Hi all,
Been meaning to write this up for a while and today's 75 in January in LA car wash and pics gave me a reason to do so.
I have the following parts.
Stage 1 Tune
Exhaust
Shockware Tune
Springs
Handling Kit (bump stops)
Full disclosure. I bought the engine tune. I then volunteered my car to Dinan for development of the exhaust (FOR FREE!
) and got a significantly discounted rate on the shockware, springs and bump stops.
First...engine tune. This one is longer because of the install process:
The installation is very straightforward for the most part. Hardest part was figuring out how far down the back yard I needed to go with the keys to get them out of range. The images Dinan provides are pretty good. For some reason my kit didn't come with the actual instructions for the car (all the other booklets were included), but I had my laptop up and resting right next to me to make the process easy. The 4 is a little different than the 6 but the plugs are generally in the same places. For that reason, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as DIY for those who don't know what they're looking at when they open the hood as there are references to different engine components that some may not understand.
That being said, I found it fairly simple. install is pretty quick. Standard BMW trunk battery disconnect process, unplugging and then plugging in tuner, connecting to battery, reconnecting trunk battery, checking for codes (I had none!) and then starting. Biggest pain is that the space between air intake and negative terminal is small. Second biggest pain was resetting clock.
When I first drove the car, I didn't think it did much and it felt as if the difference in power made the minimal lag the car had feel more noticeable. So I used the app to put it into bypass mode (the app is a very nice feature to have!) After a couple days of driving, I think it's adapting and definitely feels better and better. If you've had a VW turbo or a BMW 6 and have tuned it and gotten the standard 50-60 hp bump, you probably won't be a huge fan of this, because it doesn't have that same OMG, kick in the pants bump. That being said, it definitely has more grunt and I think for a warranty matching product it's a pretty good value. In manual mode on the 8AT (and I would think with the manual transmission), you can real feel it pulling harder.
Exhaust:
The exhaust looks and sounds great. Fitment and quality is top notch. Sound is about as good as you can get given this is a 4 banger. It is not excessively loud. I don't have a great sound clip for this...you'll have to rely on Dinan's clip for the 2/3/4 30i.
Shockware:
This product probably made the biggest impact in feel. It just makes the car feel so much better. The suspension should have come with this from the factory. Really feels planted and dialed in. Much less reverberation/hassled feel on bumpy roads and much crisper in aggressive driving.
Springs and handling kit:
The car definitely feels a bit more planted in corners and the springs really work well with the shockware. The look is a really satisfying factory-esque drop. I'm reminded of the BMW Performance set up I had on my 135i...definitely dropped, but not by any means slammed. Between the shockware and the springs and handling kit, the car performs a hell of a lot better and the ride actually feels better than stock. Much more planted. I'm not thinking or telling it to "sit down" at all any more. Had both of these and the new tint installed at eurocode in Torrance, CA. Very happy with them.
DINAN badge:
Because of the above, I got the vaunted Dinan badge...Not sure if I should stick it on.
Overall, I am really happy with the whole set up. Really wish BMW made the car like this from the get go. With a 6MT, I can only imagine how much fun it would be!
Some more shots:
