I bough a R53 roughly a year ago. Since then I upgraded to a Madness CAI with cowl mod. I ordered a 15% Alta pulley and was going to get the dealer to install it along with cooler plugs.

When I asked the dealer to install it they said they didn't want to do the install with the stock exhaust.

This is my first post but I've been lurking the forums since I got my car. It seems there are lots of examples of R53s with 15% pulley and no other modifications done or just CAI. I've heard that the car would benefit from cooler spark plugs but I was under the impression that was all the modifications that would be needed to make it a safe install.

I'm not sure if the dealer is just trying to pressure me in to getting a JCW exhaust from them or if there is a legitimate concern that it could cause damage to the car.

Any advise on the situation would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

NO

 

Also look for a independant shop not a dealer to install it, save you a boatload of cash.

 

You don't need exhaust system but it wouldn't do any harm.

 

Perfect!

That's exactly what I wanted to hear.

Going to get it installed next week.

I might go with an aftermarket exhaust at a later time but for now it's just not in my budget.

Thanks for the advise.

 

You really dont need anything but the pulley for it to be "safe" plenty of people run it with a stock belt and stock plugs. personally, i did colder plugs and a shorter belt along with it. Definitley shop around for a quote, i got quotes ranging from 500 to 150 dollars, but i ended up just installing it myself. BTW- you'll love the pulley

 

One Ball!

 

The dealer's job is to upsale the **** outta you. That's what he is doing. Plus they are probably double to triple the cost on installation compared to a tuner shop. You are being completely ripped off if you do it.

 

This is funny. Do they actually believe the BS they are telling customers?

Exhaust will help make power, but not required. Make sure you do put the correct shorter belt on.

 

Use NAPA belt #060539 with your 15% pulley.

 

I have the pulley, belt and tensioner stop.

I am getting NGK Iridium BKR7EIX plugs which I think are best suited plugs.

I've been recommended a reputable local shop so I'm hoping to have this all done by this time next week.

I was considering going one ball given my lack of budget but I think I'll hold out and get a new exhaust later on. My biggest concerns with exhausts are power and the sound. I'd like to attend a meet so that I can hear what the different exhaust options sound like in real life because I find it's hard to make a sound decision based on videos.

 

That is the way to go pulley, belt and plugs no exhaust is needed. And yes find an independent BMW/MINI shop, dealer will rip you off with exorbitant labor rates.

 

The stock R53 exhaust is an unnecessarily complex contraption. A new cat-back is expensive for the HP gain, which will be approximately 5-6HP. However, you will lose about 25 lbs in the process and gain a very nice sound that is the envy of any rice burner.

 

Actually I believe the belt you want is the Napa belt 26-060535 for the 15% pulley, that's what Way ships. The goal is to look at the tensioner, there is a metal strip that sticks out the top of it with a hole in it, you want as much of the hole showing as possible.

 

My dealer made it easy for me to decide - said they wouldn't do it as it was not an approved modification nor would they change the auto trans fluid since it's supposed to be "lifetime."

I had my pulley and CAI installed by Dan at Grassroots and it was, of course, a great job (and reasonably priced).

 

Personally, i'll never do anything through the dealer. I called them about turning off the daytime running lights, and after speaking to 20 different people, and being put on hold for about 30 minutes overall, i was quoted $513.00 to turn them off! as far as the pulley goes, i just did it myself, wasn't that bad to do, though it did take 4.5 hours and a whole lot of cursing.

 

do it yourself!!! if you have a service jack and a good set of sockets and open ended wrenches, then go to town.
you'll need a pulley puller and some sort of belt tensioner tool (crowbar method [pita but it works] or buy one), as well as a large torque wrench and a small torque wrench (one in ft lbs and one in inch lbs)
but you'll save yourself a bunch of cash and have a great sense of accomplishment when you do it.
I know its a little daunting, but its not a complex job.
Just go into it with a go get em attitude and follow the instructions.

 

^ x2. seriously its not that bad. I started it at midnight when i did it, and was finished at 4:30 am. just make sure you get a good pulley puller

 

I've thought about doing it myself but I was being impatient, wanting to have it done for a road trip in early March.

I have a place inside to work on my car right now and I don't want to do the install outside in the winter. I installed my CAI in the underground parking of my work but that didn't require jacking the car up or anything like that.

A lot of people in my area speak very highly of our local dealer but the last time I was there I paid through the nose for getting my brakes done. I do take some responsibility for that though because I didn't ask for a quote ahead of time but when the bill came to nearly a grand I was pretty surprised. What frustrated me more than that were two things.

The first was an offhand comment that the guy who was taking my payment said, "At least you're rich." This was said after I already told the guy that I only work part time because I'm a full time student.

The second thing was that I had custom painted license plates on my car which were replaced with the dealerships license plate holders while they were working on my car. I didn't notice that until I got home. Thankfully they tossed my plate holders in the trunk so I still had them but that was pretty much the last straw.

I should probably write them an angry letter.

 

That alone would have pissed me off enough to call up there and speak to the manager and tell them to eff off. Or I would have driven my happy *** back up there and tossed their plate holders in the trash cans in front of them and let them know my true feelings.