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Thread: Input need for prospective buy on a "Dinan car"

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
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    Lancaster, Pennsylvania
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    E34 535i, E46 330Ci

    Input need for prospective buy on a "Dinan car"

    A few days ago I was contacted by someone looking to sell their rust free 535i equipped with a "bunch of Dinan parts." The seller is claiming that this is an "original Dinan car" with a Dinan suspension, trans, lsd, intake etc. and that the Dinan turbo was removed and sold. The car has just under 160k and is rust free with a decently clean interior. He wanted to rip the car apart to put the engine and trans into an E12 or E28, but also didn't want to dismantle this "excellent Dinan example," and thus wanted to know I was interested in buying the car whole with a bunch of spare parts for $2k.

    Now, I'm not entirely cultured on the whole Dinan thing and was wondering if there is any truth to his claims? Unfortunately the seller is over 2.5 hours away and I don't have time to go inspect the car myself, but he is willing to deliver it to me.

    The pictures he sent look good, and visually things pretty much check out as far as I'm educated.

    Is this worth the gamble? Can anyone potentially shed some light on my situation?

    Cheers

    44165059_273346123303574_4672189458949341184_n.jpg44111996_286435465531293_6102191565952778240_n.jpg44099960_349466292491851_3980409629317267456_n.jpg44096837_188669232009333_7053060500237582336_n.jpg

  2. #2
    moroza's Avatar
    moroza is offline MORΩN ΛABIA BMW CCA Member
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    I'm no expert on Dinan, but I thought all "Dinan cars" - that is, those "tuned" by them as a complete package, not just with a bunch of their parts - came with a badge, paperwork, and bodykit. I don't see a single Dinan part anywhere, though most that you mentioned are underneath. The suspension does look slightly lowered, as it would with Dinan springs.

    "Original Dinan car"? No it isn't. Not since the turbo was removed, if anything. It instead looks to be a plain old 534i in decent shape and with some minor customizations. If it drives like it looks and really is rust-free, that's worth $2k IMO, Dinan or not.

    Missing radio is no surprise and no big deal. But why is it missing at least one wiper blade? What else is missing?
    Last edited by moroza; 10-16-2018 at 03:50 PM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Lancaster, Pennsylvania
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    E34 535i, E46 330Ci
    Quote Originally Posted by moroza View Post
    I'm no expert on Dinan, but I thought all "Dinan cars" - that is, those "tuned" by them as a complete package, not just with a bunch of their parts - came with a badge, paperwork, and bodykit. I don't see a single Dinan part anywhere, though most that you mentioned are underneath. The suspension does look slightly lowered, as it would with Dinan springs.

    "Original Dinan car"? No it isn't. Not since the turbo was removed, if anything. It instead looks to be a plain old 534i in decent shape and with some minor customizations. If it drives like it looks and really is rust-free, that's worth $2k IMO, Dinan or not.

    Missing radio is no surprise and no big deal. But why is it missing at least one wiper blade? What else is missing?

    The seller informed me that the radio was pulled because it didn't work or something, so you're right, no big deal there. He said the "only" thing that this car needs is a new wiper motor assembly and it has a small vacuum leak that he didn't feel like chasing down. He sent videos of him driving it and everything sounded alright from what I could tell.

    The car is definitely worth the 2k, especially since he's giving me all of his spare parts and stuff, so I was mainly trying to fact check some of the Dinan claims he was making as I don't really know much about it personally. I guess I'll find out for sure tomorrow when he delivers it lol

    Thanks bud

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    USA
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    E21/early e23/e34
    You can call Dinan in Mountain View CA, they keep/kept records by vin of the cars they modified themselves- only way to document the car if it is a true Dinan and it has value if so- Replacing the turbo and it's components will be challenging but look up TCD (Turbo Charging Dynamics) they make a bolt on kit that's better than the Dinan kit (modern tech).
    A standard e34 that has Dinan parts added over time isn't the same really, but those parts do add value to a standard e34, google Dinan E34 and you'll find lots of information.

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