Dinan Suspension - BMW Forum

komodo · 08-05-2004, 12:34 AM

I'm looking at getting a Dinan Suspension kit sometime soon, and I'm debating stage 1 or stage 2. The BMW guy told me not to look at stage 3 unless I do track races because the calipers will just wear out my tires quickly. The difference in stage 1 and 2 is the anti-roll bars.... for $800.

My question is how benificial are the anti-roll bars and will my control gain be worth $800, or would that money be better spent on more engine mods?

El Presidente · 08-05-2004, 12:38 AM

you'd notice a huge drop in body roll. With the auto, you will never be able have the same control as a manual, so I'd go for the upgraded suspension instead. That way, you could take non-tuned manuals in the corners.

thekid · 08-05-2004, 01:21 AM

anti rolll bars are perhaps the best upgrade to a suspension. They don't hurt ride quality, but if they are good, such as dinan, then they make a huge difference in cornering. You could definately tell the difference. But for $800? You can get some awesome Eibach ones for $329+ shipping as of about 2 months ago. You'll get more Dinan points for the stage two, so that might be a consideration if you want to earn a Dinan badge.

docrobot · 08-05-2004, 02:47 AM

Dinan has great BMW street cred withing our little roundel, but Eibach is known for it's high end for suspension parts too.

As long as the Eibach bars are "matchable" to your Stage 1 Package, save the extra $ as a down payment for a sweet wheel / tire combo or a supercharger upgrade.

astral_tx · 08-05-2004, 04:42 AM

hrm, well dinan is very respectable so thats quite a hard choice. someone mentioned cornering and you have an automatic or something. i would HIGHLY recomend that you save your money and either convert to standard or sell your car. your suspension setup and automatic will get you killed. alot of people fail to realize this. manuals have a HUGE advantage over automatics in cornering. think really hard. lets say you are racing, taking a nice corner, coming to the apex and starting to give her gas and push very hard out of the exit (how its pretty much supposed to be done lol ) you automatic will DOWNSHIFT and cause you to spin and eat shit. i swear to god! just try it, if you give her enough gas, she will downshift and totally fuck your entire world up in a high speed corner. hell try it at 30, it will do the same. save all of your money, and just dont buy it dude. plus, try lowering before anything. a good drop will make a HUGE difference, and another hint..... i cant believe im giving all my info out but try this. disconnect your power steering, but only after you have dropped your car , and maybe put sways on. your car will be so tight and responsive. BE VERY CAREFUL IN THE RAIN! lol.

Dinan 95 · 08-05-2004, 01:35 PM

I have the stage 2 currnently.
I have never had a stage 1, but I know there is a huge difference.
Again do you want to have an all Dinan or no?
All I know is my car turns like its on rails......even with it being a convertible.
I would say go for the system, but what size wheels and tires do you have?
you may not be able to benefit from the system upgrade if you do not have the rubber to match the turning ability.
Also the car rides ALOT rougher than the stock suspension.
just my thoughts

komodo · 08-06-2004, 12:57 AM

Someone above mentioned S2 gets you more dinan points... all the suspension packages are the same point value so that's not my concern at all. If I get the stage 1 suspension, then the $329 rollbars, will they be as good? I know Dinan is known for quality, and if I go for the cheaper roll-bars, will I notice a difference in handling?

thekid · 08-06-2004, 02:49 AM

Yeah sorry that was me. I don't know why I thought that, but I was looking on their site earlier and realized that I was mistaken. The eibachs are a great product, they are the sway bars that I have my eye on. However, I have not bought them yet, but I've only heard good things about their products. I don't think that you would be disappointed with it. However, I would Imagine that with the Dinan sway bars, btw which are adjustable where the eibachs are not, you would get more out of them, because the suspension and sway bars should have been designed with each other in mind. Now whether or not it is worth the almost $500 difference I have no idea. But, the adjustable front a rear sway bars are really nice. With that you can really dial in the cars handling to be just how you want it. Got a little understeer? tighten the rear! Got over steer? Tighten the front! Need the car to turn in quicker? tighten the front and rear proportionally! As you can see, if you want to be able to fine tune your car to handle just as you want, the adjustable sway bars will be invaluable to you. But if you don't want to mess with it and just want to put it on and forget about it, then get the eibachs and save yourself some money on features you won't use anyway.