MENUTuning the F39 BMW X2
"Thank you for reading our BMW X2 tuning tips."
The X2 is a awesome tuning project to play with. Think carefully and research X2 tuning to avoid making the usual costly mistakes we typically see.
The Compact SUV came in M Sport and M Sport X versions, with additional features including larger 19 inch wheels.
The BMW X2 are fantastic to work on and with the ultimate motorsport tuning mods like ECU maps, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will certainly improve your driving experience.
In this article we look into X2 tuning and point out the ultimate modifications.
Handling/Suspension upgrades
Many X2 owners uprate the handling of their cars with uprated suspension upgrades as a priority, this will certainly increase your enjoyment of the car.
If you set the toe out to around 1.5 degrees on the front, and add some negative camber then cornering will radically improve.
We would go to a maximum drop of 24mm - 35 mm. on most models. You risk rubbing on the arches if you go lower than this.
Don't just look at the peak power figures, you need to see the whole torque curve when determining if a mod is right for you X2.
Sadly with smaller engine sizes you are wasting your time spending money on modifications, so if this applies to you get yourself an engine swap then apply the following mods.
Engine tuning mods.
These are the modified modifications are usually installed by our members, decide how far you want to go before you start.
Getting the right motorsport upgrades for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 (competition) mods just don't work well on the road difficult in stop start traffic.
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How to tune your car
- Improve the handling
Focus on Suspension improvements, such as coilovers and make sure the bushings are in good order and that the alignment is correct. Then focus on improving the brakes, with a big disk brake conversion kit and fast road brake pads.
- Remove restrictions
Focus on the intake and exhaust with filters being the common point of restriction in a tuned car. Intercoolers may also become restrictive on turbo engines so this may also need to be uprated.
- Burn more fuel & air
Increase the fuelling so it matches the air coming into the engine. The ratio is important so you need to improve the fuel pump and injectors, so the head mods, big valve conversions, fast road camshafts and forced induction upgrades extra supply of air is adequately met.
- Test and replace any weak parts
Weak areas are commonly the clutch, the turbocharger and pistons and crankshaft in a highly tuned engine. Makes sure these components will cope with your power aspirations.
- The Tune or Remap
A cars ECU controls the fuel, timing, spark and even the turbo in some cases, so to fully extract your gains you should remap the car last and this will fully release the power. Some cars are easy to map, and others require piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's but this is the most vital step of your tuning project.
Modifying to Stage 1:
Panel air filter, Alloy wheels, Remap, Suspension upgrade (drop 24mm - 35 mm.), Sports exhaust, Lighter flywheel.
Modifying to Stage 2:
Power/Sport clutch, Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injector.
Modifying to Stage 3:
Engine balancing, Sports gearbox, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).
Peak power is good on competition cars but for a daily driven car you need a long power band and perhaps extending the rev range.
In this article we shall give a brief overview to the best modifications for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance upgrade.A fast road camshaft usually proves to be one of the best NASP power mods you can do with a single part fitted to your engine.
It improves the intake and exhaust flow and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a reflashed ECU. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.
You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to uprate the fuelling.
Using higher octane fuel is another option if you find you are suffering from pinking or premature ignition on your BMW project after fitting other sports parts. 
Uprated injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine.
A fuel pump will only deliver a finite amount of fuel, so you may need to uprate this if your injectors are demanding more fuel.
Intake and Exhaust Tuning.
Breathing mods are usually next up. 
Contrary to popular belief there is often a small if any power gain reached by fitting an induction kit, they only become beneficial and are recommended after you increase the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!
Induction kits can work well on turbo engines and larger engines (if supplied with a suitable cold air feed or air box), generally though we'd just recommend for X2 engines you should just fit a sports panel air filter preferably made from cotton.
Do not go with the widest exhaust you can get this will slow the exhaust rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.
Getting the head ported and polished will allow you to get more air into each cylinder. This is definitely a job for a pro with a flow bench. When you heavily modify your X2 you will discover that the standard clutch starts to suffer so get an uprated clutch. The best mods in our opinion for your X2 are Remapping or piggy back ecu, fast road cam and air intake and exhaust.
Turbo engines are just crying out to be Upgraded. You will see big power gains on most modern turbo engined cars including diesels making a remap one of the most cost effective and big modifications for your money.Adding forced induction will see phenomenal power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. Superchargers are usually easier to add than a turbo. Turbos provide boost in exponential proportion to increasing engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.
It is simpler to map a supercharger because the boost is proportional to engine speed on a linear curve. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.
Alloy wheel upgrades.
The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and better brake cooling. If you are serious about performance then you will need to carefully choose your tires - ideally with a soft compound tire. Large X2 alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.
Due to this fact we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 18 inches, although we know some of our members have with bigger wheels with no problems.
For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss X2 options in more detail with our X2 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased BMW tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.
Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.
We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which mods work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.
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