The Official Dinan Thread

[BADCLOWN]

Brand new? Must have been pricey

[JupiterBMW]

Wow, glad to see people are still loving on the Dinan parts... I am too to be honest. And let me say this, now that I own two newer M vehicles, you guys cannot bitch ONE BIT about prices... The exhaust for my M3 is $2500... Granted, I got mine for free, but that's a whole other story...

The other reason you guys cannot justify prices is warranty. With the ZHP being out of warranty, there is no real reason to spend the extra money on Dinan. But, if you own a car in warranty, buying mods that will match and not compromise the factory BMW warranty is a huge plus. Not to mention, you can get them installed at the dealer... Sadly, this is the majority of enthusiasts for the new BMWs... I spend a lot of time on Bimmerpost (a forum catering to the uber wealthy new BMW owners) and you see a lot of these type of people... A "build" thread consists of the OEM carbon fiber BMW Performance parts, some aftermarket exhaust, and wheels... The stuff we do with the ZHP is typically much more involved... (and therefore, in my eyes, way cooler)

So, once again, I agree that their parts are pricey, but damn I think they're beautiful and worth it. I love the Dinan exhaust on my M3... One of these days I'll get a sound clip of it and post... That sound alone is worth the coin...

Still a believer over here, glad to see others are too... For the haters, go on and hate... Just do it elsewhere...

[Sockethead]

You had a lot of Dinan parts on your ZHP too...

[Galapolis]

Sorry for bumping such an old thread but just wanted to share my experience with a couple Dinan parts I recently bought. I never liked Dinan because of their shady business practices (rebranding parts as their own when they aren't and then overcharging). That hasn't changed, but what also hasn't changed is the fact that no other manufacturer offers a proper aftermarket box intake for M54. Dinan also recently lowered their prices on a lot of older Dinan products (hopefully that doesn't mean they will stop production soon) which was the final incentive I needed to go for the intake.



My main reason was to get slightly more intake sound while keeping an OEM appearance. Sound is throatier for sure but only starting at 3500rpm. My car is a fairly strict OEM+/Clubsport type build with the only sound "upgrades" being Group N engine mounts, a full ZHP exhaust and removed HVAC/engine sound deadening. All of that created a nice OEM+ sound that I was pretty happy with, but I still wanted to break into Clubsport territory. The Dinan intake does achieve that, though I can see why some people might be disappointed given how it is barely more audible. Just depends on what you are looking to get out of an intake. The Dinan box does deliver what I was looking for.

What I didn't expect was the massive bump in throttle response. That alone probably makes the intake worth it given current pricing ($220 brand new), though to be fair, you get that with any other cone style intake too.

The stage 2 Dinan software to match the intake is $150 and since I had the intake I decided to have that flashed as well. The major selling points are a higher redline, removed top speed limiter, improved throttle response and smooth/predicable power delivery. I'm obviously a sucker for throttle response so a Sprint Booster or Shark Injector have been on my list for a long time. But the Sprint Booster is a whopping $300 and the Shark Injector gets very mixed reviews. So again, depending on expectations I can see why the tune might be disappointing, but to me it delivered what I wanted (improved throttle response in the same manner as the Sprint Booster or Shark Injector) at a lower price than either and with a few bonuses. Been meaning to remove the top speed limiter for years already and the higher redline means I have a reason to finally upgrade to the ZHP cluster with its nice red needles.

Power/butt dyno feels identical so I'm guessing 0hp difference. I expected that though. What did improve is high RPM power delivery/smoothness. The review from page 7 is spot on. The M54b30 is notorious for falling on its face past 4k RPM. The Dinan tune does help with that. Accelerating from low RPMs is also more consistent in terms of power delivery.

As long as you can get the parts for cheap they are OK. Would definitely steer clear of the more expensive parts though.

[san]

Sorry for bumping such an old thread but just wanted to share my experience with a couple Dinan parts I recently bought. I never liked Dinan because of their shady business practices (rebranding parts as their own when they aren't and then overcharging). That hasn't changed, but what also hasn't changed is the fact that no other manufacturer offers a proper aftermarket box intake for M54. Dinan also recently lowered their prices on a lot of older Dinan products (hopefully that doesn't mean they will stop production soon) which was the final incentive I needed to go for the intake.



