CA is always the last for aftermarket companies to get their certification from. It is the most stringent and takes the longest for aftermarket companies to get their certification.
Dinan usually starts out in this fashion with the CA certification coming in sometime after release.
I've already had one company requesting to use my car as a Dinan project car. Unfortunately, the airbox is the only thing that will work with my '04. And while the design looks promising I don't think it will flow the amount of air my Alta does. I'm sure TonyB can give us the numbers as well on the difference of heat transfer between the treated metal box of Alta and the plastic box from Dinan. As for sealing against hot engine air, I think both will do well.
I look forward to more releases from Dinan though. I've built a Dinan project car before (2000 M5). The final product was night and day above the original.
Expensive but reliable.

 

I've never really been a badge kind of guy, but I certainly wouldn't want to brand something that is not so grand. From what we've seen or heard thus far, this is woefully subpar.

Sorry, I seem to be locked in rhyming mode

In reference to Dinan, the writing was on the walls all along. If they really wanted to serve us, why does their effort appear not so strong? As an enthusiast for the MINI, they are late to the game. And when they finally show-up, it's just all the same...

Time for a drive, I'm getting goofy

 

Dinan is not exactly known for doing inexpensive upgrades and I am sure the JCW arrangement the dealers have causes a questionable marketing scenario.

So, since it would be out of character for Dinan to develop something less expensive and offering something that's even more costly than the JCW would be suicide what's left for them to do? I really wonder why they bothered.

That said, I will look forward to buying their software upgrade and their CAI, I think it will offer a nice bump to my JCW. I will call on Tuesday to see how quickly the dealer can do the work and we'll see if it's worth it. The other part of this story is that I am interested in seeing what they come up with for the suspension package.

 

Well if you're going to pay that kind of dough for the JCW, I think it's very rational to want to keep it all JCW. :smile:

 

But note -- the software has to be installed by one of the Dinan dealer$. The estimated labor charge is 5.0 -- but the tailpipe is only 10.0! So to burn the software, you are going to face a dealer $300 labor charge added on top of the $299 "price"!

It is interesting that, since a pulley has proben to be "magic" for all the tuner upgrades (including JCW), Dinan doesn't even mention a pulley on their web site.

Tom

 

Tom, do you mean hours, like 5 and 10 hours?! Gosh, I hope not...

A catback exhaust, with the use of a lift, should take an hour, or less. I've done it in less than 2 hours (several times) while on my back, with the rear wheels on ramps...

Say it aint so...

 

Actually, Dinan quotes install time in units. Each unit is 1/10 of an hour. So the 5 unit labor charge is 1/2 an hour labor. I believe the entire S1 package is 30 units for installation, and that equates to 3 hours of labor.

 

My guess is that a BMW work unit is a half hour. The software announcement says 5 units and the tailpipe is 10 whatevers. Most dealers charge flat rate regardless of how much time it takes. And I'd be surprised if a dealer would charge less than $50 or $60 per labor unit.

My comment was intended to point out that it appears that (a) this ECU upgrade has to be installed by the dealer, (b) that the installation chage will probably be exhorbitant and (c) isn't it surprising that a software flash done by plugging a laptop into the ODB port costs fully half as much as a dirty, grungy mechanical job. I'll bet that the real installed price will be significantly more than the $299 parts cost.

And I'm still skeptical that Dinan, as great as he is on tuning Bimmers, doesn't include a pulley in his R53 Mini package. IMHO, a pulley is the biggest single and most cost effective performance booster that has been invented (thanks to JLM).

But then I'm usually thought of as a COF (curmudgeonly old fart) !

Tom

 

Here is an old Dinan news letter. It mentions the stage 2 has a pulley. http://www.dinancars.ca/pages/newsle...6-10-2003.html

As one that has relied on the warranty several times, I would like to hear more about the ECU upgrades total cost. I like the idea that you don't have to buy the complete package like the JCW.

 

Yes, Dinan's "labor unit" is 6 minutes; 10 labor units is one hour.

50th state is Calif... no CARB number on those parts. Either CARB cert was too expensive to justify the cost of going through (it's is very expensive)... or they are going through the process currently and it is not complete yet. I highly, highly doubt they went through it and failed (if the JCW kit can pass, they can pass).

And dont forget that warranty coverages/issues are never cut and dry...
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=29971
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=29251


I find it strange that they have "placeholder" entries on the webpage for throttle body, etc. but no entry for the pulley... maybe they are NOT working on a pulley? JCW licensing/legal conflicts?

 

this dinan announcement set off my pilo-rear-stress-bar-plasma-booster memorial vendor snake oil alarm. i hope somebody from dinan will read this and answer some questions.


"The S1 intake system takes full advantage of the high pressure area in front of the windshield, force feeding air into the larger volume air box and free flow filter for maximum power gains."

