2008 550i Sport Package Dinan Mods Overview/Review

Hello everyone. I have a 2008 LCI 550i steptronic and just got some work done to it and wanted to give you all my experience. Enjoy...

I will start off by saying a few things. I knew when I bought the car that the n62b48 was already tuned beautifully from Dingolfing with 360/360 (likely a tiny bit underrated) and that since BMW never made an M performance version of this motor AND since it's NA, that there was little to do by way of modifications that would make any significant gains.

That all being said, I wanted to make it my own if you were. So here goes...

I decided to go the Dinan route because of their near factory look and warranty. I know there are some other companies that go a bit more aggressive with their products and can be a bit less expensive but I wanted that seamless factory power and smoothness while at the same time buying some real-world power. There were a few small discounts out there recently with Dinan so I took advantage of them and I have a good relationship with my SA and shop as a whole (which also happens to be an authorized Dinan shop) so he gives me 15% off labor for mods if its not something I feel comfortable doing myself.

I jumped right into it and got the following:

1. Dinan High Flow Intake System
2. Dinan High Flow Throttle Body
3. Dinan Stage III Performance Engine Software
4. RPI M5 Ram Air Intake Scoops

I will say that as many others talk about the sound being much throatier from upgrading the intake, that hasn't been my experience, I almost think it sounds smoother and almost quieter through the first half of the rpm's. Then I do agree that above 4k or so to the newly raised limit, it screams a bit louder (not that the 550i Sport with the performance exhaust was particularly quiet in that range to begin with). I love that Dinan continued using an air box. With so many other companies, they just did the common thing of tearing out the whole box and replacing it with a cone filter, or the like, and putting a little aluminum "heat shield" sort of around it, barely shielding the cone from the rest of the engine bay and thus ending up feeding the engine with much hotter air than stock. IMO, if you feed the engine air more freely (which the conical filter attached straight onto the main intake hose will do) but it's hotter than before, you're defeating the whole purpose and many times, especially after that engine is running hard and the bay is 170+ degrees, you're actually robbing the engine of power rather than providing more... So, for all of you who are not familiar, the M5/6 v10 had two separate intake boxes, one for each bank of cylinders, as with most models, every e60 platform regardless of motor is built with the same front end structure and therefore they all have inlet ports on both sides, in front of the radiator, its just that the only motor to utilize the second air inlet is the front end of the e60 is the M5. Dinan utilizes the second inlet by running a second set of pipes across the bay (there's not much room in there) with a nice carbon fiber show-piece tube right up front that then goes below again and hooks up to the second, previously unused inlet. It then hooks into the bottom of the air box by a second port, to then join the air from the main inlet, go through the vastly less choking air filter and thus letting the engine have that much MORE access to COOLER air (because its coming in directly from the kidney grills, directly from the outside, i.e. NOT from the hot engine bay).

The RPI scoops, as we all likely know, do very little, but likely do something. Of course ONLY at or above let say, 60mph? I got the M5 version since it had both left and right scoops and now I utilize both inlets. Who knows, maybe 2-3hp at 80+mph? I'm cool with that for very little money. And who knows, maybe even very slightly better gas mileage?

Smart move...

The throttle body in conjunction with the intake it harmonious, its likely not developing much extra power from the bottom of the rpm range but man do you feel them work in concert by about 3k rpms and all the way up. Its like the feeling between a stock honda motor and the vtec example if you've ever driven those motors, far from a turbo (since there's obviously no forced air), but the power band builds to the limit rather than tapering off after 5,500 like it used to slightly (I know we have VANOS (similar to VTEC) but this seems to really make VANOS a lot more fun) . I used to want to short shift a little bit out of 1st and 2nd bc the torque was dropping off a bit but now the engine is refreshed and pulls all the way up!

Finally, the Stage III software, which differs from stage I by being tuned specifically for Dinan's intake and throttle body. All I can say is is feels completely factory. I would even say the car has smoother power delivery and shifting now than before (not that the shifting itself is smoother because it doesn't do anything to shifting but that the power out of a gear and into the next is smoother, thus making the shifting appear faster, stronger and smoother). The thing that e60 550i's are often criticized slightly for is that unless you unlock the beast with a heavy right foot, at which point there's certainly a beast to be unlocked don't get me wrong, that they can sometimes feel a bit sluggish or laggard. This is completely done away with by the Stage III software.

