Worlds: Joel Newman Photos: Jamie Lipman - JD Newman

054-056 PBMW 1209 19/10/09 12:49 Page 55As a BMW enthusiast you’llknow how important finding aBMW specialist you can trustis. Whether you have plans torestore, fix or modify yourmotor, there is one factor often overlooked;the company that deals with the physicalstuff under your bonnet.Like all cars BMWs have their ownquirks and irregularities. Whether that is aVanos issue on an E36, a torn sub framemount on a Z3 M Roadster or a dodgy oilfeed in an E30. Experience and knowledgeare vital for the enthusiast mechanic.Instead of spending hours attempting toidentify the source of a problem,professional specialists diagnose theproblem quickly, and that’s often becausethey have seen it all before.As lovers of the Bavarian marque wewant the mechanics who work on ourvehicles to be trained. We want them tounderstand how and why a particularmodel is susceptible to certain faults, andhow these faults can be solved in thefastest, cheapest and most effectivemanner. Though a specialist may chargeslightly more per hour than your localspanner monkey, with the speed of theirdiagnosis, the labour time required to fix it,and your peace of mind in knowing that theissue really has been sorted, it’s moneywell spent.In the UK there are just a handful ofexperienced, reliable and trustworthy BMWtuners, and it is our job to find out as manydetails as we can about these enterprisesand pass them on to you.We first discovered A-L Tuning quite awhile back. The company has had stands atall the BMW shows over the past few years,and has built and worked on everythingfrom Tim Shaw’s latest E46 M3, to my veryown E39 523i. Remember my 3.0-litre M54throttle body and manifold swap? Well itwas these guys who completed the workand, nearly a year later, I’m still impressedwith its performance!The company, which has a history ofdealing with some serious high-endmachinery including Porsches, Mercs andAudis, has always concentrated on thefinest European cars. In fact A-L Tuningis a serious player in the Germanautomotive tuning world, and the cruxof its business has always remained intuning and modifying our favourite blueand white roundel.So what does A-L Tuning actually do?Well, first off the firm covers the basics – itwill service, health check, MoT, and repairall of the standard faults and problemsfaced by every car owner in the land. And,as you’d expect, all A-L technicians haveindividual motor trade experience or havetrained and worked as qualified BMWtechnicians. On top of this, A-L is alsoresolute, using only the finest equipmentavailable – the same stuff you’d find at themain dealer. In addition it will only usegenuine BMW or uprated parts, all coveredby a warranty package. On the servicingand maintenance side, A-L has alreadycaused a stir thanks to its ability to rebuilddamaged engines and SMG gearboxes – atask some dealers are not even willing totake on!A-L Tuning is much more than a localgarage though. As the name suggests, theheart of the business lies in tuning, withperformance modifications the company’sspeciality. The core of this enterprise isimproving power reliably, but, as ownerMike explains: “Every owner is different.Some want mild power, others wild power.The customer is in charge, we just helpthem achieve what they set out to do.”So how does the firm help customersachieve this?For those looking for an economicalgateway to increased power, a customremap of the car’s standard ECU may besuitable. Others, who wish to push theenvelope further, may opt for a live remap –where the car is mapped by A-L’stechnicians on track under all loadconditions. This differs from a plug-andplaymap as it is specifically tailored toeach individual car, rather than a genericmap for specific engines. The results of itsGenesis Live Mapping, for example, arealways excellent, with improved torque andpower curves as well as enhanceddrivability. The company is also known forthe development of its very own software.DECEMBER 2009 55