Dinan Warranty - CPO Car

[evilb]

Hi All --

Went to my local dealer this morning for service, and inquired about the Dinan Stage 1 piggyback since they're an authorized dealer. I specifically asked about the warranty covering the extra 2 years on a CPO car (twice) and was told emphatically (twice) that Dinan will cover warranty issues during the CPO extension, should they be denied by BMW. The example I was given was if a turbo needed replacement, BMW would deny, but Dinan would cover.

Although I asked twice, I remain skeptical of the response based on what I've read here.

Can anyone confirm that this is, in fact, a true statement about Dinan's warranty?

Thanks,
Brad

[A Frankfurt]

Originally Posted by evilb

Hi All --

Went to my local dealer this morning for service, and inquired about the Dinan Stage 1 piggyback since they're an authorized dealer. I specifically asked about the warranty covering the extra 2 years on a CPO car (twice) and was told emphatically (twice) that Dinan will cover warranty issues during the CPO extension, should they be denied by BMW. The example I was given was if a turbo needed replacement, BMW would deny, but Dinan would cover.

Although I asked twice, I remain skeptical of the response based on what I've read here.

Can anyone confirm that this is, in fact, a true statement about Dinan's warranty?

Thanks,
Brad

You should contact Dinan directly rather then asking that on this forum so that it does not get confused.

Dinan contact
800.341.5480

[evilb]

Originally Posted by Autohaus Frankfurt

You should contact Dinan directly rather then asking that on this forum so that it does not get confused.

Dinan contact
800.341.5480

I'm not sure what would be confused. Seems like a very straightforward question.

I can contact Dinan but would like to gauge community response as well.

[A Frankfurt]

Originally Posted by evilb

I'm not sure what would be confused. Seems like a very straightforward question.

I can contact Dinan but would like to gauge community response as well.

Because your asking about the additional 2 year coverage.
The community wont know the specific answer as this is just a forum and no-one works for Dinan on here except 1 person.
There is 1 rep. from Dinan on this site. If he sees this, he would have the best answer for you.

From Dinan's website : If your vehicle is currently covered by the vehicle manufacturer’s new car limited warranty, Dinan® products are warranted for the remaining term of the vehicle manufacturer’s new car limited warranty. The manufacturer’s new car warranty is limited to 4 years or 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers in Canada), commencing on the date of first retail sale or the date the vehicle is first placed in-service as a demonstrator or company vehicle, whichever is earlier. Dinan’s warranties are transferable when ownership of the vehicle into which the Dinan products were originally installed is sold.

http://www.dinancars.com/warranty/

[Dinan_Engineering]

Dinan does not cover the extra 2 years of CPO.

We match the factory new car warranty (4yr/50k). If the car is beyond the new car warranty then the warranty is 2 yr/unlimited miles on the Dinan product only. Whichever is greater.

PM me the dealer when you get a chance and I will have the area rep reach out to them to clarify, train, etc.

[Dinan_Engineering]

Originally Posted by nirvanayoda

You're missing the situation where the car is within the factory warranty but where the factory warranty that remains is less than two years. I presume in that case the Dinan warranty would be two years, correct? Or, in other words, the longer of the original factory warranty or two years from the installation date?

I've also read that you forfeit your warranty by taking a Dinan tuned car to the drag strip or competitive racing (as opposed to a normal free form track event), is that also correct?

You would hold the matching warranty for the entire term of the remaining factory warranty and then the balance of the 2 years after the new product warranty is up would just be on the Dinan parts only. As an example you buy the Dinan tune at the start of year 4 of your factory warranty. You would have the factory matching warranty for the balance (1 Year), after which you would have an additional year that would be a product only warranty.

You can think of the warranty on the track in the same way insurance views a track event. Car insurance is invalidated at the track with timed events and you have to pay for a different policy in order to be covered as you are subjecting the car to adverse conditions, pushing its limitations, etc. It's higher risk by default. Dinan treats the track warranty the same way. You are pushing the car to the brink and subjecting it to conditions that are not "normal" so wear and tear is greater, etc.

You can still go to the track without HPDE insurance after all and you may be fine but if you take a header going 70 into a wall because you missed a gearshift don't expect your normal Geico insurance to cover that for you. Then again if you take the car to the track and put extra stress on a strut or something that fails a week later that sends you into a median wall then that same Geico insurance would most likely cover you.

[Dinan_Engineering]

Originally Posted by nirvanayoda

Can you clarify what you mean in your post by making a distinction between "matching warranty" and "Dinan parts" / "Dinan product warranty"? And let's take my situation as an example. I have 14 months left in my warranty. For the first 14 months of the Dinan warranty, it's easy -- you give the matching warranty. However, for the following 10 months (the balance of the 2 year Dinan warranty), it would be the "Dinan parts" / "Dinan product warranty."

So let's say that the engine blows during those 10 months, and it can be show that the Dinan piggyback is the definite cause. Are you saying that your warranty would be broad enough to cover only the "Dinan part" / "Dinan product" -- in this case the piggyback -- rather than the entire engine? So you'd pay only $3k to the new engine rather than the full amount as you would under the "matching warranty"?

Thanks so much for your help.

Synopsis can be found at http://www.dinancars.com/warranty/ but the jist of it is below.

Factory Matching New Car Warranty (4YR/50k) = factory matching warranty that includes incidentals on OE BMW parts as well as the Dinan parts that fail as a result of a Dinan product.

