Sale: DINAN ECU Tunes for 135i --> 50% off

[StephGOD]

Question for the guys who have recently installed this at a indy/dealership. How much out the door are we talking about roughly? Thanks in advance!

[Cmoney135i]

Originally Posted by MGM135is

Are you not reading our posts? Doesn't seem like a pile of poop to me unless you're just trolling us.

I guess I'm worried because almost everyone recommends jb4 or MHD. But a few posts of yours has me leaning to Dinan s2.

[tock172]

Originally Posted by Cmoney135i

I guess I'm worried because almost everyone recommends jb4 or MHD. But a few posts of yours has me leaning to Dinan s2.

The N54 market prefers JB4 or MHD. I hardly ever hear of N54s tuned with Dinan software.

You see a lot of trash talking about Dinan in N54 communities because the software is expensive (Dinan spends more on R&D than just about any aftermarket), and it isn't flexible like the JB4. Depends on what you want. I decided to go with Dinan for the peace of mind.

[c1pher]

I can almost guarantee the main reason is the cost difference and the sense that the warranty isn't needed since most of the major options are pretty safe at this point. S2 is essentially at the same power level as all the other tunes IIRC if you have no other mods.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by StephGOD

Question for the guys who have recently installed this at a indy/dealership. How much out the door are we talking about roughly? Thanks in advance!

I only paid sales tax in addition to the cost of the tune. So it was something like $702. The dealer wanted the cost of the tune, an hour of labor and tax. So would have been around $850ish if I went to them.

[StephGOD]

Originally Posted by MGM135is

I only paid sales tax in addition to the cost of the tune. So it was something like $702. The dealer wanted the cost of the tune, an hour of labor and tax. So would have been around $850ish if I went to them.

Thanks buddy! I think I'm gonna have to pull the trigger

[c1pher]

Hurry, the sale ends tonight at midnight....








Just kidding, I am not sure when the sale ends lol.

[zx10guy]

According to Dinan's Facebook page it's going to run through the month of February.

[c1pher]

Hey that's good!

[Track rat]

So can you buy this now and book an install date like two months from now?

My car is in winter storage😑

[Gangplank]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

According to Dinan's Facebook page it's going to run through the month of February.

Hmm....

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Track rat

So can you buy this now and book an install date like two months from now?

My car is in winter storage😑

No. I was going to do that when I dropped by the Dinan dealer. As I didn't know when the sale would expire, didn't know how long it would take to flash the tune, and when the shop would have an available slot to get me in. So I asked about paying for it in advance and coming back later. The shop said that won't work because the transaction only completes when they actually log in to Dinan's system and then download the software. It may be possible at another shop to prepay but at the one I went to it was a no go.

[PhillyfaanM3]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Also, I believe N54 Dinan stage 2 has more hp and torque than N55 stage 2.

Agree w Esteban on this. I believe the Dinan N54 tunes create more HP & TQE. Regardless having had the stage 2 tune, you can def feel the difference and for that price it's a much easier of a decision.

[PhillyfaanM3]

Originally Posted by Cmoney135i

Actually after googling reviews (they almost all say Dinan is a hot pile of Sh*t) Anyone care to chime in that has a Dinan tune right now?

Disagree. I had it on my car for a year and definitely noticed the difference immediately. Dinan at the regular price is expensive, and more conservative, but provides a level of comfort and reliability. I'm going on my 3rd year w Dinan and have had no issues (knock on wood). I'm now running stage3 (378hp & 435tqe) and love it.

[Cavpilot2k]

Originally Posted by Cmoney135i

Actually after googling reviews (they almost all say Dinan is a hot pile of Sh*t) Anyone care to chime in that has a Dinan tune right now?

Very happy with it, even after nearly 2 years.
The reason people knock it is because things like JB4 are cheaper and can adapt to additional mods.
But despite JB4 having a big following, every day there is a new thread on here about someone with a JB4 installed having this problem or that.

If you want something to tinker with, and you don't mind a piggyback, go JB4.
If you want set-it-and-forget-it power increase with absolute reliability (nobody I know who has the Dinan has ever had a maintenance problem or reliability issue related to the tune - JB4 sure as hell can't claim that), go with the Dinan. Plus, some of us will only do flash tunes and not piggybacks.

Yes, you can make more power with other tunes that can be adjusted to optimize other mods like meth and such, but I'm not a tinkerer. I just want more power than stock in a form that comes with absolute reliability.
That's Dinan.

The power delivery is strong and linear, and the additional low-to-midrange torque boost is fantastic. When I got it, my next addition was wider, stickier tires, because I was killing my old ones.

Bottom line: If you want absolute maximum numbers so you can impress people with your dyno printouts, and you don't mind sacrificing reliability, go with something like a JB4.
If you want outstanding everyday-usable power, with fantastic reliability that you don't have to tinker with, consider Dinan. And at the price they are featuring now: STRONGLY consider it.

