what does the order of filter mean?
The order is classically the maximum delay (in samples) that is  used to produce each output (Filter order by JOS). For FIR filters, the length is "one plus order":

$$y[n] = x[n]-x[n-1]+x[n-2]$$

would be 3-tap and order 2. 
If the filter is IIR, it would have "more coefficients" than "one plus order". I am not sure one can say "taps" for IIR filter. This recursive  equation would be order 2:

$$y[n] = x[n]-x[n-1]+y[n-1]+y[n-2]$$

A $32^{\mathrm{nd}}$-order with infinite impulse response (IIR) is likely to have stability issues. Even if it does not, the technique that goes "with each tap randomly varied by up to 5% to simulate physical differences" would be likely to endangered the stability randomly.