Hi folks

New member. Forgive me if this kind of question has been discussed before - I'm sure it has somewhere. I'm considering the various Dinan mods for the '03 M3. Are they worth the effort? Which ones? How is resale value affected?

Welcome to Bimmerforums and to the BMW community,

I'd like to first start off the biggest rumor behind DINAN:

DINAN assumes warranty/responsibility over the part that they replace, BMW at no time assumes responsibility after the DINAN modification has been installed, and DINAN can deny the warranty claim at any time.

A) You could consider that DINAN is double what normal modifications would run you.

B) DINAN inflates their numbers, for obvious reasons.

-------Now, I'd recommend the following modifications----

First things first.

1. Painted Reflectors (www.m3motorwerks.com) for your bumper.

2. Muffler (www.m3motorwerks.com)

3. RaspX or Eisenmann Midpipes (RaspX if you simply can't stand the raspy or rattle snake sound when you accelerate)

4. Eurobahn or Delage software (www.eurobahn.us - www.kinetechnik.com)

----
Secondly, how much are you looking at spending and what are you looking to accomplish (show, performance, all around improvement?)

Yours truely,
Andrew :cool:

Thanks Andrew,

Looking primarily for performance without a lot of show. I would include the underwhelming stock exhaust note during acceleration in the performance category. Dinan recently lowered their prices somewhat but the full show will still cost $10,000. I'm not so concerned about price as long as I get a good portion back on resale when I want to trade or sell the car for a new one in a couple of years

Since my M3 has about 15000 miles and is still well within the BMW warranty, I really don't want to jeopardize that. Are you saying the the local Dinan dealer is misleading me when he says that Dinan mods don't void the warranty? (I understand the BMW won't warrant the actual Dinan parts)

Gotta post a pic

Doug

When modifying a car, especially a BMW, I wouldn't even consider resale value of the mods in mind. And to answer your question, yes you could say that they are misleading you.

Yours truely,
Andrew

If you do decide to go with DINAN, I would just do the Intake with the HFM
and software. If you look at the numbers for the Throttle Bodies compared
to cost, I don't think they're worth the money. Also, suspension and exhaust,
I would go with a different manufacturer, but thats just me...

best bang with dinan is going to be that 3.91 lsd IMO.

If you are worried about warranty -- stay away from most mods. To make noticeable power -- you need to drop $$$.

Best bang for buck IMO is LTW flywheel. I would go with bigger tires 275 rears and 245 fronts -- car behaves much better.

I personally think anything done to these engines is a waste of money. The ROI just isn't there. That being said, I did the Stage 3 DInan suspension and a set of Dinan wheels (which I found used)..the improvements are absolutely dramatic. I highly recommend this upgrade if you have the funds.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=230808

On most boards, you will find Dinan haters and Dinan buyers.

Dinan mods do not void your warranty. I have never had a dealer say that your "Dinan thing" caused something to fail. I have been driving Dinan modified cars for over 5 years.

I have had a warranty claim with Dinan, and they were extremely fast and pleasant to deal with. The installation on the warranty item was free.

Dinan mods work and do improve the performance of the car. They are not the cheapest. My stage II suspension greatly improved the handling on my M3.