I'm in the process of buying a 2006 Mini Cooper S and the car has been modified with an exhaust and intake, lightweight crank pulley and intercooler divertor. So my first question is do I have to tune the car with the modifications that have been made? Will the car be less reliable if I don't tune it? Can I damage the engine without a tune? My second question is the owner is giving me a reduced supercharger pulley with the car and I have the same questions if I install that do I need to tune for that etc.?


Ik this is a lot but I'm a young driver purchasing this car and idrk what to expect
P.s. I heard the transmissions on these cars can be weak will this set up make to much power for the trans

 

Don't worry about a 'tune'. Just drive it and enjoy it. You have the 6 speed Getrag gear box, as close to bullet proof as you can get and the W11 engine is rock solid. Only cautions I'd extend are check your fluids weekly, change oil and rotate tires every 5K and use ONLY top tier 91 or better fuel.
Spend some time on the forum researching R53 information. There is great wisdom herein.

 

And get a PPI, pre purchase inspection!!!

 

Thank you very much! I was just worried about damaging engine. but if I Were to add the reduced supercharger pulley u feel the same way or what? Still no tune

 

Be very cautious about adding the s/c pulley until you know the reduction % of the crank pulley. For a street machine, maybe a 2% crank pulley and a 15% s/c pulley would be acceptable but probably a risk for track duty. Once you get that sorted out, you can consider a tune at a later date to optimize performance but, if you were to add a header and cat-back exhaust, you'd want to re-tune.

 

Most important thing before buying

I would remove the lightweight crank pulley and go with an ATI damper as the lightweight crank pulleys ruin bearings and even oil pump gears. So for reliability long term go with a damper.
Going with a smaller supercharger pulley will be the best bang for the buck, but make sure you do any maint it needs first.

 

The car already has an exhaust on it

 

Love my R53 so hope you find one! Here's a performance upgrade guide that can help regarding modifications, and please be sure to check our site for service & maintenance schedules and guides.

http://new.minimania.com/Mini_Cooper..._for_your_Mini

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Hey thank u for the advice I really appreciate it. The car currently has an Alta 2% crank pulley rn but should I go and get the OEM crank pulley harmonic balancer

 

I would for sure put a damper back on it, but wouldn't bother with an OEM as they just fail again. We only use the ATI damper in our shop.

 

This should help, but if not, please ask or PM me!

http://new.minimania.com/Search_Results/pulley/default

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.