New Dinan exhaust and TB installed!

[Roc3b]

Originally Posted by X5Jay

OK - I'll take your word for it - big bulldog balls it is! I think I'd still like to get the Dinan exhaust and have my stock tips welded on to keep the stock look. Wonder if anyone's done that yet? So take some pics Aaron! :-)

The stock sport tips are a bit more narrow than the DINAN...that plan might mess with back pressure...definately ask the tech before cutting and welding...they will prob be insulted, but ask anyway....

[pepatrick]

I like the big balls analogy.

[Dygital]

Originally Posted by DinanX5

Nice!! I may have to quote you on that...


Thanks guys! I will def. post some pics - I just wanted to get a wash first to make everything shine...
Cost-wise, the exhaust was $1799 + $200 installation, and the TB was $599 + $80 installation, so with tax the whole thing was a little over $2800.

By the way, the gas mileage improvements are real! I got 20.8 on the way home from work tonight in nasty stop and go traffic.

Awesome! Congrats bud! I've got exactly the same ride as you and have been meaning to do the same mods, but wanted to wait and hear people's comments first. So thanks for being my pilot

One guestion though, did you have these installed at the dealer or elsewhere?

[DinanX5]

Originally Posted by DINANM3

Hi Dinan X5,
Cograts on your mods.
We have the same exact X5 and same exact options. And i also have the dinan exhaust and throttle body. Except my X5 is an 04. what wheels do you have. I have the 4.6 is wheels.
I love the dinan exhaust sound and look.
Good luck

Thanks, man! I still have the stock sport package 18" star spoke #74 wheels... I've been trying to decide between the 19" 132s and the 20" #87s (like yours). I love the look of the #87s, but I'm actually leaning toward the #132s because I'm concerned that the 20's will be too harsh/fragile over all the rough roads in North Jersey, New York, etc. [Also, I'm keeping tabs on my tire wear now that I have camber plates - so far with 3500 mi. it's still even, but if it becomes uneven then I may want to stay away from a staggered setup to allow for 4-wheel rotation... but if it stays even, then I'll probably go staggered]

Originally Posted by Roc3b

Where is New England does one go for a Dinan set up?

There are a bunch of authorized dealers/installers in NE (not sure where you are exacly) Check out the Authorized Dealers link on Dinan's site.
Let me know if you have any questions...

Originally Posted by Dygital

Awesome! Congrats bud! I've got exactly the same ride as you and have been meaning to do the same mods, but wanted to wait and hear people's comments first. So thanks for being my pilot
One guestion though, did you have these installed at the dealer or elsewhere?

Glad to hear it! I got my stuff installed at Motor Works West in North Jersey. They are a top-notch bimmer-only shop, and they're cheaper than most dealers - $100/hr (Also, often times they'll complete an install in less time than Dinan specifies for the job on their web site)

[jmh]

Originally Posted by Roc3b

Where is New England does one go for a Dinan set up?

Just a word of advice from somebody who's had his fair share of Dinan "experience" in NE ....
If you plan to have Dinan parts installed on your X5 I'd recommend to work with Concord Motorsports and stay away as far as possible from BMW Gallery of Norwood .... I've had my S2 package installed at Norwood and it turned into a less the enjoyable experience. If you have your Dinan parts installed at a BMW/Dinan dealer your car will be flagged as a Dinan car in the BMW system, depending on the modifications installed your non-Dinan BMW dealer will not get ANY help from BMW NA to diagnose a problem. For example if you have the transmission sw installed BMW NA will not even look at any data/information the dealer might send to the BMW transmission hotline (the same might apply for the engine sw).
In my case I run into the problem with the torque converter slow degrading/failing and BMW NA told me flat out they are not interested in looking at the data or even fixing it (despite it being a known issue on 4.6s), I left my car with BMW Gallery Norwood for 3 days just to hear they can't reproduce the problem and there is nothing wrong with the car (they also told me they really don't like working on this problem as it's too difficult)....
My local dealer (Tulley Nashua) is more than willing to help me and has isolated the problem but BMW NA will not allow them to perform warranty work on the transmission due the Dinan mods. Once BMW called for the customer satisfaction survey I have them a 3 for service (at least this time my stereo system didn't get stolen like it did the first time) and BMW Gallery (Charly Antonio Srvc Manager) called me telling me to never show up at their dealership because I gave them a bad CSI rating ....

