I have been looking at some mods for my Mini and recently checked out the Dinan homepage and read up on them. Most everyone seems to like what Dinan has to offer.

Here's my question is a Dinan upgrade really worth it? Or would I get the same performance buying parts from different vendors at a lower cost and getting a MTH ecu remap?

 

It really depends on what you are looking for from your mini. What's your idea of the final product? Are you looking to track (race) your car or just looking for a fast street car? Are you concerned with the dealer not working on your car due to certain aftermarket components? Dinan has some nice quality parts but your going to pay for them. I have a friend that I work with who got the Dinan Stage 5 kit, really fast mini! He didn't want to get his hands dirty and spend the countless hours of tuning his car and didn't want to loose the warranty. So for him Dinan was a great idea. Me on the other hand I went down the other route. I do most of the work myself and spend a lot of time tuning my car. When something isn't working right I can't go running to the dealer every time for I know what they will say. However my mini is a lot more fun for ME and I didn't have to pay as much. There are many threads on here so if you do a search for DINAN you can probably get all the info you’re looking for! Good luck modding your mini, it's an addiction! I hope this helps -- Johan

 

I am getting an '02 mini so the warranty has already expired due to time not mileage. So for me there's no warranty issues.

 

It might be worthwhile to do some searches here regarding Dinan. There are quite a few differing opinions for you to consider.

 

if for you the joy is just driving, the Dinan is good stuff, that's for sure. If you like to build your own stuff, you will save some $. Then it's up to your skills as a builder as to whether you get better or worse.

Matt

 

DINAN is pretty good! Among the best tuners in my opinion.

It's really up to you... If you have the money and want to get DINAN parts on your car, then gt for it. I'm sure the products are great quality.

I'm using "aftermarket" parts on my MINI, and have done 140 000km on it. It is still running very good, and I really like the way it actually drives.

You named MTH, and I got to say that this ECU remap is simply awesome! I love mine, and never had a since issue with it!

 

not sure but I think that you will have better resale with JCW both keep warranty......

 

Hmmmmm good question for an 02.
I believe if I had an O2 I would play around with all the options out there, they're so many different mods with alot of very good vendors. The main reason I have Dinan is for warrenty and was able to do it in stages.
I have to tell you tho, I am a very happy camper on the Dinan side. So its really up to you, but I have to say you can't go wrong with Dinan thats for sure.

 

it just got put on Gary Andersons car last week. He'll be flogging it on the MTTS run...... Also, Dinan was at the Historics, and had good booth traffic.

Matt

 

At one point, there was a specific exclusion of a/t equipped cars from the Dinan upgrades. Now, I can't find the exclusion on dinancars.com. Does anyone know one way or the other?

 

Lovin ever minute!

 

But the boost upgrade system still seems to be limited to pre-2004 production.

 

but call Dinan to be sure. (I'd call the Morgan hill office, as this is so new I don't know if the word has penetrated the full distribution network). I think Gary's car is one of the first to get the latest SW. It wasn't ready when it got the hardware bits put on.

Matt

 

Boost upgrade is listed for 02 to 06 on the website at this time. I too, did hardware in anticipation of the software.

 

Finally, finally........I was able to retrieve Super Casper from MINI of Nashville. CAI, exhaust, throttle body, boost and TADA!! Stage 5 software. SC now has a very sumoooooooth and integrated feel. About 2MPG improvement, and NO YO NO YO NO YO.........well, maybe an almost imperceptible amount at 3200 RPM when pulling a hill.

The exhaust pop had gotten almost ridiculously extreme after doing hardware installs back in April. That has now reduced to just a pleasant occasional pop.

All in all, well worth the wait for the software. I'm gonna jump back and forth between Hubby's JCW and my Dinan for a bit and see how the direct comparisons feel.