THE BADGE:
I agree that the badge looks like a dealership badge and no one knows what in the world it is and it’s really nothing more than free advertising for DINAN. I took the badges off the car other than the BMW logos and am thus in partial “stealth.” I didn’t particularly want the DINAN badge, I was more commenting on the fact that the badge only represents how much money you spent not “Building DINANA cars” since you can get the 10 points from means other than performance. I did that case study as just a general example with some general opinions about the stuff you can buy and get the required DINAN points. People can argue the technical minutia’s of each item and its value for car you drive on a street not a track, but the real point was just you don’t have to have DINAN performance to get the badge and that’s what I think is not the way it should be.
DINAN MOVING:
Flowmaster owns DINAN and Flowmaster bought another company called APR which is also a performance product manufacture (
https://www.goapr.com/) and it’s is located in Opelika Alabama . As a result, in order to save on operating expenses DINAN has decided to occupy some of the empty space in the APR facility. The Northern California (Greater Bay Area) is of course a very expensive area and so by moving to Alabama they hope to cut operating costs down. So soon I guess APR and DINAN parts will be on en the same but APR focuses on Porche, VW, Audi.
DINAN REBRANDING:
Yes DINAN apparently buys from many after-market companies and has licensing agreements to re-brand them as DINAN when in fact it’s not. According to someone at DINAN a good portion of their suspension items outside of the Intake, exhaust and computer are produced by other companies rebranded and sold as DINAN. DINAN does a tremendous amount of research and development related to their exhausts, computers and intakes and make probably some of the best on the market, but they sell it at a high premium and are thus much more costly than their competition. But the warranty is worth it and you do get a good solid product from them that ramp of the vehicles performance quite a bit. I just personally feel a lot of that suspension stuff isn’t necessary it’s more track related and the Engineers at BMW are some of the best in the industry and design these things for performance and have more money and facilities at their disposal to ensure they design the best product that they can. The suspensions and so on are some of the best designed products in the industry and BMW engineers really know what they are doing. I have heard stories of people putting DINAN suspension stuff and eventually taking it back out because the BMW didn’t handle as well post DINAN. No question that DINAN is good at designing things that make the car faster and more powerful, but BMW is at the top of the game when it comes to engineering the engines, the handling and performance of their cars for a reason. Are DINAN springs, bump-stops worth it? Meh.. maybe. The “DINAN” bump stops are from BMW.. so.. The buyout of APR will odiously further contribute to this as well.
STREET VS. TRACK
When you talk about things like lowing cars, and hardening suspensions, bump stops, springs, camber plates etc you are doing things that make the car to me less “daily-driver” and more of a weekend car to race on a track or street race with. If you want a BMW street/track car as a second car and drive a Honda or a Subaru during the week it’s one thing, but if this is your car then not being able to go over speed bumps at more than one mile an hour, potholes bottoming you out and so on are all reasons to pause and say, is this car going to work for me in my area driving it around? Even DINAN agrees that a lowered stiffer car is less driver friendly for daily use. Or is it going to be a pain the ars? There are so many people out there that have strong arguments about the deficiencies and problems associated with all that suspension modifications that have as much experience as the others arguing with them. BMW makes an amazing product and I personally feel it has got to be hard if not near impossible for most of these small shops to make something better. Unless you’re buying $12,000 OZ Italian rims how many people out there really make a better product without dropping ungodly amounts of money? That’s when you start talking about cars like the Ferrari FF, McLaren 675LT or Lamborghini suspension systems in $300,000 dollar cars. We are never going to have anything that performs like the BMW M5 G-Power Hurricane RRs with its 830HP and a price tag of close to $500,000.
