Dinan Stage 2 for 550i

Originally Posted by betrezra

Has anyone installed the Dinan St1 or St2 in a 6 spd car yet?

Just curious about the clutch life and driving impressions with the added hp/tq. I understand bmw puts in a clutch hyd orifice valve which all but elmin's your ability to dump the clutch causing premature clutch wear and jerky shifts. My car does shift a bit odd... but getting used to it. Not sure if the dinan st1 or st2 would compound the issue. THX>

Jeff - congrats on the new 6spd. I had a 6 spd 335xi with Dinan Stg 3 and couldn't stand the shifting (especially 1st to 2nd) with the clutch orifice valve, so I replaced it with an inexpensive regular orifice valve that allowed me to shift normally. Put nearly 80,000 km on it and never had any clutch / tranny issues.

Perfect! Thx Calgary! This appears to be a good new site for me.

Can't wait to hear about dyno sheets pre-post dinan, and 1/4 mile traps per/post dinan!

Originally Posted by betrezra

Perfect! Thx Calgary! This appears to be a good new site for me.

Can't wait to hear about dyno sheets pre-post dinan, and 1/4 mile traps per/post dinan!

Jeff - keep in mind that the 335xi was only putting out around 425 lb ft of torque with the Stage 3 *Dinan claims, not mine*. I've got Stage 2 on my 550 automatic and it can roast the tires in the 1st two gears easily (Dinan claims 580 lb ft of torque). Time will tell if the BMW clutch is up to that

As this is the wife's daily driver... I wonder if she would "notice" with the Stage 1 added one weekend while she's out of town...... hmmm

Originally Posted by betrezra

BMW Newb here so bear with. Just picked up a 2011 550i 6spd this weekend.

Has anyone installed the Dinan St1 or St2 in a 6 spd car yet?

Just curious about the clutch life and driving impressions with the added hp/tq. I understand bmw puts in a clutch hyd orifice valve which all but elmin's your ability to dump the clutch causing premature clutch wear and jerky shifts. My car does shift a bit odd... but getting used to it. Not sure if the dinan st1 or st2 would compound the issue. THX>


Also hard as I try with google...... I can not find any independent 1/4 mile times/traps for this car 550i auto or 550i stick. Do 550i drivers shy away from the drag races? I'm hoping the 13.3-13.1 mag tests are conservative..... also curious what D/R's do for getting us into the mid-high 12's stock.

BTW - my daily driver is a heavily tweeked clk55 (w/blower), and the 550i was the result of trading in the wifes daily an 09c63 w/pp. that c63 was fast in a straight line but rode like a lumber wagon. As this is our 1st bmw product... I'm am getting the bimmer bug quick. Wow the fit/finish/ride/driver feel is addictive even in this family sedan.

CHeers,
Jeff

Hi - I've had stage 1 on my 6MT since Feb, and just upgraded to stage 2 a couple weeks back. I find Stage 2 easier to drive as the throttle response is much better. I would not recommend stage 1 at all, go right to stage 2.

Also, I replaced my CDV with a modified one from Zeckhausen the first week I had the car - makes a huge difference in shifting. I can't speak to longevity, but IMO the clutch life will be influenced more by your driving style than the extra power.

Here are some links for your other questions:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...8&postcount=60
http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=590292

Originally Posted by betrezra

As this is the wife's daily driver... I wonder if she would "notice" with the Stage 1 added one weekend while she's out of town...... hmmm

Well not if you say you took it to the dealer for a "tune-up" .... altough she might question the credit card charge for the tune

alex - did you change the clutch valve yourself? was it hard to do? I'm handing with tools, but don't want to climb under the wifes new ride for a long procedure.... it would have to happen quickly while she's at palate's..... or getting nails done in my car

Good to know about the stg 2. I think my momentum bmw dealership is a dinan dealer.

Are a lot of you guys talking about the "delay" new to turbo engines? That engine is basically N/A until that turbo spools and then bam! If the the delay seems less with stage 2, it's probably means they upped the boost a tad in the lower end. The more boost you run in the peak of the curve, the more pronounced that delay is going to be. My GT-R had it really bad when I ran 20lbs tapering to 17-18 at redline. If I just floored it from a stop it would feel like...coming....coming...coming then OMG! No pun intended. Would also yield "bad" 60's and 0-60mph's. Around 4 seconds. Now when you use launch contol on a turboed car, you're already there...no delay. 2.8 seconds with launch contol. That's a huge difference. My 335i did the same thing. They all will. I would just tend to think that the 550 being a V8 would have less a feel of delay because of bigger displacement and lower boost. What's stock boost on one anyway? Doubt many if any will ever see 20lbs.

I think stock boost is 8-9psi. Stage 1 takes it to 13-14 (if I recall correctly).

I have to be honest our stock 80 mile 550i is a little sluggish until 3500rpm even though it is a 4.4 liter.

But I'm used to my 590hp clk with an Eaton Huffer

Originally Posted by betrezra

I think stock boost is 8-9psi. Stage 1 takes it to 13-14 (if I recall correctly).

I have to be honest our stock 80 mile 550i is a little sluggish until 3500rpm even though it is a 4.4 liter.

But I'm used to my 590hp clk with an Eaton Huffer

As you can see in my sig, I've never owned a supercharged vehicle. Is there as much lag in your CLK as a turbo engine has? Of couse, you could be running low boost on that big of an engine and still get 590hp (without the lag). With a V6, running 20psi, I had to run race fuel. The lag was definitely there and there's not much a tuner can do about at that high of boost. 10 second car on stock runflats though. Geeze I miss that thing!

