B46/48 DINAN STAGE 1 PERFORMANCE ENGINE SOFTWARE

[Gearhead60]

Anyone with B46/48 done the Dinan flash on their ECU? Specs look very nice, see them here. I'm thinking of doing it after Lilli gets her rear fixed.... Goes in body shop on Monday. Took forever for a rear bumper cover replacement! Damn supply chain issues!

[Garrett]

I have not done it yet, but I was planning on doing it this year.  It will probably be May before I can go through with it though.

 

[Gearhead60]

Yeah, February/March will be my timeframe. Pulling ECU should be fun. Garrett, you interested in being there when I do it, let me know.....

[Garrett]

By all means let me know.  I believe it is near the battery, but not sure.

[Gearhead60]

5 hours ago, Garrett said:

By all means let me know.  I believe it is near the battery, but not sure.

 

I believe it is to the left of the battery. Seen a tube video on a F56 and understand it's a similar R&R. Keep you posted.....

[DavidJCW]

Sounds interesting!  I have been contemplating the same modification but looking at the Evolve tune as opposed to Dinan.  Anything specific that swayed you to Dinan?

[Gearhead60]

13 hours ago, DavidJCW said:

Sounds interesting!  I have been contemplating the same modification but looking at the Evolve tune as opposed to Dinan.  Anything specific that swayed you to Dinan?

David,

Not familiar with the Evolve tune. I'm familiar with Dinan and their reputation on BMWs, so feel comfortable sending my ECM to them. Not sure about dealing with an overseas outfit, as Evolve looks to be located in the UK. Also, for my vehicle, the tune is $250 more.....

[Gearhead60]

David,

 

Sent out the ECM today to Dinan. Sorry I didn't contact you to watch the fun. It was spur of the moment that I decided it was time.  Keep you posted on when it comes back if you are interested in seeing the re-assembly. It's a little harder than I saw done on a F56 due to it being further back against the firewall. Might need your car in case I can't remember how to put it all back together....LOL.

[DavidJCW]

I thought the Dinan tune was a piggyback?  Maybe a different Dinan product (or different car).  Very cool either way.  I will be interested to see what the turnaround time is and how well it works.  Do you know:  Does the tune only work in Sport mode?  Or does it negate the Green/Mid/Sport modes all together?  Maybe adds a boost to each?

 

Re-assembly should be interesting; please do keep me posted.  Thank you for keeping me in the loop with your adventures!

[Garrett]

16 hours ago, DavidJCW said:

I thought the Dinan tune was a piggyback?  Maybe a different Dinan product (or different car).  Very cool either way.  I will be interested to see what the turnaround time is and how well it works.  Do you know:  Does the tune only work in Sport mode?  Or does it negate the Green/Mid/Sport modes all together?  Maybe adds a boost to each?

 

Re-assembly should be interesting; please do keep me posted.  Thank you for keeping me in the loop with your adventures!

The newest Dinan tune is a complete flash of the ECU.  I was looking at doing this to mine, but have been looking at Bootmod3 lately.  It is also a reflash of the ECU but I could do it myself in my garage.  I am hopeful to get it next week.

[Gearhead60]

David,

 

The piggyback from Dinan is still available but only at a lower power option. I lieu of the what used be called the Dinan Elite piggyback unit is a benchflash of the ECU. I used a piggyback from Dinan for awhile, but after 3 years it failed. I liked the addtional power and since my car is now out of warranty, the Stage 1 flash is reasonable @ $499.95 with stated increases to 309 HP and 357 LB-FT Tq on 93 Octane. See the Dinan site here for more information. I will say that the r&r of the ECU was somewhat of a pain and I had some trepidation about doing it. But here I am, dead car in the driveway and an ECU 500 miles away on someone's workbench.....LOL.

 

Garrett,

 

Bootmod3 looks to be interesting, but for $100 less the Dinan seems to offer a lot more HP/Tq gain for the 93 Octane level. I do understand the attraction to a mod without ECU removal and shipping. I did talk to the Dinan people and they claim it to be a comprehensive remapping of the ECU that is a vast improvement over stock mapping. Other owners I've corresponded with say it makes the car an absolute kick in the ass to drive and runs a whole lot better than stock. Dinan does thoroughly test your ECU before sending it back. Good luck if you try the Bootmod3 option. 

[DavidJCW]

OK; now I am interested.  I did not realize the gains were above 300HP.  Now I REALLY want to get your opinion of the final product after you reinstall the ECU!  And I much prefer an ECU flash instead of a piggyback system.

 

I watched the R&R video and thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be easier just to remove the engine?  LoL...

 

My concern is that my JCW has ~98k miles and I believe the original clutch.  Adding ~75 more HP is really going to work the clutch pretty good.  When the time comes, when I replace the clutch I am really thinking about adding a LSD at the same time.  Just more $$$, right?????  and then there are the coilovers and larger sway bar I want to get...  It never ends, does it?  

[Gearhead60]

My car is 5 years old, but only has 36,500 miles on it. I'm not worried about the clutch. Cars are a money hole. The only reason you do the mods is for the love of it. You will never see a return on it. Last car I had (1999 Honda Civic Si) was 17 years old when I sold it with 90,000 miles on it. This one will likely be around for at least another 5-10 years. I figure, might as well make it drive how I want it to and not worry about the expense.

