[AleksanderSuave]

They have followed up at this point.

I have a credit reimbursement headed my way, submitted by the tech support rep who has been helping me.

As far as testing the unit's operation, I was told that both bluetooth and status LEDs are gone. Nothing beyond driving it with or without bypass installed, which is basically useless.

Its incredibly disappointing to get a product that has less features than the previous version as a "fix".

If this is in fact the V2 tune, I couldnt in any capacity recommend ANYONE pays $1200 for it. The new tune is boring and theres no other way of describing it, after having driven around for almost a year with the V1 tune.

The $250 Dinan Sport tuner still lists bluetooth capability on their product page, but the "elite" product, at 5x the price cant do this?

[AleksanderSuave]

Interesting seeing this below:

Originally Posted by Dinan_Engineering

You can turn it off/on/bypass via bluetooth smartphone app in about 10 seconds with DINANTRONICS. Change stages the same way when the additional stages become available.

Clearly thats no longer in the roadmap.

[BimBimM2]

Originally Posted by WolfGTI

Maybe you should think before you post. Instead of passive / aggressive offering thoughts?

As a customer, or a potential one, the poster is well within their right here to raise the questions about the company's culture and/or financial health.

A user above posted a link mentioning that Dinan brand may be affected by some recent acquisitions and mergers. Information like that is crucial for people looking to spend their money with Dinan.

[BimBimM2]

Originally Posted by AleksanderSuave

They have followed up at this point.

I have a credit reimbursement headed my way, submitted by the tech support rep who has been helping me.

As far as testing the unit's operation, I was told that both bluetooth and status LEDs are gone. Nothing beyond driving it with or without bypass installed, which is basically useless.

Its incredibly disappointing to get a product that has less features than the previous version as a "fix".

If this is in fact the V2 tune, I couldnt in any capacity recommend ANYONE pays $1200 for it. The new tune is boring and theres no other way of describing it, after having driven around for almost a year with the V1 tune.

The $250 Dinan Sport tuner still lists bluetooth capability on their product page, but the "elite" product, at 5x the price cant do this?

Makes you wonder if you should have gone with this over-priced, underperforming piggyback versus BM3/MHD in the first place. What was your total bill including the $430 you spent?

[lixiang7349]

Originally Posted by BimBimM2

Makes you wonder if you should have gone with this over-priced, underperforming piggyback versus BM3/MHD in the first place. What was your total bill including the $430 you spent?

Originally Posted by BimBimM2

Makes you wonder if you should have gone with this over-priced, underperforming piggyback versus BM3/MHD in the first place. What was your total bill including the $430 you spent?

I got bm3 a month ago. So far so good. Love the power increase. Tuned my 240 and wife's 320. She loves it too. Still cheaper than 1200.

[Throttlesteer14]

I've found that this kind of stuff happens a lot in the absence of consistent communication. It's the human tendency to fill in the gaps with negative information when there's uncertainty, especially on car forums.

I truly believe Dinan still makes a good product for a specific niche. No, it's not the most powerful and it certainly isn't the least-expensive. But, the onus lies with their operations folks to follow-through with warranty concerns and customer communications. Their customers bought Dinan products with this in mind. I'm sure the move and whatever M&A fallout they're dealing with doesn't make things easy. However they need to protect their base and the brand. The move and acquisition explanation only flies for so long, and that time has passed.

That being said, researching posts from well over a year ago about upcoming stage 2 releases doesn't build a lot of confidence. If it truly isn't in the works or feasible within the time frame originally stated, just come out and say so. I know there are still a lot of B58 folks interested in the Stage 2 tune. Transparency goes a long way.

[AleksanderSuave]

Originally Posted by BimBimM2

Makes you wonder if you should have gone with this over-priced, underperforming piggyback versus BM3/MHD in the first place. What was your total bill including the $430 you spent?

Pretty substantial.. V1 tuner was about $1400.

I also own the dinan exhaust ($1300+), and other exterior/interior appearance items.

Im at a point where once my warranty ends, I'm going MHD.

I havent touched anything simply due to warranty, however, as far as purchasing future dinan products, I will undoubtably go out of my way to seek any other brand first.

To be downgraded to a cheaper product, with less features, and a worse tune, and to have customer service fumble around this much..the premium price for the products is not worth it.

