"That pulley has a tendency to wear out the water pump. *The water pump gearing works harder with the increased speed. *When the injectors get worn after time, you will also see some map sensor faults (service engine soon). *The injectors are not designed to accommodate the increase in the fuel needed to balance the extra air intake amount."

I have read alot of threads on this website and have not heard of any concerns about this pulley.

Is what the dealer told me true or should I take it with a grain of salt?

 

Grab some salt.

The SA is technically correct a reduction pulley does make the supercharger and water pump turn a little faster.
However, I would say how you drive has much more impact. If you are always in the upper rev range that will cause more pulley revs than quiet driving.
Don't worry about it, there are people on this board who have a lot of miles with a 15% pulley with no problems. (I have 64k with a 15% and no problems yet.)

 

There is some truth in what the dealer said.

A reduction pulley makes the SC spin faster, so yes, it will have a wear and tear on the SC, because its spinning faster, duh.
BUT, The JCW mini coopers have a 11% (or close to that) pulley, therefore you only have a 4% increase from that, which isnt to much.

However, the JCW does have the 380 injectors, so it would accommodate the extra boost the SC is putting out with the reduction. However i do not believe it will shorten the life of the Injectors...

When my dealer salesman told me that my 15% pulley is going to blow up my engine, and i asked him "hmm, what about an 11% pulley? and he said NO, it will still blow the entire engine up in 5,000 miles". Thats when i said, goodbye....

Any modification to your car will have some kind of effect. But a 15% reduction, i say little to none.

 

I called Dinan (the BMW aftermarket parts guys) to see if they could do a pulley install on my MCS today and got a very similar answer.

The guy told me that "putting a pulley on the car is going to break it, that all the cars are computer controlled and without a way to modify the fuel mixture, the car is going to run hot, lean and blow up on me". What I should do is spend $850 on their closeout proprietary package here (including a pulley and belt). When he mentioned the leaning out and pinging I asked about the cold plugs. His response was that the car was computer controlled, so not to do the pulley without remapping the computer.

He also claimed to be a former mini/bmw technician and then said how 'lucky' I was that I called on the phone and he 'saved me' from 'severe engine damage' by putting on the pulley.

Now, how much of this is is malarkey, and how much of this is relatively true?

 

They were trying to sell you... The car will adjust some and a tune will pull a lot more power out, but it isn't necessary.

 

Some interesting stuff said here. Yes it has the possibility to prematurely wear some stuff out, but have you heard of any such things happening? My mechanics car has 175,000 miles on it with 160,000 of those with a 16% AND a 2% crank pulley also has had a M7 Cosworth head on it for 150,000 miles with absolutely no problems, original SC, water pump and alternator still So what you think? Now about Dinan, well.....you do realize they want to make a lot of money right . If you are only going to put on a 15% pulley then the stock injectors would be ok. Now if you plan on other stuff, head, header...ect then you will need some more injector, plus at that point a custom ECU tune is a must

 

Ok so I have another question for you guys. I recently lost compression in one cylinder and had a warped head repaired due to what we think was abuse by the previous owner of my car. Now that has been repaired is it advisable to install the 15% pulley?

 

Dealer and DINAN fail....

 

Have the engine health checked and go from there.

 

do a compression test and see what you find.

 

OMG, I can't believe after all these years and thousands of pullies out there people will still customers this crap.

1st I can tell you for a FACT that on the cars I've had water pump failures more than half of them still had the stock pulley, so they are going to fail with or without a pulley.
2nd fuel injectors keeping up, BS A typical MCS runs about 10:1 a/f ratio. Adding a pulley rarely gets it over 11:1 still super rich and super safe. Also the original JCW kit didn't have injectors, they added that later, but was never required to make the early cars live.

3rd, Dinan tried to sell you their complete package , if all that is true about needing all that extra fuel pump, and regulator why do they use the ECU to lean the entire fuel maps out???? That is a fact I have copies of the Dinan files.

Those are some FACTS, Now just ask how many people have done just a pulley and had these failures. You'll find the numbers on the side of getting a pulley, if it's going to fail it will with or without a pulley.

 

Yeah, I thought it was pretty much crap since they were going to sell me the exact same thing (belt and pulley) with an ecu tune and a throttle body or something...

