Just picked up a Cooper S 3 weeks ago, I love this car!!! As compulsive as I am I ordered some performance mods for it. I picked up the mini mania air intake, Borla Exhaust, Short shifter, and the pulley. I am going to have them installed tomorrow but I’m having a hard time justifying to myself if it’s worth installing the pulley.

I commute with this car almost every day; I drive about 350 miles a week. From reading all the forums, I didn’t run into people having problems after they installed the pulley…or did they?? The people who have the pulley installed don’t have that many miles on it yet. I understand the JCW has the same pulley size but if the engine has other flaws that have not surfaced because I only have 1500 miles on it, is it worth losing my warrantee over 15 more horses?? Please help me make my mind up…

 

I would be surprised if anyone has more than 6-7000 miles with a pulley installed. If you're having this kind of doubt, the pulley may not be for you.

 

I would not do it all at once anyway. What would you have to look forward to next! The pulley is the expnsive install, and the biggest warrnty issue risk. Do the rest, and drive it a while. Use the pulley as a paperweight. It is better to not do everything at once anywhay as you ever know what part made what difference. After a month - I suspect you will be ready for the pulley.

Have fun
Wes

 

Silver,

I've yet to hear of a problem in all my MINI reading, but the distinct impression I have is that you'd want to have an installer do it who's familiar with the process.

With that preface, I have yet to read of someone who's regretted it!

Jeff

ps: In these matters I say follow your heart. If you're going to dream of pulleys all night--do it. If you're going to lie awake worrying about your warranty--don't.

 

All good comments. I am planning to do the pulley but after my suspension (H Sport/Madness swaybar), new tires (S-03's), and intake/exhaust (Madness and hopefully the UUC catback) upgrades. I have 7800 miles on my MCS and I am waiting for my first service to take care of some minor warranty issues. I can appreciate these upgrades first, then get the nice HP gain with the pulley. I can also see if any unforseen issues arise with the pulley or any new issues with my particular car first. So far, I love my MCS except for some annoying rattels (center vent on dash, driver seat belt anchor on pillar, rattle in the back somewhere at freeway speed, and a thermal expansion popping sound underneath the car, probably the heat shield).
Just my .02 and also easier to "sell" to my wife if I do things incrementally. Enjoy your MINI!!!

 

Good advice here. Wes makes a good point. Wait on the pulley - make sure your engine IS ok. 1500 miles could be too early to tell. Add the intake and exhaust now - you'll enjoy the extra power and sound. Then add the pulley at around 10k miles if your heart "lets you". I added an intake at 10k, the pulley at 11k and now have 17.5k. No problems - nothin' but love!


The pulley is great and worth way more than the intake & exhaust perform-wise but wait. Both for safety sake and you'll get more enjoyment out of your $ by installing the intake and exhaust first.

 

2minis got pulley upgrade with a couple hundred miles on his new 2003.....

 

I've got the usual upgrades (intake, exhaust, pulley, springs and swaybar)...if you're just getting your MINI...wait! no hurry!

It's nice to learn you car first...put several thousand miles on it. Then, when you feel that you want more...go for it.

I must say that now that I have everything here's my thoughts:

exhaust - love the sound (Magnaflow) so that is the best part
suspension work - once you realize how great the MINI corners, THEN do the suspension to get that lovin' feeling all over again. It's an awesome mod, my favorite, but only once you've gotten used to stock
intake - minimal impact

I'd say that the suspension mod is the most FUN modification. If you want to milk every inch of HP out of it, just run at higher RPMs!

 

Well, considering you can get a spanking new MINI with the JCW, I'd say you've got NO issues to worry about. I put mine in around 5k, no problems.

