I'm fairly new to the Mini world and tuning/performance in general, but this car is so freaking fun I'm getting addicted to tinkering with it.

I can only spend so much money a month, so improving the performance of my All4 (bought pre-owned, 62K mi) is going to have to happen in waves. I don't want to go super-crazy, just a decent improvement and I want to do as much of the work myself as possible. How does this sound for an order of operations?

1. Plugs and Coils
2. Sway bar and strut tower brace
3. Cold Air Intake
4. FMIC
5. Catback Exhaust
6. Stage 1 Tune (or JB+)
7. Sprint Booster or D1 7-drive

Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

 

The best thing to do since it has 62k miles on it, would be to walnut blast the intake valves. The rest of your list sounds pretty good and in pretty good order. I've been researching the same thing for my All4. If you haven't dropped the run flats, that would be another thing I'd consider as run flats are way too bouncy.

http://www.bimmerhelp.info/DIY_N54_Valve_Blast.html

Since these are direct injection engines, the intake valves can build up with a ton of carbon restricting airflow.

For intake, I'd stick with a dry panel replacement. That way you aren't sucking in hot air due to an open airbox. And a dry panel can flow a little more than stock.

 

Thanks for the reply. It's a certified pre-owned, and the dealer put fresh run-flats tires on it right before I bought it, so I won't be changing those out anytime soon.

I will look into the valve thing.

As far as the filter... that's certainly cheaper, but if it's that easy, why do they bother making the CAIs? Are you saying that the performance is actually better (or at least negligibly different) with something like the aFE Pro Dry S vs. one of the CAIs?

 

I looked at the walnut blasting... seems pretty involved and I'm not sure I'd want to risk it while I still have warranty. Results looked amazing though. Have you done this?

 

I should also probably mention that it's an automatic, which I understand limits me to "Stage 1" mods as far as tuning.

 

I haven't done the walnut blasting yet, but plan on it.

If you look at race cars, they always have a duct pulling cold air to a closed air box. Now this box is almost always bigger than stock. The important thing is airflow and temperature. Colder air is denser. A denser charge carries more oxygen, which in turns allows for more fuel, which provides more power.

If any aftermarket intake is not a closed box, you will always pull in warmer air from the engine bay.

 

There's great reviews about the M7 Speed MAXX-FLO Cold Air Intake System here. Details at the link, but if you want to know more about the design and air M7 is a vendor on here and you can PM them with questions about it. As for exhausts, Remus makes a really great quality product with a deep and throaty exhaust note. I, personally, love the way they sound and you can definitely see the quality once you get your hands on it.

 

I went a different direction... 2011 S All4. I put in a catch can, NM sway bar and M7 IC pipe. Next purchase was the FMIC, I wanted the Wagner but bought the Helix and waiting for my Remus muffler. Waiting on the new brake pads and SS lines from ECS too. I hope to have the stuff installed next week.
I will get tuned with I get back to the states as I'm currently in German with my car!

 

I have 54K on my 2012 All4S. I inspected the valves and saw no significant build up of Carbon. The N18 engines are different than the N14's in this respect. Now I will say that I change my oil every 7k and use top tier premium fuel. The bestbang for your bucks are a good panel filter, Cat back exhaust such as Megan racing and a Manic tune. you can do all three for under $1000. gain approx. 40-50 HP.

 

I'm going to add my "Here! Here!" to this. Being a former bimmer 3-series guy I had the concept in my brain that these engines suffered from the carbon buildup that the N14 engines and pretty much any other Twin turbo'd BMW engine. However, after a long diatribe from the head mechanic at Schomp Mini here in Denver I've learnt the following:

#1 - They've done approximately 3 R60 walnut blasts.
#2 - They were all owned by cheapskates that used crap gas.
#3 - They were all driven fairly slowly in stop-n-go traffic by soccer moms.
#4 - They were all autos.
#5 - They all had sketchy maintenance histories.
#6 - The way stuff flows over the heads in the N18 engine is much improved.
#7 - Use mini engine cleaner / fuel additive every oil change (I might just use 44k).
#8 - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE GOOD GAS! (This was nearly shouted, hence the caps...)

Again YMMV because this is second hand, but the guys seemed very knowledgable. He also told me to "Push the engine - they're built to be fast little cars. If you built it to go fast, drive it fast. I take mine up to above 100 routinely and blow out any carbon that way"

 

top tier fuel and/or fuel additives will never touch the intake valves because the fuel is put directly into the combustion chamber ie the name "direct injection"

good fuel and/or additives may keep the fuel injectors and combustion chambers cleaner than not using them but will have no effect on intake valve buildup