Dinan 50% Software Sale

[kevin @ eas]

Originally Posted by schnell1982

That is understood. Here in cali its close to $200 as well.
It is still crazy for $250 for labor.
This is where an independent Dinan shop comes into favor.

Thats crazy for labor to install. We have done about 20 flashes this month with the sale. If interested feel free to PM me for pricing. We are in Anaheim not too far from you.

[pbonsalb]

I just paid $332 installed for the engine ecu flash. Could not tell any difference in 10 miles of driving other than that my rpm yellow slash line moved from maybe 100 rpm before 8000 to 8000 even or maybe even a tiny bit beyond. If I had to guess, I would say the redline was raised from 8300 to 8500. I'll have to drive more before I will know if there is enough change to feel.

[young dude]

Originally Posted by young dude

Picked up and drove it a couple local miles (at a department store now). ECU tune wise, can't feel anything (yet). However, the DCT smoothness improvement is very noticeable. The most telling improvement is the disappearance of the occasional lurching / engine braking.

Anyway, nothing new from other reviews, and I've no other tunes to contrast against, but I would definitely recommend.

Took a mini road trip on Sunday and hit over 100 miles. The DCT tune benefits are still very pronounced, but I gotta say I can't feel anything noticeable from the ECU tune. Those feeling a difference from the ECU tune, please explain what you feel specifically. I know the typical "pull harder in low RPM ranges", etc., but honestly the differences must be so miniscule that I can't tell them apart on my butt dyno. Although to be fair, I'm probably not at all an expert there.

Overall, I'd say skip the ECU tune and just get the DCT tune.

[schnell1982]

Originally Posted by kevin @ eas

Thats crazy for labor to install. We have done about 20 flashes this month with the sale. If interested feel free to PM me for pricing. We are in Anaheim not too far from you.

I agree its absurd.
I was just going off the website.
Thank you for the offer but there is a great Dinan independent in Murrieta "Autohaus Frankfurt"
They take care of everyone really well.

[schnell1982]

Originally Posted by Locksmythe

Schnell1982,

Was the GTS DCT code that some are using tested in this comparison? Curious how the Dinan DCT code compares.

I don't know about any specific code unfortunately

[cenix]

Originally Posted by Locksmythe

Dinan doesn't list cold start or redline alterations on the website. I am not sure those are included.

If you read some more posts below my observations posting, I clarified that the cold start was not "deleted" but a more tamer version of it where the RPM's are not as high on cold start. Word for word and in a literal sense the cold start was not deleted.

[Locksmythe]

Got the ECU done at the dealer yesterday since I was in for another service. They quoted $50 more than the local independent which is in the same general area, so I agreed for convenience, but then they charged 5-10% in shop fees on top. Blah.

No comment yet on performance, need more time to drive.

[BAMFM3]

My dealer is charging me $120 out the door for the DCT software. Only problem is that they can't get it to load....starting a new thread for it now...

[pbonsalb]

There is a newer cable or loading device they may need. My dealer had to get Dinan to overnight one.

[BAMFM3]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

There is a newer cable or loading device they may need. My dealer had to get Dinan to overnight one.

Awesome, thank you for the info! I'll let the dealership know to look into this

[L4ces]

I guess I should just schedule it asap. Only one person noticed a difference and that was due to the DCT tweaks. Does anyone know or have noticed any improvements to be appreciated for a 6mt with stock engine and exhaust?

[Tzounis]

So there are only 2 Dinan retailers in my area, one being a dealer and the other an independent. When I called the dealer on Saturday to inquire about the tune the SA was clueless about it. He took my info and said he would check on it and call me back with pricing. After not hearing from him in over an hour I called back and got another SA who assured me the original SA I spoke with would call me back shortly. He eventually called me back (I work on Saturdays and could not answer the phone at this time) 15 minutes before they closed and did not leave a message. By the time I could call back they were closed.

Needless to say, the poor service ticked me off, so I called the independent on Monday to get a quote. He told me 1-1.5 hours. This sounded fair to me, but I was still curious what the dealer was going to charge me. I called the dealer and got a third SA on the phone. This SA knew exactly what I was referring to, and he said they charge 2 hours for the install at $119/hr. He advised me to buy the tune directly from Dinan because his parts dept would want to mark it up above the 50% off price!?!