R

 

I had my pulley replaced at 40,000 miles. I now have 42,500 miles. I drive on the average 140 mph per day. Mods are bmp intake, madness swaybar, magmaflow exhaust, alta pulley, and the ecu reprogramed. As you can see I like to do a lot of driving. I think any of the mods can be done when YOU are ready. Do one mod and drive around for a couple of days or months. Get the feel of the difference. Then do another. That big smile you got from the first change will come back again. Enjoy the ride. You only go around once. Make the best of it.

 

Bet it doesn't take you long to get where you're going.

See ya,
JS

 

Thank you all for your thoughtful insight. I’m think I am going to wait until more people use the pulley and have longer history. I’m going to the mechanic tomorrow to put all the other performance parts in.

Got to say this one more time...Damn, I love my mini.

JT

 

ok, so I had this question earlier today about what would be the equivalent supercharger Redline RPM if you had a 15% pulley installed. Since the latest MCS engine redline is 6950, to reach the same supercharger RPM with a 15% smaller pulley, your new theoretical engine redline would be 6050. So if you're concerned about longetivity, use this new theoretical engine redline as a general rule of thumb if you don't want to spin the supercharger faster than stock. You'll still get the extra horsepower throughout the RPM range, so there's even less a need to redline the engine anyway!

So! looks like getting the pulley is highly logical after all! Stay below 6050RPM if you're paranoid or are in it for the long run (like me!), or peg the rev-limiter constantly if you're Speed Racer (uh oh, also me!)

Cheers,
Ryan

_________________
Wisdom is not a function of age, but a function of experience.
*Keeper of the CWFAC list*

 

>>Silver,
>>
>>I've yet to hear of a problem in all my MINI reading, but the distinct impression I have is that you'd want to have an installer do it who's familiar with the process.
>>
>>With that preface, I have yet to read of someone who's regretted it!
>>
>>Jeff
>>
>>ps: In these matters I say follow your heart. If you're going to dream of pulleys all night--do it. If you're going to lie awake worrying about your warranty--don't.

I've heard of a couple problems on the message boards. One involved someone who was having cold starting problems after installing the pulley. He was still trying to figure it out last I heard of it. The other fried the belt that goes on the pulley. It appeared that the pulley was not properly aligned so the belt wore out very quickly due to friction. Not sure what he ended up doing about it.

That's all I've heard in terms of problems so far, but it is very early still.

 

Sometimes you have to say "what the f***"

 

Mike, what're you talking about???
:???:

 

>>I've heard of a couple problems on the message boards. One involved someone who was having cold starting problems after installing the pulley. He was still trying to figure it out last I heard of it. The other fried the belt that goes on the pulley. It appeared that the pulley was not properly aligned so the belt wore out very quickly due to friction. Not sure what he ended up doing about it.
>>


If I remember correctly, I believe the fried belt was a different sized belt also - NOT the stock belt. Also it had appeared to be put on incorrectly. I think the most important consideration is to find someone competent enough to do the install. Randy with all his pulley install days around the country and HELIX in Philly for the East Coast would probably be the best. They both devote themselves to the MINI and have great knowledge and experience with these vehicles. It's my understanding that the guys at HELIX got the SECOND MINI in the US - a year earlier than the rest of us so they had lots of time to learn the car.

 

>>I've heard of a couple problems on the message boards. One involved someone who was having cold starting problems after installing the pulley. He was still trying to figure it out last I heard of it. The other fried the belt that goes on the pulley. It appeared that the pulley was not properly aligned so the belt wore out very quickly due to friction. Not sure what he ended up doing about it.


I can respond to this. The cold start was me. And it wasn't the pully. It just so happened I had 33.1 installed the day after my pulley. And we all know how crappy that version turned out to be (well, not like 33.2 is any better, cold start is gone but helloooo stumble!).

And the fried belt was MCSHP, my bud Bryan. He's not had any issues since replacing his belt. Just appears it was never put on correctly, I believe.

R

 

I was planning to wait for the pully and then heard about Randy's FL trip. Getting it installed right is very important - get it done if there is a pully a party in your area, especially if you don't know when you'll get another chance.