Dinan suspension worth it?

[RotRedM3]

Was going to bite the bullet and order the Dinan stage 1 since they are having a 15% off sale right now but I'm having second thoughts. Looks to be just Koni inserts and Dinan springs which is little for a lot but I'm also a sucker for a Dinan badge and this gets me half way there.

Also considering GC coils which I'm assuming most would suggest but wanted to get everyone's opinion on the two.

M3 is my daily. HPDE's 2-3 times a month. Willing to give up some comfort for better handling.

[RRSperry]

Does it work? Yes it does, very well in fact for a street car. The bars and camber plates are worth considering too if you really do 2-3 HPDE's per month...lol

Is it more expensive than a lot of other choices? Yes it is, even with 15% off...

Is Dinan a company that may disappear overnight, and/or offer zero support or repair? Nope, probably not...


Face it, you are paying a premium for the name, and that's not always a bad thing... You buy their stuff, put it on your car, and it works, without you have to really think about it too much.

[CMG]

I've got dinan springs and camber plates for sale if interested. When i checked the 15% off did not inclide e36

[scooper]

The dinan stage one package is pretty good. The konis are supposed to be valved to match the dinan springs. I'm currently running them and like them. If you price them out separately they're still pretty reasonable. Also the springs are linear vs progressive unlike the stock springs or unlike most other aftermarket springs.

For anyone interested I have a set of Konis and a set of AST4200s that I'm parting out. I also have a set of dinan sways for sale.

[GTRSv]

I've got dinan springs and camber plates for sale if interested. When i checked the 15% off did not inclide e36

From Dinan site:


Product Description
​For online orders, discount given after purchase. *Ineligible products: Signature & Power packages, differentials D773-0007 thru 0019, wheels, Brembo, replacement parts, carbon fiber intakes, supercharger systems, headers, BMW Performance parts, radar detectors, speakers.

This offer cannot be combined with any other Dinan offers.
E36 Included.

[GGray]

Not worth it.. Far better options out for the E36 for street/track use...

[gpeterson]

I've heard the eibach springs are very similar. I have konis with eibach springs and have been very happy with them.

[rajicase]

I rode in an e36 with the dinan suspension and really wasn't impressed considering the price. It was definitely nice, but for the price I personally think there are better options out there.

[crqflier]

M3 is my daily. HPDE's 2-3 times a month. Willing to give up some comfort for better handling.

I'm not even sure I could find 2-3 hpde every month. If that's really the case I'd guess you'd want to move past a street setup. With that said, if you want the dinan badge, go for it. It's not like it's a bad setup.

[RotRedM3]

Does it work? Yes it does, very well in fact for a street car. The bars and camber plates are worth considering too if you really do 2-3 HPDE's per month...lol

Is it more expensive than a lot of other choices? Yes it is, even with 15% off...

Is Dinan a company that may disappear overnight, and/or offer zero support or repair? Nope, probably not...


Face it, you are paying a premium for the name, and that's not always a bad thing... You buy their stuff, put it on your car, and it works, without you have to really think about it too much.

I'll do one of the methods to gain some camber for sure. Bars will probably come later on.

So you're saying Dinan>Ground Control?

Bimmerworld has free shipping right now which would put the two close in price.

Also, if I order online from Dinan I pay for shipping but no taxes. Dealer would charge sales tax and I'm not sure they would even honor the discount. Will have to call on Friday.

Thanks for the advice guys

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I'm not even sure I could find 2-3 hpde every month. If that's really the case I'd guess you'd want to move past a street setup. With that said, if you want the dinan badge, go for it. It's not like it's a bad setup.

The dates that are set up next year come out to be either 2 or 3 days depending on which month you are in and I am going to try and make every one in 2014.

I would also like to get into club racing in the near future and it's my understanding that you can have either adjustable struts/shocks with r compounds or coilovers on street tires. I could be completely off on this statement but I would think Dinan and r compound would beat coilovers and streets.