My main reason was to get slightly more intake sound while keeping an OEM appearance. Sound is throatier for sure but only starting at 3500rpm. My car is a fairly strict OEM+/Clubsport type build with the only sound "upgrades" being Group N engine mounts, a full ZHP exhaust and removed HVAC/engine sound deadening. All of that created a nice OEM+ sound that I was pretty happy with, but I still wanted to break into Clubsport territory. The Dinan intake does achieve that, though I can see why some people might be disappointed given how it is barely more audible. Just depends on what you are looking to get out of an intake. The Dinan box does deliver what I was looking for.

What I didn't expect was the massive bump in throttle response. That alone probably makes the intake worth it given current pricing ($220 brand new), though to be fair, you get that with any other cone style intake too.

The stage 2 Dinan software to match the intake is $150 and since I had the intake I decided to have that flashed as well. The major selling points are a higher redline, removed top speed limiter, improved throttle response and smooth/predicable power delivery. I'm obviously a sucker for throttle response so a Sprint Booster or Shark Injector have been on my list for a long time. But the Sprint Booster is a whopping $300 and the Shark Injector gets very mixed reviews. So again, depending on expectations I can see why the tune might be disappointing, but to me it delivered what I wanted (improved throttle response in the same manner as the Sprint Booster or Shark Injector) at a lower price than either and with a few bonuses. Been meaning to remove the top speed limiter for years already and the higher redline means I have a reason to finally upgrade to the ZHP cluster with its nice red needles.

Power/butt dyno feels identical so I'm guessing 0hp difference. I expected that though. What did improve is high RPM power delivery/smoothness. The review from page 7 is spot on. The M54b30 is notorious for falling on its face past 4k RPM. The Dinan tune does help with that. Accelerating from low RPMs is also more consistent in terms of power delivery.

As long as you can get the parts for cheap they are OK. Would definitely steer clear of the more expensive parts though.

The higher red line is compared with the non zhp M54B30 right? The redline with Dinan software is still 6750 rpm I think?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[3ZHPGUY]

Sorry for bumping such an old thread but just wanted to share my experience with a couple Dinan parts I recently bought. I never liked Dinan because of their shady business practices (rebranding parts as their own when they aren't and then overcharging). That hasn't changed, but what also hasn't changed is the fact that no other manufacturer offers a proper aftermarket box intake for M54. Dinan also recently lowered their prices on a lot of older Dinan products (hopefully that doesn't mean they will stop production soon) which was the final incentive I needed to go for the intake.



My main reason was to get slightly more intake sound while keeping an OEM appearance. Sound is throatier for sure but only starting at 3500rpm. My car is a fairly strict OEM+/Clubsport type build with the only sound "upgrades" being Group N engine mounts, a full ZHP exhaust and removed HVAC/engine sound deadening. All of that created a nice OEM+ sound that I was pretty happy with, but I still wanted to break into Clubsport territory. The Dinan intake does achieve that, though I can see why some people might be disappointed given how it is barely more audible. Just depends on what you are looking to get out of an intake. The Dinan box does deliver what I was looking for.

What I didn't expect was the massive bump in throttle response. That alone probably makes the intake worth it given current pricing ($220 brand new), though to be fair, you get that with any other cone style intake too.

The stage 2 Dinan software to match the intake is $150 and since I had the intake I decided to have that flashed as well. The major selling points are a higher redline, removed top speed limiter, improved throttle response and smooth/predicable power delivery. I'm obviously a sucker for throttle response so a Sprint Booster or Shark Injector have been on my list for a long time. But the Sprint Booster is a whopping $300 and the Shark Injector gets very mixed reviews. So again, depending on expectations I can see why the tune might be disappointing, but to me it delivered what I wanted (improved throttle response in the same manner as the Sprint Booster or Shark Injector) at a lower price than either and with a few bonuses. Been meaning to remove the top speed limiter for years already and the higher redline means I have a reason to finally upgrade to the ZHP cluster with its nice red needles.

Power/butt dyno feels identical so I'm guessing 0hp difference. I expected that though. What did improve is high RPM power delivery/smoothness. The review from page 7 is spot on. The M54b30 is notorious for falling on its face past 4k RPM. The Dinan tune does help with that. Accelerating from low RPMs is also more consistent in terms of power delivery.

As long as you can get the parts for cheap they are OK. Would definitely steer clear of the more expensive parts though.

Add the Turner under drive pulleys and it may give you a better edge than the tune


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[Galapolis]

The higher red line is compared with the non zhp M54B30 right? The redline with Dinan software is still 6750 rpm I think?


