I have a new-to-me British Racing Green MCS 2005 with 30,000 miles. I live and drive in a hot, humid part of the country.
I've put some "comfort" modifications - light n' sight, euro parcel tray, Whalen shift ****, various mats, clear side marker lights, tinting, light shields, seat pulls, etc.
I've clayed and waxed the car.
After reading lots of posts and Motoring, Getting the Maximum From Your New Mini, the following mods stand out initially:

Cold Air Intake System
Supercharger Pulley & belt
ECM Remap
Cat-Back Exhaust

What order is recommended to do these mods? Must any be done together? Any alternative suggestions?

 

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The most common upgrades, with regards to cost/performance ratio:
1) 15% pulley
2) CAI
3) cat-back
4) remap - though with these mods, a tune isn't necessary

I'm personally in for #'s 1&2 (soon)

 

Thanks Filmy.

 

Welcome to NAM!
Very nice car.

 

Thanks. Would a 19" swaybar also be a recommended addition to the list?

 

That's a really clean looking '05, nice! A 19MM swaybar is a great mod, most who have it would recommend it. I like my Alta bar, everyone seems to like the one they have but Alta is a good bargain. H-sport is very popular as well.

 

Def add the rear swaybar....big bang for the buck!!
Pulley and intake, def....
Exaust is good...but you can try the "one-ball" resionator delete...if you like it great..costs $50....if not, then do the cstback...many folks like the oneball for the $$.
Remap....custom tune with those mods is kinda $$..for the gain...not really needed till a head or cam+ injectors, but does add drivability if done on a dyno by a good tuner...
Waymotorworks has a nice kit...pulley, belt, tenninsionr stop and plugs....also some nice intakes...some loud and racey kinda like the alts, some more subduded...all add about the same hp.
Order does not matter, just make tune/remap last...

 

Congrats on the new MINI. I bought my 06 BGR/B last June. A new clutch derailed my mods temporarily. As far as bang for the buck goes, the smaller pulley and the larger swaybar are strong contenders.

Personally, I am going to do one at a time so I can appreciate the improvement of each instead of doing all at once.

As far as priority, you will see the most dramatic change with the smaller pulley. Period. The CAI and a cat back exhaust upgrade will add a few HP each, 6-8-10 or so. The appeal of the CAI is an accentuated blower sound. The appeal of the cat back or one ball is a deeper, throatier sound. The HP gains will be modest.

The sway bar can be done in your driveway with handtools, jack stands and a jack. A decent bar runs $200 - $250 or so. The CAI is a DIY mod too. The other mods require a higher level of skill and specialized tools.

With that being said, I am torn between the sway bar and the pulley. I know the effect of the pulley will be incredible but having the back end planted will be a huge improvement in overall handling. I think the swaybar is a better first mod.

Congratulations on the new ride and good luck with making a choice!

Motor On!
Chris

 

Eibach also makes some very nice swaybars, contol arms & adjustable camber plates.

 

Very nice-looking car. The H-sport 19mm was my first performance mod - and still would be if I had it to do over again.

 

I would definetly chose the pulley+belt+JCW spark plug as my first choice (I am doing it in about 1 week)
If you are looking for handling the swaybar is a no brainer but i would be careful putting a 19mm if you have never had a swaybar before. H-sport seems to be the most talked about swaybar (i a good way).

As for CAI vs Catback it really depends on the sound you want. Both will probalby give around the same gains

Good luck on your choice

 

I just installed the 15% pulley package from waymotorworks along with the JCW CAI, stock cooper S software, Runs perfect,more sound, more power. I wanted it to look stock so went with the JCW intake but there are cheaper ones out there that do the same thing.

Still wanting exhaust, but I am too cheap.
The rear swaybar is another one of those mods that most all can agree is a good one.

The order doesn't really matter for what you're looking at. How about a package?
http://www.waymotorworks.com/r53-str...e-package.html

Enjoy the journey!

 

The car is really a gem. Thanks DannyHavok, ZippyNH, MiMini, Volgas, Davavd, mgrant & mini44 for all the advice, warnings & product recommendations. I still have some research to do; I don't want to do anything I'll regret later. Or to have to leave my car in pieces in the driveway!

