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I hope this info saves a lot of people time and money.
For as long as i can remember my car has been very sluggish from down low until over 3000rpm. Bad to the point that i didn't use the AC unless i really needed to because of how week my car felt, especially on hot days.
I've had my 03 MCS since brand new. My car is 99% stock except for a Mini Mania crank pulley that was installed to replace a degrading original heavy balancer.
I have over 80000 miles so i assumed the engine was just worn out. I never really worried about the loss of power because i didn't want to start modding the car and risk hurting an already "weakening" engine.
NOT SO!!!!!
I was at my local shop, Presicion Autowerks, and Luis said change the bypass valve, your loosing boost.
I said, ok that's got to help a little.
What i felt after driving the car with a new stock bypass valve is inexplicable with words, however if I had to explain it i would say.....
My car FREAKIN FLIES like a MUTHA FU.............You son of a b***h.
Not only the power, but my fuel economy went up like 40 miles for the tank, and of-course I'm flooring it whenever its safely possible now.
The difference is so dramatic that I feel everyone should know about this.
I cant imagine how many people are spending alot of money to mod their cars, yet with something so basic as a bypass valve, leaking just a little, its almost entirely negating the natural power of the engine.
I am here by obligating everyone that reads this post to go and have their bypass valves checked or replaced for your own good.
Don't do another mod unless you are absolutely sure you are not loosing boost from your bypass valve.
The valve i had installed is a OEM MINI valve. Nothing else.
I hope to hear some good results from others soon.
Safe Motoring.
drfubar, To bad you missed out on all that fun up until now. My 03 has 89,200 and just 2,000 miles ago I replaced the original BPV because it failed. I could tell it was going south because the throttle responce was dropping off. My vacuum / boost gauge confirmed it so I ordered one from Classic, a vendor on this site.
A vacuum / boost gauge is an essential item on a supercharged MINI.
__________________ Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then--we elected them.
drfubar, To bad you missed out on all that fun up until now. My 03 has 89,200 and just 2,000 miles ago I replaced the original BPV because it failed. I could tell it was going south because the throttle responce was dropping off. My vacuum / boost gauge confirmed it so I ordered one from Classic, a vendor on this site.
A vacuum / boost gauge is an essential item on a supercharged MINI.
Right, now I know. I'm sure there are a lot of people that aren't as "mechanically knowledgeable", and are unaware how essential the BPV is.
After having my car's BPV replaced, for me the difference is almost the equivalent of not having a super charger.
I really want to stress that it made a huge difference for my car.
good stuff. I remember pulling my BPV off and doing an adjustment to the little butterfly valve as some light was shining through. How did your BPV go bad?
Compared to the new BPV which required a whole lotta pressure to actuate the butterfly, the old BPV was really easy to actuate with my hand.
Also when you would look at the old BPV still installed in the engine, you could clearly see that the "arm" would not rest at the stop.
It's pretty clear that something wore out inside. I've also read that the early BPVs were kind of weak compared to the ones produced later on. I know I've been losing power for a long time.
Despite my different mechanics saying it would not make much difference on a 05-06, I think the Detroit Tuned BPV would make a decent improvement.
For a 02-04 its a must DTBPV
im happy i came across this thread. my car does feel sluggish until the end of 2nd gear. i've been driving manual for about a year now so i wasnt sure if maybe i was shifting at the wrong times. i want to replace this, i have 60k miles on my 02, so even if this isnt the problem i think it'd be worth it. i have a few questions though.
i saw the DTBPV was about 125$... how much is the OEM one?
is it easy to install?
does anything else need to be replaced when you replace the bpv?
would the DTBPV put anymore strain on the engine and/or require tuning?
im new to all the car stuff. thanks!
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'02 Electric Blue/ White top Cooper S So far: One ball exhaust, Dinan CAI, M7 STB, Alta oil catch can, added OEM driving lights, dropped on Bilstein PSS9's
The OEM is about $85. My mechanic changed it in an hour, however he is a MINI specialist.
I asked him about the Detroit Tuned too, but he said the new OEM BPVs are very tight and dont have the decrease in fuel economy that the DTBPV is said to have.
When the Detroit Tuned came out, they were intended to help fix the yo-yo problem that early R53 ecu software had. Since that's not an issue anymore, I just went with his recommendation and got OEM. I don't know if there is any other purpose for the DTBPV.
Nothing else needs to be replaced. The new BPV will assure you that you're getting all the boost from your supercharger.
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'02 Electric Blue/ White top Cooper S So far: One ball exhaust, Dinan CAI, M7 STB, Alta oil catch can, added OEM driving lights, dropped on Bilstein PSS9's
So far: One ball exhaust, Dinan CAI, M7 STB, Alta oil catch can, added OEM driving lights, dropped on Bilstein PSS9's
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