[jchristena]

As we all know, the ECU from the 08s needs to be sent to Dinan for the flash. Their service was extremely fast. I live in Austin TX and took my car in early Monday morning. My dealer had the ECU in the mail to Dinan(in Cali) by 9am. I was literally driving my car by Wednesday afternoon. So, dealer overnights it to Dinan, and as they say, they process the same day and overnight it back.

And for what it's worth, this Dinan flash is nothing short of spectacular. So, for anyone contemplating doing their 08, but wondering how long they'll be out of their car...its worth the 3 days.

Just my .02$.

[myfirstbmw335i]

how about putting your .02 to the test and going to a dyno shop...then we will truly know how spectacular it is for the price....

[stressdoc]

Nice! I have a 9/06 build, but no local Dinan dealer, so it's good to know that Dinan has an efficient system set up.

[x26]

Originally Posted by jchristena

As we all know, the ECU from the 08s needs to be sent to Dinan for the flash. Their service was extremely fast. I live in Austin TX and took my car in early Monday morning. My dealer had the ECU in the mail to Dinan(in Cali) by 9am. I was literally driving my car by Wednesday afternoon. So, dealer overnights it to Dinan, and as they say, they process the same day and overnight it back.

And for what it's worth, this Dinan flash is nothing short of spectacular. So, for anyone contemplating doing their 08, but wondering how long they'll be out of their car...its worth the 3 days.

Just my .02$.

Thanks for the Info!
I would love to hear a "Full Review"...

[e90AW335i]

Nice, but a dyno would be better....

Congrats regardless though....

[BoostedBMW]

Good customer service always goes a long way.

[JacobT]

Hey, I'm in Austin too. Did you get a loaner for those 3 days while your ECU was out? What's the total cost BMW of Austin charge you for the reflash?

[jchristena]

BMW of Austin always takes good care of me. Scott Leidtke specifically. They always give me a loaner, including this time. They charged me 1 hr labor and thats it. So, 120 bucks. Let me know if you want any more info. If your thinking about it and want more info, just let me know.

BTW, to all that care, I'm going to try to get this dyno'd next week.

Originally Posted by JacobT

Hey, I'm in Austin too. Did you get a loaner for those 3 days while your ECU was out? What's the total cost BMW of Austin charge you for the reflash?

[Don Nguyen]

Can't wait.

-Don

[getInline]

Thanks for the info. Did you happen to ask what will happen if you need an ECU update? I guess they'll have to update the ECU and then Courier it back and forth to Dinan again?

[Calgary Agent]

Originally Posted by getInline

Thanks for the info. Did you happen to ask what will happen if you need an ECU update? I guess they'll have to update the ECU and then Courier it back and forth to Dinan again?

Dinan is apparently planning to supply Dinan authorized dealers with the interface required to flash the '08 models - perhaps by late 1st qtr 2008

[cycler]

get the dyno done. i think we are all waiting for that before we jump in head first for 2k

[slubu]

How about just a review, your impressions, etc.

[JEllis]

Appreciate the write up for those of us considering an 08

[jchristena]

Well, my review won't be as fancy as some others that have been posted here..but here goes.

First let me say that the car definately got faster as the tune got more miles on it. When I first picked it up, I was a bit disappointed. In my particular case, the power output feels like it almost doubled after about 30 miles were put on the car as evidently the ECU needed adaptation time. I think there is just a bit more turbo lag because more boost has to spool up. Loading the boost, or just driving part throttle for a few seconds and then flooring it produces a dramatic effect.

In normal driving, I didn't feel too much difference around town. You really can't even tell the tune is there until you get to about 1/2 throttle. As far as I can tell, even at 1/2 throttle, the note of the engine is signifigantly changed. I assume this is because it is already winding up more quickly than before. With DSC completely off, flooring it in first gear produces a normal stock effect until the revs climb to about 2800. Then, the boost hits like a ton of bricks and the tires break loose. The revs climb immediately to redline. It almost feels like the road is wet, but not quite. The car stays nice and straight.

Shifting into second, but not power shifting produces a healthy chirp of the tires. Very little to no traction loss in second, but the car pulls all the way to redline. You really can't tell that the published Dinan dyno numbers say that the boost falls off.

I think some of the most noticable difference occurs in 3rd and 4th. When the revs are above 2500 or so, flooring it produces a rush of power. I don't really care about top speed, but in third if you aren't careful, you'll be doing over a 100 before you know it.

Overall this was 2000 well spent. A published gain of 84hp or so is a great bang for the buck in my opinion. For others that have driven big single turbo cars, or nitrous cars, this is not like that. There is no huge boost spike to make the car almost undrivable in the lower gears. There is a usable large rush of power, but it remains within the ability of the car's suspension to put a good amount of that power to the ground.

Having come from a bone stock 2004 M3, this car is no comparison. It is faster, quieter and more livable. The M3 had that brutal race car feel and some may never tire of that...I did. I always heard from the masses when I had my E36 M3 and my E46 M3 that Dinan sucked. Well, some may say their stuff is overpriced and under producing for the $$$. I guess it depends on where your priorities lie. If you want raw performance and don't mind ripping out the XEDE or having a loud exhaust or whatever, then this may not be for you. If you want a stock car that is reasonably fast and have 2k to burn, then check out the Dinan.

Fact of the matter is, the Dinan warranty is an issue. Also, no matter what people say, you MOST LIKELY won't have a warranty issue. If you do, you MOST LIKELY won't have a war between the dealer and Dinan over who is going to pay for your car repairs. To me, in my humble opinion this is the tune to get.

Note: No offense to Shiv, or the AA guys. I had an AA Xede on my car for a week or so before the Dinan and it was incredible.

Originally Posted by slubu

How about just a review, your impressions, etc.

[slubu]

Interesting - the auto transmissino reviews were all about partial throttle response being greatly improved; your review of the manual trans seems to indicate you need about 1/2 or more depressed to get the sensation. Is that accurate?

Everything aside other than power/feel, how does Dinan compare to the Xede? Don't consider price, warranty, etc..

[jchristena]

Like I said, I only had the AA for a week, but it's close. I think I definately need about 1/2 throttle to tell a difference. My wife, who gets very car sick can't tell the car has a tune when I'm driving her around normally. She is so sensitive to that stuff, I figure she is a good judge. As far as the power the tunes make, I think the Dinan feels a bit stronger...but then its advertising more torque. I really don't think you can go wrong w/ either tune.

Originally Posted by slubu

Interesting - the auto transmissino reviews were all about partial throttle response being greatly improved; your review of the manual trans seems to indicate you need about 1/2 or more depressed to get the sensation. Is that accurate?

Everything aside other than power/feel, how does Dinan compare to the Xede? Don't consider price, warranty, etc..

[slubu]

Appreciated. Thanks for taking the time on the writeup.

[stressdoc]

Excellent. Nice having the comparison with the AA Xede. Thanks.