To wrap it up, the small changes made to vanos timing, rpm limits, electronic accelerator pedal sensitivity, air-fuel mixture, etc. by the software work in perfect concert with the intake, scoops and throttle body to provide a seamless power delivery across a much larger part of the power band, thus providing a very noticeable increase in real world driving power and speed. It literally feels like a different car and is hugely fast.

This is where i'll stop with this engine as the only real things left are exhaust (and I like mine being a sleeper, plus mine already farts better since it has the increased flow sport (ZHP package) exhaust) or ESS supercharger package (~$10,000+). The only thing I'd consider doing moving forward is a LSD as I cry every day I break one of the tires loose and not both (although I think i've got it pretty down pat now with slight throttle and steering inputs to break both free and keep both smoking rather than just having the inside tire smoke out all the time).

Hope the reading was somewhat interesting, I posted this because to my knowledge no one with an e60 550i Sport has done these mods on here and written them up.

Keep on bimmering!

Nice write up. so what did all this cost at the end of the day. Being Dinan and requiring BMW labor I assume was not cheap.

Originally Posted by ntocamping

Nice write up. so what did all this cost at the end of the day. Being Dinan and requiring BMW labor I assume was not cheap.

No it was not, never thought it would be But it was certainly worth it

Set me back $2,948.97 all-in.

Did you get any pre/post dyno numbers, to quantify the gains?

Originally Posted by BickUW89

Did you get any pre/post dyno numbers, to quantify the gains?

I did not. I have seen throughout the web that our engines, stock, dyno generally at just over 300hp (seen 302-309) and just under 300 tq (295-300) so I can use that as a baseline to a great extent... Maybe compromise on 302hp & 298tq?

I do intend on dynoing since the upgrades, just have to find a good local shop to do it.

Speaking of that, any trusty local shops in DC or NoVa that people have used that have a dyno???

Thanks for posting the info! I have a 550 sport and it just doesn't feel like the beast it should be. Previously I owned a 540i6 and I just assumed bumping up 70hp and 35lbs of torque on a 550 would have been night and day difference... unfortunately not. If anything it feels slower between 40-70mph, go figure.

I'm seriously considering making the same mods you have done, but with an exhaust to match. If that doesn't do the trick nothing will.

Which dealership did u use? I'm new to NoVa.

You may want to consider exhaust, the ZHP exhaust does not add anything but sound

Originally Posted by BounceNY

Which dealership did u use? I'm new to NoVa.

I go to passport BMW just outside of DC in Maryland. I like my guys over there and they're 20 minutes from downtown with no traffic. It's right over the Woodrow Wilson bridge. As I said they're also Dinan authorized and have bimmer loaners, etc. Steve Heath is my SA.

Originally Posted by mkarner79

Thanks for posting the info! I have a 550 sport and it just doesn't feel like the beast it should be. Previously I owned a 540i6 and I just assumed bumping up 70hp and 35lbs of torque on a 550 would have been night and day difference... unfortunately not. If anything it feels slower between 40-70mph, go figure.

I'm seriously considering making the same mods you have done, but with an exhaust to match. If that doesn't do the trick nothing will.

My mods definitely woke the lion. With an exhaust (Remus or Dinan IMO) it'll be even more pleasant, a few more hp sure but the sound will now full match the ~400hp

Do you think you got 40hp from those mods? GL with the dyno, will be very interested if you hit that number.

I was told my Steve Dinan himself when I randomly spoke to him on the phone for half an hour, thats another story, that with the hundreds of dynos they've run on the e60 with the n62b48, that with their exhaust it will peak around 397-400hp and 388-391tq... So no, I don't think I got there, if I were a betting man I'd say at the crank I'm at 393/385, at speed, since I likely get another 1-3 hp from the twin rpi scoops.

Thats the thing about all my hardware mods, they're all most noticeable and beneficial at 3-4k+ rpm (the performance software is noticeable the entire band.

If you get 400 then thats great! Just from what I have read from past dinan 5's and what the power listings on the dinan site I thought 40hp was quite aggressive for the mod list. If Steve said it will be 400 then who am I to argue. Good luck

Lemme guess... Did you use Bmw of Towson? They've done all my Dinan work and have worked out pretty well.

I'm going to try to get 15% off labor when I get the Dinan exhaust in a few weeks.

Sounds like a good way to spend $3k; you've intrigued me to do some research.

Originally Posted by Akshun

Lemme guess... Did you use Bmw of Towson? They've done all my Dinan work and have worked out pretty well.

I'm going to try to get 15% off labor when I get the Dinan exhaust in a few weeks.

