Hello everyone . This is my first post and we hope to be joining the Mini community very soon. I recently traded in my 350Z Roadster and miss it terribly (need something with 4 seats) and the Mini seams to be the one that can fill that void.

In doing research we narrowed down our search to an 05 or 06 model. Today my hubby and I test drove our first MCS. It may have been a mistake to start out driving a DINAN Mini (spoiled us we think). This Mini supposedly has the Stage 4 chip, it does have the intake, and support brace in the engine compartment, and the exhaust (all we could see visually). Not sure if it has the full Stage 3 suspension but we plan to find out all the details. We absolutely loved it. We drove a cabrio MCS about a half hour later and it didn't compare. This one just felt "right."

This 05 Mini only has 25K miles with 5 mos still left on warranty. The dealership said they checked with DINAN to ensure all the upgrades were on the up and up, and they are. They were asking $24.9K a couple weeks ago which is ridiculous. Now they are running a "special" (aren't they always ) for $19,995 claiming KBB is $25K.

Does this seem a fair price? It doesn't appear to have the HK upgraded stereo or heated seats. It does have the nice two tone interior with panorama roof, leatherette seats etc and I believe they are the "sport" seats (lumbar support).

So the bigger question is...what is the general opinion on the DINAN's? Are they a good thing? problems down the road?

Thanks in advance for your input. We are still Mini "virgins" so you advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome. I also just traded for the same reason. I had a S2000 and miss it as well. The Dinan stuff has the factory warranty and is a great option I think personally. I have the S1 package on order at my local Dinan dealer and can't wait to have it installed. As far as the 05 and 06 question they are the better of the 1st gen Minis. These are supercharged as the 07+ are turbocharged. And the Dinan car is said to be like the JCW edition. As far as the price is I know the Dinan dealer told me the S1 package was $2100 and the S2 was $5200. Hope this helps and good luck with whatever you choose.

 

as to fair price, not seeing the condition, seems to be in the ball park.
Seems to be in line with the JCW's in the marketplace.
(couple g's less and definitely sounds like a decent deal! )

options can make a big diff in price too. does it have the limited slip or NAV?

 

The price is ok...

To be honest, you should probably keep that enthusiasm about the Dinan to yourself. Most of the time a "modified" car won't hold it's value as much in the market as the stereotypical view is that a modified MINI was modified to be driven fast and hard. It could have been a track or auto-x car. If anything, because of the reason it's modified, you should use that to ask for a lower price. The Dinan upgrades is just upgrades at the end as the warranty is going to end soon anyways. If you do a bit more research on this forum though, you'd find many different upgrades and mods from different vendors that might suit your taste as well. I would be more inclined to buy the cabrio and start a custom modification then to take a Dinan MINI without knowing all the parts that went into it.

 

...very happy w/ my S2, I have an older 02 Dinan that i've put over 50k and it has no problems whatsoever, no check engine lights, very reliable and a blast to drive. 05's and up are the best of the 1st gen so that seems like a nice car, maybe you talk them down some more seeing it's not a JCW...either way, good luck!

 

Also very hapy with my DINAN S2. Its been about 20k since i did the DINAN install, no problems and plenty of smiles

 

Seems like a fair price for a Dinan modified car if it has all of the Dinan engine and suspension upgrades. I think you will want a modified car whatever you do so you might as well get a Dinan or JCW car. In my opinion, limited slip diff. is a great feature so as previously suggested you should check on that. If you do not purchase the Dinan car you might want to look for a full JCW car. Otherwise, plan some extra dollars and time to modify whatever Mini you get or you probably will not be satisified with the performance.

 

Thanks everyone for your input! We were just looking for a "regular" S but since I had a somewhat modified 350Z and my hubby used to own an EVO VIII we were pretty excited when we drove this one, although it is slightly more than we were hoping to spend. And you're right...we'd want to probably modify what we buy anyway (although we always say we aren't...we always do because we are car enthusiasts).

Being that it isn't at a Mini dealer, they don't have all the full details about what upgrades it has. It does not have Nav. How can we tell if it has LSD? It does look like it has the DSC button on the dash.

It sounded like it had the S2 package with the stage 4 software from what the dealer said. At the time I hadn't researched DINAN's so we weren't completely sure what he was talking about . We are going to email them today requesting they provide all the details. I may even call DINAN myself as the sales manager said he did.

It is a one owner car. They commented on how perfect the wheels were indicating it proves it hasn't been autocrossed--but they are stock 17" wheels. Maybe the previous owner had aftermarket ones that he sold and he put the originals on before he sold it for all we know (another bargaining point IMO). They did offer to let us take it to an independant mechanic if we wanted.

How about gas mileage...what are you guys with S2's getting? Any issues with smogging? On Carfax I see it failed then passed the latest smog (on the same day though so not sure what happened).

 

Oh and also in researching DINAN it said they provide a engraved, numbered plaque? I didn't see one in the car. Where do they normally put those? It does have the DINAN lettering on the back.