Warranty support is not "worth it" if a dealer doesnt want to work on Dinan gear, or deal with their customer service either.

if the product was "the best", then the price would command the premium. At this point its the brand they're selling on, and Steve Dinan's previous accomplishments, rather than anything tangible.

I was, like many others, holding out for Dinan Stage 2 for the B58. Now its obvious thats not going to happen in any realistic timeline, nor will it even be possible with the "upgraded" tuner they replaced mine with, since bluetooth support is gone entirely, and they previously mentioned dealers upgrading the tuner in the future via bluetooth as well..

As for as why even post? Well, this forum has the ear of Dinan. Hopefully the feedback provided encourages them to pull back on "development" and focus on customer service.

Nobody is going to wait around to buy anything new if you cant take care of your loyal customers to begin with.

[AleksanderSuave]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer14

I've found that this kind of stuff happens a lot in the absence of consistent communication. It's the human tendency to fill in the gaps with negative information when there's uncertainty, especially on car forums.

I truly believe Dinan still makes a good product for a specific niche. No, it's not the most powerful and it certainly isn't the least-expensive. But, the onus lies with their operations folks to follow-through with warranty concerns and customer communications. Their customers bought Dinan products with this in mind. I'm sure the move and whatever M&A fallout they're dealing with doesn't make things easy. However they need to protect their base and the brand. The move and acquisition explanation only flies for so long, and that time has passed.

That being said, researching posts from well over a year ago about upcoming stage 2 releases doesn't build a lot of confidence. If it truly isn't in the works or feasible within the time frame originally stated, just come out and say so. I know there are still a lot of B58 folks interested in the Stage 2 tune. Transparency goes a long way.

well said. You also begin to wonder if forum (customer) feedback gets communicated back the same way that current tech support issues are (or are not).

I went from defending them and their warranty to basically being passed around, communicated the issue each step along the way and now our Dinan contact in this thread has conveniently went silent.

[F82Tazmanian]

This is all pretty disheartening to read. Having been against Dinan for years I moved to their parts 2 years ago for warranty (regretfully), but I see a ton of threads where people complain and dealers are dropping them. My own dealer has been moving away from them and towards Carbahn saying Dinan flat out sucks with communication.

First hand my tunes have been ok (weak), but their communication is honestly trash and I've found everyone on their team to have an attitude. Blows my mind since they're nowhere near big enough in the market to have crap customer service. I think it's time to step up back to an M for me and just get the car from factory at a higher level.

[AleksanderSuave]

Im almost 2 weeks into that reimbursement request and no sign of progress.

Cant imagine it was easier for them to ship a tuner to my dealer than it was to ship me a check for the money they were supposed to pay for the work.

[Throttlesteer14]

Dinan_Engineering

Just refreshing the thread to see if there's any new information? One of your last posts mentioned the difficulty in establishing an upgrade path for the Dinantronics Elite units. Have you considered selling a Stage 2 box/unit, with a core charge option for current Stage 1 customers? If nothing else, you wouldn't be stuck with the challenges of pushing an update remotely. Additionally, you could set up a reasonable pricing model for new and existing customers with various versions:

New V2 Stage 1 cost (existing)
New V2 Stage 2 cost (existing + cost of upgrade)
Existing V1 Stage 2 upgrade cost (cost of upgrade + return V1 core)
Existing V2 Stage 2 upgrade cost (cost of upgrade + return V2 core)

The differences in price point between V1 and V2 could be handled by the core refund, depending on what you receive from the customer. Thoughts?

I've noticed your recent posts in other Bimmerpost forums. I'm guessing you've avoided this one because there is no new information available and/or you're tired of the same old questions. We're just hoping there might be some news, since it's been a month+ since your last post.

[MasterFloody]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer14

Dinan_Engineering

Just refreshing the thread to see if there's any new information? One of your last posts mentioned the difficulty in establishing an upgrade path for the Dinantronics Elite units. Have you considered selling a Stage 2 box/unit, with a core charge option for current Stage 1 customers? If nothing else, you wouldn't be stuck with the challenges of pushing an update remotely. Additionally, you could set up a reasonable pricing model for new and existing customers with various versions:

New V2 Stage 1 cost (existing)
New V2 Stage 2 cost (existing + cost of upgrade)
Existing V1 Stage 2 upgrade cost (cost of upgrade + return V1 core)
Existing V2 Stage 2 upgrade cost (cost of upgrade + return V2 core)

The differences in price point between V1 and V2 could be handled by the core refund, depending on what you receive from the customer. Thoughts?

