Dinan Engineering S1 BMW M4 Adds Power, Loses Performance

The BMW M4 is no slouch when it comes to performance, but many car guys and gals are always out for more performance. Dinan Engineering is a name that has been associated with hopped up BMWs for decades and its latest foray into modern BMWs is the S1 BMW M4.

Thai car is a bit milder than other Dinan BMWs in that it doesn't get an entirely new engine. This car has relatively modest upgrades. Relatively modest because upgrading any BMW is an expensive proposition. Dinan spends only $7247 upgrading the engine here. Not cheap, but certainly better than some previous models where engine mods alone were over $30,000.

Mods include a new signal conditioner, free flowing exhaust, and cold air intake. Dinan says that the gains are 105hp and 98 lb-ft of torque, at least on paper. The Dinan dyno says that BMW underrates the M4 from the factory making real gains at the wheels more like 46hp and 58 lb-ft of torque.

Disappointingly, the gang at Car and Driver found the Dinan car slower to 60mph by 0.1-second. Dinan also modded the suspension of the car, including attractive and larger diameter wheels, ultimately hurting handling performance with the S1 M4 pulling 0.97g on the skidpad, worse than the last M4 C&D tested. Take the performance loses here with a grain of salt, the conditions for both tests were different and it's not out of the realm of possibility that the original car C&D tested was a ringer.

SOURCE: Car & Driver