Looks like Dinan bought an e46 M3 for R&D

[George Hill]

Steve mentioned exhausts were hard to make profitable because of the space they take up. Shipping, storing and manufacturing (quality) was not always an easy problem to solve...

Ain't that the truth. Every dual muffler Dinan exhaust I installed never fit the same side to side... even was crooked in their advertising. Back in the mid 2000s to 2012/13 or so I installed just about every major item they sold for their entire vehicle line-up and most everything was good except the mufflers. Sure they didn't always make a ton of power compared to other brands but as a general rule it was what was described. I still think some of their parts carry on today, but that doesn't mean there are better options as well.

[bigjae46]

I met him there. Had a great conversation. He knew his market very well from a business perspective. Tough industry, but he made it work. If you want an OE+ feel and want all the guess work taken care of… then you’re their customer. But people on here, are not where his audience lies. Never has been. He’s after the showroom shoppers.

I came away from the 30+ minute conversation really impressed. Humble guy that treated his people well
from what I could tell.

I think there are plenty of OE+ people here but you’re supporting an ever dwindling population.

The F and G platforms…well…I guess I’ve already said it. Not Dinan’s market.

[tlow98]

Makes too much sense; thanks. Of course, in a PE world, more real estate is never a bad thing. So we’ll see if that changes things any. FlowMaster is already operating on a much larger real estate scale, so that “space, shipping and storage” problem might already be fixed. Headers and exhausts for these might just be extra revenue with little to no extra cost in that business.

maw

Great point about PE and the portfolio they’ve built. Could certainly be some crossover strategy there, and dare I use the word… synergy. Cringe.

Another detail about Steve’s old shop (Dinan) when he was still running it was that they apparently had a terrible time selling upgrades to lower end 3 series customers (especially high dollar upgrades) compared to the M cars and upper end models. He mentioned they sold something like 10 super charger kits in total for the 325/328/330i e46 range. Said it was a terrible loss. Whereas M customers would walk in with a brand new car and tell him to do everything he had no questions asked. Bigger difference in the customer demographic than I would have expected.

As bigjae46 pointed out this very well could be different now with the widespread use of turbos and the relatively cheap tunes for those cars. A nice volume play where it didn’t really exist before. But can they play the volume and ‘premium’ game simultaneously? Seems like burger Motorsports, Cobb, etc took over that sector.

[tlow98]

Ain't that the truth. Every dual muffler Dinan exhaust I installed never fit the same side to side... even was crooked in their advertising. Back in the mid 2000s to 2012/13 or so I installed just about every major item they sold for their entire vehicle line-up and most everything was good except the mufflers. Sure they didn't always make a ton of power compared to other brands but as a general rule it was what was described. I still think some of their parts carry on today, but that doesn't mean there are better options as well.

This is hilarious. Love the first hand experience.

Do you find the same with most other high-end brands of rear mufflers? Aka, supersprint. Curious… I wonder if the muffler is the hardest problem to solve. I’d have imagined headers would be a harder problem to solve. Maybe not?

[tlow98]

I think there are plenty of OE+ people here but you’re supporting an ever dwindling population.

The F and G platforms…well…I guess I’ve already said it. Not Dinan’s market.

missed your post before I replied. Completely agree with your market view.

[George Hill]

This is hilarious. Love the first hand experience.

Do you find the same with most other high-end brands of rear mufflers? Aka, supersprint. Curious… I wonder if the muffler is the hardest problem to solve. I’d have imagined headers would be a harder problem to solve. Maybe not?

This was with the dual muffler system, IIRC they all were shipped in two pieces and had joints connecting them.

The single muffler setups like the M3 and non-M always fit nice, that's my go-to on these cars personally and we run the Non-M on S54 swaps that retain the spare tire well.

I did a lot of the installs as I enjoyed the setup, but I dreaded the mufflers because as a "whole" Dinan products did not pay very well compared to stock parts and took more "work." Towards the end I started insisting on my own labor time and the dealership didn't like that so those installs went to other people. We then had some many problems with the Dinantronics piggy back setups that we dropped being a Dinan Dealer.

[EthanolTurbo]

Ain't that the truth. Every dual muffler Dinan exhaust I installed never fit the same side to side... even was crooked in their advertising. Back in the mid 2000s to 2012/13 or so I installed just about every major item they sold for their entire vehicle line-up and most everything was good except the mufflers. Sure they didn't always make a ton of power compared to other brands but as a general rule it was what was described. I still think some of their parts carry on today, but that doesn't mean there are better options as well.

The E39 M5 Dinan mufflers are pretty nice though with a really nice bassy tone and good weight reduction vs stock with absolutely zero drone.

[Obioban]

The E39 M5 Dinan mufflers are pretty nice though with a really nice bassy tone and good weight reduction vs stock with absolutely zero drone.

Yes, but that describes pretty much every e39 m5 muffler made (or even removing the mufflers completely) 🤣

[bigjae46]

I had a Dinan rear section on my E90 M3. I could barely hear a difference and the real tips were eventually a different shade of black from the fakes.

[Gt4]

I had a Dinan rear section on my E90 M3. I could barely hear a difference and the real tips were eventually a different shade of black from the fakes.

I agree that Dinan isn’t the loudest exhaust on the market but I also had them on my E90 M3 back in 2014 and my daughter (when she was still a baby) would start to cry every morning when I start the car while leaving to work… Neighboors also mentionned it to my GF. Ended up removing it but tonme it was perfect compare to other exhausts available on market.

[usdmej]

I agree that Dinan isn’t the loudest exhaust on the market but I also had them on my E90 M3 back in 2014 and my daughter (when she was still a baby) would start to cry every morning when I start the car while leaving to work… Neighboors also mentionned it to my GF. Ended up removing it but tonme it was perfect compare to other exhausts available on market.

does the E9X use a SAP? those things make aftermarket exhausts sound way meaner during cold starts. it doesnt help that newborns are particularly sensitive to lower frequency sounds

[Tbonem3]

does the E9X use a SAP? those things make aftermarket exhausts sound way meaner during cold starts. it doesnt help that newborns are particularly sensitive to lower frequency sounds

Yes, my e90 sounds nuts in the morning, echoing out of the garage no less. Pobre vecinos.

[Thoglan]

I still remember the cold starts from my dad's E90 M3 with an M performance exhaust. That thing was wicked. There were times where it was almost embarrassingly loud when we would leave family events and he'd go to start the car. I need to buy one asap :P

[9kracing]

So today, in 2022, would you pay more for an original Dinan car than a non-Dinan?

[maw1124]

So today, in 2022, would you pay more for an original Dinan car than a non-Dinan?

That’s a good question and since I want to see what everyone else thinks I’ll get mine out of the way. I think most people on this Board, no. I think everyone else, yes.

High value factory performance options almost always make the cars more valuable down the line (much like convertibles). But this crowd has better performance options available (see here … https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...own#post194221) and doesn’t seem to care as much about value down the line.

When I first got this car, yes I would have paid more for Dinan (there were none in my desired spec, which was more important — I wasn’t buying a grey over grey M3 no matter what). Now I’m not so sure (I don’t remember if cams were part of any of his offerings and don’t have the book handy).

maw