Quote:
Originally Posted by verbs
From experience in AZ, don't go with Dinan for a few reasons.
1. There are only 2 authorized Dinan dealers in AZ, both in Phoenix.....and they're both not great. The dealer in Scottsdale is run by a lying crook.
2. When BMW does a software update to your car you'll have to drag your butt back to a Dinan dealer to get your car reflashed if the update erases the tune. I had to drop my car off for at least half a day to a day probably 4 times a year. Very annoying.
3. You pay a huge premium for Dinan which isn't worth it anymore because you don't get the benefit in Arizona of having your car's powertrain be warranty-able directly by BMW, and I have read of instances where both Dinan and BMW refused to warranty someone's car problems and both played the blame game.
4. Due to #2 and #3, I would wait and get a tune that comes on a handheld device that plugs into your car like the one ESS Tuning has for the E90 series cars. You'll get better performance gains, pay half as much, and won't have to go out of your way to get your car reflashed at a Dinan center multiple times per year.
|
Just because Arizona dealers don't work with Dinan doesn't mean that your warranty is voided by BMW - so YOU are WRONG as far as that goes. It's a dealer policy, not a BMW policy. If you feel that it's better to lie to your dealer about having a non-Dinan tune, that's your business, but here in Texas nearly all the dealers are Dinan dealers as well, and the ones that aren't won't refuse warranty work if you have Dinan. So your narrow perspective really doesn't have any validitiy outside your situation.
Secondly, yes, you do have to re-flash your Dinan software after you get an ECU update, same as you would using someone else's flash tune. The two times this has happened to my present car, my dealership knows it has Dinan and they re-flash it for free during the same visit. This does NOT occur multiple times a year - so far, it's twice in 5 years for me. So again, your arguments aren't just aren't valid outside your own circumstances.
Sorry your dealerships in AZ are such hardasses, but it's their loss, and apparently yours as well. You get caught with a non-Dinan (or non-BMW PPK) tune and you REALLY get your warranty voided, no matter where you take the car. Choice is yours, but let's not spread inaccurate information.