If your valve needs replacing, and you plan to buy a new one, and also want that spacer, I would. I mean, it's not a HARD job like I said, but I don't like doing the same labor twice.

 

Yea I just got the wmw dv in the mail goijg to order the spacer
Thanks

 

awesome. good to hear. definitely post up when you've installed them and report on the results! If your stock valve's diaphragm was starting to tear, you will notice a sharper, better blow off and possible feel that resulting in more power and a better overall feel as the stock valve, when it tears, will leak boost pressure.

 

So just to clarify, if I have a bone stock MCS and I want to hear the air sound while simultaneously not redirecting hot air into the intake, I can add this one adapter to the valve and it will not give a CEL?

 

Sigh...

 

Rather than being a condescending **** like this guy .... The short answer is yes. If that is your goal, that part is the cheapest/easiest way to achieve it.

Funny people post "Sigh" about the guy asking about blow off noise and not recirculating hot air, but when someone asks about a fuel wasting "pop and burble" tuned into the ECU, everyone get's a hard on for it...

 

Thank you for your response Injected, I was hoping someone would be able to answer my question. I just always have liked the sound of the air being vented so I was curious. Maybe that is how the guy above you got to 2,217 posts? Anyways, it is great to know that there are people here to offer assistance and the MINI community may still be friendly.

 

Trust me, this is one of the nicest, sugar coated, family friendly car forum's I've been on lol. Try one of the ricer boy Honda forums or VW forums, you get some fresh ones! People around here seem pretty friendly and if they're the car nut DIY type like myself, they usually have some answers. The rest just tell you to drop it off at the dealer:P

 

Yeah, a lot of good info here, especially back in older threads. This forum gets lots of traffic despite how small the community is and folks are happy to share experiences.

Like any forum, though, folks like to express their opinions on everything! Btw, I ordered my spacer from WMW this morning (along with a NM torque arm insert, scoop heat shield, and a new filter for my JCW airbox)!

 

So is there any advantage to having the adapter installed? Are there any negative effects or is the stock setup better?

 

There are no negative side effects as the recirculated air is not metered and adjusted for as in some other cars (MR2 turbo's for example).

As for benefits, it's mostly aesthetic. If you like a loud blow off noise, it does the trick. That recirculated air also is hot. As you might know by the "cold air intake" craze, colder air is denser, therefore you get more power, the colder the air. So, in theory, this is better for your engine's power and efficiency by keeping hot air from being shot back into your intake. Will you feel or see a difference? Probably not, but to me every little bit can't hurt.

 

FYI - You'll get plenty of BOOSH with a stock valve and an *open* filter design.

 

Yea if you want to hear the "blow-off sound" an open intake will do the trick. The stock diverter valve is actually pretty loud when you have an open intake. I had an NM intake and people on the side of the road could hear it when I upshifted at speed.

The problem with using an adaptor like the forge adapter is that it vents to atmosphere, which can cause CELs to pop up on these motors as you'll see if you read old threads. Going with an open intake is a safer way to get the sound if that's what you want.

 

^ This 100X, it is very much metered air.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...58&hg=11&fg=50

See part 2/3.

 

Absolutely. Rather than an adapter that has never given me a CEL since install almost a year ago, that keeps hot air from being pushed back into the intake, you should buy an over priced intake that takes away some of the low end grunt these motors have and has an open filter sucking hot air from the engine bay rather than the perfectly performing stock enclosed box with cold air tube........

 

parts 2 and 3 are the valve and it's o-ring. That diagram shows nothing proving it's metered air.

The maf measures the incoming air to adjust fuel etc(among other sensors and such) to run the engine properly.

The diverter valve does NOT recirculate the air back into the airbox pre-MAF.

The engine does not run any different depending on where that air goes. Might the computer see that air coming back in? Sure, but it's never changed the way my car ran or given me a CEL. Not once.

Point being, I think you might be over thinking the whole "Oh no, overly computer controlled engine not seeing air it used to see, no good" thing. That air does not change the way the engine runs.

 

Warning: siding with both arguments in this post!