I don't want to get flamed for talking about brand X here.... but the clk has an eaton blower (roots type)... so you have big block tq just off idle.
No lag.

400ft-lbs at the wheels @ 2250rpm.

This is at the wheels corrected to sealevel. I always take dyno sheets with a grain of salt. But here goes after my tune:


I'd love to see a dynosheet off a dinan stage 1 and 2. Anyone done one yet?

I had a shop do it, but diy didn't look difficult at all. Was in a recent roundel issue. First link in my post above is to a dyno sheet from my car.

I don't think we're hijacking anything, just making comparisions so people can understand lag/delay. Is displacement on that CLK 5.5 compared to 4.4 on the 550? Also, what boost setting are you running on the CLK? The gap might be smaller than the boost/displacement on the stage 1 dinan 550, therefore no lag. I was shocked to see the new M5 was peaking at 22psi??!!! Is that right?!! If so, I wouldn't think there's any room to reflash/piggyback that beast.

Alex - WOW is that tq curve NICE! Post tune.

I bet stage II is a beast as well!

I had to dump the equiv of a new camry into my car to get the above curves....... it's a beautiful thing to get this kind of performance with no hardware and a simple $3K tune!!!! with a warranty.


My clk55 is a strange beast>>>>>> stock motor making 11.2:1 compression..... added a blower to make 8psi.... then ported heads dropped boost down to 5psi.... so put a smaller pulley to get back up to 9psi. The smaller pulley helps with the bottom end as well. The eaton blower is a tq machine along with the stroked 5.5 liter AMG motor. No heat soak either this summer in 107 Deg F houston traffic. The air/water intercooler works pretty well.

I did notice my wifes 550i runs some cooling fans after shutdown in the garage. Not sure if it's intercooler, or rad, or turbo oil coolers to stop coking?

I am finally taking the plunge. I set up an appointment to get the Dinan Stage 2 installed this coming Monday. Since I passed on the Dinan Stage 1, I will be going from stock to Stage 2. Can't wait to feel the difference in performance with the Stage 2. Since I had the 535 Sport Wheels installed on my 550, it is going to be a true sleeper.

Awesome!

Please post up your impressions.

Originally Posted by XLR8_24/7

I am finally taking the plunge. I set up an appointment to get the Dinan Stage 2 installed this coming Monday. Since I passed on the Dinan Stage 1, I will be going from stock to Stage 2. Can't wait to feel the difference in performance with the Stage 2. Since I had the 535 Sport Wheels installed on my 550, it is going to be a true sleeper.

love those wheels.... would look great on the m-sport pack i think too.

you're going to love dinan stage 2. it's the best mod since.... dinan stage 1

Originally Posted by XLR8_24/7

I am finally taking the plunge. I set up an appointment to get the Dinan Stage 2 installed this coming Monday. Since I passed on the Dinan Stage 1, I will be going from stock to Stage 2. Can't wait to feel the difference in performance with the Stage 2. Since I had the 535 Sport Wheels installed on my 550, it is going to be a true sleeper.

Congrats now you just need to debadge it too to add to the sleeperness!

I kept my 550i xdrive badge, but passed on any Dinan notations. I at least want the haters to know I'm working with a V8. Let them think it's factory neutered - and not Dinanated.

Does the stock 550i 6spd ecu reduce boost/hp/tq in 1st/2nd gear? Our car sure seems to pull better in 3rd and higher gears even up top. 1st/2nd are lazy. I'm not beating on the car too much yet.... it's still in break in mode... but seems lazy in 1st and 2nd.... was wondering if it's tuned like this?

I made my appointment and had Stage 2 installed this afternoon. Unfortunately, it was raining pretty good today, so I didn't have much of an opportunity to push it hard, but as always Mrs. Dunderhi shared her insight, "you push the gas pedal and the speed warning goes off - it's automatic." At the opposite extreme, I can say it that the low speed/in traffic throttle control is still tame enough to maintain a pleasant driving experience.


I did have a bit of a pricing issue with the dealer, but my smart phone came to the rescue as I got the number for Dinan from their website, called them, and handed the phone over to the dealer's "Dinan guy" to clarify that the discount still applied to an upgrade.

P.S. I almost forgot, the Service Manager stopped me on the way out and recommended that I should "drive it like I stole it." I replied "definitely!"

Originally Posted by bobblehead

For $500 more, you get 6 more hp & 7 more ftlb tq .... what kind of fool will pay for that ?

I had the Stage 1, and basically they F$##%'d up. The Stage 1 wasn't that great in 1st and 2nd .... 3rd killed it. I was unhappy but what other choice did I have. Once I heard you can simply pay the upgrade cost to get stage 2 and when it said they fixed 1st and 2nd, i was like finally.

I have stage 2 now and it's not just a few HP and FT/LBs.. It rips in all gears. It blows away stage 1 and I am so much more happy now. I highly recommend anyone to get it. My service advisor and my sales rep both drove it with me and were saying it feels as fast as the M5 give or take and I agree. It's seriously fast.

Originally Posted by brandonwals79

I have stage 2 now and it's not just a few HP and FT/LBs.. It rips in all gears. It blows away stage 1 and I am so much more happy now. I highly recommend anyone to get it. My service advisor and my sales rep both drove it with me and were saying it feels as fast as the M5 give or take and I agree. It's seriously fast.

Welcome to the Stage 2 club

Do we have any Stage 1'ers left?

For $500 to get stage 2, I would hope there wouldn't be anyone like me sitting wishing the car was rippping in the low gears like I paid for. Now I need to get some fatter rear tires... Need more traction in Cali.... Any ideas?