[Potty_Pants]

Hi guys,

First I was a diehard Dinan supporter and purchased their Stage 2 Flash for my E90 months after it was released! The performance and reliablilty was great no problems encountered.

I continued to support Dinan even though bashers were on the forums. Now I find (due to recent events) must post the opposite and highly recommend looking elsewhere for your performance needs.

Distance 3 miles
May 2010 Local Dealer overwites Dinan S2 with new BMW software
(to troubleshoot low MPG,Stutter & oil change problem).

May 2010 Contact to Dinan reseller (another dealership) to ensure S2 could be reapplied over latest BMW software... spoke with Service manager "no problem, I'll have it all set up for you on Saturday"

Distance 70 miles x2 = 140 miles + tolls.
May 2010 Saturday 8am and Dinan reseller. "sorry cant flash car, please bring it up during the work week and we'll get it done".

Distance 70 miles x2 = 140 miles + tolls.
July 2010 Called Dinan reseller and spoke with Service writer I told him i could take off work from 11am and drive up there today... he said "please bring it up I'll get you in at 1pm"... at 130pm he told me "sorry cant
flash your car" I asked for Dinan number immediately which he provided.

I spoke with Dinan Dan immediately and Dan contacted the service write and tried to get them up and running so I would not be required to make a 3rd trip spend more money in gas , wear on my car , tolls and lost time
from work. Unfortunately the service writer was unable to perform the flash... too many things would need to be done to get me up and running. At which point I called Dinan Dan back and pretty much said you take care of
this.

This is where the fun starts !

I tried to be as polite and understanding as possible... but i have lost hundreds of dollars and 1/2 day off from work for this BS of which is not my fault but yet I pay for it.... geez I thought spending 2k on a flash was worth better service then the piggies... guess i was wrong.... VERY wrong. Please note every step of the way I mentioned my time & money wasted trying to get the car flashed and I would like to be compensated for these problems outside my control.

Almost Daily calls to Dinan Dan... because he fails to return my calls... though a few times over the 3-4 weeks he did call. Various updates through the days... like ...

"we're working with service no success" ,
"we're working with Parts mgr - no success".
"can you take out your CPU and overnight it to us, we'll flash it and overnight it back" = car down 3 days (no way)
"Steve is away in NJ"
"I'm going to have a meeting with Steve Dinan and brief him on this"
"Steve is goiing to speak with the GM"
"Steve didnt speak with the GM he's out on Monday"
"The dealership isnt willing to do anything, did you get a call from Dinan support" NO
" I just left a msg and I'll talk with him tonight or tomorrow and he'll get in touch with you"

Now the problems with wasting 3 weeks with Dan... He dragged his feet, possibly didnt speak to the right people and didnt service the customer by returning calls... all the customer wants is an update/progress report one thing found out later is that NOBODY from DINAN ever spoke with the GM... so this leads me to how much was lies from Dinan Dan ?

Next day I receive a call from Dinan Jay (Director of dealer development)
IMO Jay was a straight shooter, and every step of the way followed through with the process.

Daily conversations with Jay or emails, total resolution time about 1-2 weeks.
Please note some of the highlights of conversations with him.

" No Steve hasnt spoken with the dealer ship, he's been busy (nascar or some racing stuff)"
" I've been tasked to get you up and running as soon as possible"
" How about having the local dealership remove the cpu and ship it overnight and reinstall ?
We'll pay for the rental and shipping, you pay for the removal and installation?"
- uh NO im not spending $200 more then what i already did in wasted trips and time to the dealer

At some point Jay mentioned the dealership couldnt or wouldnt do the flash ( this i assume was info provided by a coworker @ dinan ) I asked if they were going to pull the Dinan resellability at the dealer ?
He responded with (basically) I DONT KNOW... After all this grief and a place that cant flash the car shouldnt be selling Dinan not to mention the 10's of hours and $$$ on my part to get the flash that was paid
and promised for... Jay should know.

I suggested instead of screwing around with a local dealer and rental etc... i figured it was easier to drive to another dealer and get it done... I suggested under 2 hrs on a saturday. He responded with another dealer
that was about 100 minutes away and was working to get the saturday install.

