Quote:
Originally Posted by rbk1115
Thanks again for even more information.
If there are other vendors out there that have better gains, why did you decide to stick with Dinan since the gains seem to be minimal? You might be able to extract more power from other software combined with your 4.10 final drive. Was warranty a concern of yours? I am concerned about warranty and want to keep mine in place as long as possible that is why the Dinan route seems the best for those of us who want some kind of warranty with mods to our cars. I had a lot of Dinan products on my old M3 and was quite happy with them. Just getting the MS filter from EAS sounds tempting right now...
Did you notice any adverse affects to your gas mileage with the 4.10 final drive? I don't autocross so would the Dinan 4.10 final drive be fine for a street driven car? Thanks.
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Of course, when you change the FD by over 6% you'll experience a comparable change in gas mileage, which partially might explain why BMW selected 3.85 in the first place. It's a mechanical change, so the engine rotates more per mile. There is a slight noise penalty, particularly on the overrun, but it's small enough that my wife doesn't notice it. First gear is so short on the M3 that I wouldn't do the 4.10 unless I was going to autocross or had another performance need. You DO feel it in all gears, so you gain acceleration in every gear and that's real. It's like taking the rear wheel torque from 245 to over 260 ft lbs.
Regarding the Dinan chip, my selection was part warranty and part because it upped the redline and removed the governor. So of the flashes don't do that and I consider essential for my AX because I'm often up against the limiter for a second or so. I may never use the max speed, but if I get a chance...
Also, with every product I'm really worried about what I'll get at 5400 ft above sea level. All these ECU tunes are put together at sea level in places like FL, CA, NJ, etc.. If they're too aggressive will they be too lean for me at my altitude, or just not make the advertise hp? With Dinan I don't have to worry about my warranty. Still, if a dyno-tuner in my area got ahold of software to dyno-tune my M3, I'd be on it in a flash. With my throttle bodies and exhaust I think I've got maybe 30 hp of potential bottled up by my ECU.
Start with the MS. It's pretty painless and you can be assured that there's a gain, commensurate with investment. Then...
Dave