So many people here and on MA have installed pulleys, but this whole thing got me thinking that I've got 58,000 and probably original equipment everything. Adding a pulley may just push something over the edge and then I'm gonna be looking at a repair bill...otherwise, the dealer/warranty company would have to prove it was my pulley (and not the 58,000 miles of driving beforehand) that broke whatever part fails.

Perhaps I'll take it to mini for a 'courtesy inspection' before doing the pulley install just to be sure the vehicle's systems can handle it.

btw, dinan sucks o.o's

 

My sensors detect a 99% malarkey content.
@60, had the pully since 35K. Have yet to 'blow up my car' in spite of not having a re-tune. Did buy a Dinan intake though.

 

Just do it stop questioning it!

Asking a MINI dealer if its ok to put a pulley on your car is like asking a police officer if its ok to speed.....

Have had my 15% on for 55 000km and many many track days in the summer heat with no problems.

 

I think I'm gonna stop by the newly-relocated Mini of Stevens Creek for my free "courtesy inspection" the service advisor Drew told me about and see what kind of shape my car is in first. If they say everything is good (except for my leaking motor mount) then I'll get the pulley installed. If anything is out of place I can use my extended warranty there or across the street and THEN get the pulley installed.

btw, Drew said no problem with a 15% pulley as long as it's installed correctly...

 

Been running a 17% for a while now without uprated injectors and had a 15% put in a year after I got the car. I do have an MTH tune but to be honest it didn't add a whole lot to the car. You will be fine.

 

It sounds like your around the so cal area... Check out motoring magic, Scott is great and can probably help you out with the install.

 

That is the Best way I've ever seen it put.:thumb sup:

 

The only reason I asked was because I recently had an unexpected issue arise with my car. I was driving back to the office from an appointment when all of a sudden I slipped the car into neutral and my car started misfiring. I pulled over. I had no overheating issues before the problem or during. I had the check engine light on and the DSC light on but according to the manual I could continue driving at reduced speed. I took the back roads home and kept the car at about 30mph. I still and no heat issues but the problem got progressively worse to the point where the car stalled. Luckily the dealership was on my way home so I dropped it off to see what was wrong. They informed me couple of days later that I had a warped head and a malfunctioning throttle assembly. Based on that I asked if after these repairs were made would it be safe to install the pulley. The dealer made no mention of any issues related to the work that is being done to my car but made th comment which I included in my original post.

We were caught a little off guard by this problem since I had the car inspected by the dealer before I bought it a year ago and just recently had both service 1 and 2 performed on my car. I take great pride in maintaining my car and I don't want to throw another $3000 at my car because I decided to put a 15% pulley on it.

Has anyone experienced similar issues with a warped head?

 

Think of your engine as a vacuum and if you have a leak your going to have some issues. Most likely the cause of your misfiring could be linked to a warped head, but there could be other issues as well.

As far as your mini dealer going over your car before you bought it, they usually do a visual inspection. I’m pretty sure they don't do compression checks on the engine. My friend just bought a certified acura and they didn't check the torque converter or the differential... low and behold both parts were toasted.

If it is a warped head, I might consider upgrading to a bored out aftermarket head if you can plunk the money down, since now is the right time. You might also call miniusa and ask them if they will help you foot the bill with a new head, since the dealership went over the car. Usually the dealership will share the cost if you ask or cover the install.

A new head from bmw retails for $1,812. Look into how much an aftermarket head will cost. If you want to do the work yourself or from a non-mini dealer usually they can send in your head and have it refurbished. I think the last time I had that done on my mustang it was around $250. They just machine down the head to where the warping is.

However, I do believe if you get the new factory head they give you a 2 year warranty, but don't quote me on that. Oh, and the JCW head is the same price.

Also, call your insurance agent and see if your comprehensive coverage will cover this. I know my insurance company will cover catastrophic failures.

 

Get a quote for pulley install from BRR Performance in Campbell, CA.

1+ I had 16% & a 2% crank pullies for 115k miles as well with stock injectors as well no probs. Think that sensors and water pump are fail prone to begin with.

Hey Way why would DINAN design the fuel pump, regulator and throttle body? I never really heard of any of these components being a bottle neck or weak spot on the MINI? Or is their any advantage to DINAN's fuel pump, regulator and throttle body? They are the only vendors that offer those components.