Im having trouble getting to the BOV, this pipe which looks like the coolant pipe is in the way of me getting to the 3 allens, especially the top one. Did anyone else here had to remove it?

 

You can pry it one side or another to access that allen screw. (I had to pry it aside on mine)

 

I'm having the same problem on my coupe. How/what did you use to pry that tubing off? Any precautions?

 

I used a large straight blade screwdriver against the aluminum pipe -(pre hose) just to move it to one side not pry it off. It moves pretty easily.

 

Somewhat off topic but that's a lot of oil there...

 

I just wrapped up my install. My biggest gripe is that I removed the coolant line from the top of the reservoir bottle and the coolant line to the turbo. That and not having a hex key fitted to a socket.

Test Drive feedback: awesome! bye bye turbo lag!
Worth the headache I endured.

 

Is everyone having problems with the diaphragm thing ripping up or is this just a random thing...? Im scared guys =[

 

No problems, take your time and be careful to not put to much force on anything. It's a very easy upgrade. Enjoy

 

I'm in the process of doing the install right now actually... The back nut is hard to break.. Any suggestions fellow enthusiasts?

 

Dropped the farthest back hex bolt and my Allen wrench and the cooper won't spit it back out. Any moving parts on the front I should be worried about? About to go to the store in another car to grab a magnet or snake clasp thing. Lol help!

 

Just finished install on bov spring upgrade and hotside boost tube. Should have done one at a time but seems like my low end torque is gone. My car seems sluggish from 0-20 :/ any pointers or thoughts. Going to let car cool down and then go at the BOV spring again.

No CELs or anything just seems a little slow :( I no like guys. Halp.

 

!!!!! God is good! I figured out what I did wrong on my install. Because I was so excited I recovered my lost Allen wrench and lost hex bolt I forgot to plug the bov back in before I put my car back together. Lol noob mistake but still impressed at what the cooper could do with no turbo. Thank you Alta for the parts and helping to better the mini community. The spring was well worth it.

 

Installed last night, took maybe 30 minutes. Did not remove the coolant take or anything else besides the turbo hose (indicated in the instructions).

Only did a short test drive last night and I feel an improvement from 2nd to 3rd and from 3rd to 4th.

Overall an easy upgrade and worth the money.

I'll post more if necessary after a longer drive today.
Thanks!

 

Would be really interested in buying this product BUT......... BUT the deal killer is charging the same price for shipping as the product, thus doubling the cost. Dropping this spring in an envelope with the USPS should be under $5, not $25+. Fail.

 

Unless you're in Canada - shipping from Oxspeed is $5.00

 

I'm in Canada

 

I ordered mine with the Hotside boost tube and shipping for it was free. Also another part worth getting. Or get the stubby antenna and make it worth it. Definitely the spring is a fun upgrade.

 

have had the Alta Stiff Spring on for almost a year now and i'm going to be removing it tonight or tomorrow. it is causing my turbo to spool and discharge when i start the engine in the morning after being off all night. you can hear it spool up and it doesn't discharge until I put it in Reverse and start backing out of my garage...

 

I had that happen when the diaphragm began to/or did fail. All sorts of goofy boost behavior. Make sure you have replacement parts on hand (or buy the Alta Mechanical valve as I did) as you may find a damaged diaphragm or cracked plastic around the diaphragm. I went through all of this several times until I eliminated the factory part completely.

 

so this is more than just the "gasket" issue that i've heard thrown around before? or when they said "gasket" did they really mean to say "diaphragm"? I really don't want to spend $200 on a $25 mistake (putting that darn spring in). i really wish more testing would have gone into the part before releasing. "Hey, buy our upgrade, it's GREAT!" "Wait! No it's not really all that great and can damage your vehicle, buy our other part to fix it!" Who knows how long that "fix" will last. will probably damage the turbo next and then you're stuck buying the Alta Turbo also...

 

There's nothing wrong with the spring. Alta's spring eliminates other problems and increases the life of the stock part. It does not resolve the inherently weak factory valve's diaphragm. Because they fail, especially under higher boost, VW/Porche/Audi use a different style valve in the same housing. I ran that VAG part and it will never blow, however it allows quite a bit of bleed-by boost and creates other driveability problems on MINIs.

By the expensive 100% fix from Alta or use the inexpensive $25 improvement. After you've purchased as many factory parts as I did, the Alta expensive part was really the inexpensive fix.

 

so by "increasing the life of the stock part" you mean "speeding up the break down?" if the stock diaphragm does not hold up well against high/constant pressure...and the stiff spring is supposed to make the turbo spool at lower rpms, thus increasing the amount of time you are boosting...that means there is a problem. it should be sold as the entire diaphragm with stiff spring or not at all

 

Nope, I mean exactly what I said. I chewed up diaphragms weekly with the factory spring. I got 6-8 weeks with the Alta Spring. I've got years on the Mechanical part.

And I don't know where you heard that the spring makes the turbo spool. That is untrue. This is controlled by the ECU. The spring just holds the valve firmly closed until the ecu sends the open command, and then closes the valve more rapidly and firmly when the the ECU sends the closed command.

The diaphragm is connected to an electronic solenoid that opens and closes the valve when the ECU sends the signals.

Lastly: you seem to be blaming others for this problem. Alta did not create this problem but offered an improvement over the stock part that has a design flaw. Alta followed this by a replacement for the stock part that eliminated the flaw. If you can't afford mods or don't understand their operation/impact/effect I suggest that you don't play in the game as you will always be disillusioned.

Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?

 

And, My MINI dynos (with 91 Octane) at 232 HP and 244 lb. ft. It generates 20.5 psi of boost routinely. I know which valves survive and which don't under high boost conditions.

 

Were you paid for those responses? I'm sorry, but before I had the spring I never "chewed up" any diaphragms, which was right around a year. So...

Also, the Alta website says:

"So Simple, Yet So Effective

The ALTA BOV Spring Upgrade for your stock Blow Off Valve is a very effective way to make your Turbocharged MINI hold more boost between shifts. This reduces turbo lag and boosts performance. The stiffer spring still allows for normal functioning of the BOV, but keeps more pressure in the boost tubes to prevent any lapse in power."

The underlined part I'm pretty sure is part of what I said in a nutshell, but I'm not going to sit here and argue about it so don't expect a response if you reply. I'm explaining an issue and you're taking it pretty seriously...so see ya...