[DavidJCW]

I agree...we do mods for the love of doing mods.  For me though, they have to be purpose driven and usually multifaceted (I can better justify the higher expense for coil overs over lowering springs since they are so much more functional (better handling, adjustable ride height, better suited for track time, etc), for example).  It is easy for me to hang with a limited budget, tougher to be a little patient (ex. "We will wait to do that mod next year") but simply difficult to decide which mod should come first, and which mod functionally makes the most sense v. "Do I REALLY need to do that?" type of mentality.

 

Even though the car was clearly babied by the original owner, I worry about the high(er) miles also.

[Gearhead60]

I've tried to do mods as $$$ and budget (what budget says the wife) become available. While I can justify spending money at will on the car, the boss won't and is unsympathetic to my gearhead desires....LOL. What does fund the mods are unspent weekly spending money and gift money. I usually let it accumulate until it reaches a level high enough for the next planned purchase. I started with the cheaper and easier ones, then moved on to the ones I thought would be worth more for the utility, like the Cravenspeed short shifter and the NM RSB. The Dinan tune came about because of a recent bonus from work. While most of the bonus was going into the joint finances, the boss asked what I wanted to spend some of it on and told her the Dinan tune. While she pretended to understand, she couldn't say no. Next mod? Probably better coil packs. Dinan makes some that are reasonably priced and give a much better spark. Of course, this will probably have to wait a little bit, as the next item to be financed from the slush fund is firearms related....bang bang, shoot shoot....

[DavidJCW]

I have the great fortune of having an understanding wife as well!  The last mods we did on the Mini she ended up taking over completely (cosmetic mods:  She wanted the windows tinted and some vinyl work done).  She encourages the mechanical mods but leaves them to me.  It helps that she enjoys riding in the car with me during my 'spirited' trips.  The debate I have with myself is horsepower v. handling, and which to tackle first.

 

My internal conflict is that the mods have to be purpose driven.  Like, what is the end goal I am trying to achieve with the mods I am contemplating, and then what is enough...where is the stopping point?  At what point do you say, "Yeah, I COULD do this or that, but I am happy with the setup as it is now and I really do not need to do any more."?  I am afraid of spending significant money on any modification without a purpose only to find that I am not really happy with it.  Once that money is spent, it ain't coming back.

 

My exhaust is a good example:  $1,500 on a JCW Pro exhaust only to find out after it was installed that I could have gotten the same effect by straight piping the car.  The saving grace there is that the Pro exhaust is designed and engineered by Mini (BMW) to work perfectly with that model (F56), and I am still all OEM.  IT is a small benefit but it helps.  (Since I leave the bypass valve open all the time, I still feel like I would have been happier straight piping it, but I digress)

 

So I think I am done spending money on the car for this year.  I like the way the wheels, vinyl, and tinting turned out, and I dig the exhaust with the wireless button.  That's enough for now (that and I still don't know where to go next) until you come back and tell me that the Dinan tune is an experience akin to a ride on the Falcon X, and then just maybe.....    

[Gearhead60]

Yes, I'm hoping it is a significant difference. The Dinantronix tunebox I had before that failed was a very noticable difference just with 30-40+- HP. 

 

I decided years ago that mods stop when they aren't usable on a street car without making it into a track car. I used to have a Toyota Corolla back in the day that was used as a track car and a street car. Ran it with the Corvette club at Summit Point. While it didn't have the HP to keep up with the Corvettes, they couldn't get around me unless we were on the long straight. RX-7s, MR2s and any small German or Asian car couldn't catch me. To boot, it was in a SW body. Drove a few people crazy until they saw I had a JDM engine in it. Of course this was long before anyone knew what JDM meant. The car was a no compromises for ride, noise or handling. It rode hard, handled like a go-cart and probably cost me a few decibels in hearing. My aim one day is to build a track car, but I have so many project cars in my head right now, not sure which one gets done 1st.....

[Gearhead60]

Got the ECM back yesterday. Was able to put it back in car last night but only got a short test drive in. Only took about an hour to put it all back together. No check engine lights or any issues on first start up. Initial test drive was very short, but impressions are favorable. Pulls hard all the way to redline. Easy to bounce it off the rev limiter. Have to get used to that again. My old Honda Civic Si was easy to hit rev limiter at 8500 rpm. Had to learn when to shift.... Stock tune on Mini ran out of breath before even coming close. Had to return loaner car today to work, so didn't drive it. Tomorrow will be first chance to spend decent time gaining impressions. 

Edited May 3, 2022 by Gearhead60

[Gearhead60]

16 hours ago, Gearhead60 said:

Tomorrow will be first chance to spend decent time gaining impressions. 

 

Holy F**k! This car now flys! JCW has got nothing on this tune. The more I drive it the more I like it. For $499, well worth the Max gains of 87 WHP / 109 lb-ft of torque. Instant power anywhere.....

[DavidJCW]

Sounds like you are impressed with the performsnce and you are satisfied, if not even HAPPY with the value you have received for your money!    AAAaaand I just got a bonus yesterday....hmmm...