The next day or so he asked if i could go up on a week day, which my answer was NO due to work and family obligations. I asked him if he ever talked to the GM... or if Dinan ever spoke with the GM... he said he didnt
and he didnt know....
At which point i said to myself "enough of this bs, I'm going to talk to the GM. The buck stops with him"

August 2010 a few days of calls to the dealership and I was put in touch with a very friendly and concerned GM, He said " I know you've been calling and i'm sorry I didnt get back to you sooner. Take as much
time as you need and tell me whats going on"... I asked him did you speak with Dinan? "NO" So nobody spoke with the GM from DINAN... nice. The buck stops with the GM explained the story and he apologized and said he would get back to me and to call any time. 4 hours later Service called
me and said its all set up lets schedule an appointment.

August 2010 Satuday... Car flashed no problems.

Summary: Don’t expect service after the sale … unless you scream and shout.

At first it was the dealership’s fault , then when Dinan dan dragged me around for three weeks It was Dinan’s fault. Ultimately I pay for this crap in hours and hours on the phone, gas & wear From the two wasted trips to dealer, over 10 hrs of my time waiting or driving to the dealer, ½ day
Leave from work, and getting up at 6am on my Saturday x2.

I mentioned to dinan every time they need to make this right = compensation . As Jay mentioned The fact that I drove an hr each way to dealer isn’t his concern (he said politely). BUT THE DEALER REPRESENTS DINAN , Dinan needs to assume responsibility for the dealers actions and later they reconcile with the dealer. Not having the customer being treated like a dog on a leash.

Jay asked what I wanted, I said I don’t know just something for me to walk away and say “dinan Stepped up to the plate”. Honestly everything they have costs 1k or more ( which i wasnt asking for).. .besides the floor mats… and im sure he wouldn’t want me wiping my feet on dinan every time I drive my car

I wanted something to pay me back for the hundreds of dollars wasted figured a $5 dinan badge And another year on the warranty would be an easy fix for him… though to me the badge Is not worth $300 but figured since it was cheap he could/would do it. Well his response was NO on the badge “those are reserved for customers who invest a lot in dinan” lol keep the badge If its soo much of a problem. And the warranty he said he could do it but may need paperwork From when bmw flashed my car… again I have the paperwork but I really need to jump through
Hoops for even this.

There is alittle more to this whole ordeal but i grow weary and ive already written enough. if you have any questions please post on the forum or via private msg... oh and Dinan my events are as close to the truth as i remember it... if you have anything to add or correct this post isnt locked.

Pretty much a few months added to a crappy warranty was offered to ease my pain of this ordeal... i said NO THANKS... id rather post on the forums and inform the others.

Bottom line if you buy the dinan flash EXPECT to return to dealer for reflashes… and don’t expect Quality service from Dinan after the sale… unless you make a big stink.

Next time I’ll buy a Vishnu piggy. Lol warranty service or even service from dinan not worth anything.

ppp

[gizmo335i]

Man....glad I went the cheap route...JB3....

[roadkillrob]

God, that is terrible - I would have asked for my 2 grand back and gone elsewhere instead of a $300 advertising plate that they couldn't part with! Good luck with the extra year of warranty - sounds like if you try to use it, you may need the whole year to get something accomplished!

If you still want the Dinan badge - it is $295 cheaper on ebay!

[Potty_Pants]

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

God, that is terrible - I would have asked for my 2 grand back and gone elsewhere instead of a $300 advertising plate that they couldn't part with! Good luck with the extra year of warranty - sounds like if you try to use it, you may need the whole year to get something accomplished!

If you still want the Dinan badge - it is $295 cheaper on ebay!

I never got the extra year warranty... just the offer to extend it for the time my car had the stock bmw flash in it....

at one point i asked Dinan if my car cant be flashed back for whatever reason will dinan return my money... "you need to get the money back from the selling dealer" = small claims court

ppp

[Bavarian E92]

I just got off the phone with a buddy of mine who has the Dinan down in NY and he said that Prestige BMW was the best place to go to.