"Extensive air box pressure testing revealed that the stock intake system isn't pressurized at speed, in fact the configuration actually creates something of a vaccuum, even with the ram air ducting provided by the factory. Naturally, from a performance perspective the goal is to force as much air as atmospheric pressure and road speed will allow through the intake system for optimum performance. Pressure tests of the stock air box resulted in a NEGATIVE 13 mbar measurement at 90 mph. By comparison, the Dinan system pressurizes the system very effectively, measuring positive pressure of 1 mbar at the same road speed. How is such a dramatic increase in pressure possible? Cowl induction.

The Dinan air box lid features ducting that picks up highly pressurized air from the windshield, force feeding the completely sealed air box with cool, oxygen rich air for optimum performance. When combined with the Stage 3 Engine Software and Free Flow Exhaust, peak horsepower is bumped up to 182 @ 7000 rpm with 161 lb/ft torque available at 4500 rpm; that's nearly a 12% increase in horsepower without any change in boost pressure!"

well for starters, how did you measure the horsepower (to get your advantage over stock) with 90 mph air blowing over the hood? do you have any pictures of the test setup? or do your hp gains NOT depend on forced air pressure, so that we would get EVEN MORE HP at speed?

i've been a long time critic of the stock airflow path (and the windshield area is a good source at speed), but the air volume the engine needs is a function of the engine rpm [edited] NOT the road speed. are you claiming that there is some bizzare airflow pressure field that starves the inlet at higher road speeds? if so, let's see the test setup. or is this some marketing nonsense intended to fool those who can't think this through?

i like the lower price electronic tuning, but at this point i don't believe anything you say.

how about a reply from a dinan engineer or two, not some form letter nonsense from a sales type mouthing the party line.

flyboy2160

 

i agree. i cut off my stock exhaust at almost the exact same point as dinan and weighed the removed muffler and hangers at 44 lbs. on 3 different scales.

just more dinan ??????? in my book.

 

flyboy2160,

did you know that Dinan Engineering has one of the largest fans in the country attached to their dyno. seriously, i don't remember where i read it but i know i did and i'm gonna look for it for you. there was a picture of it too, huge!

 

Yep, they one of the most bad *ss dyno fan setup's in the indusry...
http://www.dinancars.com/whitepapersFile.asp?ID=9

 

I don't work at Dinan and don't have nearly the technical sophistication to address your concerns, but I have come across a couple of articles that discuss Dinan's dyno set-up:

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....d=8020&page_nu
http://dinancars.com/whitepapersFile.asp?ID=9

Edit: (Looks like we both thought of this at the same time, Dreamin' -- you beat me to it, though.)

 

I'm a little confused about this whole airbox thing. I like the fact that it's plastic, and I'm not denying that Dinan did plenty of testing, but I thought that Andy had proven that the cowl area in front of the windshield was actually a slight vaccuum.

I can't tell by the pictures, but are they basically "plugging up" the normal intake area that would exist on the airbox? It sure looks like there's a big gaping hole that would function with the normal "ram air" tubing. I also wonder what sort of effect would be made by aftermarket cowl vents (like Orciari's) with this airbox.

 

thanks dlaugh, i read it in my last issue of Car and Driver. P.S. i thought of it first

 

The Dinan site says in order to get the CAI you NEED to have the ECU software update... this excludes the 2004 anyone know what the difference is between the 02-03 and the 04 ECU?

 

I will be calling my Mini dealer fisrt thing in the morning to order the ECU and the CAI so we can see what impact these upgrades might have on a JCWS.:smile:

 

The Dinan S1 ECU upgrade is not tuned for a reduction pulley, so I don't know if it would be suited for a JCWS.

 

fair enough. i apologize for the fan remark (i won't quibble about their dyno fan only going to 80 and them quoting 90).

but some of the other remarks still don't make sense. the engine air demand is the same at any given rpm, regardless of road speed. if the stock inlet is "starving" the engine at 90, why isn't it starving it at 25?

 

"The Stage 2 engine components are expected to retail for under $5550 and take about 10 hours to install. "

I took that from the link earlier about the stage 2 setup with the pulley...

$5550 for a total of 198hp + 10 hours to install?

And of course it doesn't look like Dinan has CARB certification yet.

Other than the intake (which looks mostly stock) looks to be about the "engineering" I expected after three years of research.

Also, for those that are excited about $299 software... please remember that Dinan doesn't offer the injector type programmer, meaning you need to go in to get it taken off/ added. This process is no big deal as I've done it on my s/c Dinan BMW but it is a bit harder than the injectors.

Patrick

 

I believe the prices quoted were from a Canadian site so you have to convert currency to come out with the proper cost.

However, it seems there is a price discrepancy as the Canadian S1 costs $3700 Canadian, while the US S1 kit is @$1800. Does the quoted Canadian prices include installation? Or perhaps it includes import duties. If so, that may approximate the US installed cost.

 

I've been studying the air box pictures too. Looks to me like the cowl panel has to be modified to allow more air to be ducted to the air box.

Tom

 

I like the intake. I'm kinda slow though. I am only able to get it through my dealer? If I do get it through the dealer, do they have to do the install ?