Dinan DCT Tune Review

[MFL]

I'd love to see a comparison between the Dinan and GTS tune as the GTS tune costs a fraction of what the Dinan one does.

[sensi09]

Wonder if there is any difference between all the DCT tunes. All the reviews sound the same

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by sensi09

Wonder if there is any difference between all the DCT tunes. All the reviews sound the same

I doubt any of us will be able to tell the difference assuming any exist. I think we should just all be happy since these dct tunes have eliminated a lot of the issues we had with the transmission

[M3-S65]

Originally Posted by MFL

I'd love to see a comparison between the Dinan and GTS tune as the GTS tune costs a fraction of what the Dinan one does.

Cost vs risk "comparison":

1. GTS tune by a guy that doesn't warranty his work, has zero relationship with BMW, does it remotely because he is just some guy without any locations other than himself = Possible refusal of BMW to service your (extremely complicated and valued at over 12k + ) DCT transmission due to them not knowing said "guy"
COST: for DCT tune and potentially getting refused DCT warranty service: $125.00

2. Dinan: direct relationship with BMW (locations at BMW stealerships) extra warranty covering their modifications = No refusal to service your DCT Trans.
COST: for DCT tune and continued warranty service on DCT $300.00

Save a penny lose a dollar....

[dagolfpro]

Originally Posted by M3-S65

Cost vs risk "comparison":

1. GTS tune by a guy that doesn't warranty his work, has zero relationship with BMW, does it remotely because he is just some guy without any locations other than himself = Possible refusal of BMW to service your (extremely complicated and valued at over 12k + ) DCT transmission due to them not knowing said "guy"
COST: for DCT tune and potentially getting refused DCT warranty service: $125.00

2. Dinan: direct relationship with BMW (locations at BMW stealerships) extra warranty covering their modifications = No refusal to service your DCT Trans.
COST: for DCT tune and continued warranty service on DCT $300.00

Save a penny lose a dollar....

$175 for peace if mind. Totally worth it. Can you get it done at any authorized Dinan shop or only at Dinan?

[///M Ryder]

Originally Posted by dagolfpro

$175 for peace if mind. Totally worth it. Can you get it done at any authorized Dinan shop or only at Dinan?

Authorized Dinan dealer. Check Dinan's website for a dealer near you......Phil

[MFL]

Originally Posted by M3-S65

Cost vs risk "comparison":

1. GTS tune by a guy that doesn't warranty his work, has zero relationship with BMW, does it remotely because he is just some guy without any locations other than himself = Possible refusal of BMW to service your (extremely complicated and valued at over 12k + ) DCT transmission due to them not knowing said "guy"
COST: for DCT tune and potentially getting refused DCT warranty service: $125.00

2. Dinan: direct relationship with BMW (locations at BMW stealerships) extra warranty covering their modifications = No refusal to service your DCT Trans.
COST: for DCT tune and continued warranty service on DCT $300.00

Save a penny lose a dollar....

Considering that the GTS tune is an OEM program for the same transmission in a M3 GTS and the Dinan is 3rd party and is not warrantied past 50k miles. That guy that doesn't warranty his work doesn't have to because he's programming something that has already been vetted and warrantied by the OEM.

Let it be known, if the Dinan program causes your transmission go tits up and BMW hears word of it, they're likely going to defer you to Dinan for the repair bill. Full transmission replacement on these things run north of 4 figures from the dealership and Dinan won't warranty them past the new factory 4yr/50,000 mile warranty.

The GTS tune is good to go with my CPO warranty. It costs less and I'll bet the differences between them aside from the obvious price delta is marginal at best.

[dpgfunk]

Originally Posted by MFL

Considering that the GTS tune is an OEM program for the same transmission in a M3 GTS and the Dinan is 3rd party and is not warrantied past 50k miles. That guy that doesn't warranty his work doesn't have to because he's programming something that has already been vetted and warrantied by the OEM.

Let it be known, if the Dinan program causes your transmission go tits up and BMW hears word of it, they're likely going to defer you to Dinan for the repair bill. Full transmission replacement on these things run north of 4 figures from the dealership and Dinan won't warranty them past the new factory 4yr/50,000 mile warranty.

The GTS tune is good to go with my CPO warranty. It costs less and I'll bet the differences between them aside from the obvious price delta is marginal at best.