[techlogik]

Just another example of why Dinan is a joke in the BMW performance world.

[Potty_Pants]

here's another one for you guys...

Another Dinan customer who's having continued unresolved problems (being vague)

Dinan's response was have him deal with the dealership...

We'll the guy is already dealing with the dealership and not getting far...

thanks Dinan.

" you could have been helpful, but was soo much more "

ppp

[3002 tii]

i had a similar experience with another reputable vendor on a big ticket item. i set up an appt at my indy shop to install particular mod. after 2hrs of trying diff things, tech comes to conclusion the parts are not correct. this was sat so i had to wait till monday to call vendor. vendor accuses bad attempt of install. after verifying all parts are correct, he agrees to take it back for inspection. i told him i would not ship on my dime so he sends a ups ground label. he finally receives item, confirms it was built to wrong specs so sends back the new on via ground. between shipping both ways & inspection of parts = nearly 2 weeks. not to mention i paid for 1.5 hr labor first time around for nothing. and after all this, they did nothing "extra' to remedy the situation or make it right.

feel your frustration, the very fact this happens even with the best of vendors just shows modding is never alwasy easy. plug and play parts will need fabrication or modding to fit. in-stock parts are never truly in-stock. and customer support is only good upto the sale, once they have your $$$ it's just a never ending phone tag.

[stressdoc]

Moral of the story: Dinan is fine if you have a supportive dealer.

Otherwise, caveat emptor

[HPIA4v2]

The screwiest business model ever known to mankind, Dinan dealership is like moonligthing a franchise.

It's like McDonald restaurant offer KC BBQ sauce if you buy a burger, then customer says I don't like this burger, then MacDonald employee says well take it with KC BBQ sauce cause we only makes burger and buns. Then KC says well the burger was cooked wrong etc... see how screwy, KC needs to open their own restaurant period or you will enter endless blaming games.

[Potty_Pants]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

Moral of the story: Dinan is fine if you have a supportive dealer.

Otherwise, caveat emptor

Revised:

Moral of the story... Dinan is fine as long as you have a supportive dealer and no future problems... and dont need to get dinan involved.

ppp

[dreamingat30fps]

Revised:

Moral of the story... save your money and get a JB3.

[HPIA4v2]

Originally Posted by Potty_Pants

Revised:

Moral of the story... Dinan is fine as long as you have a supportive dealer and no future problems... and dont need to get dinan involved.

ppp

I actually wonder if you basically gets the old Dinan S2 SW back in your car, which overwrite the changes BMW put in recently (to pre-primed the HPFP upon unlocking the car etc). Cause that's awfully fast for Dinan to get that new BMW S/W and mod it with their S2 parameters, only Dinan know for sure.

[Doctor T]

Revised:

Moral of the story...

Enjoy your car as stock and don't modify it.

Seriously though, I feel for you... that sucks. I hate doing leg work for stuff that's not my fault.

[Potty_Pants]

Originally Posted by HPIA4v2

I actually wonder if you basically gets the old Dinan S2 SW back in your car, which overwrite the changes BMW put in recently (to pre-primed the HPFP upon unlocking the car etc). Cause that's awfully fast for Dinan to get that new BMW S/W and mod it with their S2 parameters, only Dinan know for sure.

I actually heard conflicting stories from long ago...

years ago dinan stated they only overwrite the lines of code related to the tune stuff and leave everything else. so getting a bmw flash then overwrite by dinan is plausable

the 2nd i heard was dinan has an image of a certain version of the bmw flash and they modify the code... so if they dont have the latest code from bmw obviously it would be an older version.

honestly no idea besides the above, i know before there was the waste gate setting and it was recommended (by other forum members) to get the bmw flash and switch enabled = rattle on. then get the dinan flash.

ppp

[dreamingat30fps]

I wonder what the benefits are of having the ECU flashed vs the piggy back method? It seems the piggy back would be the most logical way to do this has you avoid all these flashing issues, can move it to a different car, can sell it, can remove it for dealer visits etc.