I've noticed your recent posts in other Bimmerpost forums. I'm guessing you've avoided this one because there is no new information available and/or you're tired of the same old questions. We're just hoping there might be some news, since it's been a month+ since your last post.

I have a feeling they have already considered this, but the 'stage 2' doesn't seem like a future at all (at the moment). I was one of those people waiting for them to release the stage 2 as well. I wanted to take a gander and grab it for the their warranty feel good. Turns out I can grab up that BM3 for half the price and be happy. Warranty issues coupled with apparent lack of communication makes me feel like I made a good choice myself. Not trying to bad mouth Dinan by any means, I know they have a respectable history. If they do come out with one eventually, I would guess they drop the price of the stage 1 and hardcore sell that stage 2, especially with the warranty, and especially since they would have been engineering a tune this whole time while we are not so patiently waiting lol. Tough to follow now though, since there are an assortment of OTS tunes out there now. Just my thoughts.

[AleksanderSuave]

Originally Posted by MasterFloody

I have a feeling they have already considered this, but the 'stage 2' doesn't seem like a future at all (at the moment). I was one of those people waiting for them to release the stage 2 as well. I wanted to take a gander and grab it for the their warranty feel good. Turns out I can grab up that BM3 for half the price and be happy. Warranty issues coupled with apparent lack of communication makes me feel like I made a good choice myself. Not trying to bad mouth Dinan by any means, I know they have a respectable history. If they do come out with one eventually, I would guess they drop the price of the stage 1 and hardcore sell that stage 2, especially with the warranty, and especially since they would have been engineering a tune this whole time while we are not so patiently waiting lol. Tough to follow now though, since there are an assortment of OTS tunes out there now. Just my thoughts.

I spoke with another customer service rep last night, regarding my pending case for a reimbursement on the work I paid for.

during this, I asked a few questions that lead down the rabbit hole.

I was told that the b58 stage 2 progress is an if/when at this point..and that it would eventually offer an upgrade path for current owners. It would be a DME flash, rather than a piggyback..and would offer a warranty and non warranty option, as I imagine that most of us existing owners will be out of new car warranty by the time this thing hits the market, short of a few who might have snagged a 2020 MY.

I made up my mind at that point that I'm not interested in waiting. Oddly enough..later that night MHD announced iOS support coming in MAY (the only thing that has kept me from buying it so far, as I dont want to buy an android device just for this...as they're notoriously buggy with the millions of versions of hardware floating out there).

I'll be removing my dinan tuner at that point..and boxing it back up..and ordering MHD as soon as it hits the ios app store.

The guys who have been testing it on stage 2-3 are comfortably getting 600+ WHP...while Dinan is basically counting on us waiting for a product that at stage 2, might meet/exceed what the stage 1 V1 tune was..which is truly disappointing.

[Throttlesteer14]

I'm wondering where "it's almost complete" to "if/when". There are posts from early 2019 stating it was going to be out in a matter of months, according to discussions with Dinan reps. Then it was on hold because of the move.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer14

I'm wondering where "it's almost complete" to "if/when". There are posts from early 2019 stating it was going to be out in a matter of months, according to discussions with Dinan reps. Then it was on hold because of the move.

IIRC (too lazy to wade through and know for sure), APR bought Dinan, and then APR was bought by another outfit. What seems to be going on is that the aftermarket is being consolidated in a very significant way. Of my original faves, only Bimmerworld is still on its own. My take is that this doesn't necessarily bode well for those of us hardcore enthusiasts rocking niche rides.

[AleksanderSuave]

Originally Posted by dradernh

IIRC (too lazy to wade through and know for sure), APR bought Dinan, and then APR was bought by another outfit. What seems to be going on is that the aftermarket is being consolidated in a very significant way. Of my original faves, only Bimmerworld is still on its own. My take is that this doesn't necessarily bode well for those of us hardcore enthusiasts rocking niche rides.

Im sure the market presents opportunities.

MHD/Bootmod/JB4 are all here to fill a similar void.

Dinan filled a rare niche in the market with warranty and bmw dealership agreements, unfortunately it sounds like their reliance on that has allowed them to think that they no longer need to be competitive.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by AleksanderSuave

Dinan filled a rare niche in the market with warranty and bmw dealership agreements, unfortunately it sounds like their reliance on that has allowed them to think that they no longer need to be competitive.

