To Dinan or not to Dinan

[Cjallstar]

Hey guys,
I own a 06 4.4i that i have totally altered on the outside. she began as a pedestrian jet black 4.4i with all packages BUT sport, meaning chrome window trim, black lower grilles, and 18in wheels

now shes a totally different beast as you can see from these pics, as well as others i have posted before on this site.



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shes got 70k miles on her and just ran out of CPO warranty. My BMW dealer here in NoVa sold me on an aftermarket warranty that will take me until about 120k miles, meaning Ill have the beast for a couple years at least. Under the warranty contract, performance modifications can only be made by a BMW dealer (so only Dinan for me). It just also happens the dealer i bought the warranty from is an authorized Dinan dealer/installer.

Now that I have completed my project on the outside, I am definitely looking to upgrade performance, and am thinking about exhaust, CAI, and ECU. Anyone done any of these Dinan mods to their post facelift 4.4 and have two cents ?

Input is greatly appreciated

[PersonaNonGrata]

She looks great! I think you did an excellent job on the exterior. How did you replace the chrome trims? Vinyl? New trim?

I think most people who have done Dinan mods have been pretty happy with them. There's not a ton to be done but most guys have gone with the CAI, strut tower brace, ECU, and exhaust or some combination thereof.

[JCL]

Dinan CAI $549
Dinan Throttle Body $899
Dinan Stage 3 Engine Software $599
Free Flow Exhaust to suit $$
Claimed hp increase 13 (when you do all of those)

Getting 7 point towards your Dinan trunklid badge - Priceless.

Actually, I like Dinan. Decent quality. If I was doing ECU mods to a turbocharged BMW, they would be near the top of the list. But for a Valvetronic engine like yours, there really isn't much gain to be had. You already have a CAI from the factory. If you want to see the hp effect of a low restriction air filter, just take out the one you have, drive it, and see if you notice a difference. You will get some of that gain with a low restriction filter, but it generally isn't measurable. The claimed power gains are at 5700-6600 rpm. How much time do you spend with your engine in those rpm ranges?

If you want to have any measurable hp difference, you would need to do all the mods listed, as the engine is balanced at the moment. There isn't something glaring to fix in terms of flow restriction. If you want to let more air in, you have to let more exhaust out, and then you have to drive it at 6000 rpm to realize the gains from a more freely flowing system

[dpgx5]

I have a 06 as well. stock on engine mods, I'm looking to add just the exhaust and xpipe and dinan chip stage 1, I'm wondering would that be balanced still ?

[epdarks]

I have a lot of Dinan stuff and while I love it, it's all over priced. The exhaust is always a great mod, not for any minor power gains but because it's a blast to listen to it around town.

Beyond that you are better off dumping money into some preventative maintenance and funding your "when the transmission fails" account.

Eventually you can move up to a 4.8 or E70...

[Cjallstar]

Originally Posted by PersonaNonGrata

She looks great! I think you did an excellent job on the exterior. How did you replace the chrome trims? Vinyl? New trim?

I think most people who have done Dinan mods have been pretty happy with them. There's not a ton to be done but most guys have gone with the CAI, strut tower brace, ECU, and exhaust or some combination thereof.

did the trim with vinyl
as far as saving money for maintenance and tranny failure, as i said before my car is under warranty for another 50,000 miles so anything that needs replacing will be done so at no cost to me....

will i really only get 15hp increase? I thought 5-10 for cai, 10-15 for exhaust, and then at least 15 for ECU? my only option is Dinan becuase all mods must be dealer installed

[JCL]

Originally Posted by dpgx5

I have a 06 as well. stock on engine mods, I'm looking to add just the exhaust and xpipe and dinan chip stage 1, I'm wondering would that be balanced still ?

No problem if you just want the stage 1 software. Dinan list an 8 hp gain, but only if you take out the BMW air filter. You still get the top speed limiter removed, which can be helpful on the autobahn. And the rev limiter is raised by 100 rpm, which is good if you normally drive up around 7000 rpm. The exhaust is a benefit if you don't like the sound of the stock exhaust.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Cjallstar

will i really only get 15hp increase? I thought 5-10 for cai, 10-15 for exhaust, and then at least 15 for ECU? my only option is Dinan becuase all mods must be dealer installed

They aren't cumulative. You need to do all of them to get anything measurable.

[sockethead]

I did Dinan stage 3 tune, CAI and throttle body on my e46 330i... damn if I can tell the difference.. I expected a little for my $2000 +

[Cjallstar]

Originally Posted by JCL

They aren't cumulative. You need to do all of them to get anything measurable.

Ah I see. So sounds like everyone says its not worth it? Would love some more comments from those who have Dinaned their cars