I had the GTS DCT software loaded by Alex on my car and recently had my car tuned by a vendor on here. The tuner ran a check on my vehicle and found that Alex left a bunch of errors in the log without clearing it. The tuner also confirmed that the DCT software that was loaded on my car was NOT the OEM GTS software and was not able to identify what exactly it was. This didn't surprise me as I've read that most people were using a modified GTS DCT software to account for the differences in cooling between our vehicles and the GTS.

Not trying to blast Alex at all, but I really wish he would have done a cleaner job with the software upload - but you get what you pay for, right? So far no problems/issues with Alex's software and I do feel that the one provided by him is an improvement over stock. I simply bought into all the good reviews about his services and went to him without worrying about any potential issues - which was my own mistake. Just wanted to leave some food for thought out on the table for those who are considering his software vs. Dinan.

[Leonardo629]

can you share what error the "tuner" discovered? Were those errors there before Alex touched your car. I have Alex's GTS DCT program, and he also did some coding as well...so I'm curious. My car drives fine though by the way, nothing is out of the norm except better DCT shifting.

Originally Posted by dpgfunk

I had the GTS DCT software loaded by Alex on my car and recently had my car tuned by a vendor on here. The tuner ran a check on my vehicle and found that Alex left a bunch of errors in the log without clearing it. The tuner also confirmed that the DCT software that was loaded on my car was NOT the OEM GTS software and was not able to identify what exactly it was. This didn't surprise me as I've read that most people were using a modified GTS DCT software to account for the differences in cooling between our vehicles and the GTS.

Not trying to blast Alex at all, but I really wish he would have done a cleaner job with the software upload - but you get what you pay for, right? So far no problems/issues with Alex's software and I do feel that the one provided by him is an improvement over stock. I simply bought into all the good reviews about his services and went to him without worrying about any potential issues - which was my own mistake. Just wanted to leave some food for thought out on the table for those who are considering his software vs. Dinan.

[rjd598]

This whole thread is starting to sound like when tuning first came about for the s65. A lot of complaining, whining, and paranoia about the warranty and if the car will blow. It's 2014 and no one cares anymore. You either tune your car or you're too scared to take the "risk" by getting caught by the dealer and getting warranty refused. Bottom line you either get the dct tune or you don't. People who try to justify paying more for dinan will never convince all the rest of us who didn't go with dinan and instead some other vendor. The warranty excuse is getting old and soon enough all the e9x will be out of warranty so it won't even matter, but for the sake of debate at least it's a good point

[dpgfunk]

Originally Posted by Leonardo629

can you share what error the "tuner" discovered? Were those errors there before Alex touched your car. I have Alex's GTS DCT program, and he also did some coding as well...so I'm curious. My car drives fine though by the way, nothing is out of the norm except better DCT shifting.

My car never threw any errors prior to the software upload, it's a low mileage 2012. I presume these errors were the ones that the car threw when the software was being uploaded. I didn't dig deeper for further information but I did have these errors cleared as I was concerned that they may be visible to dealerships. In all honesty, it's very easy to cut corners when your customer does not have the tools or knowledge when it comes to uploading/updating software.

But with that said, I want to emphasize that I am having no problems with the software Alex uploaded on my car, and it is a great improvement over stock. But now I'm aware that the OEM GTS software was not uploaded to my vehicle, and I have no means of identifying what was uploaded - my guess is a modified version as I have stated before. I'll have to admit that I've lost my peace of mind as far as long-term reliability goes, and question the support that Alex is capable of offering if something were to go wrong in the future. Now that Dinan has their own DCT software, I'm considering switching over if further reviews remain positive.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by rjd598

I doubt any of us will be able to tell the difference assuming any exist. I think we should just all be happy since these dct tunes have eliminated a lot of the issues we had with the transmission

I'm with you. I'd bet $20 that in a blind-test people won't be able to tell the difference with a 20ms faster shift.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Leonardo629

can you share what error the "tuner" discovered? Were those errors there before Alex touched your car. I have Alex's GTS DCT program, and he also did some coding as well...so I'm curious. My car drives fine though by the way, nothing is out of the norm except better DCT shifting.

It has to do with how the GTS software is flashed. It basically takes the transmission computer offline while the engine is running. I would think that throws lots of errors?

Next time the dealer plugs in their tool, it's going to see a ton of weird errors that are in the history but are "no longer present". Most techs probably may not care since the code is not showing at the moment and will attribute it to a glitch or a one-time problem.

