Dinan 335i software announced! -- 384hp / 421 tq

[Evolved]

Originally Posted by Garrett

Link me WHERE you have explained this, I've just re-read this thread!

Because $2k is too much for what they are offering and I'd rather wait for a better product. Is that good enough for you?

[MrRoboto]

At what point does it become not worth it. 1500, 1600, ......

[larryn]

How much an individual is willing to spend on something obviously will vary greatly. There is no right or wrong answer.

[Evolved]

Originally Posted by MrRoboto

At what point does it become not worth it. 1500, 1600, ......

Depends on the product and what it offers. If we are talking about just a flash, I'd say $850 would be about my limit. Now if it's a piggyback with user tunable options than $1500 or so.

You have to look at were I'm coming from. For $1800 I can get a full standalone EM system(AEM) for my Evo but a flash is only $300. Now, here in BMW world, Dinan wants $2k for a basic, off the shelf, flash with zero options. You can see why I thinks it's a little crazy.


I'm interested in the 135 because of rwd and the engine. If the cost of mods for the 135i are outrages than the car no longer becomes desirable to me. I'm performance oriented first when looking for my next car and the aftermarket plays a big role.

[MrRoboto]

I understaqnd your logic. For me I am comming from a NA 3.2. In order to get ~80 more HP I would need a 10k + turbo setup so for me 2 grand is a bargain.

I would much prefer to go to the BMW dealer have my ECU flashed and be done with it. I for one am not interested in any self tune options.

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by MrRoboto

I understaqnd your logic. For me I am comming from a NA 3.2. In order to get ~80 more HP I would need a 10k + turbo setup so for me 2 grand is a bargain.

I would much prefer to go to the BMW dealer have my ECU flashed and be done with it. I for one am not interested in any self tune options.

I agree. I could understand why the tuners would want to manually tweak the ECU though. If they cant understand why I wouldnt mind paying the 2k w/ warranty then shame on them. whatever....

[Evolved]

Originally Posted by MrRoboto

I understaqnd your logic. For me I am comming from a NA 3.2. In order to get ~80 more HP I would need a 10k + turbo setup so for me 2 grand is a bargain.

I would much prefer to go to the BMW dealer have my ECU flashed and be done with it. I for one am not interested in any self tune options.

Are you sure that's still an option? According to other posts on this site many dealers are no longer offering Dinan's services. In the world of forced induction $2k is certainly not a bargain. You're not getting any hardware for that price, just a flash that takes half hour to install.

A far as R&D, Dinan bought access to the Ecu so it's not like it took them months to crack the code or develop new software. All they had to do was change the factory parameters and I'm sure that toke no longer than a month. You make changes, log data and go from there.

[Evolved]

Originally Posted by onehots2k

I agree. I could understand why the tuners would want to manually tweak the ECU though. If they cant understand why I wouldnt mind paying the 2k w/ warranty then shame on them. whatever....

Read their warranty.
Two that are interesting under the "Excludes" section.
1.engine damage resulting from altered boost pressure.
2.any vehicle operated in any competitive event
http://www.dinancars.com/Warranty.asp

So does that mean that your engine isn't covered since their software alters boost? And if you autocross your car or take it to an occasional track day does that mean it's not covered as well. Can someone shed some light on this?

[Jeff_DML]

First off, I agree $2k is a bit expensive but for what is out there right now it is not unreasonable. In a year or so when there are hopefully more options then hopefully the price will adjust.

Secondly, as other people have stated it is not just a reflash. It includes a warranty and a dealer network. Sounds like there has been some falling out between Dinan and some dealers but last time I checked there were still a couple here in San Diego. What you are paying for is the ability to take your car into the dealer for any problems related to the reflash and have it fixed by the dealer. I have owned a reflash a4 1.8T and my current WRX, no way in hell you can take it into the dealer if you have a problem. Say good bye to your warranty as your maintenance record gets red flagged.

[TunedM2C]

For that kind of money do they throw in their advertisement letters for free?:wink:

[BForbes]

I'm so gonna rock the license that says DINAN1

[john970]

Why didn't BMW give us more hp from the factory?

[~AJ]

Originally Posted by john970

Why didn't BMW give us more hp from the factory?

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by john970

Why didn't BMW give us more hp from the factory?

Are you kidding? Seriously man, are you joking? Yesterday was xmas I'm not trying to be an a-hole.

[john970]

Originally Posted by onehots2k

Are you kidding? Seriously man, are you joking? Yesterday was xmas I'm not trying to be an a-hole.

i.e. Why did they intentionally limit the engine to 300hp. Dinan doesn't know anything BMW engineers aren't already aware of.

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by john970

i.e. Why did they intentionally limit the engine to 300hp. Dinan doesn't know anything BMW engineers aren't already aware of.

Its a fact the engine makes more than 300hp. It makes around 330hp stock. BMW lied about the power. My guess is to protect the resale values of the E46 M3.

[ARES45]

But... but... car manufacturers never lie. And they told me my life would be more complete. And I would get chicks.

[atr_hugo]

The car no; telling them you drive a gunship, now that'll get you chicks!!! ; -) (BTW, thanks for serving - it's appreciated greatly. This coming from a guy who hangs around with an old CW3 Chinook driver.)

[joelk]

Originally Posted by john970

i.e. Why did they intentionally limit the engine to 300hp. Dinan doesn't know anything BMW engineers aren't already aware of.

jumping in a bit late here but my feeling is that it provides room for the tii version. there are other motivations for spec'ing a car besides squeezing the last bit of hp out of the engine. (e.g. place within the line-up, room for future increases as initial interest wanes) :drinking:

[john970]

Originally Posted by joelk

jumping in a bit late here but my feeling is that it provides room for the tii version. there are other motivations for spec'ing a car besides squeezing the last bit of hp out of the engine. (e.g. place within the line-up, room for future increases as initial interest wanes) :drinking:

So they intentionally hobbled the engine to sell other engines? Sounds unlikely that the engineers would say "ok great, now lets screw up the ECU to generate less power because marketing says it's too powerful".

If that was the case they would most likely have built in smaller turbos with a better ECU as that would actually save them money.

[larryn]

I think this thread has long since run its course. We know about the Dinan upgrade now (plus more than we probably wanted to know). :wink:

Time to lock down this boiler room.