I did this install 3 days ago. I've driven about 250 miles so far.

As for the performance difference, let me tell you that another hobby of mine is audio (Strictly 2 channel, no AV gear, thanks). And one measure of performance change in both these hobbies is "is there enough of a difference that the wife notice?" The answer with this intake upgrade is a certain "no".

If there is a performance difference, it's so subtle that it's negligible from a subjective standpoint. (Which should not be confused with "nonexistent"; I'm pretty sure there's a slight improvement in throttle response). It does however look cool and sounds pretty cool at and over 4,ooo rpm.

The car, BTW, is a 2003 R50 (production date of 11/2002) which I have had for about 4 years and have put about 67k miles on it (up to 112k now).

There were some frustrations getting it installed. It was not made with a perfect fit.

 

What came out:





and what went in:

 

It certainly has a big, smooth throat!

 

Although my frustration level got a bit elevated during the install, once i figured out a couple things, the issues turned out to be minor.

Following the instructions (I know, my first mistake, right?), I found it did not fit the car as they said it would.

The instructions say to install the rubber mouth on the throttle body first, then install the polished pipe on next. Then they say to tweak its position until it "fits correctly".

Well, no amount of tweaking was going to get the pipe's mounting strut to reach the supplied vibra-mount. This is as close as I could get it:






I could push it down over this little bolt, but it flexed the throttle body housing in the process. I was not going to go with the "if it doesn't fit, force it" remedy.

First I thought to myself that maybe it didn't need to be tethered here, but that was not an option as it was in the way of the hood closing in this position.

To make the story a little less long, what worked was to go back and loosen the clams on the rubber throttle body transition mouth, tighten the mounting strut down onto the vibra-mount, then go back and tighten the clamps at the throttle body.

Simple. Like I said. And avoidable if the instructions had said to do it this way.

 

The other issue was with the oil breather tube. First, it's bigger than the stock tube, so does not fit the valve cover port without a hose clamp (not supplied, not mentioned)

The new tube is the orange-lined one:





Secondly, it is about an inch too short. I tightened the hose clamp on the valve cover end which allows it to stress a bit to reach the intake. (which it fits w/o a clamp). This allowed me to split the difference in it's shortness between the two pipes.

 

Here's a couple happy ending shots for good measure:

 

Very nice work!

Do you consider to add a heatshield to make it more likely a cold intake?

 

Thanks for the kind words. i saw your thread on your intake upgrade and it was very inspiring.

I am thinking about a heat shield. I will try a mock-up made from cardboard then see if I can get some metal to take the required shape.

I have a couple 24"x24" tin ceiling panels left over from a recent project as well as an old stainless steel hotel pan lid. But I think that might be too thick to shape without metal-shaping tools.

I'll take pics and post them here is I do any of that.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3sj29_minicooperaccelerating_auto#.

We put the AFE in my dad's 2006 R50. It fit perfect without any modification and includes a plastic heat shield that seals to the hood.

Sounds great and if it doesn't gain a lot of power, it at least feels a bit more responsive.

 

I should point out that I went from a K&N drop-in to this one. Maybe if i was going from stock to the Injen I'd notice a greater difference.

The reasn i did this at all was that my stock box was self-destructing. The tabs that held the box top on were long ago broken off (before I got the car). And the screws on the other side were stripped. So it could even have been that it was sucking unfiltered air around the edges. The connecting duct that brought air from the center of the nose shrunk and didn't reach any more and the mounting tabs on the intake nozzle had broken off. It was an ill-fitting mess in there!

People want too much money for the stock box IMO, so this was a reasonable alternative, not to mention a fun plaything/project.

I looked at models with the heat shield, but the $100 premium for the addition of a plastic box was more than i could abide.

 

So, you put a different product in your dad's car and you like it. Thanks for checking in.

 

Look forward to seeing your heat shield installation done

without a super charger, in my opinion it's more difficult to have "good" performance mod at a R50. If you get one thing gain, then it is easily to have something loss. I think you can get more power with making a heat shield to keep the cone away from hot air in engine apartment.

Keep it up. I am glad to see R50 owner still have passion to "upgrade" their R50 in NAM, even it is quite a old car model and usually be looked down

(pls forgive my poor English and I hope you understand what I mean)

 

I'm committed to this car. I've had it for about 3 years and in that time have put around $10,000 into it just keeping it stock! I've had to have a lot of work done and I've used all OEM parts and done a fair amount of "while you're in there" work. (like when my front strut mounts cracked around 70,000, I had new OEM struts installed while he was in there.

Also, the car has no rust. It's only seen three New England winters so far out of it's ten + years on the road. So it's a good clean specimen. It drives like new (and it ought to!)

