have to agree with those sentiments, especially around the Diff/DCT settings. Simply put, with the GTS software flash done, this is how the M4 should have been from the get go. If you're on the fence as to whether or not to get this done, it is absolutely well worth doing, I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with the results.
Once again a big thanks to Henry for your time this afternoon, much appreciated