I had the CAI and software on my previous M3, the primary benefit was sound. At wide open throttle the car just ROARED.

On my current BMW 540, I purchased their software during their 1/2 off sale 2 summers ago, so I paid $150. The difference in the car was dramatic, not so much at full throttle, but more so at partial throttle, where most of us spend most of our time driving. Dinan advertises a peak torque gain of 25 tq @ 2500 rpm. I don’t know if that is the number or not, but it sure felt different after the software. The downside is the requirement for premium fuel.

I am assuming Dinan’s CAI kit is actually routed in the engine compartment to not be a hot-air intake, but I’ve seen plenty of CAIs that don’t seal the conical filter from the hot engine bay. Just wanted to make sure Dinan isn’t making a carbon fiber version of the CAIs you can get at WalMart for $25. :)

As mentioned before, a baseline dyno of the car is really necessary to show before and after improvements. This could be a good thing, maybe the (before) test vehicle is not performing to its SAE-blessed ratings, and the increase in power (after) is more impressive. But from what I’ve seen in the M5 crowd, the baseline would show the same thing: 10-20 more horses, no governor, higher rpm, etc.

The 17.5% dyno correction factor you used is purely arbitrary, so saying that your modded car makes 244 crank HP is misleading, at best.

Would you review the results of a botox injection without a “before” photo…and tell your readers that “I feel a bit younger?”

No aftermarket product will void a warrenty. Ever. The only way an aftermarket part will cause your warrenty to be void is if it is directly associated with the failure of the part. There’s a federal law for it. And no, Dinan doesn’t match that part.

1. Where is the dyno results of the M Roadster BEFORE the CAI and ECU were installed?

2. Was there any mention of Dinan’s warranty? Dinan products do not void the BMW factory warranty (unlike most aftermarket products) and they backup their products for two full years after the product is installed by an authorized Dinan dealer. Go to the Dinan website and read the details.

Yes, Dinan products are generally more expensive than their competitors, but Dinan puts more R & D into their products than most other BMW/MINI aftermarket parts manufacturers and they fully support their products.

I interviewed Steve Dinan and spent several hours with the man touring his Morgan Hill facility. Most of the negativism towards Dinan is because few people understand the company’s philosophy and the amount of work to produce a product that improves the performance of a car with ZERO compromises. How many aftermarket performance parts have you installed that have some ill effects along with their claimed benefits?

I disagree. Many people in the Mazdaspeed3 Community, and most turbocharged cars, can show very noticable gains at the wheels from nothing more than a simple Open Element filter. Using the Speed3, for example, people have dynoed upwards of a ten wheel horsepower gain from just cutting up the stock box, and almost 20whp and good torque gains from an intake.

Cretinx:

I agree 100%. I read his white paper about underdrive pullies, and had to laugh. The only reason he doesn’t like UD pullies is because UR wont sell him theirs, and you can’t charge 200% mark up for them.

Steve Dinan is also a huge jerk.