[Charlie_Hustle]

Wow, lots crazy talk on here. I am a client adviser for Sam Swope BMW in Louisville, ky. We are an authorized dealer for Dinan. First of all I have never heard of or seen a car turned down for service, or have warranty voided over installation of their products. I have owned, sold new, used, and CPO cars with Dinan software and other products. I have seen BMW void warranty on other tunes, but never Dinan. As far as my management or I know, BMW still works in conjunction with Dinan and nothing has changed. BMW, as is the way with everyone now has lot more big brother ability than most people realize. You cannot erase all the codes, readings, and memory of your BMW with a simple code reader. Now that being said, unless you have a serious issue where BMW N/A gets involved or you have pissed off someone in the dealership they will not pull the back up info about your car that has been tracked over its lifetime. Steve Dinan has been producing some of the best aftermarket products for any car out there for 25+ years, and I understand they have been known to rebadge, resell, or greatly markup products as well. No company or organization is perfect, and Dinan is a business in it to make money.
I have loved 99% of the products and services I have seen and/or owned from Dinan over the last 5 years. Recently, they have been slipping a bit as BMW has not been as forthcoming or easy to work with as in the past due to the MPerformance line coming out. Therefore, the tunes have had a few more issues and have taken much longer to come to fruition for new products. However, typically when it comes to tunes they make in my opinion the best performing tune all the way around. All out Power numbers, delivery of power, throttle response, fuel economy, and of course WARRANTY.
Im not going to argue that you have some jackass dealers in Arizona they may be playing hardball, but unless I seen an official letter or sometime of proof from BMW N/A that they voided your warranty, I'm not buying it. And if that did happen, Dinan has on many occasions as advertised & promised picked up the slack and paid you or BMW for any issues that may or may not arose from their products.
Dinan will absolutely add huge resale value to your car, I have seen it too many times that nobody can deny that. Its the benchmark standard for under warranty vehicles, and to me you have to been crazy to jeopardize that factory warranty on a inferior product anyways. Sorry to you guys in AZ about the inconvenience, but nobody ever said hotrodding and racing were easy or cheap.

[RambleJ]

But you cannot deny my attachment that if you have a standard warranty car and place a Dinan product on it BMW will deny CPO down the line. Its in black and white straight from BMW. Not the word of the internet. With that said. I understand and that BMW and Dinan work together for claim issues once you have Dinan on a car. The shit hits the fan is when things like your turbo's go out or some other issue that BMW can point the finger back at Dinan and deny paying for that claim becuase it was caused by Dinans tune going above BMW standards and yes I have heard of this happening on more than one occasion and that is where the "mexican standoff" starts and the owner is therre with a rental while this gets straightened out.

Now if its a simple fuel pump, standard scope or brakes ofcourse BMW isn't going to deny that stuff, its a simple covered benefit.

[RambleJ]

Hmmm not a single response.. Interesting..

[Tsuvoi]

I would not count on a small company like Dinan for any warranty claims. I've had a lot of interaction with all kinds of companies about warranty claims and one thing I've learnt is that you can offer whatever warranty you want, when comes the time to honor it, all I hear is CRICKETS. A.k.a. the blame game. It's never anybody's fault so you're usually left holding the bag. If by any chance you get lucky and manage to get a claim accepted, it usually takes 8 to 12 months to get the $$$. That's 1 year without a car.

I would definitely consider a BMW tune if offered... Might be less hp/tq than those cheap too-good-to-be-real tunes but you know there's a real warranty behind it.

[DarkTrigger]

PPK will be the way I go. May be more expensive and not have the same power output, but Dinan will be for when I no longer have a valid BMW warranty!

[Ed335xi m]

Does anyone know when dinan is going to have the stage 2 software upgrade for 2013 335xi sedan?

[shivaswrath]

Originally Posted by Edwinf25

Does anyone know when dinan is going to have the stage 2 software upgrade for 2013 335xi sedan?

let's start with stage 1.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by RambleJ

Hmmm not a single response.. Interesting..