Passport BMW

Originally Posted by DAI

Sounds like a good way to spend $3k; you've intrigued me to do some research.

I haven't looked back since and every day I drive it I have a smile on my face!

Thats all I can ask for.

Great write up! I believe your assessment is right on with Dinan's philosophy; I am doing this upgrade next week. I can't wait to see how she runs afterwards.

Everyone please keep up updated. If I can get 35-40hp off for 3k and still be warranted... Than I'm all in, I would love to drive a NA 400hp E60


I've got my eyes on a F10 550i with a tune though... We'll see

Notoriouse60....are you worried about the tranny at all?

I have stock 550i and i feel sluggish every time when i try to stop or push engine
driving me nuts ... i am going to dealer next week to talk about this

Originally Posted by NOTORIOUSe60

Hello everyone. I have a 2008 LCI 550i steptronic and just got some work done to it and wanted to give you all my experience. Enjoy...

I will start off by saying a few things. I knew when I bought the car that the n62b48 was already tuned beautifully from Dingolfing with 360/360 (likely a tiny bit underrated) and that since BMW never made an M performance version of this motor AND since it's NA, that there was little to do by way of modifications that would make any significant gains.

That all being said, I wanted to make it my own if you were. So here goes...

I decided to go the Dinan route because of their near factory look and warranty. I know there are some other companies that go a bit more aggressive with their products and can be a bit less expensive but I wanted that seamless factory power and smoothness while at the same time buying some real-world power. There were a few small discounts out there recently with Dinan so I took advantage of them and I have a good relationship with my SA and shop as a whole (which also happens to be an authorized Dinan shop) so he gives me 15% off labor for mods if its not something I feel comfortable doing myself.

I jumped right into it and got the following:

1. Dinan High Flow Intake System
2. Dinan High Flow Throttle Body
3. Dinan Stage III Performance Engine Software
4. RPI M5 Ram Air Intake Scoops

I will say that as many others talk about the sound being much throatier from upgrading the intake, that hasn't been my experience, I almost think it sounds smoother and almost quieter through the first half of the rpm's. Then I do agree that above 4k or so to the newly raised limit, it screams a bit louder (not that the 550i Sport with the performance exhaust was particularly quiet in that range to begin with). I love that Dinan continued using an air box. With so many other companies, they just did the common thing of tearing out the whole box and replacing it with a cone filter, or the like, and putting a little aluminum "heat shield" sort of around it, barely shielding the cone from the rest of the engine bay and thus ending up feeding the engine with much hotter air than stock. IMO, if you feed the engine air more freely (which the conical filter attached straight onto the main intake hose will do) but it's hotter than before, you're defeating the whole purpose and many times, especially after that engine is running hard and the bay is 170+ degrees, you're actually robbing the engine of power rather than providing more... So, for all of you who are not familiar, the M5/6 v10 had two separate intake boxes, one for each bank of cylinders, as with most models, every e60 platform regardless of motor is built with the same front end structure and therefore they all have inlet ports on both sides, in front of the radiator, its just that the only motor to utilize the second air inlet is the front end of the e60 is the M5. Dinan utilizes the second inlet by running a second set of pipes across the bay (there's not much room in there) with a nice carbon fiber show-piece tube right up front that then goes below again and hooks up to the second, previously unused inlet. It then hooks into the bottom of the air box by a second port, to then join the air from the main inlet, go through the vastly less choking air filter and thus letting the engine have that much MORE access to COOLER air (because its coming in directly from the kidney grills, directly from the outside, i.e. NOT from the hot engine bay).

The RPI scoops, as we all likely know, do very little, but likely do something. Of course ONLY at or above let say, 60mph? I got the M5 version since it had both left and right scoops and now I utilize both inlets. Who knows, maybe 2-3hp at 80+mph? I'm cool with that for very little money. And who knows, maybe even very slightly better gas mileage?

Smart move...

The throttle body in conjunction with the intake it harmonious, its likely not developing much extra power from the bottom of the rpm range but man do you feel them work in concert by about 3k rpms and all the way up. Its like the feeling between a stock honda motor and the vtec example if you've ever driven those motors, far from a turbo (since there's obviously no forced air), but the power band builds to the limit rather than tapering off after 5,500 like it used to slightly (I know we have VANOS (similar to VTEC) but this seems to really make VANOS a lot more fun) . I used to want to short shift a little bit out of 1st and 2nd bc the torque was dropping off a bit but now the engine is refreshed and pulls all the way up!

