Dinan Sport or Elite
 

Hi, I've been reading about the Dinan Sport and Elite on the forum. I have a Manual transmission F54 All4 S. Wondering if anyone has installed the either one on their F54's and how has experience been so far?

Would you recommend I just get the Elite or shall I start with the Sport first. I don't mind spending the extra $$ for the Elite, if you guys think it's worth the extra money.

Thanks 🙏?

If you have miles and years left on your warranty and that is of concern the Elite makes sense from a warranty standpoint. That is assuming Dinan actually lives up to the promise of coverage. They've shown to have some customer service/satisfaction issues in the recent past on the NAM forums.

Dollars to speed/hp/response the Sport is the better deal. In extremes of outdoor temperatures the Elite outperforms, at least in my case.

I had the Sport, upgraded to the Elite. If money was a factor in my decision I would have stuck with the Sport.


The Elite in sport driving mode is more power than I need. That keeps me from going to an ECU tune. I really like more power but in the end I doubt I'd use it.

I am running it on the F56 which is close enough to your car engine wise.

I have the Elite on a F54 JCW for 15000 miles and have been very pleased. Especially with the All4. I think the JCW should have come from the factory with extra hp/torque the Elite affords . Absolutely no problems with the Elite.

Thanks for your recommendation. I still have 4 years of warranty left. Personally, I don't fully understand how does Dinan claim that installing this won't void the car warranty. Do they mean, BMW/Mini will turn a blind eye if they see the device installed? Should I be taking out the device, when I bring it to service?

I have the Sport. Bought it before Dinan came out with the Elite. I have found it adds a tremendous amount of spunk to the car's performance. Do I want more? Always! But the reality is, the car can get me in plenty of trouble with Johnny Law just the way it is. On top of that, I likely will never use the extra HP the Elite brings on the street. If I was running the car at the track, if might be a different story, but that will likely never happen. For the additional price, for the somewhat marginal added HP, I can think of other things to spend my money on.

Dinan will cover (pay for) whatever MINI refuses to cover because of having the DINAN Elite unit installed. Leave the Dinan unit in when getting service otherwise you might be butting heads with both organizations. I'd also ask your dealer about the Dinan as well. Many dealers are used to dealing with this.

Thanks for clarifying.

Did you get extra pop and burble in sport mode, after putting in the Dinan sport module?

The pop and burble is fairly subdued although with the Clubman the sound deadening is quite good on top of I'm half deaf, it might be there but I don't hear a lot of it. Lastly, add the fact in that I always have music playing, it might be there, but I don't hear it and to be honest, don't care....LOL.

Pop is most noticeable in Sport Mode, but, as others have noted, it is muted.

I have the Dinan Sport, trouble-free for over 10,000 miles. Left it hooked up for the first dealer service. They enjoyed driving the car and the service guy said they took it for an "extended" road test as they needed to know. They were impressed.

I haven't noticed any more or less pop when downshifting with or without the Dinan. These Clubbies are designed to be more "refined," thus less noise, other than what is piped in through the sound system as fake engine noise -- a feature I cancelled using Carly. I like it quiet. Aging yuppie, the reviled new target demographic.. What can I say?

My mantra is that we mod at our own risk. So, yes, Dinan has a reputation for standing behind their stuff and they have, historically, worked well with BMW/MINI on warranty issues. If you get the Elite, it sort of gives you the right to say, "Hey MINI and Dinan, the thing broke my car -- you folks get it sorted."

I am in the camp that is getting all I need from the Dinan Sport. Cheap thrills, just a wee bit more PSI boost, which you can feel in your butt dyno for sure. But no warranty. I'm too old to worry. But then, I get all excited when my mirrors fold in automatically. And when a swift foot move opens those rear barn doors, I'm in ecstasy...

I was just curious. I find the gentle burble from the exhaust very satisfying actually. Was wondering if it amplifies or get more crackle.

After your response, I'm leaning towards the sports option as well.

Here's a good sample of a Remus -- neither recommending or not recommending. Just a good sample of what sort of noise one can get:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=remus+clubman+performance+exh&&view=detai l&mid=D77D9E59873A12F48313D77D9E59873A12F48313&&FO RM=VRDGAR

You might find a few of the Dinan Sports at a good price on the used market, especially if they upgraded to the Elite or another unit. Might not make the bite so bad and if you are wanting more....

Yes, I'm keeping an eye on the market place for any that goes on sale.

Noticed one of the NAM Vendors is offering 20% off on Dinan Sport through 8/31.

IMHO, the Dinan "Elite" module appears to be a less than ideal cost to benefit option. It's three times the price of the "Sport" and offers less than twice the HP gain as the "Sport"

For those that care, you need to factor warranty. On just an everyday driving around town without weather extremes the sport makes financial sense if you don't want to have warranty.

No one ever mentions the NM module. My dealer offered to install it but would not install the Dinan. How does the NM match up to the Sport?

No, not yet. I thought I'll drive the car for one season, stock and may be enhance the power next year.

I just got the Dinan sport. Once I have an opinion about it I will post here.

Hopefully after two years Mayfair would have gotten some input lol

A couple weeks ago Amazon had the Dinan Elite unit for $603 w/Prime. I decided that was the time to jump on one and recently got it installed.

I spent 3 days driving around with it installed but questioned the whole time if it did anything. Honestly could not feel a difference. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I decided to return it and get my money back. Even after removing it and driving it stock, it doesn’t feel like any power is now gone.

No check engine lights so I assume the system and harness was fully functional.