At this point I called the independent up and scheduled to bring my car in that (Monday) evening. Then yesterday the original SA I spoke with at the dealer called me and told me they would charge me 1 hour for the install and my total cost including the tune at 50% off was $404. I told him he was too late and his colleague already told me 2 hours so I decided to go elsewhere.

When the independent called to tell me my car was ready I expressed my disappointment that a BMW dealer was somehow going to charge me less than an independent for the exact same service. He told me that BMW is starting to get very aggressive with their service/parts in an effort to gain back customers who have turned to independent shops. I told him that if they adjusted my exhaust (it was crooked from when I installed it and I haven't had a chance to take it to a muffler shop yet) and otherwise took good care of me I would be ok with the extra .5 hour. They gave the car a once over and pulled an old CEL code that came and went a month or so ago. He advised that one of the vanos solenoids was starting to go bad, but it wasn't something major and that I can find the part online for about $300 and replace it myself. I appreciated him offering this information and not trying to sell me another repair.

In hindsight I wish I had just sent my ECU in to Dinan to have it flashed. The independent is dropping the car off in my driveway today since I don't have time to pick it up this week. I will report back with my observations after I've put 100 or so miles on it.

[R3dliner]

can't seem to find any dyno sheets. Beginning to think it more throttle mapping and placebo effect

[L4ces]

The Dinan page says 9 hp so let's hope something is noticeable.

[pbonsalb]

It is hard to feel 7 crank hp peak power -- 414 to 421. That is less than 2%. You would have to be a race car driver. If there was a large gain in some rpm range, you might feel that, but the peak gain is only 9 crank hp, I think I read around 6000 rpm. If the engine is making around 300 crank hp there, that is around 3% power gain. Still probably less than anyone short of a race car driver could feel.

If you are a regular redliner, you might notice the extra 200 rpm that are supposedly added. Early descriptions of the tune stated the limiter was moved from 8400 to 8600, while later ones just said something along the lines of "higher roadspeed in each gear."

The tune can't do much to the cold start since the tune is CARB legal and the cold start heats up the cats. Maybe it softens it a little -- I can't tell for sure yet.

Its one of those mods that may do a little bit. If you do a bunch of mods, you make enough power to feel. I can definitely feel my car has more power than stock, but it has a full x-pipe, intake, pulley, rear exhaust, Vishnu Procede with meth injection, and now the Dinan tune.

Can't attribute any feeling to the Dinan tune. Have driven only 50 miles since adding it and Dinan says to allow 100 miles for adaption. I am not expecting anything I can feel. If there are 200 more rpm, that could extend the fun zone by a little.

I will try to get on a dyno next month to see how all my mods together do. Cars with all the bolt on mods and tunes often seem to be in the 385-395 range on a Dynojet in SAE. Only a few cars have broken 400 rwhp.

[cenix]

I think the difference people are hoping to feel is something along the lines of a catless x-pipe with stage 2 ECU tune where both are easily quantifiable and qualitative/observable. The Dinan tune is going to disappoint if that is what most are expecting.

I feel like the Dinan tune is more of a refinement than a pure peformance tune. Akin to what professional tuners do along the lines of smoothing out spikes and valleys in the motor's power/torque curves. When a good tuner is successful in this regard, the car doesn't "feel" any faster but in actuality the car is faster because the car is delivering the power in a more efficient, linear manner. This is the Dinan tune but on a smaller scale.

Just my thoughts/observations.

[Tzounis]

I just got my car back from having the tune installed, and I could not be happier with it! I noticed an immediate difference, and now have put about 30 miles on it. I have CNT exhaust and a K&N filter, no other mods.

As cenix noted, this is not a tune where you are going to feel a big jump in thrust...it kind of smooths everything out. It's tuning like you would tune a guitar, not a turbo car. I can definitely hear the difference in both the engine itself and in the exhaust note. Looking back I almost feel like it was running a little lean before. Not sure if it was, but that's what it feels and sounds like. The exhaust is a lot less raspy and poppy now, with a slightly lower tone.