[RoundelM240]

Originally Posted by techlogik

Just another example of why Dinan is a joke in the BMW performance world.

Oh really...well, that must explain all the wins by Dinan-powered cars in the REAL racing/peformance world like LeMans, Daytona, and so forth. Funny that we don't see piggybacked BMWs being run by Bimmerworld or Turner Motorsports. Sorry you seem to think you can speak for the entire "performance world" which apparently in your perception is limited to the street-racing crowd who like to live on the edge of warranty denial.

My experience with Dinan (since 2002 and 3rd car now) has been nothing but good. Sounds to me like this was more of a dealer issue than Dinan, but it's easy to blame the vendor for the dealer problems. I recently had a reflash of my ECU when I had to have a steering-angle sensor replaced, and it was the latest flash for the MSD80. They re-flashed my Dinan over top of that and I've not had any problems with it.

Sorry to hear about the OP's problems, but it looks like Dinan had as much trouble trying to work with the dealer as the OP did. It certainly isn't typical of other Dinan user's experiences, but then all you ever hear about on here is a lot of bitching about problems and very little about how some particular add-on has worked or failed to work.

[Potty_Pants]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I wonder what the benefits are of having the ECU flashed vs the piggy back method? It seems the piggy back would be the most logical way to do this has you avoid all these flashing issues, can move it to a different car, can sell it, can remove it for dealer visits etc.

at the time when purchased... dinan was enticing for the following.
1. warranty
2. no error codes or stored codes
3. seemed safer tune
4. no piggy to worry about

now with as many flashes these cars get and the lackluster service from dealer and dinan i'd lean towards piggy best way to go.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Potty_Pants

at the time when purchased... dinan was enticing for the following.
1. warranty
2. no error codes or stored codes
3. seemed safer tune
4. no piggy to worry about

now with as many flashes these cars get and the lackluster service from dealer and dinan i'd lean towards piggy best way to go.

Yeah but my point is couldn't Dinan offer their warranty, no codes and safe tune in a piggy back system that can be easily installed or removed like the PNP JB? Surely the warrant and codes have more to do with their actual code rather than how it's delivered? Could be wrong.

[Potty_Pants]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Yeah but my point is couldn't Dinan offer their warranty, no codes and safe tune in a piggy back system that can be easily installed or removed like the PNP JB? Surely the warrant and codes have more to do with their actual code rather than how it's delivered? Could be wrong.

honestly imo the best way is a flash... the way they did it.
could they do it, im sure... who knows their reasons why they didnt....

update: took my car out for a few runs today and through the rev range under full throttle there was minor pulsing through the rpm bands... wondering if this is more of the signs the HPFP is going based upon my original reason for bringing the car to bmw for service...

ppp

[OC Guy]

Originally Posted by roundel335

Oh really...well, that must explain all the wins by Dinan-powered cars in the REAL racing/peformance world like LeMans, Daytona, and so forth. Funny that we don't see piggybacked BMWs being run by Bimmerworld or Turner Motorsports. Sorry you seem to think you can speak for the entire "performance world" which apparently in your perception is limited to the street-racing crowd who like to live on the edge of warranty denial.

That is because they have a bigger budget, it does not directly speak to the tune.

My experience with Dinan (since 2002 and 3rd car now) has been nothing but good. Sounds to me like this was more of a dealer issue than Dinan, but it's easy to blame the vendor for the dealer problems. I recently had a reflash of my ECU when I had to have a steering-angle sensor replaced, and it was the latest flash for the MSD80. They re-flashed my Dinan over top of that and I've not had any problems with it.

Cool.

Sorry to hear about the OP's problems, but it looks like Dinan had as much trouble trying to work with the dealer as the OP did. It certainly isn't typical of other Dinan user's experiences, but then all you ever hear about on here is a lot of bitching about problems and very little about how some particular add-on has worked or failed to work.

Really? Their follow up was horrible and Dan never spoke to the GM, which he said he would.

[Potty_Pants]

M5 board guy has to pay 9K to fix his motor...

good read involves dinan

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...-warranty.html