The gentleman who sold me my e34 540i (94 auto) told me that it has a Dinan exhaust. The exhaust tips do have Dinan etched into them. For the first time today, I got to see the underbody clearly while it was up on a lift. The muffler (which was huge) and/or other parts of the exhaust seem to be marked "BMW" and has part numbers (I assume BMW part numbers). I am wondering if Dinan marks the parts BMW or if it is only possible that the exhuast is in fact stock??
The seller also claimed there was a cold air intake, but to his disbelief there was merely a stock air filter in the airbox. He was not too mechanicly inclined so if the parts are different than he says it is probably not because he purposely lied.

Dinan just guts the stock stuff and charges money for it.

Dinan just guts the stock stuff and charges money for it.
I think they call it a "performance mod" :)

Not to bad mouth Dinan, i love them. I have a friend with a 535i turbo and that is all they did to his exhaust. Oh, and throw some shiney tips on it to, thats gota make it worth it.

What exactly do you mean by "guts stock stuff"? What can you possibly "gut" on an exhaust?

Is there something I am missing about the cold air intake also? The stock filter in the stock box? Is there some special Dinan trick going on there too?

My 535i has said 'Dinan Exhaust Mod' - which basically involves slicing open the muffler and pulling out some baffles, as far as I know. The previous owner had it done at a local speed shop, the invoice shows it ending up at $450.

I love how it sounds - doesn't drone in the slightest and is just really deep and bass-y. It sets off car alarms left and right. :)


There really isn't anything to be gained performance-wise over the stock exhaust on this car anyways - so the only reason to do anything is for sound.

Ok, is the "'Dinan Exhaust Mod" and the "Dinan Exhaust" the same thing? If I look on the Dinan website, I can order the Dinan exhaust for the 540i for around $1000.

The general knowledge on Dinan Exhausts is that they take a stock exhaust and hollow it out a bit and sell it overpriced. I still love Dinan though.

Eric

yes, for the e34, all they do is take a stock exhaust, gut it, and weld new dinan pee shooter tips.

How hard is it to do what Dinan does with it? Maybe this is a mod that can be performed without Dinan being involved? My exhuast sounds quite nice. I get compliments on it all the time.

OK... if all they do is gut the exhaust... that is ridiculous.

A. Riduculous to pay for such a pointless mod.

B. Riduculous to charge for such a pointless mod.

I for one would like my 540 to sound more like a "classic" V8... but if you're gonna spend the $$$... why not buy a brand new aftermarket system that will get you some mileage, in terms of durability? So what is a nice system that sounds great, but won't set off car alarms in the hood and sound all ricey?

I'm partial to the Supersprint, myself. Has a nice, throaty sound to it, but it's very subtle. Sounds a lot like a Porsche.

How hard is it to do what Dinan does with it? Maybe this is a mod that can be performed without Dinan being involved? My exhuast sounds quite nice. I get compliments on it all the time.If you read my post, yes, it can be done without Dinan at all. You just need to find a place that knows what they're talking about.
but if you're gonna spend the $$$... why not buy a brand new aftermarket system that will get you some mileage, in terms of durability?First off, the stock system isn't exactly short lived. Stock BMW exhausts last a VERY long time. If Dinan does indeed sell modified stock exhausts, then yeah, might as well go aftermarket for the price. But even so, $1k for a replacement (and modified) OEM exhaust is not a bad deal given that new 540i mufflers from BMW would run about $950+ (if I am to believe the Realoem ETK).

So what is a nice system that sounds great, but won't set off car alarms in the hood and sound all ricey?Er.. "Not ricey" is a qualification we can all agree on, but "won't set off car alarms" isn't a characteristic most aftermarket manufacturers shoot for.

If Dinan's exhausts sound at all like my 'Dinan Mod' exhaust, then you'll probably be most happy with their note. You would be very hard pressed to call my exhaust obnoxious, but it is very definitely deep enough to set off alarms. Everything else pretty much gets louder from there. I should say, I'm talking in reference to a 535 and not a 540 here. I'd imagine they'd shoot for the same note characteristics across models, though.

I will always believe the best sounding exhaust will come from Eisenmann (www.eisenhaus.com), though.

My E39 540 has the Dinan exhaust and it is quiet in normal driving. However, at WOT, it sounds like a small block Chevy! That's what my mechanic buddies told me when I was flogging it on the track.

My E34 525iT has a Magnaflow on it and it has a nice rumble at idle. In fact, it sounds better at idle than my 540.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329470


best sounding exhaust IMHO

How hard is it to do what Dinan does with it? Maybe this is a mod that can be performed without Dinan being involved? My exhuast sounds quite nice. I get compliments on it all the time.
they call it debaffling the exhaust. some guy back on the bimmer.org days found some exhaust shop to do it for him. basically they cut open the exhaust, debaffled it, and welded it back together.

i've toured the dinan facility in morgan hill, ca, and they really do a lot of r&d. however their exhaust route on the e34 and other earlier models is questionable to me. for the money i rather buy a supersprint or something else.

i think the early e36 exhausts still went the debaffling route. after that point, all newer cars have a dinan exhaust built from the ground up (actually saw their workshop where they build exhausts). these exhausts are somewhat ugly imho, but do sound great.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329470


best sounding exhaust IMHO

:werd:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329470


best sounding exhaust IMHO


LOL... you're whoring that clip out allover the place...hahahah. :stickoutt

yeah I heard that... it's beastly cool, but I wouldn't want it on my daily driver.

LOL... you're whoring that clip out allover the place...hahahah. :stickoutt

yeah I heard that... it's beastly cool, but I wouldn't want it on my daily driver.


I would ;)

And do :)

Dinan is over priced and not alot to show for it!

Rich :)

My 95 M3 came with an exhaust identified as a Dinan.
It sounds great. It's a little loud at low RPM but otherwise sounds great.
"Throaty", aggressive and high-performance sounding.

Anyhow, where on the exhaust would I find the dinan stamp or emblem or whatever?

I bought the car recently but unfortunately don't have any service records for it so who knows what was done...

greg :)

on the dinan website they claim the exhaust raises hp wround 30. i know that cant be right, does it raise it at all, i was thinkin of gettin it. i want good sound and alil boost in hp

Is there a site where I can share a 12mb file?
I have a video clip with 4 540 aftermarket exhausts compared and I'd love to hear feedback.