 

A couple of points here for you:

1. Not having the HK stereo is not such a bad thing. It allows you to then get the DPSM upgrade, which is far superior to the HK in the first place (The DPSM upgrade is not compatible with the HK, only with the base "Boost" stereo). Of course, there are also many aftermarket stereo upgrades you can do as well (much more so in the 1st Gen MINIs than the 2nd Gen).
2. Be aware that only the OEM leather seats have adjustable lumbar support. The cloth and "leatherette" seats do not.

Other than that, welcome to the MINI community!

 

Cool...I was going to do research on upgrading the stereo so thanks in advance!

Well sticker says "leatherette" seats but it did have the adjustable lumbar support. Since we haven't looked at a MCS with leather seats yet (the Cabrio had cloth which I did not care for) I couldn't tell the difference. They are the blue and black two tone seats.

 

The Dinan package is pretty reliable and the gas milage is the same as a JCW. Ive had the S2 package in my car for about 5 years now with no problems (which is why BMW still maintains its factory warranty even if it has Dinan modifications, they are the only mod company I know who can do this for BMW) yeah Ive never asked about the Dinan engraved badge either... not all that important to me (sorry) as far as the LSD just give the dealership the VIN number and they can look that up for you. currently Im saving up for a suspension system and Ive narrowed it down to Dinan's system or an H&R (proves that Im happy with their products and am willing to go for more) I hope this helps.

 

Is the sticker a dealer sticker or a factory sticker? It could be mislabelled. I've also heard of some exceptions, but at least when I ordered my MINI (2005 model), the adjustable lumbar support was only available if I bought leather. That pretty much "sealed the deal" for me, and I went with the leather.

As for the DPSM (stands for Digital POWER SoundModul), here's some links on it. It's a dealer-installed stereo upgrade that is very high quality and very loud. Some people have bought the kit and installed it themselves.

MotoringFile » Archive » MINI Pumps up the Volume
MotoringFile » Archive » More Official DPSM Information from MINI
MotoringFile » Archive » MINI Digital Power SoundModul Reviewed

As for price, Morristown MINI sells the kit for $1,268.82. That obviously does not include the installation, but if you're confident enough to do it yourself...

 

fwiw, iirc one of the Tar Heel MINI Motoring Club members has a Dinan for sale right now. Unfortunately, the site seems to be down today. If it met your requirements, might be a better option since it is someone active in the community and might be able to give you better background info about the car. If not, they may be able to give you some helpful info.

 

Thanks again for the info. The sticker is just the dealer sticker and it's not Mini/BMW dealership so could very well be wrong. We will probably drive across the street to the Mini dealership and have them check out the VIN before we purchase.

Another question if you don't mind. I've been searching but can't find anything all in one place. The dealership is using JCW Package as a basis for their pricing with the DINAN. For negotiation purposes I'm looking for a list as to what comes with the JCW package. Anyone know of a good place to find this?

jcauseyfd - thanks for the link. I'll check it out when the site gets back up, but we are in So CA so that may be a little far for us to consider.

 

Look for the Dinan emblem inside the engine bay. Mine is on the drivers side just above the fender under the hood. It will also state what package was installed on the "emblem".

I too bought an already modified Mini (Dinan kit) from my dealer. The way I see it is, the intake is great, strut bar is nice to look at and it fits under the hood and the exhaust isn't super loud and it's much lighter than stock.

If I bought a stock MCS, I would've spend more money getting these parts and time installing them. Time = money. As for the price, what are the other comparable '05 MCS asking for around there?

 

The Dinan S2 package should have the pulley and stage 5 programming! The stage 4 programming should coincide with the larger throttle body. This is a step between the S1 and S2. Does it have the single Dinan exhaust?

 

[quote=Dinan604;2759042]Look for the Dinan emblem inside the engine bay. Mine is on the drivers side just above the fender under the hood. It will also state what package was installed on the "emblem".

Thanks...will have to check that out.

 

Hmmmm....good to know. The exhaust looked like a single pipe with split tips so I'm guessing the single exhaust.

 

Well hubby just told me he worked a deal for $19K pending our final "inspection" so they have pulled it off the lot . So that's $1K off what they were asking. I plan to stop by the Mini dealer to run the VIN and get the Dinan paperwork and look at it before we sign on the dotted line.

Thanks again for all your input and I may have more questions. This looks like a great forum and I'm looking forward to joining the "club". I'll be sure to post some pics when it's in our driveway.

 

Hope it works out! I'm sure you'll love the car.

 

You should be able to find out where the Dinan modifications were installed and call that shop or dealership and they should be able to tell you exactly what was done to the car.

 

I suggest you call Dinan because they might be able to tell what has been installed because I suspect they track by VIN. It would be great if the car has engine and suspension mods.

 

Im with quikmni call dinan and ask for oscar sotello (the service rep) he could help you out. lol it also helps to drop in too. but then again I live in morgan hill which is where Dinan is based :p

 

My understanding is that Dinan can tell you this information if you give them the last 7 digits of the VIN.