[MFL]

Originally Posted by dpgfunk

My car never threw any errors prior to the software upload, it's a low mileage 2012. I presume these errors were the ones that the car threw when the software was being uploaded. I didn't dig deeper for further information but I did have these errors cleared as I was concerned that they may be visible to dealerships. In all honesty, it's very easy to cut corners when your customer does not have the tools or knowledge when it comes to uploading/updating software.

But with that said, I want to emphasize that I am having no problems with the software Alex uploaded on my car, and it is a great improvement over stock. But now I'm aware that the OEM GTS software was not uploaded to my vehicle, and I have no means of identifying what was uploaded - my guess is a modified version as I have stated before. I'll have to admit that I've lost my peace of mind as far as long-term reliability goes, and question the support that Alex is capable of offering if something were to go wrong in the future. Now that Dinan has their own DCT software, I'm considering switching over if further reviews remain positive.

So are you calling a reputable vendor here a fraud? Have you contacted him about your concerns?

[dpgfunk]

Originally Posted by MFL

So are you calling a reputable vendor here a fraud? Have you contacted him about your concerns?

Have I stated that he was a fraud? I actually said that my car felt better after his software. Why would I contact him about my concerns if they've already been addressed? Should I contact him to reprimand him? If your feelings were hurt, skip my posts and move along.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by MFL

Let it be known, if the Dinan program causes your transmission go tits up and BMW hears word of it, they're likely going to defer you to Dinan for the repair bill. Full transmission replacement on these things run north of 4 figures from the dealership and Dinan won't warranty them past the new factory 4yr/50,000 mile warranty.

Yes they will. Their stuff is warrantied for 2 years from date of purchase, even if you are out of warranty.

I don't know how they handle BMW EVP so I sent a note to clarify. I suspect it's the same 2 year thing since EVP is not the original factory warranty (even though it is a BMW warranty).

[Yellow Snow]

Originally Posted by rjd598

I doubt any of us will be able to tell the difference assuming any exist. I think we should just all be happy since these dct tunes have eliminated a lot of the issues we had with the transmission

The clue is in the default to D2. It's a safe bet that if Dinan were actually re writing the GTS DCT software, they would leave the default at S3. Surely this is just a standard GTS update, nothing more.

[Brooklyn Mark]

Originally Posted by MFL

I'd love to see a comparison between the Dinan and GTS tune

anyone?

[geneatals]

@alex@alpine

regarding your dct flash and comments above...????

[MFL]

Originally Posted by dpgfunk

Have I stated that he was a fraud? I actually said that my car felt better after his software. Why would I contact him about my concerns if they've already been addressed? Should I contact him to reprimand him? If your feelings were hurt, skip my posts and move along.

You're saying that he's not supplying what he is selling and implying that his craftsmanship is lacking based on the findings of an anonymous "Tuner" without bringing these perceived issues to his attention.

How can these concerns be addressed otherwise? Nope, I'll just regurgitate Random_Tuner_01's interpretation of the situation because they are credible.

[dpgfunk]

Originally Posted by MFL

You're saying that he's not supplying what he is selling and implying that his craftsmanship is lacking based on the findings of an anonymous "Tuner" without bringing these perceived issues to his attention.

How can these concerns be addressed otherwise? Nope, I'll just regurgitate Random_Tuner_01's interpretation of the situation because they are credible.

What concerns? I've stated that the software he provided was an improvement over stock. And I have stated that I understood why a non-OEM GTS software was flashed onto my car. I have no concerns that were left unanswered that need to be addressed. There's absolutely nothing that he can correct at this point because frankly, nothing is wrong. The fact is that error codes were left behind, and I had this corrected. Again, I am happy with the software, but have lost my peace of mind.

You can call it regurgitation of a tuner's interpretation, but I've brought forward the issue for this very reason - for you to interpret it the way you want to, and for you to take it for what it's worth. So my question to you is why you are so confident and defensive of his service? What evidence can you provide to show that everything was done 100% correctly without error, and what you have is a 100% OEM GTS software? None, so you'll just regurgitate and defend the praise that Alex has received from forum members because he is credible.

[MFL]

What I'm saying is that you're quoting some nameless tuner while discrediting a well respected coder by insinuating that he is not providing his customers with the OEM solution that he has sold them...while saying that you like his tune.