UPDATE: DINAN 3.45 rear diff. GROUP BUY info/details...............

FAST 5 · 21st October 2003, 21:39

Guys,
I spoke with Steve Dinan yesterday, regarding the Dinan rear diff. group buy. The outcome of our conversation was positive!
DINAN will have the 3.45 rear diff. available for us (guys who submitted their names and additional info) to purchase as of NOVEMBER 15th. The CONFIRMED price is
$2500.00 ($500 of of the regular price). You will purchase the rear diff. directly from the DINAN corporation, located in California. The rear diff. will then be sent to your mailing address. You can either have the rear diff. installed at a local Dinan dealer or anywhere you wish to deal with, for the installation. I neglected to ask Steve about the core charge (if there would be one) since we were speaking about several issues. I would however think that the core charge still applies. I will verify this, okay. Therefore, it might be advantagous to let a Dinan dealer do the installation. This way, you can possibly leave the core with the Dinan dealer, instead of having to mail/send the rear diff. core back to Dinan yourself, avoiding this hassel and the expense of shipping it back to California. This is just an idea and for you to decide.
I spoke with Steve about the Dinan rear diff. "LOCK-UP" ratio or percentage. He informed me that Dinan doesn't change/alter the BMW OEM lock up ratio/percentage. This is left alone. He indicated that the BMW lockup ratio was a 20% lockup ratio. Steve added that of all the 3.45 rear diffs which were sold by Dinan, none of their customers EVER complained that this ratio was not enough or to low and should be increased to a higher percent/level of lockup. His final commnet regarding this matter was that IF there was a need to make the lockup ratio higher, DINAN would have done so, and the 20% ratio is the correct lockup ratio, as far as he's concerned. No need to make it any different or higher as suggested in other discussions.
This group buy is ONLY for the DINAN 3.45 rear diff. (since Dinan is ready and willing to offer this to us at a $500 savings)
For those who wish to be a part of this group buy, please
REFRESH the DINAN 3.45 rear diff. group buy list, by adding your real name (first & last name) and the town/city and state you are located in. If you plan on letting a Dinan dealer do the install job, also provide who you'll be dealing with, okay.
Thanks.
Robert

PS I think this is a good price for the rear diff. What do you guys think?

FAST 5 · 21st October 2003, 22:54

Guys,
I also posted m message on the Group Buy Forum board.
Daniel of BEASTPOWER read and responded to my post.
Here is his reply:

Excellent news Robert!

I must take my hat off to Steve Dinan for following through with this group buy and offering such a steep discount. It is clear that they are doing what they can to work with customers.

I have the Dinan 3.45 differential installed and find it to be one of the best mods for the beast. I highly recommend this product. I have run my beast at Laguna Seca with this differential installed and it was amazing. I even had a professional race driver drive my beast at Laguna and he was very impressed, as we were keeping up with a highly modified 996TT, and we had a passenger in the front and a passenger in the back

Cheers,

Daniel

We all know, Dinan makes nothing less than QUALITY parts. This mod is a must!

Robert

beetlem5 · 22nd October 2003, 02:09

Robert,

thanks for taking the time and effort to put this group buy together. Do you know if this deal is for the repackaged OEM BMW diff, or is this the newer set from US Gears? To me it doesn't matter too much, just curious....

Thanks,
-bailey

young-nyc · 22nd October 2003, 03:43

Does anyone know if the 3.45 will work with the 540 as well?
and if it's limited slip?

thanks man

Brother Methias · 22nd October 2003, 06:12

540 is already 3.45, i think...
I'm assuming that by doing it this way there will still be a full dinan warranty?

Good time for steve to pull the trigger, doubt too many people are raising their gears with winter ahead...

young-nyc · 22nd October 2003, 06:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Brother Methias
540 is already 3.45, i think...
I'm assuming that by doing it this way there will still be a full dinan warranty?

Good time for steve to pull the trigger, doubt too many people are raising their gears with winter ahead...

540 is 2.81 for 6 speed and 3.15 for auto...
and yes they would be under full dinan warranty, even if not installed by a bmw dealer.

tfung · 22nd October 2003, 08:12

haha I bought my 3.45 diff for that same price... my dinan distributor told me that was his cost for the diff... so by eliminating the middleman in this transaction, Dinan is able to offer the customers a lower price, without affecting their bottom line at all... This guy is really a good businessman...

FAST 5 · 22nd October 2003, 19:48

TFUNG,
you summed it up best with your remark of:
"by eliminating the middleman in this transaction, Dinan is able to offer the customers a lower price, without affecting their bottom line at all... This guy is really a good businessman"

You hit the nail on the head. Dinan dealers make a minimum of 20% or better on each item they sell to the customer.
Robert

BKH · 22nd October 2003, 20:29

Robert - after this long wait I'm dropping out. With the new structure of this GB done through Dinan and not through the dealer, the shipping from and to Calfornia just doesn't work for me here up in Canada, particularly with customs to deal with, a true PITA for the individual. Thanks again for all your efforts.

Hamann7 · 22nd October 2003, 22:02

Regarding BeastPower's post, I hope you guys don't have the expectation that the 3.45 gears will make your M5 keep up with a modded 996TT, especially on the track.

The 3.45 will make the M5 a little faster and bridge the gap with a stock 996TT, but don't expect a miracle. You still have a worse power/weight ratio.

I think there are a few members here who can testify to that.

I think Dinan's offer is a joke. He screws his own channel partners and keeps the same level of profit? Like we can't read into his BS...

Someone needs to go head to head against Dinan here in the States...