Im not sure yet whether it sees it or not. We shall see when my adapter arrives. The MINI does use a variety of sensors to determine fuel requirements though and the MAF is only one of those. What we are doing is altering the flow that one sensor sees. How does this affect the rest? And how does the DME handle it?

Other items that cause similar changes (altering air/fuel by introducing unmetered air/fuel or altering the output of metering devices):

Unichip
JB+
Methanol
Nitrous Oxide
Ethanol

 

I DO know that with my talon, it was most definitely metered and the car ran like crap if you vented to the atmosphere. You would run rich, belch smoke, shoot flames, and get cels. Lots o fun! That was with a vortex metering device. When I swapped to a hotwire maf (gm - from a ws6 trans am and very similar to what the MINI uses), I vented to the atmosphere no problem. That was a totally different ecu though.

 

Right. It's a completely different type of system, A much simpler one at that. The old MR2 turbo's were the same. Vent to atmosphere and they ran like total dog crap. The N14 does not. Like I said, my Forge adapter has been on for almost a year now with no side effects. It runs good, feels to have the same power, same gas mileage, no check engine light, and it's a cheap way to get a noise you might want, while in my opinion also doing a tiny bit of good by not recirculating hot air on the cold side of the system.

 

I've read the CEL appearance depends on what software the car is running. With some stock maps no problems are seen (like you've experienced), while with others a CEL does pop up and the car goes into limp mode until it's turned off and on again.

If nine5raptor doesn't get any CELs down the road, great! It's something to keep in mind though.

As for the intake, I agree running an open intake is not best for power/torque. I sold my NM intake and run the stock intake due to the torque loss I experienced. In terms of sound, the open intakes are useful for that purpose alone.

 

I had the ddmworks ris but went to the jcw cone filter box instead. My kids asked me why the car doesn't sneeze anymore. They get a good laugh from the sound! It puts a smile on my face as well. So, soon as the packages get here, my adapter and stiffy spring go in.

 

Its clearly metered air, its air that was "counted" by the MAF as it entered the turbo. If its air that came into the engine AT ALL after the air intake its metered air.

It dumps boost pressure as the "throttle" closes back into the pre-charge area of the turbo (not before the air filter).

That air was "paid for" already by the fueling system. Tossing it out to the curb will throw off fuel trims.

car - HEY I SEE AIR, BETTER ADD SOME FUEL!

BOV - HEY! EFF THAT AIR I WANT BOOSH!

BOOOOSSSSHHHH

car - Um, we have too much fuel... what happened to that air? Better pull some fuel back..

(cycle repeats until fuel trim pops code and car starts to lean itself out..).

Yes, the adapter may be "small" leak... but I prefer the method that Way uses.. rather than blowing everything away.

 

I just bought a forge system from a gentleman in the NAM classified adds. It dumps to the atmosphere, but also replaces the stock diverter valve. He has been running it for a year and a half with no CELs.

http://www.forgemotorsport.com/conte...product=FM207V

 

I have the adapter, NO CEL. Here's my logic.

EVEN if the air IS metered, it gets shot from the turbo compressor into the air intake (tube between turbo and air box) THROUGH the turbo.

... now... that air, where does it go? Back through the intake and OUT to atmosphere... it's just MUFFLED. It's definitely not HELD in the air box. I don't know, but I assume the car MUST start over the air metering process as soon as the recirc valve opens because it's just NOT going to be the same once the intake stops allowing the boosted air in. Just my logic.

bottom line, no CEL. And injected doesn't just spout his opinion. He explains it and the points I've talked to him about are all solid.

 

Ok ok ok ok. I get your concept danjreed. But it doesn't apply.

Cars that run off a strictly MAF system require all air passed through the MAF to be accounted for with fuel. That is the case with older WRX's, MR2's and the like. The N14 has a MAP sensor that accounts for manifold PRESSURE and air TEMP, so things are adjusted from there and the atmospheric blow off does not hurt performance or cause a hiccup when you let off the gas pedal.

Bottom line, it shouldn't throw a CEL(as mine has never done), performance is not adversely affected, and everyone is happy.