Product Only warranty (2YR) = Coverage only applies to the Dinan product itself. No incidental damage is covered. Basically its a defects warranty similar to what you would see from pretty much any other aftermarket manufacturer.

[Dinan_Engineering]

Originally Posted by nirvanayoda

Right, so in the blown engine example above, the potential recoveries cap out at whatever the engine repair costs under the matching scenario but only $3k under the product only scenario?

Under the matching warranty if the Dinan product causes a failure, per BMW NA, Dinan would foot the bill whatever that be (parts, labor on BMW/Dinan pieces).

After that matching warranty it is a DINAN PRODUCT ONLY WARRANTY and it ONLY covers the Dinan product and failures. Any consequential damage outside of the Dinan product is not covered. If the DINANTRONICS module failed and needed to be replaced it would be replaced. That is all. No other compensation is issued. This is all listed pretty clearly in the link in the previous post under the 2 year limited warranty statement.

[Rearview]

Why not cover CPO cars up to a certain age or mileage value?

There are lots of us who low-milers and take meticulous care of our cars. The high-milers who beat their cars to a pulp use 'real' flash tunes. If Dinan is so safe, not sure why you would not open more of the market up to you without taking on an inordinate amount of risk. Your sales volumes can't be that high ... hell, add another $250 to each tune to share the risk with the purchaser. Simple risk pool management.

You should pay me a consulting fee for the marketing advice. PM me and I will share my offshore account : )

[Dinan_Engineering]

Originally Posted by Rearview

Why not cover CPO cars up to a certain age or mileage value?

There are lots of us who low-milers and take meticulous care of our cars. The high-milers who beat their cars to a pulp use 'real' flash tunes. If Dinan is so safe, not sure why you would not open more of the market up to you without taking on an inordinate amount of risk. Your sales volumes can't be that high ... hell, add another $250 to each tune to share the risk with the purchaser. Simple risk pool management.

You should pay me a consulting fee for the marketing advice. PM me and I will share my offshore account : )

Actually Dinan for the span of a few years in the late 90's/early 2000's did offer an additional/extended CPO warranty that simply was never taken advantage of (cost was nominal at best, $50-100). We offered it since we thought it worthwhile but then we were asked to stop the program as it created confusion in the marketplace. BMW does not offer a CPO program on their own tuner brand Alpina so it was viewed as confusing to the customer/dealer if a Dinan car had a CPO warranty when Alpina could/did not. Since we could count on our extremities the amount of people that took advantage of the program for those few years we didn't feel it was a big loss in favor of playing nice with the big guy. Its been that way ever since.

Does this mean you can pay us that consulting fee since we beat you to the punch? =)

[Rearview]

No, it means that 15+ years ago it didn't work ... why not offer it again? There are so few Alpina cars ...

I'd think that you would have many takers from this forum alone. At the end of the day, Dinan will determine eligibility coverage based upon VIN. Heck, if your dealer network is not smart enough to determine eligibility and price, offer CPO coverage only for direct purchase from Dinan. Problem solved.

[Rearview]

Dinan -

It's your only differentiator from ESS E-tronics tune, for example at 1/3 the price!

[Spinny02]

If you have any issues Dinan will take care of you. The dealer will try to pass the blame and not cover you with other tunes for know mfg defects. Dinan will back you and make sure they cover it or Dinan will if it's related. They have backed me a few times now.

[Rearview]

Thanks, Spinny! What kind of issues have you had outside of the 4/50k? You're still well in the 4 yrs in a 2014 unit.

[Dinan_Engineering]

Originally Posted by nirvanayoda

It's listed fairly clearly, but it's good to know how the company would operate versus what the legal language says. I really do appreciate the help, for what it's worth.

Can you answer one more question for me? I'm preparing to have Dinan Stage 1 installed on Monday in my M5 and have been reading various threads here. It looks like several people have Dinan Stage 2 installed without upgrading the intercooler/exhaust. In those threads, you've advised that people should at least get the intercooler before using Stage 2 software. However, can you tell me -- would the Dinan matching warranty still cover me if I got Stage 2 without the intercooler, or would not getting the recommended intercooler/exhaust be considered a violation of Dinan requirements from Dinan's perspective and therefore void the Dinan matching warranty?

Thanks again.

Stage 2 would run without the associated hardware (intake being the main pieces, exhaust is not nearly as important) but you would not be achieving the stated gains is all. You would still receive warranty support. The one thing I would caution against though if you plan on going that route is to first check out what version of the stocks intakes you have (there were 3 variants). If the lower boxes have a snorkel, or large holes in the bottom I would recommend against doing stage 2 regardless as the air flow sensors are extremely sensitive on these vehicles and those 2 variants of the stock intakes with stage 2 tend to cause issues. If the lower airbox is closed off or if you get the Dinan intakes its a non-issue however.

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by Rearview

Thanks, Spinny! What kind of issues have you had outside of the 4/50k? You're still well in the 4 yrs in a 2014 unit.

He's still in the original warranty. Per Dinan they won't cover you beyond that for parts other than the Dinan parts.

[Lerxst M4]

I have a Dinan Stage II I will be selling soon to fund my custom flash coming up. I don't know if anyone would be interested but I'd let it go for much lower than I paid for it from Momentum SW BMW in Houston.

PM if interested.

If this is in the wrong thread/forum I apologize and can move it - or a mod can. I'd be happy to answer any questions and can verify the sn with the Dinan rep here. Runs strong!