Another important fact is that once you have Dinan mods on your car and it's flagged as a Dinan car in the BMW system you will no longer be able to have the car CPO'd !!! This basically means your only hope to sell the car is via private hands as the dealers will have very low interest in a car without CPO (and it can't be "converted" back to a non-Dinan car even if you remove the mods).

I've been batteling with BMW NA and Dinan over this for +20 months with no resolution. To make things even more fun ... I ended up driving to a BMW/Dinan dealer in CT (Westchester BMW) just to have them tell me it's the aftermarket wheels causing the problems .... Which is a pile of crap given the problem is still there with winter and OEM wheels/tires. But basically they had no interest in helping me as I didn't buy the car with them and would most likely not return as a customer in the future.....
In the event of a problem Dinan will require you to go to a BMW/Dinan dealership and there's only one in NE (BMW Gallery), so bottom line is that if you don't have a good relationship with a BMW/Dinan dealership my recommendation would be to be VERY carefull in deciding which mods to buy from Dinan....

So far neither Dinan or BMW NA have made an effort to get the issue resolved (despite several calls)

One of the benefits of an independant Dinan dealer (Concord Motorsports) is your car doesn't get flagged in the BMW system and most BMW dealers don't care about the mods as they will be still allowed to perform warranty work.

Sorry for the long rant but way too often I see people telling others Dinan will not void the warranty without mentioning all of the little footnotes. Dinan will "match" the BMW warranty but it's up to Dinan to decide whether your claim is a warranty one or not. I am pretty sure Dinan will have to buy up front any parts which need to be replaced on warranty and later on will work with BMW NA to get reimbursed. Now if it's a cheap part there's no problem , however if it's a torque converter or transmission Dinan will try very hard to avoid the cost associated with these items ....

Just my 2 euros,

Jan

[DinanX5]

Originally Posted by jmh

... Once BMW called for the customer satisfaction survey I gave them a 3 for service and BMW Gallery (Charly Antonio Srvc Manager) called me telling me to never show up at their dealership because I gave them a bad CSI rating ...

I can't believe he had the balls to do that!! I think we need to send the X5World goons over there to pay him a little visit...

Originally Posted by jmh

... One of the benefits of an independant Dinan dealer (Concord Motorsports) is your car doesn't get flagged in the BMW system and most BMW dealers don't care about the mods as they will be still allowed to perform warranty work ...

That's good to know, Jan. After hearing your story, I'm gald I went to a non-dealership Dinan shop! Although I did get a bunch of Dinan stuff installed on my e46 328Ci at Daniel's BMW in PA, and no one ever gave me a problem servicing it at any dealerships in PA or NJ. Also, they took it in as a trade on the new X5 w/o any difficulty...

[Roc3b]

I was thinking of just running the REmus exhaust and the Dinan throttle body and calling it a day....

[Dygital]

Can someone recommend a good place to install Dinan TB and exhaust in the San Fran Bay Area?

[Kewl X5]

Why not drive down to Mountain View (1 hour south of SF) and have it done @ Dinan?

Originally Posted by Dygital

Can someone recommend a good place to install Dinan TB and exhaust in the San Fran Bay Area?

[Dygital]

Originally Posted by Kewl X5

Why not drive down to Mountain View (1 hour south of SF) and have it done @ Dinan?

Oh, OK! I had no idea these guys were just a kittycorner away from me. Do they offer better prices on parts and installation that the stealer?