I'm about to pull the trigger on some M7 modifications and need some reassurance that I'm not wasting my money; specifically with the M7 2% Crank Pulley.


-M7 2% Crank Pulley ($139)
-M7 16% Supercharger Pulley ($155)
-M7 DDM Cold Air Intake Box ($230)
-M7 Strut Re-Inforcement plates ($129)
-M7 Strut Tower Brace ($199)


Does this line-up provide its money's worth?

 

reinforcement plates are part of the strut tower brace dont need both

 

I can speak from experience only on the strut tower brace and the DDM intake are both really well made, and perform very well. The brace provides immediate changes. They are both worth the money.

 

I have the DDM box and strut tower brace as well - both extremely solid and well-made parts.

The crank pulley will probably be worthwhile, since you have the heavier stock pulley from 2003. MINI significantly lightened the stock part in '05, so the benefits of a lighter crank pulley aren't quite as big on the later cars.

 

Skip the crank pulley. I tried one and found the car ran better without it. On hot days with AC on the engine would stall at stops. That issue went away when I put the OEM crank pulley back on.

 

I totally agree with this. Just had my car custom tuned, I live in Australia and have a 3% Crank Pulley on. It is all good to get the extra boost but heat comes with that boost. You will find that the car would drive better with just the 15% or 16% S/C Pulley. I am taking my 3% Crank off and going back to stock. Hey gnatster with your stalling problem, mine does exactly the same. Did you find out what was causing it? My tuner seems to think that it is seeing 14 Vaccum instead of 20 which tricks it into closing the throttle plate whilst under load. ie Lights on an A/C. Even with them off, the car's RPM drops right down to about 350 and bounces back to normal Idle after about a second. Did you go back to a Lightweight Stock size or did you put the Proper one back on?

 

Also Give Custom Mini Shop a call and you can get alot better prices on all of the above items.....

 

Thanks for the crank pulley caveat. I don't want to invest in any modifications that will cause additional problems.

A better price is something I could live with. This will be my first time dealing with either of these companies. Are there any customer service issues I should be forewarned about?

 

The crank pulley is a bad idea, here is a long debate thread about it. I know its old...sorry >.<

 

So has anyone blown one up yet? Mine has been on for nearly two years...

 

Has there been reports of 15-17% Supercharger pulleys destroying engines as well? Will the engine run too lean with the added condensed air the supercharger will provide? Does the on-board computer go on the fritz as a result of the aforementioned?

If a 16% supercharger pulley is added, is there anything else that should be done to the vehicle that is strongly recommended?

 

So it must be an urban myth then? After all this time, no one has stepped up and claimed that they destroyed their motor with a crank pulley...

 

actually a few have thrown rods and I know of a few oil pump gear failures

 

That sounds like that could happen to any number of abused Minis...Has anyone ever to trace their motor's demise to the crank pulley?

 

That's a lot of M7 stuff. The M7 company will love you for this loyalty.

Seriously,
1) it is always good to have improved air intake with a reduced supercharger pulley diameter.
2) I like my M7 strut tower bar.

 

Sid,

you could say that about any mod

 

I thought that's what I'm saying...

 

A better price is something I could live with. This will be my first time dealing with either of these companies. Are there any customer service issues I should be forewarned about?
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No both companies have great customer service Peter at M7 will help you with anything that you need, and custom mini shop is great as a matter of fact i just ordered the m7 pulley from custom mini shop at 113.00 a great price, and it got here in about a week, overall they are both great place to shop from

 

What kind of crank pulley does the cooper have?

 

Brad at Custom Mini Shop will talk your ear off if you desire, other then that CMS is great place to work with.

 

Hey yeah does the Cooper use crank pulley, thought I read on Webb Motorsport site that it does and its lighter.

 

On the crank pulley. Two things: If you go to that 18% total reduction, be sure a proper set of injectors (even JCW) and a good tune go with it. The lack of that will certainly create issues (hot days especially) A TMIC of some sort will also help a ton.

The crank pulley is NOT a balancer so don't stress on the brg's etc. (My opinion is totally different on a keyed balancer v8, v6 etc. But the MINI is not a concern.) But stress on the right tune for the setup.


Just my two cents! Good luck and no matter what enjoy the mods!

 

The Tritec Minis are speed/density systems, and to first order run based on manifold pressure, temp and RPM. So putting more air in there is like running at lower altitudes. It will work fine with nothing else. The Tritec also is tuned rich from the factory, so leaning out is a good thing! But really, the ECU is fine if left un-altered.

For pulleys, many go with colder plugs (like the JCW kit does). I'd skip the Densos, as the tip changes shape pretty quickly, NGKs are more stable (have a larger electrode diameter.) But it's not required.

Matt

 

This is interesting - hadn't heard this before.
Which NGKs are recommended?

Paul

 

Paul...I've been using NGK iridium for the past two years...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...um#post1119612

I've since gone to one stage cold instead of two now that I've removed my N2O...and they are always clean and white everytime I check them...