Unicorn Motor Developments

04/09/2026

Too much or just right on this Macan?

02/09/2026

BMW G21 330E in for a custom dyno tune. You have probably seen a lot of companies suddenly offering to tune these. This is because until very recently the post 2020 models needed ECU's patching abroad before they could be tuned. That part is now solved and it can be done in house. But that is only a small part of it. You then have the actual tuning. Whilst anyone can buy a file which may or may not have been properly tested, flash it on and call it a day, we have always worked differently.

We first study the OEM calibration to understand the flow, and if that isn't enough we reverse engineer the code to see exactly what it is doing at a specific point. Did you know that this car models the life of the fuel pump? As well as traditional diagnosis such as detecting under and over pressure, it monitors the running time and gradually reduces the maximum amount it will deliver - even if there is nothing wrong with it! Before your car even drives on the dyno, considerable time has already gone into your software.

And then there is the dyno time and data logs. Many many times have we found faults on the car that the owner no idea about, only uncovered by the data logs and dyno plot. Then the performance - sure you can data log on the road but are you really going to drive at three figure speed consistently in the same conditions, and are you going to be able to tell whether you should be running 100mbar more boost at 4750 rather than an extra 1.5 degrees of ignition? What about AFR - does it prefer lambda 0.83, or lambda 0.81? These are just some of the things we answer questions to.

Now back to this 330E - 303bhp/488Nm to 424bhp/565lb/765Nm

02/09/2026

2024 BMW M2 G87. This car came into us already running the CS software. BMW quote 523bhp for this, and this car made a very healthy 528bhp. We have been doing a lot behind the scenes in term of software development on Audi Porsche and BMW models. This includes extending our proprietary data logging system to cover BMW models and is being licensed to tuners around the world.

What does that mean to the end user? It means the tuner is able to interrogate the ECU at a very deep level which results in safe precise tuning. Bearing in mind on the day of this tuning it was 35C the car finished with 603bhp and 585lbft/790Nm.

People like to quote higher numbers for a stage 1 tune but we don't believe they are completely accurate. Firstly, there is a common belief that the car makes considerably more than the quoted factory output, and we can see here that the standard measured figure was within 1%. Secondly, we like to get it hot! The car is loaded up in 6th gear and considerable load put on the engine. This leads to high intake temps, exhaust temps, cylinder temps etc that are similar to running the car flat out over a mile or extended track work.

Why do we do it like this? It's what the factory does and while we don't have Nardo (that would be a dream!) at our disposal, we have done a lot of runway top speed events. In testing that goes back 15 years or so now, we have found the peak temperatures achieved on our dyno are similar to what we see after a standing 1 or 1.25 miles. You can therefore be confident that if you are making 600bhp on our dyno, you are going to be making that at 180mph+ on the runway. This goes someway to explain why our F82 M4 dominated at Vmax back in 2017, and both our Porches easily winning their class at the last two Race Wars events they were entered in. These engines have been tuned to well over 1000bhp with some serious money spent on them, but the builders behind them are generally not keen on them running over a full mile. Incredible as they are, they are drag cars and shouldn't be considered all rounders at that level unless you have very deep pockets!

Coming soon, see what happens when we modify this car to the next stage!

11/08/2026

Fair to say our heat management strategy is being tested!

04/08/2026

A little info on our web site about the BMW G2 330E

https://www.unicornmotordevelopments.com/vehicles/bmw-g2x-330e-tuning/

03/08/2026

2020 BMW G20 330E. This one had recently had a new battery under warranty and with it being a little cooler, made good numbers. 316bhp to 418bhp, with torque rising from 357lbft to an instant 550lbft to give a proper shove in the back!

31/07/2026

It may look small but this has been a long time coming and represents an immense effort. Finishing the week with Audi S4 B9 map switching plus some
other good stuff!

19/07/2026

08/07/2026

2023 G21 330E tuned today. It was hot! It’s not just the engine and gearbox that get tested under these conditions but things like the tires become sticky. 392bhp on this one. And it’s unlikely to ever get the same stress on the road as it did on the dyno so we know it’s all good whatever the conditions!

03/07/2026

BMW G20 330E unlocked and dyno tuned in house today. Running on supermarket 97 octane in some considerable heat, it made 284bhp and 440Nm standard, and 387bgp and 675Nm after we had finished tuning. That is 100bhp and over 200Nm of torque gained!