prices of upgrades!!!!!!! - Page 6 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

MAH · 20th September 2002, 19:21

Quote:

Originally posted by Bart Carter
Dinan deserves what he gets.

If the market for headers was so great for M5s, European tuners would be flooding the market with less expensive ones.

What you want out of your car is entirely personal. I keep saying that the extra 70 HP or so from Dinan isn't important to me. Well, it would be nice to have, but I have other projects that are far more interesting that I need to attend to.

Things change and maybe one day I will opt for the full treatment. Maybe the E60 M5 isn't what I want and the Dinan mods are a good way to be happy with my "old" E39.

My 2 cents.

Bart,

Perhaps we will all stick with our "old" E39's after the new one hits the market. Tell you what, an upgrade is a lot cheaper than a new car.

Mark

MAVERICK · 21st September 2002, 00:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Zoomin' M5
What does "corner the market" mean? You can start a business tomorrow to compete with the "overcharging" tuners. Steve Dinan built a business with no public funds and no public mandate to sell parts cheap, and God bless him if he's making "200% profit" (which of course is impossible since that would mean that the business earned, after paying all expenses, $2.00 for every $1.00 in sales).

"Corner the market" means Dinan has no competitors in the U.S. market who can offer a 470bhp normally aspirated M5 along with a decent warranty, a good reputation, and a partnership with BMW. And until someone does start a competing company and offers the same thing at a better price, Dinan, effectively, has the market cornered and can price his products as he sees fit as long as customers are willing to pay the high prices. True, we don't know how much money he spends on R&D and whether his high prices are justified, so we cannot prove he is making an obscene profit at his customers' expense. However, when there are products made by Euro tuners such as headers and exhausts which offer similar performance, similar quality and cost less, it leads to suspicion on the consumer's part that Dinan is overcharging/gouging. Now, if he is overcharging his customers, is he wrong to do so? IMO, no. If I was in his place, I would do the exact same thing. That's the way it is in business. If people are willing and desperate to pay for something at a high price, why not capitalize on the opportunity to make an extra buck, especially when there is no competition?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but on paper, it is possible to make 200% profit. If costs and expenses for a product total $1, and if the product is able to be sold at $3, the profit is $2.
($2/$1) x 100 = 200% profit

MAVERICK · 21st September 2002, 01:06

Quote:

Originally posted by M'nd

I concede that Dinan is taking advantage of their marketplace. All the power to them if they can get away with it but they are still overcharging. No matter how you look at it, overcharging is overcharging.

Yup. There's nothing wrong in taking advantage of the marketplace. Overcharging is overcharging (for lack of a better word). Dinan knows it and we know it. But some of us desperatly want a faster and more aggressive M5 with a warranty and a good name. Dinan is willing to sell it to us for a price. We reluctantly pay the price with a little mumbling and grumbling but in the end both parties are happy. We get a faster M5 while still retaining the M5's normally aspirated character and Dinan gets his price.

BTW, has a dyno read-out ever been posted to show that the Dinan S2 M5 does, indeed, pump out 470bhp?

ThemisN · 21st September 2002, 02:27

Quote:

Originally posted by MAVERICK

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but on paper, it is possible to make 200% profit. If costs and expenses for a product total $1, and if the product is able to be sold at $3, the profit is $2.
($2/$1) x 100 = 200% profit

I'll do just that. Your % profit is the portion of your sales not your expenses. In this example used above....
($3-$1)/$3 = 66% profit.

rennen · 21st September 2002, 03:55

While we're all complaining, I thought I voice my contempt for those $8,000 headers. This is really absurd. I know I'm going to hear the warranty and recovering R&D crap, but come on. I saw them at the Dinan day thing at the dealer, and they looked like crap. I had a set of headers made for my Viper a few years ago. They cost 2600, they were jet coated, and absolutely beautiful. I know they are different cars, and blah-blah-blah. Well, I'm done now.

Bmxbikergtss · 21st September 2002, 06:08

you also get the badge from DINAN if you spend enough money unlike others who sell it for like 20-30 dollars

MHotRod · 23rd September 2002, 04:51

If everyone is so upset with $8K Dinan headers, why not get a bunch of M5 owners together with a decent race shop, and build your own? Once 1 set is done, they should be fairly easy to copy, right? I wonder if Turner Motorsports or Active Autowerks would be interested?

What would everyone want to spend? $1500 - $2000 sounds reasonable to me, including the cost for ceramic coating. That is about 2x what a set of quality Chevy V8 header cost.

The problem is that we are in "no-man's land" when it comes to warranties, ECU tuning, and California smog certification. So, I bet not too many owners would be interested.

As an alternative G-Power does make M5 headers and other tuner kits. Take a look at www.renn-sport.net. Not sure if they are any good. Another Dinan alternative is the Active Autowerks Cold air intake kit for $995. It connects your brake ducts to the intake so you get a double whammy for 1/2 the cost of the carbon fiber Dinan kit.

For now, my '00 M5 remains stock except for a UUC short shifter. Although the Dinan 3.45 rear end and basic software upgrades are tempting.