[velociti]

^ seems to pretty well capture the state of affairs. I'm doing a custom MHD tune on my car, but suggested this Dinan tune for my father's 135 and he jumped on it. This despite him having a JB4 that works just fine. You're definitely sacrificing a little bit of power to go the Dinan route, but it sounds bulletproof.

By the way, I wouldn't consider the JB4 unreliable. It's just that since it hooks into the car in multiple different ways and has so much functionality, there are many more opportunities to push the limits of the car, and in turn, there is a greater likelihood for things to go awry. A properly installed JB4 (Map 5) compared to a Dinan Stage 2 on an otherwise stock car...you're likely getting a bit more shove from the former, and stock-like (or better!) smoothness from the latter. Different strokes.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

According to Dinan's Facebook page it's going to run through the month of February.

Dammit! My car is in storage. Might have to rip off the intake manifold.

[Cavpilot2k]

Originally Posted by velociti

By the way, I wouldn't consider the JB4 unreliable. It's just that since it hooks into the car in multiple different ways and has so much functionality, there are many more opportunities to push the limits of the car, and in turn, there is a greater likelihood for things to go awry. A properly installed JB4 (Map 5) compared to a Dinan Stage 2 on an otherwise stock car...you're likely getting a bit more shove from the former, and stock-like (or better!) smoothness from the latter. Different strokes.

I agree - JB4 is not inherently unreliable.
The problem comes in where there are so many variables being thrown in from differences between different bolt-on mods of the same type, to different SW versions in the cars, to different ways to plug them in. Add in the very possible likelihood of user/operator error, and you have a recipe for introducing unreliability to a product that started out reliable.
I will say that most of the problems encountered by people on this forum with JB4 (and you have to admit, there are a lot of them) are introduced by the user trying to tinker with it.
Like we used to say in the Army - "If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!"

Also, when I mention unreliability, in general I'm not referring to the product itself, but rather the car once you start to put too many power-producing mods on. It is an unavoidable fact that the more you stress any material or machine, the more likely you are to experience a failure. Therefore, more aggressive tunes are more likely to introduce component failure than more conservative tunes.

[bNks334]

I am kinda bullish on the Dinan Stage 2 tune despite its high price tag. I wish there were more modded cars running Dinan tunes that could post up Dyno numbers. I am willing to bet they would put down more power than people expect (like stage3/stage4 tunes with mods). Seems like all the Dinan cars are pretty much stock. A stock car with Stage 2 looks to dyno around 350whp and 300wtq. Not bad numbers at all... Stage 3 and 4 focus on increasing top end numbers with the supporting mods.

Dinan has access to proprietary information via supposed agreements with BMW. I am willing to bet Dinan is modifying more tables, resulting in a better/smoother/safer tune, than any other aftermarket tuner/device. Even if it produces a bit less power on a dyno, it might perform just as well as other tunes. Dinan definitely has way more R&D into the actual engineering aspect than e-tuning on the street until the logs look smooth...

I base a lot of this off the fact that there is 4k bytes difference between a stock N55 flash and the BMW PPK flash. MHD hasn't even mapped out half of those differences, only the ones they've deemed "necessary." I would bet BMW has provided Dinan with the info they need to make EVERY SINGLE map change necessary. This is just my speculation though. I would really like to see a stock tune .bin compared to a dinan tune .bin to see if they really are modifying tables that MHD hasn't mapped out yet.

[c1pher]

I thought Dinan had to reverse engineer the ECU just like everyone else.

[drwillb]

I pulled the trigger and just got on my local indy Dinan dealer's work schedule for next Wed. Going Stage 2.

Quick question though: I've got a JB4 iso v. 5-14 in place right now, do I need to get it out of the car to have the Dinan software installed or do I set it map 0 or 4?

[Cmoney135i]

Originally Posted by Cavpilot2k

Very happy with it, even after nearly 2 years.
The reason people knock it is because things like JB4 are cheaper and can adapt to additional mods.
But despite JB4 having a big following, every day there is a new thread on here about someone with a JB4 installed having this problem or that.

If you want something to tinker with, and you don't mind a piggyback, go JB4.
If you want set-it-and-forget-it power increase with absolute reliability (nobody I know who has the Dinan has ever had a maintenance problem or reliability issue related to the tune - JB4 sure as hell can't claim that), go with the Dinan. Plus, some of us will only do flash tunes and not piggybacks.

Yes, you can make more power with other tunes that can be adjusted to optimize other mods like meth and such, but I'm not a tinkerer. I just want more power than stock in a form that comes with absolute reliability.
That's Dinan.

The power delivery is strong and linear, and the additional low-to-midrange torque boost is fantastic. When I got it, my next addition was wider, stickier tires, because I was killing my old ones.

Bottom line: If you want absolute maximum numbers so you can impress people with your dyno printouts, and you don't mind sacrificing reliability, go with something like a JB4.
If you want outstanding everyday-usable power, with fantastic reliability that you don't have to tinker with, consider Dinan. And at the price they are featuring now: STRONGLY consider it.

Cool thanks for the review I will be setting up s2 for next week and report back.