I've had full Dinan S3 on a 2001 330i, a 2003 330iZHP, and my recently-sold 2007 335i Coupe. Never once had a problem of any sort, never had any issues with warranty. Dinan's been around a long time and continues to have a good relationship with BMW and BMW dealers. They have built racing engines for cars that participate in LeMans, Daytona, and other national and international racing venues. My dealer sells and installs Dinan software and engine/chassis parts. Dinan's tune level for the N54/N55 is not one that would cause blown turbos or other serious engine damage unless there's a defective part in the mix.

There are those of us who prefer what Dinan offers and those who don't. It's a personal choice, and it all depends on your point of view and the relationship you have with your dealer - and how you drive and treat your car. I like Dinan's racing reputation and will probably stay with their products, although I don't plan on doing too much to my F30. That said, the BMW power pack for the E9x N55-powered cars was underrated, and definitely worth looking at as an alternative.

[shivaswrath]

Originally Posted by roundel335

I've had full Dinan S3 on a 2001 330i, a 2003 330iZHP, and my recently-sold 2007 335i Coupe. Never once had a problem of any sort, never had any issues with warranty. Dinan's been around a long time and continues to have a good relationship with BMW and BMW dealers. They have built racing engines for cars that participate in LeMans, Daytona, and other national and international racing venues. My dealer sells and installs Dinan software and engine/chassis parts. Dinan's tune level for the N54/N55 is not one that would cause blown turbos or other serious engine damage unless there's a defective part in the mix.

There are those of us who prefer what Dinan offers and those who don't. It's a personal choice, and it all depends on your point of view and the relationship you have with your dealer - and how you drive and treat your car. I like Dinan's racing reputation and will probably stay with their products, although I don't plan on doing too much to my F30. That said, the BMW power pack for the E9x N55-powered cars was underrated, and definitely worth looking at as an alternative.

How underrated?
Was it putting down nearly 400 TQ like Dinan?

PPK would be easier for those with extended warranties for sure...
Great insight!

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by shivaswrath

How underrated?
Was it putting down nearly 400 TQ like Dinan?

PPK would be easier for those with extended warranties for sure...
Great insight!

Best I can tell you on the PPK was what a fellow CCA member told me last year - he said the power increase on his 2011 335i Coupe was "significant" and "underrated", as I believe all BMW said it added was 25HP. This same friend now owns a 2013 V8 M3, and he still talks about how good that PPK was.

Anything that's an official option for our cars will always be the optimal choice regarding standard/extended/CPO warranty. I think the proof will be in the opinions voiced by those who opt in on the "official" PPK. I still only have about 250 miles on my car at present (I work from home), so I'm in no hurry.

[Ed335xi m]

PPK is available for '13 335xi sedan m sport?

[shivaswrath]

Originally Posted by Edwinf25

PPK is available for '13 335xi sedan m sport?

Jesus

[Jamesons Viggen]

I love it when a component for my blower setup needs a part from Dinan. Yeah, that will be $400, then I find out it's an off the shelf tensioner from something like a random GM car reboxed. Then you get the GM part number on a forum and it's $35.

That kind of stuff turns me off. Real parts and real R&D they do, that is great. Companies are out to make a profit, but at a certain point it gets a bit much when you portray parts as your own that are not.

My Dinan blower kit retailed for $10,000 and it's remarkable how few of those parts Dinan really developed...the main thing is a bracket with Dinan cnc'd into it.

[ybbiz34]

I had the Dinan Stage 2 tune on both my '07 335i and my '10 M-Sport 335i. I never had any issues with either of these cars (both leases).

However, when I went to turn in both of these leases early . . . my particular dealer told me my car was worth less because of the Dinan tune. The dealer told me that they could no longer CPO the cars. This really irritated me.

As much as I liked the hassle-free extra performance . . . I'll never go the Dinan route again.

[Sirrus]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

I had the Dinan Stage 2 tune on both my '07 335i and my '10 M-Sport 335i. I never had any issues with either of these cars (both leases).