I have to wonder what cars people are used to when they say that R50's are slow or sluggish. Compared to every other car in my life, the thing is so zippy and chuckable.

I can understand wanting more, otherwise i wouldn't have put a singe mod into it. But a reality check is a good thing on a regular basis. This R50 is my main car, but i also spend time driving a 99 Audi A4 Quattro, (1.8 turbo), a 2007 A6 Quattro, a 2012 Hyundai Accent and a 2006 Passat FWD sedan and a couple of Ford Focus'. None of these other cars begins to approach the fun of my R50. I find this perspective grounding and it allows me to really enjoy my Cooper. The only thing that could be more fun might be something like a JCW or GP. But why waste such a beautfil car like the one I have now? Especially when I couldn't recoup a third of what i have into it.


BTW, Your English is very effective. I understand you without a problem. And if I don't, i will ask.

 

One recommendation:



not sure you have done it or not, in my opinion to restore the stock intake pipe is a MUST. the pipe can "force" cold air from the car front to some area near the filter. i am quite sure that you can notice very obvious difference after restoring the pipe.

 

It's good that you mention that. I did have that thought actually.
A big part of this (maybe the biggest part) is the "doing"/problem solving aspect of it. My brain really likes it!

 

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to do this or not, but I routed that pipe so the air is channeled directly to my DDM intake.

Honestly I could see any different in performance with my CAI. I do hear it sometimes.

In my opinion the most straightfoward way to add power to an R50 is an aftermarket exhaust. I have a Borla and I can feel the difference even months after the install. CAI is a nice touch but I think the HP gains are too low to really feel it; if you did a double-blind test I bet you couldn't tell the immediate difference. Gas mileage on the other hand is measurable.

I'd really love to know how you removed the intake resonator (part on the far right). I tried to pry mine free, gave up after several hours, and sawed it off. I'm really jealous of how yours is removed so cleanly; I still have half of mine sitting underneath the CAI. Seriously if I knew how to do it, I'd go back in there and remove it right now.

 

Hi Eleo

i would like to know how to remove the pipe of resonator box too.

i love my DDMworks intake. Even I understand it may be not "actually" better than the stock air box design, i still love it of the very aggressive sound during mid-high rpm. i also notice some boost of power during that rpm range it's really good driving experience with DDM of my R50 ever.

i think Mynewt's filter should have similar result as our DDM. And it still has room to improve by heat shield and cold air pipe works later. Look forward to seeing.

 

I was just lucky I guess. To tell you the truth, when i started pulling, I had no idea the pipe extended down as far as it did; I thought it just entered the air box.

I think it was not attached to the resonator box inside the bumper. That piece is still in the car BTW.

As i wrote earlier, the whole factory air box system was in shambles and needed to be replaced. I know the nose has been off this car a few times. I've had work done to it that requited it be put into "service 2 position" (nose off) more than once. " "

 

Looks like that gentleman has done that before.

Gord

 

I reinstalled the stock intake pipe last night. I'd like to get a longer section of duct hose to reach further toward the new filer (which is farther back and away from the stock air box).

I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to find generic/general application fresh air piping online. I measured it 2.5 inches across. Seems a lot of fresh air duct that is for sale is 3" and bigger.

Any shopping pointers would be much appreciated.

Indeed. And I realize that he just has it down to the initial service position. You need to take the radiator off to do many things. He stopped there. Sure would be nice to have a lift like that.

 

I have bought a bigger generic intake pipe which I wanted to replace the stock.



However, i found that it does not fit our MINIs. There is not enough space in that area to install any bigger pipe. Also, i doubt the heat resistance ability of such aftermarket intake pipes except you are willing to pay high for that. So, finally, I have re-installed the stock one and its length match DDMworks' design perfectly.

I suggest you can use the stock pipe AND extend it with aftermarket pipe. After that you will notice the difference (for throttle response and sound). More cold air is always good for high flow filters like yours.

 

I just ordered a K&N Typhoon Short Air Ram Intake, I think I am going to return it. I do have a K&N drop in filter. Thank you for the great information!

 

It looks like the K&N Typhoon would be effectively the same as this Injen. A few months out, I'm glad I have it. Not b/c it's increased power, but becasue it has a really satisfying sound and promises to be cheap and simple to maintain for the rest of the life of the car (as I mentioned, my old plastic box set up was falling apart at every seam)

 

You can see in this shot where the breather hose is worn light from scuffing on the inside of the hood liner. Also, the filter is grayed with the fibers of the hood liner which it's been wearing into for the past 3 months.

There's not necessarily any problem with any of this. I just think it's notable.



------------

 

Well I did not send the K&N Short Air Intake back, it is now installed. Looks good, sounds great, less clutter in the engine bay, I could not believe how much crap was involved with stock air intake. Thank You Mynewt