Could you swap MCS internals into the MC engine to beef it up and then go turbo and boost more than 5lbs w/o blowing the motor? or use the MCS supercharger with pulley like you would on the MCS? Just a thought, what you guys think?

 

the major ingredients would be the crank, rods and pistons and probably the tranny. If turbo, you could keep the water pump and belt drive setup, but if you go for the the MCS blower, you need a different throttle body and intake, water pump, alternator bracket, belt tensioner, blower, intercooler with snoots and intake manifold. probably a different ECU and injectors and an air cooling intake in the hood. you would probaly have to re-locate the map sensors (the S has 2).

 

The Cooper tranny is marginal in the Cooper and would not take the added Hp. Why not just find a wrecked MCS and buy the engine/transmission and do a transplant. Might be easier and cheaper in the end.

 

Or you could start with an MCS and change the front and rear bumpers and side markers to the ones from an MC. You want the scoop for the intercooler for airflow but if you put the MC bonnet on it would complete the outward transformation. This conversion has been done before- do a search for MC bumpers on an MCS.

On the rear bumper you'd change the lower valence to fit the center tailpipes on the MCS.

Another option is to wait for someone to offer a good turbo kit for the MC and not have to change much internally in the MC engine. Then you can keep the appearance of an MC intact and just a reasonable amount of power.

 

The MC bonnet is more sloped than the MCS bonnet, and would not clear the intercooler. You could always go with a front-mount IC, but the cost to transform the car quickly puts you back in the MCS price-range.

As for the Midlands tranny, I've heard a lot of conflicting reports on this. Some say that the Getrag is only in the MCS because of pressure from BMW execs, and that the R65 Midlands unit is strong enough for stock MCS torque/HP.

Some say the Midlands unit can't handle a 10HP gain.

From what I've read in published materials, option A has more credibility. BMW has a long-standing vendor partnership with Getrag.

I think a very small turbo would probably be ideal for the MC: just large enough to add some low-end torque, but not really anything useful for high revs. That's where the MC lags, IMO.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=44343

Read this. Best info on engine differences I've seen posted anywhere. I'd say the piston oil-squirters and sodium filled valves would be VERY nice for reliability. In that case, you'd be better off with the MCS bottom end as it is and then you've got the forged parts as a bonus!

 

As for the tranny issue, 05 and newer MC's have the 5sp Getrag unit instead of the Midlands tranny. This was of concern to me as I plan some sort of turbo install in the future and have heard the Midland may not be up to the task.

 

the S has inconel ex valves w/o sodium fill