FYI, Dinan products are expensive, but they do improve performance alot. Also, an advantage to Dinan in the DC area is that when MINI of Sterling installs, you don't void your warrenty. If anything goes wrong with a portion of the kit, you can always take the car back to them. Dinan has very high quality products, have been thinking about a supercharger for my Z3 coupe.
Mike

 

That's correct. It's actually the factory unit, but they mod it in some way.

Awesome Man!!!

Yep, warranty and "completeness" were big reasons I chose Dinan and I'm certainly very happy with the performance

 

the Dinan products are not as expensive as the JCW.

 

Oh yeh, that was a big selling point too...

 

I have the piece-meal dinan... mostly power upgrades from the S2, except the TB... I like the new power... some smartbutt in a 325 decided to play with me going up a 45deg hill... no problem taking him.

 

Lots of great info on the DINAN products here. Also, BLKDINAN youve answered my question about which brake-sets will clear the Haman wheels, as im looking into those as well. Thanks !

 

Off note... looks like there is a new Dinan Throttle Body up for Bid on ebay... around $200 right now... no affiliation, just saw the auction.

 

Thats interesting, I wonder why someone would sell the TB? Anyways, The items I finally decided on are:

CAI, Boost Kit, TB, Exhaust, Stage 5 ECU

Runs great!

 

Scavenger it probably won't be long before the suspension package is tempting. I did notice an improvement with this car in that it no longer bottoms out at the usual places (road transition to driveways). However, the car did lower a bit and as I'm having the Hamann bumper and grill installed next week, I'm a little concerned about height clearances again. You made a great decision to do the entire engine mod....makes for the best results.

 

Welp.. I just asked Mini of Hawaii to help me out again... The noise is coming again from the fuel tank area under the rear seats... Sounds like air in the line or something like that....Really noticeable when I fill up and starts to taper off as the fuel goes down towards 1/2 tank... seems louder on uphill and right turns... last time MoH replace the Dinan fuel filter and it was good for a few weeks...but started to come back again at fill-ups...I asked MoH to contact Dinan is see if they have a new resolution to this issue.. I am hoping more 06s have called in with the same issue.. The car runs fine, but just shouldn't be doing that...

 

What you are describing is exactly what I hear. Louder with a full tank, diminishes as the tank empties. Definitely louder on right turns, diminishes on left turns. I hadn't noticed up hill or down. Casper runs like a scalded dawg though. I've been in a loaner Cooper due to continued work on an airbag light issue. I've about gotten myself in trouble a couple of times when I forgot that I wasn't driving my own car. I really think the fuel pump is just louder because of higher fuel pressure.


I also forgot something I meant to do.....we have a couple more MINIs with Dinan boost around here. I have been meaning to check in with them to see if they noticed a change in sounds level after doing the modification. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

I will be taking the car to MOS tomorrow to install the Dinan kit. I just installed the Milltek exhaust today. It was cold as a you know what. I have question for all that hve installed milltek before. I did not use the paste that they sent in the kit. Do I need to pull it down and install it again? Also the mufflers are tuoching heat shell is that okay?

 

So, which Dinan parts are you getting?

As for the 'paste', I'm not sure what you are referring to, but if it's anti-seize compound for the bolts or joints, you may have a harder time removing those items after a few months or the next time you need to have the exhaust replaced.

A small amount of contact with the heat shield probably doesn't hurt other than to cause some rattles, but it'd be better to adjust the hangers or bend the shield slightly to prevent the contact.

How come you didn't want to do the Dinan exhaust?

 

Now, it's time to go to the track...

 

I am getting the pulley, the intake, stage 5 software, and the fuel regulator.
I did not do the dinan exhaust because I did not like that they cut the stock system and charge 900. I thought that was cheap.

For the price of the muffler they should have made it a complete system.

 

For the car to be track ready I need suspension. This will be my next project as well as upgrading the brakes

 

I had actually read that about the exhaust somewhere else, I'd like to see some pics since it's too cold right now to crawl under my car and look

Are you also considering the Dinan suspension? I haven't done any suspension yet, still undecided as to what expense I want to go to.

 

I am thinking about it but I may go with the koni sport kit, alta 19mm bar, and camber kit. I saw that morristown mini has the jcw suspension for 659 if it has the springs for that price then it is not abad buy. NOT LOOKING FOR COILOVERS, need it as a street car.

 

Actually, I'm curious about something... It's probably a long shot, but if someone reads this and has access to the parts I'm about to mention and can do some measuring, that would be great. The bolt holes on the Dinan strut brace look very close to the holes on the strut tower plates of the M7 strut brace. I was just thinking it would be interesting to be able to bolt the brace onto those plates as they are quite a bit more beefy than the rings of the Dinan brace.

 

Since your new boost kit is installed, have you noticed any new noises coming from the fuel tank area (under the back-seat, driver's side)?

 

2nd..... exactly why I stuck with the one-ball that I previously did on mine... $900 for a clamp-on... no way... Thinking of going JCW exhuast for $1K....

 

I think you would have a clearance problem with both on the car at the same time.

The car is at MOS now to be worked on. What I find funny is that I was not given a mini while they work on the car. I bought the car from them in 2005.

The milltek seem to give me a kick at 3500 to 4500. The car felt like someone is gaving it an extra push.

 

I would stay with the milltek if you cannot get a deal with the JCW exhaust. Check mini of Morristown, they seem to have good prices.

 

Mini of Hawaii has the JCW exhaust for $899... plus I can prob get the 15% Mini club discount on it...

 

I'm putting my order in to MoS for the Dinan suspension this week, so hopefully soon I'll have more info to compare with you guys. For me, warranty is one of the keys at this early stage of MINI ownership so Imy decision came down to only Dinan or JCW. Dinan seems more substantial and also adjustable, though unlike the engine upgrades, it is also a bit more expensive than JCW.

Hopefully, we'll be able to get together at one of the events in the near future and compare notes after all our work is done.