 

really depends on your goals/budget. Look at my sig for my list... As it came I thought the car handled fine (for now) and just needed more pep, so I went straight for the engine.. some people go straight for suspension, etc.

All of this is on here somewhere or another, but since you asked for opinions, here's mine.

CAI -- I went with the Alta V2, although most of them are pretty similar. I liked the Alta because of the box it came with to seperate it from the rest of the engine-bay, plus (in CA) the lid allowed me to pass inspection.

Exhaust -- there is a lot of research on this, but after a lot of reading/dynocharts/etc I went with the one-ball. great decision, in my opinion

Pully -- 15% is popular, but since I don't live at red-line, I went for the 17%. it can be harmful if this is a pure track/autocross toy, but for the daily driver, with occasional run to red-line, I found it was a perfect match.

injectors+tune -- I stepped up to the JCW 380cc injectors, and a custom RMW tune, and it was worth every penny, pre-tune (post upgrades) the car was at 177whp, post-tune 203whp. nough said.

Had I kept the car, coil-overs would have come next... again, this was my choice of engine, then handling.

EDIT: btw, very clean ride man, congrats and enjoy

 

Thanks but 2 querries - what is "red-line" (a racing term?) and what does RMW stand for in tune up lingo?

 

I believe he's talking about the company, RMW, which does tunes on Minis (and others).

"Redline" is the RPM "safe" limit for your engine. You'll see where the red/orange lights are on your tach - that's the redline, where you don't want to take your engine on a daily basis. Older, higher mileage engines especially. Racers commonly go into redline territory for power, but at a cost.

 

As schreiber117 stated before with the combo... go with pulley 15%/17%, larger injectors 450cc/550cc, NKG Iradium spark plugs + tune (RMW or Bytetronik). Add an exhaust if you want for better sound (and some hp more) and a CAI for a better sound of the supercharger.

 

Right on both accounts. I always encourage retuning when you do engine mods, its good for power, longevity and gas mileage

I did colder plugs, again with a tune. A cai may make for good sounds, but you need to change from the stock paper to something better, even just the k&n drop in.

 

Thanks Filmy, Heavy Metal & Schreiber117. Any particular order? Or do it all at once?

 

All at once for a big grin....or over a few months for a longer lasting smile!!
SC mods (pulley, belt, plugs) at one time, cai, and swaybar whenever.. along with the exhaust. .if you ever do a cam, later...injectors/tune last if ever (depending on your goals).
Just get your car running as good as you can before you start modding....

 

I'd say as much as you can at once is best, then tune shortly after. If you are going to do injectors, definitely a tune with it.

GREAT advice. check compression, boost levels etc, ensure a healthy car before you start pushing it.

I'd like to add to my list a simple $50-$100 modification, that can help you monitor the health of your build, a Boost Guage. There is a sticky here about installing it so it looks stock. I did it on my car, helped a LOT.

 

True, I am agree on all you stated.


Sus, as the 1st mod if you plan to go to HP, go the CAI with a better filter. From my own taste, I will choose JCW, Dinan or dave.f (the stock CAI box on the Cooper S with some modifications: K&N filter and a hose connected from behind the CAI box like the JCW) because they look like OEM CAI.

If you go for the pulley (15%/17%), go with street cam, larger injectors (450cc or 550cc), cold spark plugs (like the NGK Iradium), shorter belt, exhaust 2.5" and tune (RMW or Bytetronik) among with the pulley. (just over 200whp with this setup)

Some say you can put a 15% pulley without tune & without change injectors, but I wouldn't recommend it.

The CAI and the exhaust can be done without tune. So, you can do them 1st.

 

Talked with someone today who said that all these mods put more stress on the supercharger which would need changing/rebuilding(?) sooner then later. Any truth to this?

 

There are thousands of pages debating this very topic....
the sc is a wear item....BUT
the weak link is the waterpump pto....most that fail, fail here....not related to the pulley, but rather oil leakage....
some sc have failed with 30,000 miles, no pullies, I know of more than one with near 175,000....
If/when a rebuild is needed, rebuilds are 500-800...plus install....
sure you are pushing compotents on the car harder....but nothing is free...you might shorten the cars life a tad....burn through brakes....cook a clutch...it all depends how you drive it......