However, when I went to turn in both of these leases early . . . my particular dealer told me my car was worth less because of the Dinan tune. The dealer told me that they could no longer CPO the cars. This really irritated me.

As much as I liked the hassle-free extra performance . . . I'll never go the Dinan route again.

Besides being irritated, what happened with the lease returns? Did they charge you an extra fee or refuse the cars?

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Sirrus

Besides being irritated, what happened with the lease returns? Did they charge you an extra fee or refuse the cars?

No. The cars weren't refused. There were no additional charges in terms of penalty fees.

I take excellent care of my cars. Had the cars not been Dinan-tuned, I could have walked away from the cars with no out-of-pocket expenses despite the fact that I was exiting the lease early. However, because the cars were Dinan-tuned and could not qualify as CPO cars (according to my dealer), the cars were worth less in the dealer's eyes.

Essentially, both cars were out of equity to the tune (no pun intended) of around $2,000. That's why I was disappointed.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

No. The cars weren't refused. There were no additional charges in terms of penalty fees.

I take excellent care of my cars. Had the cars not been Dinan-tuned, I could have walked away from the cars with no out-of-pocket expenses despite the fact that I was exiting the lease early. However, because the cars were Dinan-tuned and could not qualify as CPO cars (according to my dealer), the cars were worth less in the dealer's eyes.

Essentially, both cars were out of equity to the tune (no pun intended) of around $2,000. That's why I was disappointed.

I believe your dealer is FOS and was putting the screws to you. I've never heard of Dinan tuning not being accepted for CPO. One of my BMWCCA friends bought a 2006 M3 a couple years ago with FULL Dinan tuning and other parts (from the same dealer I use) as a CPO car. Dinan tuning can be easily removed by a simple reflash of the base DME software image. Sorry you have such an asshat for a dealer.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by roundel335

I believe your dealer is FOS and was putting the screws to you. I've never heard of Dinan tuning not being accepted for CPO. One of my BMWCCA friends bought a 2006 M3 a couple years ago with FULL Dinan tuning and other parts (from the same dealer I use) as a CPO car. Dinan tuning can be easily removed by a simple reflash of the base DME software image. Sorry you have such an asshat for a dealer.

Believe me I threw out every argument I possibly could.

Their position was that even though the car could be re-flashed . . . I had run the car with the tune for three years and put additional stress on the parts, turbos, etc.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Believe me I threw out every argument I possibly could.

Their position was that even though the car could be re-flashed . . . I had run the car with the tune for three years and put additional stress on the parts, turbos, etc.

Sounds like typical dealer talk when trading/turning in a car, and not a BMW policy. The "additional stress" is within BMW tolerance levels, as that's another reason why Dinan tunes are so conservative compared to others. If they sell it, they should either tell you up front and make you sign a waiver or acknowledgement about the possible "loss of value", or not allow it to be installed on a leased car. That's just wrong if they didn't do that.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by roundel335

Sounds like typical dealer talk when trading/turning in a car, and not a BMW policy. The "additional stress" is within BMW tolerance levels, as that's another reason why Dinan tunes are so conservative compared to others. If they sell it, they should either tell you up front and make you sign a waiver or acknowledgement about the possible "loss of value", or not allow it to be installed on a leased car. That's just wrong if they didn't do that.

The kicker is that they are an authorized Dinan dealer.

[Sirrus]

I'm guessing they gave you a harder time because you were asking the dealer to buy it back, as opposed to a lease return through BMW. If that's the case, I wouldn't be surprised to hear such arguments from them. You know they're going to turn around and sell it as a CPO plus markup for the tune. :

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by Sirrus

I'm guessing they gave you a harder time because you were asking the dealer to buy it back, as opposed to a lease return through BMW. If that's the case, I wouldn't be surprised to hear such arguments from them. You know they're going to turn around and sell it as a CPO plus markup for the tune. :

Yeah, I'd agree with that. My friend who bought the full-Dinan E46 M3 as a CPO paid a premium for all the Dinan gear - however, it was an exceptionally well-cared-for car and I don't think he got gouged - not like what we're talking about here.