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Yes regular M54, my 330i is a base model as described in my sig.

Add the Turner under drive pulleys and it may give you a better edge than the tune

Was going to get the Rogue pulleys either way. ZHPizza's car actually has the Turner pulleys but it didn't feel like it had an edge over the tune, though it's hard to compare two completely different cars. Additionally, the 3.38 diff already makes a bigger difference than all the parts we have mentioned combined.

[3ZHPGUY]

Yes regular M54, my 330i is a base model as described in my sig.



Was going to get the Rogue pulleys either way. ZHPizza's car actually has the Turner pulleys but it didn't feel like it had an edge over the tune, though it's hard to compare two completely different cars. Additionally, the 3.38 diff already makes a bigger difference than all the parts we have mentioned combined.

I had a very long and in-depth conversation with a DINAN tech/club racer, 10+ years ago when I added my CAI. At the end of that conversation, I never went any further.

Also, over five years ago, I stopped at EAG and took out a DINAN ZHP, with CAI, Throttle Body and Stage III tune. In the car with me was my son and son in law, in their early 30’s. At the end we all fully agreed, that the performance feel on mine was far better. Note, that that was an open opinion and discussion as I drove. It did surprise all of us.


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[Galapolis]

I had a very long and in-depth conversation with a DINAN tech/club racer, 10+ years ago when I added my CAI. At the end of that conversation, I never went any further.

Also, over five years ago, I stopped at EAG and took out a DINAN ZHP, with CAI, Throttle Body and Stage III tune. In the car with me was my son and son in law, in their early 30’s. At the end we all fully agreed, that the performance feel on mine was far better. Note, that that was an open opinion and discussion as I drove. It did surprise all of us.


Sent from my iPhone Xs using Tapatalk

Well I just went ahead and ordered the pulleys. Been wanting those for years too so I guess now is the time. I'll report back.

[Galapolis]

Finally got around to install the pulleys. It was quite an experience. First I find out that the AC tensioner requires a larger than T50 torx bit to push aside. Forums/Google provide no clear answer on whether it's T55 or T60. Here's the answer: It's T60 but T55 works as well. Of course the hardware stores around me don't carry T55 and bigger anymore. Luckily I was able to find the last one at Advance Auto. Guy there said they stopped carrying/stocking them. No Idea how I replaced the tensioners 2 years ago without the T55 but whatever. So today I actually go do the install and of course both stock pulleys won't come off, even after hitting them repeatedly for half an hour. So I decide to carefully PB blast them and get a wrench behind them and slowly pry them off. Eventually they come off.

After cleaning off all the PB blast I spend the next hour or so trying to get the new belt on. No matter how much force I put into it, I just can't get it on. It feels too short. I wanted to give up so reinstalled all the stock stuff and then couldn't get the stock belt on the stock pulleys either. At this point I think I must be going crazy because I've literally done this before when I replaced the tensioners and had no problems back then. In the end a forum post helped which suggested loosening the idle tensioner as well, getting the belt on, then rotating it back into position. Probably tore a muscle or two but it worked in the end.

Impressions: Throttle response noticeably improved under 4k RPM. Exact same difference as going from the stock intake to Dinan intake and similar difference as going from stock tune to Dinan tune. As you can imagine, all 3 together is pretty nice. ZHPizza would love it. Overall hp feels no different, though I expected that. Interestingly top end (4k-6k RPM) feels no different either. I always heard that's where pulleys really make a difference but I guess not. The real disappointment though is the steering feel. I really wanted heavier steering but it feels exactly the same.

The real improvement for me is the idle behavior. My car has always had major issues when trying to get it rolling in 1st gear. If you didn't give it a ton of throttle it would just stall the engine. Now the transition is much smoother and I barely need to apply any throttle anymore to get the car rolling. Huge quality of life improvement.

So yeah pulleys are definitely recommended, though for the money I would still always do intake + tune first. The pulleys are more expensive and not as good of a value. Everyone always says they should be last on your list and now I understand why. Worth having on the list, just not worth prioritizing. I only did water pump + power steering because I have an overunning alternator pulley (also underdrives) that I've been wanting to install. Maybe that will amplify the effects even more. Also for those worried about the weight, I was surprised by how heavy the stock plastic pulleys were. The metal pulleys are still heavier but not by much. Hopefully bearing wear won't be an issue with only a small weight increase.