Saw A Dinan 3 Today

"Timothy Burke" (bubbaprog)
12/20/2013 at 12:26 • Filed to: bmw, dinan

How rare are these things? Was behind one in downtown St. Pete today. How fast are they compared to a regular M3? That badging is horrendous. It looks like when people who had Mk4 Jettas replaced it with a BORA badge.

DISCUSSION (13)

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Timothy Burke
12/20/2013 at 12:32

DINAN sells a variety of parts and mods. The car you saw might have had one part on it (or none) and they just added a badge, or it could be a very expensively modified beast. Hard to say.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/dinan-…

Decay buys too many beaters > Timothy Burke
12/20/2013 at 12:34

I'm pretty sure it's just a software update, so certainly slower than an M3. I think it is essentially a more powerful 330i.

djmanila > Timothy Burke
12/20/2013 at 12:38

they are not that fast. From the dealer it was a simple ECU tune, intake, and exhaust.

That car is an E46 so not much of an upgrade for even a 330i with 225 hp from the factory.

The M3 has 333 hp

Party-vi > Timothy Burke
12/20/2013 at 12:47

Okie dokie.

Assuming you saw an E46 (same generation as the photo you posted) and it is actually an M3 (dual exhaust would give it away) it probably has the Dinan Signature package, wherein the owner purchased and had installed (as a package) a strut tower brace, cold air intake, bored throttle body, Stage III software (Stage I is a small bump, II is for a CAI and III is for the TB), and a Dinan exhaust. Power supposedly was bumped up to 355hp and 281lb-ft of torque.

Alternatively, the owner purchased enough bolt-ons and software upgrades to receive a Dinan badge. 10 points are needed to get a badge, and buying each item for the car nets you points (CAI is 2 points, TB is 2 points, software is 2 points, Strut bar is 1 point, etc).

The same goes for an E90 generation BMW - the owner purchased and installed enough bolt-on parts to receive a Dinan badge. Dinan is very protective of their name and it is difficult to get your hands on an actual badge for your car without the modifications. To give you some idea, here is a Dinan 5 badge for a 5er going for about $150 on eBay with 19 bidders .

FrankenBlaster > Timothy Burke
12/20/2013 at 12:48

Dinan sells a lot of aftermarket parts which don't void the factory warranty, and each part you buy gives you a certain amount of dinan points. At a certain point you get the badge. That one most likely isn't too much faster than stock

Party-vi > djmanila
12/20/2013 at 12:48

I've got the Stage I software on my E46 and...it's really a waste of time trying to do bolt-ons for that generation. Unless you get forced induction there's no reason to go with an intake, exhaust or tune.

Party-vi > Decay buys too many beaters
12/20/2013 at 12:51

A Dinan'd-out 330i probably has 240-250hp, which isn't that far off from a ZHP, but they probably spent oodles of money for a relatively small bump. Cams and headers would go farther on less money.

Timothy Burke > Party-vi
12/20/2013 at 12:53

Thanks, this is really great.

EuroJosh > Timothy Burke
12/20/2013 at 13:29

I do believe the more dinan parts you buy gets you these points, which works toward getting a dinan badge.

desertdog5051 > Timothy Burke
12/20/2013 at 13:32

I don't think they are so rare but in order to get the Dinan badge, you have to have installed a minimum amount of Dinan parts.

http://www.dinancars.com/products/3-Ser…

djmanila > Party-vi
12/20/2013 at 13:33

I agree. You are better off getting a ZHP E46 at the time than doing Dinan mods.

MessiHair > desertdog5051
12/22/2013 at 14:25

You can also buy the badge from someone who has achieved 10 points. People really do this -_-

pete_the_pikey > Timothy Burke
12/24/2013 at 14:32

The only real advantage of Dinan upgrades is that they don't void the warranty, since Dinan is exclusive to BMW brands and is sold through BMW dealerships. Dinan modified cars even qualify for BMW's certified pre owned status.