In the next couple months I will be purchasing a complete head and was wondering what the best option for this is? I would prefer to not spend upwards of 1500 on the head. Is this a small job to replace? I may be misinformed but from what I was told it was not too difficult. Also what cam is the best performing? I will be tracking my r53 and it will be my DD so I don't want to rough of an idle. Please do let me know what all you guys have done and how it worked out for you? I have been told that replacing cams is no little job? I was thinking about replacing both the heads and cam at the same time along with new pistons, larger valves, retainers, springs, rods and studs. I am looking to do this work along with all the other necessities done at the same time (full exhaust, coil packs, plugs, wires, radiator, gp/forge tmic, etc...). I of course will have this tuned.

Excuse my rambling as I am lacking education in this field!

Thanks all!

 

You need to figure out what you want to do with the car, (track, drag, SCCA autocross or pleasure), how much you want to pay, total, then talk with a tuner to maximize the bang for the buck. From your post it seems you are likely to spend money in areas that don't need improvement. For me the biggest impact, first and foremost was the 15% pulley. Next the RMW head, followed by tune by Jan (RMW). However, if you want to be competitive in SCCA autocross or pro solo, these mods bump you up in classification where your car will not be competitive. Plus, the car is great out of the box. The smart money is spent on the driver.

 

Thanks for the helpful comment! I just talked to a guy at wmw and am going to place an order for the 15% reduction pulley looks like unichips are useless and I need to get it dyno tuned with an actual baseline...no cookie cutter tunes. I found a full Alta intake with box lid and outlet hose for 130 bucks and thats on the way. Can I run the stock JCW injectors without worrying about running too lean?

 

Wow loaded question. Your $1500 budget for a head alone is gonna be really hard. We make our WMW head and the valvetrain parts before any head work is about $1000 in parts.

But you seem to be interested in alot of other parts. Figure out what your total budget is and HP goal. It was nice talking to you earlier, we'll put something together when your ready.

The JCW injectors will richen up the car, not make it leaner so no worries there.

 

Well the only reason I ask about the injectors is because I have a fri
end that slapped on bigger injectors on his sti and viola he had all sorts of problems. I assume its because they run lean from the factory?

Anyways,

I leave ND in 27 days and just need to know if the puller tool will be available by then. If so then you will definitely be hearing from me in the next 24hrs.

Also do you know of a step certified bmw mechanic that resides in Phoenix Arizona? If only you guys were in Arizona...I definitely appreciated the base on pulleys you explained to me Tuesday. Oh is the r53 closed or open deck? Can this be changed to closed deck if it is indeed open? I have read that machining it to closed deck may question the integrity of the block.

This may sound childish but I want to be able to eat any sti/evo/genesis/vr-4 with mild mods on the road. (friends have these)

So around 235whp?

I am looking for a stable DD with the option of tracking on the weekends.

Gas mileage isn't a big issue since I own a bike as well. What mods can be done without worrying about a tune? Would replacing the injectors with JCW's be on the edge of disaster without a tune?

I am not sure how any of these mods would fly with trying to pass an MOT in Germany....but the military has its own standards overseas so we'll see as I hope to have the ability to swap this and that out without worries of inspections.

Thanks,

Christopher

 

you can do all internal work and an inspector will never catch it, as well as a pulley, because they never check.
Way is a great guy to listen to, but for 235whp, you will most likely need a head, cam, exhaust and intake, new clutch, LSD (quaife or cusco), and a tune.
so for the engine alone guestamating of course
850-stratmosphere exhaust
800-900- good header
1800- os geiken clutch+flywheel
2000- head (minimum)
350- cam
1100- quaife lsd
200- wmw pulley package
150 (your intake)
____________________
$7300 in parts just for the engine,(this is without labor)
and you will need a tune :450-650
at this stage suggestions : SUSPENSION!!(go around corners faster) & brakes (slow you down for the next corner)
1400-1800 coilovers
900- willwood front brakes.
id also suggest some re-enforced engine mounts (power flex inserts)
your still looking at spending ~$10k in parts
this is a complete list though, and might i add, even though i love my mini, i will never be at the level of the VR4 in my club, or the subies.
(this VR4 is a full one off with a 120mm turbo, 750 all wheel HP, that i helped assemble, and for that kind of power it costs us only 2 grand total (turbo, manifolds, everything, and his primaries are 2.25" each)
what im saying, is, for out accelerating your friends, this is not really the car.

my personal list is cam, quaife, pulley (check), coilovers, swaybar (check), intake (check), exhaust (in process of welding in my garage) and a tune.
as it stands, it is a car that shocks people who ride in it (shelby gt500 owner was amazed at how hard the super charger hit when accelerating out of turns at autoX) and is enough fun for me, and more than enough speed to get myself into trouble.

 

Well thanks for the breakdown! I didn't want to talk about suspension mods since I figured I would be flamed!

I was thinking of way/texas speedwerks version of the wilwoods that can fit 16in wheels..I was looking to downgrade specifically for track/summer purposes.

I'll definitely be updating my list accordingly!

 

I have 2003, with (last dyno tune 2 months ago) 255 hp/ 201 tq at wheels, with (approximate dollars here)
RMW head and tune - $2700 plus dyno time
15% pulley $150
cam 400
obx header and install $300
ebay exhaust $300
Alta airbox and filter $150
440 injectors $200

stock clutch - works fine so far (30,000 mi.)

You might also consider checking with Jan at RMW for good tuning advice. He never steers me wrong.

