Looking For Dinan E53 X5 CAI: D760-0534

[bcredliner]

Per 2002 Dinan Catalog the cold air intake system added 13 bhp at 5,700 rpms and 12 lb/ft. of torque at 5,700 rpms. It doesn't go away so you either are accustomed to the gain or something else is happening. There is no adaption that will compromise the tune though the ECU is always adapting the transmission to driving style. You could be driving less aggressively than when you first installed the tune.

Dinan tunes are historically on the conservative side though they are designed to match to Dinan Mods. I suggest adding the Dinan transmission software rather than Dinan Stage 2 tune since you already have a tune. The transmission software makes a big difference and is well worth the cost. It changes the shift points so you benefit more from what you got out of the cold air addition, it speeds up the shifts and makes them firmer. All benefits are especially noticeably in either manual mode. If you are in the full manual mode where you have to shift the transmission it will stay in the gear you select until you shift.

More air means more air out. There will be benefit from lower back pressure mufflers and a better sound comes with them.

[Plattus1000]

BCredliner,
I'm more trying to add my thoughts on what you said for the original poster's sake rather than being argumentative I apologize if it reads otherwise.
QUOTE=bcredliner;1057129]Per 2002 Dinan Catalog the cold air intake system added 13 bhp at 5,700 rpms and 12 lb/ft. of torque at 5,700 rpms. The CAI alone will never deliver these numbers on its own. DINAN is bending the facts a tad. You need the other stuff to see any real world gains. MAF, throttle body, engine software modification, exhaust with performance cats etc.

Dinan tunes are historically on the conservative side though they are designed to match to Dinan Mods. I suggest adding the Dinan transmission software rather than Dinan Stage 2 tune since you already have a tune. The transmission software makes a big difference and is well worth the cost. Trans software is a huge improvement but you can get a similar update for much less $ if you look around. As for the engine software---For a better hp:cost ratio of around $200-250 you can get better tunes from a local guy on Craigslist I've found or even ebay. They'll usually give you a copy of your original file and can tweak it after the flash to customize it for your needs and conditions.

More air means more air out. There will be benefit from lower back pressure mufflers and a better sound comes with them.[/QUOTE]

Adding headers and performance cats then a free flow muffler will do a ton. Running stock pipes and a fancy muffler will sound good

I did the whole Dinan dance on my last e39 540i 320hp. I didn't go with a supercharger but I was faster and sounded better than other 540i's but not anywhere near keeping up with an M5 at 400hp.

I thought about doing a Dinan CAI on the wife's 4.6is but after looking at her air box, I decided it was about as good a design as it gets and I would in no way have improved upon it with a CAI. Some very good evidence has come out stating that warmer air allows the fuel to burn better after more fully vaporizing by mixing with the warm (hot) air and that cold air unless turbo or supercharged and forced into the plenum is/can be derogatory to performance on some vehicles. Dyno test after dyno test have me believing the new math. CAI's sound/look cool but do very little on these bimmers compared to stock intakes which are already pretty amazing on e53's.

Just my 2 cents.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by Plattus1000

Adding headers and performance cats will do a ton. Running stock pipes and a fancy muffler will sound good

I did the whole Dinan dance on my last e39 540i 320hp. I didn't go with a supercharger but I was faster and sounded better than other 540i's but not anywhere near keeping up with an M5 at 400hp.

I thought about doing a Dinan CAI on the wife's 4.6is but after looking at her air box, I decided it was about as good a design as it gets and I would in no way have improved upon it with a CAI. Some very good evidence has come out stating that warmer air allows the fuel to burn better after more fully vaporizing and mixing with the warm air and that cold air unless turbo or supercharged and forced into the plenum is derogatory to performance.

Just my 2 cents.

The airbox gains were Dinan numbers and for the airbox alone. I didn't make that up.

Headers and high flow cats will also help but a muffler with lower back pressure is not just for sound. All of the above will make a difference but it won't be a ton. Dinan exhaust, including larger pipes was only worth 5 bhp and 4 lb/ft. torque.

I have a 4.6 with all Dinan engine mods less supercharger. The Dinan airbox was a noticeable improvement when coupled with all the other mods, exhaust and the associated tune. The airbox has a larger low restriction air filter and a larger pipe to the intake. When coupled with the larger MAF and throttle body so the diameters are consistent to the intake it maximizes the airbox benefits but the airbox numbers I posted were just for the cold air system.

Cooler air is denser which means there is more oxygen per same volume of warmer air. A cool day with a fair amount of humidity will result in more power than a hot dry day. The reason for intercoolers with turbos is to cool the air to increase power with the same amount of boost.

Would love to read evidence to the contrary. Can you post it?

[Clockwork]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Per 2002 Dinan Catalog the cold air intake system added 13 bhp at 5,700 rpms and 12 lb/ft. of torque at 5,700 rpms. It doesn't go away so you either are accustomed to the gain or something else is happening. There is no adaption that will compromise the tune though the ECU is always adapting the transmission to driving style. You could be driving less aggressively than when you first installed the tune.

Dinan tunes are historically on the conservative side though they are designed to match to Dinan Mods. I suggest adding the Dinan transmission software rather than Dinan Stage 2 tune since you already have a tune. The transmission software makes a big difference and is well worth the cost. It changes the shift points so you benefit more from what you got out of the cold air addition, it speeds up the shifts and makes them firmer. All benefits are especially noticeably in either manual mode. If you are in the full manual mode where you have to shift the transmission it will stay in the gear you select until you shift.

More air means more air out. There will be benefit from lower back pressure mufflers and a better sound comes with them.

