PDA

View Full Version : Mysterious Dinan in Mountain View



Sonic A
01-15-2003, 09:07 PM
Funny.
I live in San Jose, a short 20 min drive up Hwy 85 to Mountain View, the supposed location of this infamous "Dinan" Performance place. I drove to the address on the website to hopefully see some of their product. Now, granted this was on a weekend. The place was a ghostown, and looked nothing like an automotive performance center. In fact, since it had been so long since I checked the address, thought it was an abandoned high tech company with the same name and i was confused. I saw no place where a garage could be or any car work could take place. The windows were all tinted so i couldn't see inside and there was no mention of BMW ANYWHERE. I figured there would be some serviced cars in the parking lot at a minimum even if it was closed. None.

So i went to the phone book at the nearest gas station and looked under everything automotive, BMW, etc. No Dinan was listed anywhere! For those that live in Mountain View try it. Maybe the phone books i was using were obsolete or Dinan just doent list themselves?

BUT it doesnt end there. In the phone book under performance, where i had hoped Dinan would be, Dynospot racing was listed, which i have heard a lot about from these boards (where the locals go to get dynoed), so i decided to take a look at that. So i went to that address and it was some ugly autoshop that definitely wasnt called dynospot!?!

So either my brain was fried from the night before, or Mountan view phone books need some serious revision and/or updating.

Anyway, since then i have found out Dinan is open M-F 8-5. I guess i will go when there is life in Mountain View, because apparently there is NONE on the weekend.

But i still havent found Dynospot racing!

iwannadinanm3
01-15-2003, 09:47 PM
the autoshop u went to was most likely DSR it's nothing special lol same thing i thought. but i havent visited dinan yet.

m34ever
01-15-2003, 11:02 PM
dinan moved to morgan hill i think it is. dyno spot is in downtown san jose by spartan stadium.

Dinan330ic
01-15-2003, 11:07 PM
No no no, Dinan is there. The garage is is behind all the fences inside the building. Go during the weekdays. I guarantee you will be surprised. It's packed with BMW's.

m34ever
01-15-2003, 11:15 PM
whats the place in morgan hill then?

DakarDave
01-15-2003, 11:58 PM
Yes, Dinan's Mountain View Location is hard to find.

The address is technically on Whisman, but the most direct way is to take evelyn avenue and turn onto kittyhawk drive.

-Dave

DakarDave
01-15-2003, 11:59 PM
BTW, Dynospot used to be located in Mountain view, but they have moved to san jose.

Check out their website: www.dynospotracing.com. Dick (the owner) is a great guy!

shragon
01-16-2003, 12:20 AM
dinan is still in mt view. you need to go into the complex and look around for it. once you find it, you'll see some bimmers and you'll be able to find the garage and so fourth. it is a small location.

dinan also opened a second location in morgan hill. i have not been there yet, but i heard it is much larger and more modern.

Jim O.
01-16-2003, 04:56 AM
Dinan's Mountain View location is where all the shop work is done - maintenance, product installs, service, etc. The Morgan Hill location is for R&D, and (I think...) warehousing, product distribution, etc.

Jim

m34ever
01-16-2003, 02:10 PM
thanks for clearing up the morgan hill location:)

Sonic A
01-16-2003, 06:04 PM
Thanks everyone. According to the dinan website, the R and D is at the Mt View locale.


I better go back on a weekday.

Sam L
01-21-2003, 04:06 AM
the address (whisman ave) is dinan's mailing location...not the location of their shop. their shop is off evelyn. the mtn view shop is there, but the new headquarter is in morgan hill.

inf0strada
01-22-2003, 06:26 AM
The dinan in Morgan Hill is pretty impressive. I was picking up some bushings and just chatting with the techs. They showed me this red TWIN TURBO 850ci and it was being shipped to Montana. :dunno Yes...Montana. Ha ha... Since then, i still wonder why Dinan doesn't really advertise the turbo's. :devillook

m34ever
01-22-2003, 02:38 PM
We should contact dinan and see if we can get a group tour or something...that would be fun!!!

Dinan330ic
01-22-2003, 05:26 PM
no it won't.

Maybe their Morgan Hill site, but not the one in Mountain View.

MaloventEvil
01-22-2003, 07:03 PM
i think a group discount would be fun :D

pig4bill
02-02-2003, 06:33 AM
If you value your car, you won't let their shop touch it.

MCorpse
02-02-2003, 11:42 AM
I found Dinan somewhat easily, but I had help from a friend who had been there before.
Nothing really mysterious about them, but they are kinda expensive. The work I had done there I probably could have saved a hundred or so on elsewhere, but I had just bought the car and wanted it checked over completely. The people there are very friendly - I have dealt with Greg there (long haired guy, drives a SC'ed miata) and he's always been good. They honor a BMWCCA discount, so that helps on price, but it's still very expensive.

pig4bill, do you have a particular incident you experienced, or are you going by something you heard? I really didn't have a problem with them, but I've only had my car worked on by them and custom alignment in mt. view, so I don't have any other basis of comparison.

The only "problem" I have w/ Dinan is that they're expensive - the aftermarket parts and their labor.