Overall I'm pleasantly surprised because I was not expecting much based on what I was reading on this thread. On Dinan's website they claim "improved ignition timing, fuel delivery, and cam timing" and "Changes to the throttle mapping help soften throttle tip-in for a sportier feel and improved modulation capabilities." I can absolutely feel all of that, and I'm still 70 miles away from the 100 miles they say it takes to feel the full effects.

I will report back after 100 miles, but if you are on the fence about it I say just go get it! Put it this way, if I had the chance to take it back for a full refund I wouldn't even consider it. Even at full price it would be money well spent IMO.

[Kash]

Originally Posted by Tzounis

I just got my car back from having the tune installed, and I could not be happier with it! I noticed an immediate difference, and now have put about 30 miles on it. I have CNT exhaust and a K&N filter, no other mods.

As cenix noted, this is not a tune where you are going to feel a big jump in thrust...it kind of smooths everything out. It's tuning like you would tune a guitar, not a turbo car. I can definitely hear the difference in both the engine itself and in the exhaust note. Looking back I almost feel like it was running a little lean before. Not sure if it was, but that's what it feels and sounds like. The exhaust is a lot less raspy and poppy now, with a slightly lower tone.

Overall I'm pleasantly surprised because I was not expecting much based on what I was reading on this thread. On Dinan's website they claim "improved ignition timing, fuel delivery, and cam timing" and "Changes to the throttle mapping help soften throttle tip-in for a sportier feel and improved modulation capabilities." I can absolutely feel all of that, and I'm still 70 miles away from the 100 miles they say it takes to feel the full effects.

I will report back after 100 miles, but if you are on the fence about it I say just go get it! Put it this way, if I had the chance to take it back for a full refund I wouldn't even consider it. Even at full price it would be money well spent IMO.

What's the total cost for tune?

[KillBill999]

Dropped my car off at Europeanautosource last week. Got the Dinan race tune with Macht Schnell pipes. Thumbs upppp. Lots more low end power and a little bit more growl (I have muffler delete so the louder growl may be a combo). Also threw in the DCT tune. Shifts are smoother/quicker. Highly recommended if you have always felt the low end power wasn't satisfying enough.

[codinge90]

Originally Posted by KillBill999

Dropped my car off at Europeanautosource last week. Got the Dinan race tune with Macht Schnell pipes. Thumbs upppp. Lots more low end power and a little bit more growl (I have muffler delete so the louder growl may be a combo). Also threw in the DCT tune. Shifts are smoother/quicker. Highly recommended if you have always felt the low end power wasn't satisfying enough.

Where did you find the Dinan race tune? I called around and from what I heard they stopped the Dinan stage 2 tune for e9x m3's a while ago. Only provide their stage 1 ecu tune on their website currently

[pbonsalb]

The shop I used said Dinan had another tune that was about $660 plus labor but I did not spend the extra money. The shop said all the tunes Dinan is selling are CARB legal so it was unsure of the benefits of the more expensive tune.

[L4ces]

Originally Posted by Tzounis

I just got my car back from having the tune installed, and I could not be happier with it! I noticed an immediate difference, and now have put about 30 miles on it. I have CNT exhaust and a K&N filter, no other mods.

As cenix noted, this is not a tune where you are going to feel a big jump in thrust...it kind of smooths everything out. It's tuning like you would tune a guitar, not a turbo car. I can definitely hear the difference in both the engine itself and in the exhaust note. Looking back I almost feel like it was running a little lean before. Not sure if it was, but that's what it feels and sounds like. The exhaust is a lot less raspy and poppy now, with a slightly lower tone.

Overall I'm pleasantly surprised because I was not expecting much based on what I was reading on this thread. On Dinan's website they claim "improved ignition timing, fuel delivery, and cam timing" and "Changes to the throttle mapping help soften throttle tip-in for a sportier feel and improved modulation capabilities." I can absolutely feel all of that, and I'm still 70 miles away from the 100 miles they say it takes to feel the full effects.

I will report back after 100 miles, but if you are on the fence about it I say just go get it! Put it this way, if I had the chance to take it back for a full refund I wouldn't even consider it. Even at full price it would be money well spent IMO.

Scheduled for tomorrow.