So I am thinking that my firsts mods to my 2004 mini cooper would be a cold air intake and an exhaust. So far i have decided on the K&N Cold Air Intake seen below and I am still undecided on the exhaust.

Seeing that I wont be able to purchase and install both at the same time, I was wondering from your guys' experience should I purchase/install the intake first or the exhaust first? Also, if anyone can make any suggestions to where i can get these parts for good prices. I live in San Diego so any good Socal spots would be nice. Lastly, any recommendations on another intake or exhaust systems are always appreciated

 

I'm not much help on your mod questions, but I would suggest since your in the SD area, you send a PM to SDMike to see who he may know doing MINI stuff in your area. Or even to link up with the SD MINI club which is very active for mod parties and driving events.

Congratulations on your MINI.

As to your mods, I would do the CAI after I got a 30-60 baseline run, then do the same with the CAI. Add the exhaust after you hear and feel the improvement with the CAI.

Enjoy and have fun driving.

 

if your going to drop the money for a k&n, you should just buy a way/ddm intake. at least it has a heat sheild. and for exhaust, if you search, theres a thread that has a few sound clips of cat-backs for the mini. videos with sounds can also be found on youtube.com. personally, i wouldnt spend the money on a cat back when you can have a new muffler put in for about $100 and will add a nice grawl. there is little to no power to be gained by spending $400+ on a shiny pre-made exhaust.

my $.02

 

Sorry for the newb question but what does way/DDM stand for. I really like your idea on getting a muffler instead of a whole new exhaust system. I am not much of a racer or anything, so all these mods are really just for my enjoyment and not to mention for me to show off..


EDIT: I found out what a way/DDM intake is. Also forgot to ask, if i get a K&N intake is a heat shield necessary

 

newb Q's are fine! your a newB!

with any intake, the idea is to get more power.
so you want MORE, COLD/dence air for more detonation. if your sucking hot air from the engine bay, youll temporarily be losing power until you get up to speed and have air flow under the hood. so the heat shield would help at least alittle.

for the price, you mind as well get something that took alittle thought. not just a pipe you could have bent at a local muffler shop and throw a $40 filter on the end and get charged $200. kind of silly...

with the exhaust, me and a friend did mine in about 2 hours. i bought a $40 bosal glorified glass pack welded it on the end and powder coated a 3" peice of pipe for the tip. also cut the front resonator off and replaced it with a peice of pipe. it really couldnt have been easier as the stock pipe is perfectly straight until a slight kick on the end. if i did it again, i think i would have left the resonator up front to see what it sounded like first, its alittle on the loud side now, i dont mind.. but the girl freind does at times .

im cheap. probly more than most cus im a DIY kind of person. i almost always buy parts second hand and try to make or mix everything on my own first.
hope all that helps.

 

thanks for the help.

You sound like your real good at that DiY stuff, however I am not. I rather get a reliable intake and cat-back exhaust. I guess i am only looking for a moderate hp gain, but a real nice sound

 

Have you checked out the BMP Promini intake? That is what I have, nice design IMO.

 

no I haven't, but thanks for recommendation. Also does anyone have any suggestions for an intake and exhaust pairs that have a great sound together.

So far I am liking a K&N cold air intake with a magnaflow cat-back exhaust. I am sure somebody has this pair also that would like to chime in

 

I have the promini intake as well and love the sound actually decided to skip the exaust at the moment

 

Just an FYI, the Way/DDM intake was on backorder about a week and a half ago. If it still is, IDK. But, mine is supposed to be shipped shortly so...

 

Thanks every one for the recommendations, everything was much
appreciated.

I actually met someone who had a K&N intake on their '02 cooper and i liked the sound and performance. So I probably will get that one by the end of the week. And i am still undecided on a megan, magnaflow, or borla catback exhaust.

 

honestly, just get this - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-03...QQcmdZViewItem

then buy a k&n filter at the local parts store. save alot of money.

of the 3 exhaust you mentioned, the megan is my favorite. magnaflow has the giant coffee can muffler on the end. which im normal all for, just looks a bit odd on the cooper. borla sounds nice, but the price is about double the megan.

 

Or buy that and don't buy a K & N. I bought one of these cheapies off eBay, and I don't think there is much difference between that filter and the one on my BMP intake. I think with the K & N, you are paying a premium for the name. Just my opinion.

