Alright, I tried to research this and came up with nothing (not a surprise once you hear the question, since it's modifying the power numbers the wrong way). We want to have the robustness of the R53 drivetrain and eventually the power, but need to start out with a Naturally Aspirated setup. Is it possible to either run without the supercharger (not likely I suspect) or would it be easier to just get a R53 MCS (with a blown engine even), swap in the R50 engine + ECU, and swap back the newly rebuilt and tuned R53 and ECU when we want to go back to the Supercharged setup?

Thanks for your help!

Nick

 

Why not bypass the SC with a different belt? Did it to a 97 Pontiac Grand Prix and it was a dog. It will give you less power, but it will be easier than removing engines.

 

The ECU wont let you do it. If it detects you don't have any boost it will put in limp home mode and won't let you go above 3K RMP.

 

Could I reprogram or swap the ECU and bypass the SC or would the engine swap be easier you think?

 

Bigger pulley maybe?

 

Also the water pump runs off the sc....so no sc, no water pump...the biggest issue..

One thing to note..
1)you would need to install a waterpump ....doable...$200 or do...
2)you would need to run a custom tune..doable.. About 350-550$
3) you will have WORSE performance than a base cooper (due to the lower compression pistons on the non-s and heavier internal parts....
4) if you care...a big hit in resale...
5) your gearing will be way off due to lack of power....a few r50 folks do run r53 trannys.... (After a swap for a failed CVT....but gearing is only OK...with even less power...justv pain bad i bet.

Now...for about $500 you can find a usable supercharger....or get a cheap rebuild on your unit for $600 on eBay....
So why bother??

 

Alright, so to do this I'd need a Water Pump:
Advance Auto for 2002 Mini Cooper S has 2 for $110 and one for $140:
http://bit.ly/1i8Yult

And would you be able to do the tune yourself by perhaps comparing the R50 setup and the R53 setup using Progman V32?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-USB-OBD-...-/271182362979

I wonder how much worse performance would it actually be... The reason for the question as a whole is my wife wants to know if its feasible to turn a Mini Cooper into a stage rally car (this line of questioning is completely unrelated to their current stupid-butt Rally-Tober campaign, fwiw), and you have to start out in a N/A setup for the first year or better depending how many events you run. I'm aware the engine could be considered the least of our worries based on ride height, suspension, et al but the engine thing seemed like a big hurdle. So based on this requirement by the way I had to chuckle when I read item 4 on resale value. Thanks for your help!

 

Not sure the cooper water pump would fit...
If I recall, different knockouts are knocked out of the block...there are some machining differences...
But you could go to an electric water pump... Maybe fabricate a dummy pulley...
For tuning...mini's system in encrypted... Can be up/downloaded from the odb2 port with the right tool....BUT it get $$$ as all the kits are commercial...lots of research was done to crack to codes, and make sure you can modify them, then reupload them and match the checksum...So the ecu will accept it as not in error....
Bytronic has one....

I'm guessing it might make more $$ to yank the motor/tranny from your s, drop in a r50 with its ecu , run it...then drop a s unit/tranny/axels back in...
To really do what you want, IMO you would want to get a $$$ standalone ecu...simpler to tune...
Funny...the one plus I see if you do get it running no sc is that with the very low compression portions on the s, you can run 87 octane...maybe lower...lol...
Interesting project....
But my gut says it might take you 2-3 seasons to get it running good enough to work...then have to go back to the sc setup...
Like I mentioned before...
A stock cooper with the 6 speed tranny is not very sporty...good commuter...but you are going to be a step below...
Either way, good luck....till it is done the first time we can only guess the issues based upon knowing the cars!!

 

The e-bay link to the program provided is (to what I understand) more about the bcm control than ecu....useful, but for things like drl's, and other dealer programmed options.

 

ZippyNH is correct Progman is for options not reprogramming the ECU for something like this. You MIGHT be able to get away with an ECU out of an R50.....

 

At this point I'm planning to purchase an R53 and swap in the engine+ecu from the R50, maintaining the trans+axles from the R53. (But I'm far enough away from the project that I haven't worked out every exact detail yet and won't until I get closer) It'll be interesting to see how much the gear ratio of the R53 Getrag will matter, looking at it first could be a dog but 2nd and 3rd are pretty close. Thanks to everybody for their help, it's been really fun learning about your Minis the past few days and I'm sure you'll see me again if we move forward.

Thanks!

Nick

 

Any update on this Nick?

 

The update is that I decided not to pursue the N/A R53 because I started to think it wouldn't be worth it. Once we finally got into the class where we could run it with the S it'd probably be woefully outmatched since it'd be going up against M3s and Mustangs. Also buying an R50 gives more buying choices within our budget. We've put a deposit down on a2005 R50 that we'll be picking up on the 18th. Then we'll use it this year for Autocross/Rallycross/Track Days then hopefully next winter gut it and get it caged and ready to go for mid-late 2015 rally. Thanks for everybody's help, expect more questions once we get it and I start poking around in it.

Thanks!

Nick

 

Stock compression ratio for the R53 is 8.3:1, whereas the R50 is 10.0:1. I have to assume that mix-matching ECU's would be quite problematic based on this alone. Not to mention, a naturally aspirated motor with 8.3:1 compression ratio would be a complete dog.

 

But it would work great with a big NOS setup on it

 

It won't start with the wrong ECU unless you fixed all the EWS issues.