[RRSperry]

Sort of Apple and oranges. Dinan made/ (makes) A very good suspension for a street car, usually sold (when the E36 was new), to new car buyers that don't want, or can't do things themselves.

GC makes (race car) stuff, that you can use on the street.

both are good for what they are.

[jim89325is]

If you actually do 2-3 HPDE's a month, you should be able to tell us what the best suspension setup for our cars would be.

If you've never done an HPDE, or maybe just a few, a well maintained stock M3 setup would be far more capable than you as a driver.

At the track, I've seen so many beater cars driven by instructors (umm, racers) run circles around "well set up" cars driven by newbies.

[Eric98Sedan]

Not worth it.. Far better options out for the E36 for street/track use...

Completely disagree with "blanket" statments like this. Konis + mild springs is a fabulous street setup. No coilover is far better and in fact I'd argue worse in many ways.

There is no such thing as "better" or "worse" without qualification. You know better.


Sort of Apple and oranges. Dinan made/ (makes) A very good suspension for a street car, usually sold (when the E36 was new), to new car buyers that don't want, or can't do things themselves.

GC makes (race car) stuff, that you can use on the street.

both are good for what they are.

Spot on. They are both good at what they're designed to do while both present compromises when doing what they were not designed to do.


If you actually do 2-3 HPDE's a month, you should be able to tell us what the best suspension setup for our cars would be.

If you've never done an HPDE, or maybe just a few, a well maintained stock M3 setup would be far more capable than you as a driver.

At the track, I've seen so many beater cars driven by instructors (umm, racers) run circles around "well set up" cars driven by newbies.

Excellent post. "Suspension" doesn't automatically make the car faster.

Driver, tires and camber do:)

[RotRedM3]

If you actually do 2-3 HPDE's a month, you should be able to tell us what the best suspension setup for our cars would be.

If you've never done an HPDE, or maybe just a few, a well maintained stock M3 setup would be far more capable than you as a driver.

At the track, I've seen so many beater cars driven by instructors (umm, racers) run circles around "well set up" cars driven by newbies.

Just because I do HPDE's doesn't mean I can't ask a forum for advice. People like RRSperry are more educated about BMW suspensions than I am and I like to get feedback before I made a decision that car potentially make or break a car.

It is a known fact that an e36 pushes wide because of lack of camber and body roll. I know what I need to fix this but I was asking more about quality and past experiences with the two setups. If this were purely a track car, I wouldn't have to ask this question.

No doubt a stock M3 is extremely capable in the right hands. I gave one of my instructors a hard time on my last outing because he couldn't get by me in his E30 chump car. Not bragging, just joking around. A wave-by is certainly not uncommon.

Sorry if I'm coming off as somewhat offensive but it bugs me when someone on the internet thinks they know my driving skill better than I do :drink1

[RRSperry]

Body roll and camber? Really?

If you have the stock tire sizes on the car, then that it the majority of your problem.

Understeer, or push, or plowing, is a function of more grip in the rear than in the front. The BMW engineers, at the directed mandate of corporate lawyers, changed the wheel and tire sizes, and the front suspension geometry to increase understeer so that stupid idiots don't crash ass first. (apparently, people feel safer when they can see what they are going to crash into...lol)

You can eliminate most of the camber deficit by swapping the 96+ front strut mounts side to side. You can eliminate most of the push by running a square tire setup, (a stock NA car really doesn't really need more than a 245-40-17, because it actually kind of under powered), and almost any larger front anti roll bar.

You just have to be aware that ANYTHING you do is a compromise. IMO, you just can't have a comfy street car, (stock like ride), that is also a capable track car. If you are doing 2-3 event per month, you really should be looking into a dedicated track car. And you probably shouldn't be driving to and from the track...

All it takes is one Oh Shit moment, and you just totaled your only means of getting home, and getting to work on Monday... (not to mention the possible serious injuries that might have been prevented by real safety equipment.