Finally, the Stage III software, which differs from stage I by being tuned specifically for Dinan's intake and throttle body. All I can say is is feels completely factory. I would even say the car has smoother power delivery and shifting now than before (not that the shifting itself is smoother because it doesn't do anything to shifting but that the power out of a gear and into the next is smoother, thus making the shifting appear faster, stronger and smoother). The thing that e60 550i's are often criticized slightly for is that unless you unlock the beast with a heavy right foot, at which point there's certainly a beast to be unlocked don't get me wrong, that they can sometimes feel a bit sluggish or laggard. This is completely done away with by the Stage III software.

To wrap it up, the small changes made to vanos timing, rpm limits, electronic accelerator pedal sensitivity, air-fuel mixture, etc. by the software work in perfect concert with the intake, scoops and throttle body to provide a seamless power delivery across a much larger part of the power band, thus providing a very noticeable increase in real world driving power and speed. It literally feels like a different car and is hugely fast.

This is where i'll stop with this engine as the only real things left are exhaust (and I like mine being a sleeper, plus mine already farts better since it has the increased flow sport (ZHP package) exhaust) or ESS supercharger package (~$10,000+). The only thing I'd consider doing moving forward is a LSD as I cry every day I break one of the tires loose and not both (although I think i've got it pretty down pat now with slight throttle and steering inputs to break both free and keep both smoking rather than just having the inside tire smoke out all the time).

Hope the reading was somewhat interesting, I posted this because to my knowledge no one with an e60 550i Sport has done these mods on here and written them up.

Keep on bimmering!

Hey man I have a 2008 550i sport. I was either thinking about doing what you did first or going with some supersprint headers. The seem to offer a huge seat of the pants feel. I was thinking this along with an X-pipe (in place of the silencers) and just using the rest of the stock exhaust. Hopefully it won't be too loud but I want to keep mine N/A and get above the 400 hp mark. Any advice?

Sent from my PH44100 using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by champaign777

I have stock 550i and i feel sluggish every time when i try to stop or push engine
driving me nuts ... i am going to dealer next week to talk about this

Yeah me too. But its just throttle response that sucks. Either use sport mode , reset the car, or get a tune. I'm doing the first two, first then doing the tune later. Kinda want headers.

Sent from my PH44100 using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by ArtchredTTU

Everyone please keep up updated. If I can get 35-40hp off for 3k and still be warranted... Than I'm all in, I would love to drive a NA 400hp E60


I've got my eyes on a F10 550i with a tune though... We'll see

I must say it's a pleasure to drive!

Best money I spent, other than buying the car of course

Originally Posted by The Nerd

Notoriouse60....are you worried about the tranny at all?

Nerd, literally not at all. The tranny in the car I have read about in many online sources is estimated to handle upwards of 500hp (and we're nowhere near that).

Its a tank...

Originally Posted by champaign777

I have stock 550i and i feel sluggish every time when i try to stop or push engine
driving me nuts ... i am going to dealer next week to talk about this

Have the your SA reset the adaptations for sure, thats a free way to get the engine back to square one at least (barring there actually is something mechanically wrong).

Check out the Dinan software upgrade, $425 this month from Dinan, plays with the air-fuel rations, the VANOS timing and the fly-by-wire sensitivity of the throttle and gets rid of the delays BMW built into the throttle. The software re-map will only add negligible HP & Torque gains if done alone but the change in the seat-of-your-pants review is huge and really opens the car up.

Originally Posted by nwilson44

Hey man I have a 2008 550i sport. I was either thinking about doing what you did first or going with some supersprint headers. The seem to offer a huge seat of the pants feel. I was thinking this along with an X-pipe (in place of the silencers) and just using the rest of the stock exhaust. Hopefully it won't be too loud but I want to keep mine N/A and get above the 400 hp mark. Any advice?

Sent from my PH44100 using Bimmer App

Supersprint headers are sick. The italians make a sick product and I have heard of some pretty significant gains on the N62B48 motor (like in the 30-40 hp range). One thing in they are pricey as hell and I don't even know is supersprint stocks them for the N62B48? I know they do for the M5 v10...

For me it's like, hey, do I want to spend $4k+ on the work I did plus a Dinan exhaust or spend closer to $5k installed for headers for a substantially similar gain. I went my route because I felt it offered a more well-rounded gain and some more practicality. The headers would by my Stage II if I were to do it... Then I'd be in the 420hp range and that would be pretty damn sick.

If you do, definitely let me know how it goes, if you dyno'd it pre and post, where you found them and what it set you back.

Good luck!