First Mods

Bavarian Autosport Strut Tower Brace

The Dinan Program

Thanks to the good people at the Roundel, the monthly magazine of the BMW CCA, I learned about the Dinan organization. At the time, and to some extent even today, Dinan was one of the only tuners to offer E38 enthusiasts something beyond wheels and deeper sounding mufflers. So I placed Baby in the capable hands of the Diana rep at Devon Hill BMW where the Stage 1 suspension, Brakes, CAI, Mass Air Meter, Cat Back Exhaust, Engine software & Transmission software were installed.

The Dinan Modifications:
Dinan Hi Perf MAF w/Stage 4 engine software
Dinan transmission software programming
Dinan Stage 1 brake system
Dinan Stage 1 suspension (30mm lower)
Dinan 3.15:1 differential
Dinan/K&N CAI
Dinan Cat-Back exhaust

Dinan Modified Baby at Jefferson Circuit/Summit Point

A return to the track, this time with the Del Val BMW CCA chapter and the Reisentoter PCA (pictured), proved that while the Dinan modifications were an improvement, Baby still lacked the immediate punch she needed to accelerate out of the turns. The motor was fine; the limitations were a part of the automatic transmission’s normal operation. In a turn there was too much delay between depressing the throttle and having the power reach the wheels. Manual transmission began to creep into mind. The word supercharger began to rattle about in the back reaches of my consciousness.

Dinan Modified Baby at Jefferson Circuit/Summit Point 2

Dinan Modified Baby at Jefferson Circuit/Summit Point 3

Other Modifications along the way:

Bavarian Autosport strut tower brace
Bosch Xenon HID system
Catz H3 fog lamps
Euro (clear) corners & side markers from Bavarian Autosport
BMW 22 mm. (740i Sport) Anti-sway bar
BMW Composite 18x8" front & 18x9" wheels rear
Dunlop SP 9000 tires, 255/45/ZR18 fr. & 285/40/ZR18 rr.

Continue to Chapter IV

Back to the Project Page