I believe Quaife and Torsen are the same, and Torsen is available for $630. Jan has line on good clutches for substantially under OS Giken prices.

Figure out what your purpose is. It is near impossible to compete straight line with Subies and Evos due to their Turbo and Displacement unless you dump mega bucks into the Mini.

 

Remember, the agressive the porting, the more likely you are to have issues with a head. The other head not mentioned here is Thumper...also well respected. Never used them, but hear some pretty good stuff about his heads and WMW.
Compare them all, do some research, and see what you can do..you might get a bit of a package deal.
It sounds like with all the mods you want, the JCW injectors will be too small( remember the jcw makes about 210 to the crank with 380's, you need more to the crank to get more to thecwheels...no big loss, the 550's are priced similarity to the jcw's).....since you almost certainly will get a tune, just get 550's and install them on tuneday!!
I have used WMW for parts, and RMW for a tune, both good experiences.

 

jan, last time i checked his site, sole clutchmaster. Which i liked a lot until mine broke during the warranty period. A spring in the pressure plate broke, and Clutchmasters refused to warranty the part until we fought them for over a month, and finally they just decided to take the claim to shut us up. Never again... (they said it could have been caused by an aggressive down-shift.. i heel toe everywhere...)
I said the geiken because it has good pedal pressure, phenominal grip, and a solid lightweight flywheel. it is pricey though.
and im not sure how your doing 255whp with no diff.
Last dyno (im not tuned) i put down 170whp, and in first traction control kicks in all the time, and on an autox course with starspecs on when i do an aggressive 1-2 shift coming out of our carousel, ill spin the inside tire if im not careful.

 

Yep your 380cc injectors will be max duty with all those mods, 450-550cc scaled with a tune would take care of that.

 

Wow tons of help! Thanks a lot guys I will definitely contact Jan over at RMW. I was planning on having a friend take my Mini to a shop locally in Phoenix since I will be in Korea for a year. Anyone have any decent experience with a shop in AZ? 2200 for a head and tune isn't too bad, but you guys do have a point with taking the awd's in a straight line..I just ordered a pulley through WMW and am pretty pumped to get this project started. Have to spend my deployment money somewhere right? :D Have any of you guys modified the stock exhaust? Is it 2.25 piping? How does 2.5 work? I am probably going to cut out the resonator tomorrow and do my own version of a one ball and a rear seat delete! Anyone had any luck in changing the stock muffler with an aftermarket universal? I don't suppose there is much choice out there considering it routes through the wheel well..that would be some tiny glass pack etc..

I am becoming obsessed with this thing...its bad when you have dreams about your upcoming mods.

Also are heads a straight swap and can I do this myself to save some installation bucks? I have read that a cam install is no one man job, if this is true please do let me know before I delve into hell.

When you say ebay exhaust do you mean tsudo? or IE?

Thanks everyone for your speedy and knowledgeable replies!

 

Here is link to cam change out instructions. There are variations. I had someone do it for me who used no special tools.

http://www.werkinmini.com/R50-R53%20...stallation.pdf

 

Thanks steves!

I just did my own one ball today. Pretty easy as I am no welder. Got rid of the cheesy baffle that kept vibrating lately and saved me 30lbs. Definitely much throatier. Can't hear it to its full potential since we are under winter storm advisory and its snowing cows and sheep up here.

Thanks again for that link it is very helpful. I am trying to figure out how to do my own RSD tomorrow. Only problem is getting the 4x4 wood back to the auto hobby shop! I bought some black carpet for speaker box installs and am going to glue it to a piece of sanded plywood and bolt some hinges on it to make it easily accessible. I'll post some pics tomorrow after its complete!

Does anyone have the dimensions on hand as I didn't get the chance to measure today. Am I the only one that thinks its crazy to spend upwards of 150 for a piece of abs plastic and some hinges?

As seen here:

http://www.rplastics.com/abssheet.html

don't mean to get off topic..

 

Quick question? Do I need a tune with new cam and no cats? Changing out the cam doesn't look very difficult. I may have spoken too soon! Tax returns come in and heads will be shipped! Either WMW's heads or RMW's...still deciding. I need to find some dyno numbers and figure out what materials were used for both.

Also would polishing the stock TB make a notable difference I realize the stock tube has a velocity stack design that many say is restrictive. Would I need a tune?

 

From what I have been hearing, a bunch depends on the cam...the milder street cams are OK no tune, some more aggressive cams do need it. Since you mentioned you were looking for a decent idle, I bet you are going with a milder cam, and should be fine(a tune will get you more power...).
The "tune", when you do it, will make the cam, header (or de-catted exhaust) work better together.....and by the sound of it ported head in the future...save the tune till everything is on the car...as long as it runs ok, wait...just toss the injectors in just before the tune.
Just remember, with all the stuff you are doing, the car will be running leaner, especially at higher RPM's...so take it easy IMO to prevent damage!!
just one work of warning...if you go the de-catted route, you might want to get a 02 simulator to get rid of the check engine light, or just get a race/hi-flow cat...

 

If I remember right, somebody made a Big-Bore throttle body for the the MINI...it was a stock one that was bored out/polished by an extra couple millimeters....I don't ever recall very many people using them, or claiming great gains...so it is likely OK till you are making lots more HP! IF you have the $$ to spend, it might help, but there are probably other bottle necks around, like the exhaust+headers that could take the $$ more cost effectively by my estimation. When those are upgraded, then it might make sense!!