You've probably heard of Dinan, the California-based BMW tuner. In fact, it's one of the oldest and most respected BMW tuners out there. Instead of simply adding power, body kits and suspension upgrades, Dinan fully understands the ethos of the German automaker, meaning its tuned cars are in line with BMW engineering and driving philosophy. It doesn't go overboard on power, instead turning the BMW into a better BMW. The Dinan S3 M235i is one of its latest creations.

With a total of 445 hp and 455 lb-ft of torque, Dinan found an extra 125 hp from the stock M235i and also, among other appropriate mods, stiffened the springs and added bigger bars. The price? The S3 kit costs less than $10,000. Mike Spinelli from /Drive gets behind the wheel and made us wonder: is this a better deal than the new M240i and the M2?