M2 VS. M240 (Now let’s be reasonable)
Honestly what’s so great about the M2 or the M3 over the M240? I have driven M3s, M4s and a host of other really cool cars when I lived in Italy and yes they are amazing cars that drive like machines made for the love of the road, but the M240i-DINAN is an amazing Carl-Carlton-Mama-Jamma. With the intake, Computer and exhaust the 3700 pound car has 425HP with over 480ftlb of torque. That car is already so fast and handles so well with an acceleration that is almost frightening at times that I ask you, what normal person would ever want or even be able to experience the full potential of that car on anything other than a race track? Like Darth Vader says it’s “Impressive, most impressive.” M2 from the factory has 361HP the spec sheets are wrong and people have tested it for verification including DINAN. The M240i has 369HP stock the spec-sheets are wrong and people have tested it for verification including DINAN. Yes the M2 looks a little meaner with those flared out fenders to provide the additional coverage/space for a more offset or oversized wheel/tire and the rocker panels and front air vents and such. However other than to a discerning eye and someone who likes cars, the differences in look is negligible. Most of your wives and girlfriends who could care less about this stuff would look at the two and be like, “Um, yeah I guess it looks different.” I have seen the M2 and sat in it, I find it less comfortable, and the aggressive look is well just OK I guess. I think the M240 looks classier and more European to me for some reason. All those extra lines on the M2 are just cosmetic and only moderately noticeable to people that aren’t all in to this stuff. All the Gear-head / Car-nerds can argue about the finer points & differences between the two but when you really get down to it, M240-DINAN has more power than the stock M2 and I’m not Mario Andretti so can I really feel the difference in the handling of the allegedly better suspension system while driving on roads without risking jail time or not being able to drive anything because I lost my license driving like that? And remember the M240 has an M Suspension system and if you want you can throw on a couple high end suspension changes and the M240i will have a better suspension and you have still spent less money. The M240i actually has more torque (369lb ft vs 343lb ft) and torque is what you feel when you hit that gas pedal and feel your body pushed in to that seat. The M2 sits lower than the M240 and on stiffer springs which to me makes the M240 a better car to drive day to day from that standpoint at least, but if someone wanted to they can change the springs for a minimal cost. The M2 has a little more stability and stiffness but you lose comfort in the ride. Check out this comparison video (
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/a-b...ed-comparison/) So my Manual transmission M240 with the B58 single twin-scroll turbocharged engine is faster at points and that’s stock to stock and it’s because of the fact that the 240 has more HP and more torque. “… a speed comparison that’s since been filmed by a Dutch YouTube channel shows the M240i to be a little quicker.” The article that compares the two is a pretty good one. The rev battle video is stock to stock but this DINAN exhaust I have sounds amazing! I love it. According to the article it’s the differential that is the largest difference in the cars making the M2 better at cornering. Since I put the limited slip differential in it, it’s not really an issue with my M240. Basically my point is yes there are differences between them, but do the differences really justify the added cost for people that drive on roads in America? And are most people that good where they can get in an M240i-DINAN with LSD and an M2 and be like “Oh yeah man the M2 is different” when you would have to spend more money above the already higher cost to get the M2 past the M240-DINAN’s capabilities? It just seems like all this is really in the realm of theory and unless you’re a gear head/Car-nerd that has somewhere you can drive like Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ernest Knoors or Lewis Hamilton. Just my dos centavos. I know it’s just opinion, but I think it’s a fairly reasonable one. Most of us drive on the road and like staying out of jail.
I agree with Ron Jeffries, people should buy what they want. In speaking with a DINAN engineer I don’t know if Xutvjet’s statement is accurate, DINAN said the intake makes a significant performance improvements with a gain in 10 to 12 HP plus additional torque. I think the M2 may have a little bit of a kit look in the lines, it’s just me, and it’s all about taste and I know that VIN240i3 likes the M2 look, but I personally think the M240i looks classier and something that I think a European-American like me (I’m part Terrone - Southern Italian and part Polentone – Northern Italian) would like more. I like DINAN’s product, even though it’s a bit pricy, it’s just dealing with them reminds me of going in to a cigar shop and dealing with those aficionados, a lot of arrogance almost like we are there for them, rather than they are there for us. I asked for a long sticker and they said no sir that’s $62. What? $62 for a sticker? Give me a break. I drive a manual, I always have as I do not really care for automatics, so the DCT means little to me. Maybe an Intercooler or oil cooler might help and be worth considering. Is one better than the other? to me and for me I feel the M240 is better for me.
Cheers and have a great MLK day.