jjsigpi

1) west (2007 550i)
2) rpav (2004 545i)
3) e6t.lab.rat (2005 545i)
4) e60oholic (2004 545i)
5) socale39 (2004 545i)
6) Rizbel (2004 545i)
7) kxmills (2005 545i)
8) ck-e60
9) jashy247 (2008 550i) Depending on how low we can go on price.
10) jjsigpi ...only if the price is around price stated directly above

west

Is there anybody on this list who feels like speaking to BHJ Dynamics on our behalf?

If I don't hear back from anyone in the next week or so, I will take a stab at this role.

west

OK. I sent the bhjdynamics guys an email. Hope to hear back from them soon. I'll post details to this thread when they respond.

west

Hey friends. Still waiting to hear back from the BHJ Dynamics guys.

Here is the first email I sent to them:


Here is a follow-up I just sent to them:


If anybody feels like being added to the email thread, hit me up on PM and I'll include you in the email so you can drive discussion with them.

west

Just got a response:


Looks like they want to see photos of a stock damper itself. Does anybody have access to a stock damper that we can use to forward them some high-resolution photographs?

Gonna try to send these photos:

west

Here is the last response I got regarding the quote:



Come on guys. Let's get some dialog going here. I feel like I'm talking to myself and am essentially post-whoring. What do you guys think? Should we price development somewhere else? I don't mind waiting 6 months, but I do mind ammortizing R&D across our group buy and then having some forum lurker come along and request another pulley for say $400 or whatever and basically leverage the R&D that we paid for. Perhaps they offer some licencing or buyer protection to avoid this from happening?...I'll ask.

jjsigpi

West,

Thanks for all your research that you have done for us and for contacting this manufacturer. Honestly, this is turning out to be pretty expensive. Just from my point of view, we all need to share the cost of the first damper (R&D and the actual part) and then pay for our own. If they could give us a firmer answer as to how much they would be willing to sell 10 additional pulleys after the first one is made, then I'm sure we'll get more interest. Right now, I don't think anyone is willing to commit b/c they don't have any firm numbers. The guy states that we need a "reasonable volume" in order for any economies of scale to be present but the problem is we don't know what quantity this would be... just my 2 cents but hopefully others will chime in and let us know their thoughts.

west

You are welcome. If you feel like working with them directly, I can 'cc' you to the email thread and feel free to drive that discussion with them. Only thing I don't understand is whether or not BHJ Dynamics will sell these pulleys to individuals that didn't fork up the R&D. It would suck if we end up paying more for these pulleys than some lurkers who are merely waiting for BHJ Dynamics to have the engineering already figured out.

jjsigpi

I'm thinking this should be an endeavor for a more established company to tackle such as Trinity or RPI. They would have the necessary capital to pay for the R&D and then they definitely have enough clientele to market this product to and make their money back. Plus they have a good reputation and so it will be easy for them to sell it... I have no idea how we would sell enough to make this not hurt our wallets too much. For a few guys like us to undertake this I do not believe it would be worth while. Plus I do not think it would provide sufficient gains per dollar. I would just suggest getting the Dinan High Flow Intake and/or Throttle Body to get more than 20hp gains and better throttle response by paying a little more than $1k. Plus, it would be much easier to find the products and an installer. Again, just my thoughts man but it seems we would be getting in over our heads if we went through with this.

rctmthouse

unless there is an agreement between you guys and BHJ which clearly states that after the intial design and the 10 subsequent ones, if they do decide to market it as their own product, you guys will get a piece of the pie. If not I just think you guys will be paying for someone to do the research and create a new product, not at their expense, and later on sell it under their own label and keep the profit.