I'm starting to believe my shuddering woes were a result of my intake being open on one side (broken clips). sealed it temporarily. Debating if I should try a cold air intake to try and completely eliminate possible shudder? Thoughts?
Would increase in hp possibly worsen shudder, wheel hop?

 

Not sure what you mean by shutter, but an intake will not yield enough HP or Torque to cause wheel hop. It will surely make the MINI sound better though...

 

So, what your saying is, I should install the intake without telling my wife why the car sounds "different"?

 

Intakes are aesthetic mods nowadays. Unless you are running a massive turbo or have flow requirements that the factory box can't meet you gain nothing but noise and looks.

The airbox being open on one side due to broken clips won't cause any issue because the break is pre MAF sensor and isn't hindering it's readings. So you have something else going on, get the car looked at by a qualified tech who has access to MINI specific software.

 

Thanks for that. Maybe didn't drive it long enough the other day, but didn't have any shudder. Maybe it is software related. It is definitely heat related. Never happens when cold.

 

I'd concur with the above intake and power comments. I'd add that the shuddering is probably not due to your open box. The open box is bad because you are putting unfiltered air through your motor, but it's not un-metered air, which would cause problems.