BCred, as for the tune I have from my local ECU programmer, this is what he told me the other day about what they did to my 4.4i with 4.8iS exhaust pipes/mufflers... Our tune stage 1 for BMW 4.4 includes optimized timing using 91 (I use 91 99.9% of time) or 94 octane, sharper throttle, speed limiter off, RPM increased by 250.

If I get the Dinan Stage 2 SW installed, it will overwrite what the local ecu programmer has done, according to him. so I'd loose all that money/tuning.

I also asked a Dinan installer here about tranny software for the facelifted models and he said there is none. It was just for the pre-facelifted models.

I really like the idea of the Dinan tranny software NOT shifting the gears up automatically on you when in manual mode. I agree its a sweeeet safety feature from factory but if you're using full manual mode you should be cognizant of what gear you are in (like a real manual car) anyhow.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by Clockwork

BCred, as for the tune I have from my local ECU programmer, this is what he told me the other day about what they did to my 4.4i with 4.8iS exhaust pipes/mufflers... Our tune stage 1 for BMW 4.4 includes optimized timing using 91 (I use 91 99.9% of time) or 94 octane, sharper throttle, speed limiter off, RPM increased by 250.

If I get the Dinan Stage 2 SW installed, it will overwrite what the local ecu programmer has done, according to him. so I'd loose all that money/tuning.

I also asked a Dinan installer here about tranny software for the facelifted models and he said there is none. It was just for the pre-facelifted models.

I really like the idea of the Dinan tranny software NOT shifting the gears up automatically on you when in manual mode. I agree its a sweeeet safety feature from factory but if you're using full manual mode you should be cognizant of what gear you are in (like a real manual car) anyhow.

I added paddles to have the most fun in the manual mode.

Since BMW tunes leave so much HP and TQ on the table and our vehicles can advance timing and higher octane allows more advance without spark knock, after market tunes generally take advantage of that opportunity. TQ gets you going and HP keeps you going. A tune improves both the how fast you get going and with the increase of rpm shift points you better advantage of the increased HP so you get from A-B sooner.

The difference in Dinan tunes and ofter aftermarket tunes is that Dinan optimizes the tune to the other Dinan mods. That doesn't mean it produces better results necessarily as it depends on how far other tunes push largely the timing advance. What I would do is find a 4 wheel dyno, book an appointment when it is cool and humidity around 50% and see what you have. I can tell you what you can expect out of the Dinan mods.

I don't like the Dinan prices but since Dinan matches the BMW warranty on new BMWs and BMW does not void the warrantly and Dinan specializes in BMWs, I am very confident in their products.

HP increases take cubic $$$$. Bottom line question is how much HP and TQ would you like or how much money do you want to spend. With that info I can suggest options to consider. As an example, you could add meth injection to boost the octane to the equivalent of 106 octane so you would be sure the knock sensors would never pull back the timing.

Performance Automatic Transmission Software (00-03) - Dinan, Leader in BMW Performance Parts and Upgrades As mentioned in an earlier post, the Dinan website is not always current but it shows transmission software for a 2005 4.4 is available.

[Plattus1000]

I'll go look now... (looking)
Agreed, the info comes from Dinan. The airbox alone won't do much, also agreed. A good muffler will reduce back pressure but some back pressure or resistance is a good thing or you would see cars run 5" pipe from the heads more often. I run free-flow cat-back dual exhaust on my wagon and it feels faster but I also have a 3:18 rear end so comparing my last 540i to this 540it is n/a.
Cold air being denser hence a higher amount of oxygen per measure of volume, agreed but it being the case doesn't help fuel combust in a mist form more than a vaporous state. It lessens the overall mixture and surface area of the fuel, takes longer to burn and doesn't burn fully as it would as a vapor. (still looking)

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by Plattus1000

I'll go look now... (looking)
Agreed, the info comes from Dinan. The airbox alone won't do much, also agreed. A good muffler will reduce back pressure but some back pressure or resistance is a good thing or you would see cars run 5" pipe from the heads more often. I run free-flow cat-back dual exhaust on my wagon and it feels faster but I also have a 3:18 rear end so comparing my last 540i to this 540it is n/a.
Cold air being denser hence a higher amount of oxygen per measure of volume, agreed but it being the case doesn't help fuel combust in a mist form more than a vaporous state. It lessens the overall mixture and surface area of the fuel, takes longer to burn and doesn't burn fully as it would as a vapor. (still looking)

I'll wait to read the research and I suggest you start another thread when you post it. It is sure to be more polarizing than a combined thread about what oil is best and whether or not to change transmission fluid.

[Plattus1000]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

I'll wait to read the research and I suggest you start another thread when you post it. It is sure to be more polarizing than a combined thread about what oil is best and whether or not to change transmission fluid.

Posted.

BTW. Your black on black on black looks amazing.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by Plattus1000

I'll go look now... (looking)
Agreed, the info comes from Dinan. The airbox alone won't do much, also agreed. A good muffler will reduce back pressure but some back pressure or resistance is a good thing or you would see cars run 5" pipe from the heads more often. I run free-flow cat-back dual exhaust on my wagon and it feels faster but I also have a 3:18 rear end so comparing my last 540i to this 540it is n/a.
Cold air being denser hence a higher amount of oxygen per measure of volume, agreed but it being the case doesn't help fuel combust in a mist form more than a vaporous state. It lessens the overall mixture and surface area of the fuel, takes longer to burn and doesn't burn fully as it would as a vapor. (still looking)

Start another thread. I disagree with most of what you have posted but I don't think OP gives a rip about any of this.

[Plattus1000]

Here's the tip of this debate iceberg http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...no-review.html loss of power after install. It's a "support upgrade" to support all the other stuff that you need to make it functional as designed. I had one, loved it but other than a cool sound and people touching it to see if it was really carbon fiber dinan stuff, it only helped because I had the other parts. (still digging)