I thought l would post my experience for anybody looking to get their Defender TD5 remapped.
It seems to be a no brainer from reading the internet, with no real reported downsides.
I went with one of the big well regarded remappers, and it cost in the order £350.
Straightaway the Defender felt faster, and it pulled better from low RPM.
I could change up at 2,000 rpm and it would pull the next gear even up hill (l have an RPM meter fitted)
However, a few issues surfaced. If l floored it l got a LOT of smoke, which looked to be grey/white.
And sometimes the turbo kicked in fairly suddenly.
I checked everything and figured that the white smoke must be unburnt diesel, as the head was fine and there were no leaks or water loss.
After a while l contacted the remappers who assured me that this was "normal" and "happened a lot with BMW's too"
I took the Defender to the main dealer and got them to reset the ECU.
After that the smoke stopped and the Defender ran a lot smoother and more lively than before it was remapped. In fact had it run that well before l wouldn't have had it remapped.
I posted elsewhere on here about getting the ECU updated at the main dealer.
I think that if you want your Defender remapped, l would advise getting the ECU updated first, whuch costs £125, then see what you think.
Personally l didn't mind the small amount of black smoke, but the grey smoke was a bit embarrassing tbh so l probably won't get the remap re-inatalled (which costs £50) in case the smoke comes back.
I find that without the remap l have to change gear at 2500rpm going up hill, where l could do it at 2000rpm with the remap.
But the engine is so much smoother in the 2500-3000 range (since the dealer ECU reset) that l don't mind. Before it was rough and noisy, although the actual performance was alright.
It seems to be a no brainer from reading the internet, with no real reported downsides.
I went with one of the big well regarded remappers, and it cost in the order £350.
Straightaway the Defender felt faster, and it pulled better from low RPM.
I could change up at 2,000 rpm and it would pull the next gear even up hill (l have an RPM meter fitted)
However, a few issues surfaced. If l floored it l got a LOT of smoke, which looked to be grey/white.
And sometimes the turbo kicked in fairly suddenly.
I checked everything and figured that the white smoke must be unburnt diesel, as the head was fine and there were no leaks or water loss.
After a while l contacted the remappers who assured me that this was "normal" and "happened a lot with BMW's too"
I took the Defender to the main dealer and got them to reset the ECU.
After that the smoke stopped and the Defender ran a lot smoother and more lively than before it was remapped. In fact had it run that well before l wouldn't have had it remapped.
I posted elsewhere on here about getting the ECU updated at the main dealer.
I think that if you want your Defender remapped, l would advise getting the ECU updated first, whuch costs £125, then see what you think.
Personally l didn't mind the small amount of black smoke, but the grey smoke was a bit embarrassing tbh so l probably won't get the remap re-inatalled (which costs £50) in case the smoke comes back.
I find that without the remap l have to change gear at 2500rpm going up hill, where l could do it at 2000rpm with the remap.
But the engine is so much smoother in the 2500-3000 range (since the dealer ECU reset) that l don't mind. Before it was rough and noisy, although the actual performance was alright.