The old Dinan created the quality products that allowed BMW to feel comfortable in establishing the relationship with Dinan that they did.

BMW trusted Steven Dinan enough that they hired him to build and tune the Daytona Prototype engines going into factory-supported teams' race cars. The partnership won its very first race in a Chip Ganassi DP car in 2011; it went on to win four DP championships.

As far back as 2003, Dinan was building engines for BMW teams around the world. These engines were frequently in winning race cars.

In 2015, Ganassi hired Dinan directly, beginning with the Le Mans effort and the new Ford GT program. They've since parted ways.

The new Dinan is something else. At best, it's a modestly-sized part of something much larger. Until there are more B58 owners clamoring for stage two-type tunes, and from Dinan specifically, I suspect we won't see anything further from them.

That's okay with this owner, as the Elite V2 is more than I need now that I'm no longer going to be taking my car to circuit tracks.

As always, just my 2¢.

[Winemaker2]

Well said. Dinan appears they will continue to produce quality products, but BMW no longer considers them as part of the family, especially the new BMW dealerships owned by foreign corporations of the Far East. In Northern Cali, I believe only SF recognizes Dinan.

[AleksanderSuave]

Originally Posted by Winemaker2

Well said. Dinan appears they will continue to produce quality products, but BMW no longer considers them as part of the family, especially the new BMW dealerships owned by foreign corporations of the Far East. In Northern Cali, I believe only SF recognizes Dinan.

I dont believe bmw dealership ownership is in any way majority owned by "foreign corporations".

corporate owned stores (with the exception of the autonations/penske/and other mega chains) notoriously do not do well.

dealer groups are typically the most successful in these operations, and those are still owned by individuals, or families, and RARELY are they ever foreign entities.

BMW dealerships dont recognize Dinan as part of the family because Dinan (as a company), once the favorite in-law, suddenly kept calling and asking for favors or borrowing money, and then stopped showing up at family gatherings, then divorced right out of the family tree.

Steve Dinan wasnt interested in running a company as much as he was in building race cars, which is why he left to work for Chip's team.

Then, like many other titans of industry, he remembered that he's not easy to work with, and doesnt like being told what to do..and left the race team to start a tuning garage in CA.

everything comes full circle.

[AleksanderSuave]

Originally Posted by dradernh

The old Dinan created the quality products that allowed BMW to feel comfortable in establishing the relationship with Dinan that they did.

BMW trusted Steven Dinan enough that they hired him to build and tune the Daytona Prototype engines going into factory-supported teams' race cars. The partnership won its very first race in a Chip Ganassi DP car in 2011; it went on to win four DP championships.

As far back as 2003, Dinan was building engines for BMW teams around the world. These engines were frequently in winning race cars.

In 2015, Ganassi hired Dinan directly, beginning with the Le Mans effort and the new Ford GT program. They've since parted ways.

The new Dinan is something else. At best, it's a modestly-sized part of something much larger. Until there are more B58 owners clamoring for stage two-type tunes, and from Dinan specifically, I suspect we won't see anything further from them.

That's okay with this owner, as the Elite V2 is more than I need now that I'm no longer going to be taking my car to circuit tracks.

As always, just my 2¢.

being part of 2addicts, skews people's perception, ultimately forgetting that other more volume sales driven B58 vehicles exist. As soon as the B58 gets more units sold in the 3/4 series, the demand for aftermarket support will pick up significantly.

Maybe if we're lucky, Dinan will notice by then. But, thats easily another 2 years out, pending how much Corona devastates the auto industry, and if they even survive.

[Winemaker2]

"Sojitz Corporation was formed out the union of Nichimen Corporation and Nissho Iwai Corporation, both companies that boast incredibly long histories. For more than 150 years, our business has helped support the development of countless countries and regions. Today, the Sojitz Group consists of approximately 400 subsidiaries and affiliates located in Japan and throughout the world..."

Hmmm...this isn't a foreign based company that owns multiple dealerships in Northern California?

To your other comments I totally agree and understand why the relationship between Dinan and BMW had to change. I should have been more specific in trying to make the point it was nice when a BMW dealership would install Dinan products and work seamlessly in maintaining one's tuned vehicle.

The new Dinan appears to be getting its act together and their warranty is still a big plus IMHO.

[Throttlesteer14]

Originally Posted by Winemaker2

The new Dinan appears to be getting its act together and their warranty is still a big plus IMHO.

I hope you're right. They have quite a lot of catching up to do.