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      10-11-2009, 02:29 PM   #16
foofitr
SoCal beach bum
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Drives: DINAN X6 xDrive 50i
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Left Coast

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Quote:
Originally Posted by dmlgc View Post
I was one of the first contacted by Dinan about 9 months ago. I talked with my SA and he said don't do it BMW is cracking down. I even received a call from Steve Dinan saying it would only take two weeks, I told him what my SA said. He stated he was going to go by the dealer ( it's not far from the Morgan Hill Development location) and talk with them because my SA was just one guy (my SA has been with BMW a long time) . I told my SA about this and he said he was looking forward to meeting Dinan, he didn't show up.

I then sent an email to BMW via the owners circle asking what the relationship was between BMW and Dinan. BMWNA responded by calling me and stating there was no relationship ( but they understood that people think there is because of Dinan being so integrated with the dealerships) and BMW was scrutinizing repairs to see if cars had been modified (they implied that on recent models they had a way of telling if the car had ever been modified).

I travel to Arizona and Nevada to the middle of nowhere, if I have a problem I need to push the button and have assist direct a tow truck to my location and have it taken to nearest dealer and repaired, I can't be worrying about having to find a Dinan dealership.

I don't want to write another check for $90k for at least a few years (actually wife wrote it , car was gift from her), so just not worth it to jeopardize the investment. I am sure there are those that have money to burn and would do it anyway.

It would appear that the relationship between BMW and Dinan has changed (yes I know there was no relationship), in the past dealers would just put in for warranty repairs and BMW would look the other way or dealers were able to get away with it more.

The information I see in the financial world doesn't give me confidence that Dinan is in the position to cover all of the repairs/replacements (the X6 is a new technology car) that could come about from BMW refusing warranty coverage . I could be wrong on this but that is the way it appears to me.

So this is why I am not taking my car down to Morgan Hill.
I understand where you're coming from, to each his own. I don't see the risks you speak of, and I am curious if you are considering tuning from someone other than Dinan.
Anytime you have any after market work done to the performance of your car, there is always risks. Dinan is the only company out there offering a warranty for their work. I can only assume after touring the facility and shaking hands wih all the execs, they would stand behind what they say and have the capital to back it up. Additionaly, for those who volunteer their vehicles, it is even a greater sense of security since it affords the opportunity to develop relationships with engineers, sales people, and any other personell internally, so if there ever was an inssue, you have a direct line with someone who can provide the level of service you demand. BMW, being the super conservative and uber possesive (Almost OCD promoting only factory accessories and upgrades) manufacturer that they are, will never look favorably on anything you do to your car that they don't make money on, so contacting them about performance tuning from a third party seems pointless.
You have to consider the way you drive as well, if you are concerned about blowing your engine, you don't have to drive it as hard. Remeber, they are only making software changes, no parts replaced or modifications under the hood.
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