The only reason I changed to the BMP was I liked that it integrated the cold air inlet tube and had a heat shield. But the cheapie on eBay will give you a good sound.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-03...QQcmdZViewItem


That would save you money however it looks to me like there may have to be some mods done in order to get the correct fitment if you start piecing it together.

Part of the reason to by a pre-made "kit" is to make it easy to put in and get up and running which sounds to me to be your preference.

IMO. I have the K-N kit on my 02 cooper. Sounds great. I purchased mine used so I got a good deal. If you aren't racing or worried about the HP gains (which won't be much with a CAI) you get a nice kit that is easy to install. The fit and finish of the kit is ok. I can take a pic of it and send if you would like to see it installed on mine.

Make sure what ever kit you get you keep the filter clean!

Exhaust on the other hand is another question. I think it would be much cheaper if you have a muffler shop do a custom cat back rather than buying one pre-made. I have the JCW exhaust which came with my car...if I didn't have that I would have gone down to the same shop that did my truck custom cat back w/flowmaster for me.


Another thought is to keep your eye out on ebay and NAM for used stuff. It goes pretty quick but CAI's pop up now and then.

However all this is basically a mute point...Get what you want and do what you want. You will be driving it and you will have to like it...which won't be hard to do considering you are driving a MINI!!!!

 

iv also used the filters with the ebay cheapies and they worked all the same. i just mentioned it due to the OP being stuck on name brands... i support the little guys .

 

A pic of your '02 cooper w/K&N intake would be awesome.

I am a little hesitant on getting any intake that requires any extra modifications. I am not gonna lie to you guys, getting an intake with a K&N brand name under my hood was one of the perks. However, as i keep on researching different parts im starting to lose that want and more focusing on reliability.


Thanks for all the help guys!!! I started this topic two days ago, and i got all this help already. You guys rock!!! MINI-4-LIFE!!

 

Just to be clear, the kit shown on eBay would not require any modifications. It would fit right on as easily as anything else would. Not trying to force the issue, but I just wanted to clear that up.

 

Either get the WayDDM or a AFE CAI both have heat sheilds, and get the Megan. It sounds great the way a MINI should sound like. plus they ar e about $380 plus shipping. On the original buy I had the first one...


Art

 

You are right, I was just looking at it wrong. Anyways, after spending a couple hours doing some reading and listening to sound clips, The megan catback exhaust seems like the one i have been looking for

 

Here you go bud! This is a clip of my 2003 MINI Cooper with a:

Generic intake filter
Magnaflow Cat-back exhaust
Powerflex upper and lower motor mounts
Spec stage 1 clutch

Pic of my $25 intake:

 

Thanks for the clarification on the fitment! I wasn't sure myself but thought it would be good to mention. I was also comparing to my set up which is an S model so if you have the standard Cooper I would then agree that no mods should be necessary after looking at the pic chilipeppa03 provided.

I'll pm a pic when I can get one. It may not be until next week.

 

I have this combo, and love the sound. The Magnaflow is on the loud side, but the exhaust note has gotten better as I've put miles on the system, and it burbles like crazy, which I like.

You can expect about a 5-6 HP gain near redline with this setup (I had mine dyno'd).

 

Thanks everyone for your help I really appreciate it. special thanks to chilipeppa03 for posting the pics and videos.

Sorry for not responding for awhile i have been really busy with midterms and work recently.

so anyways, this last weekend my friend and I went up to autobacs http://www.autobacsusa.com/ to look for some wheels and tires for his EVO, While i was there i was talking to some employee who told me someone special ordered a K&N intake but just returned it unused because they accidently got an intake for the MC rather then the MCS. So to make a long story short, i got the K&N intake polished red for only a little over $100. once I got home and installed it right away, i was really suprised on how nice it sounds and not to mention the small yet noticeable hp gain. So I really reccomend the K&N typhoon intake.

So thanks again everyone, everyones input was greatly appreciated!!
pics soon to come!

 

What???? I have several sitting on the shelf ready to ship. Never backordered them yet.

 

I have the K&N with the Megan Racing Exhaust, sound clip http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1521957226413519553&pr=goog-sl

The Way/DDM rocks too!