I finally went ahead and bought much of the stuff that has been on my Mini wishlist and am in the process of slowly installing everything with a friend at his place. (This is on a 2002 r53.)

My motor-related stuff includes:
ALTA intake
RMW header w/hi-flow cat from Detroit Tuned
ALTA cat-back exhaust
MSD Ignition upgrade w/plugs and wires
Detroit Tuned bypass valve
Craven 17% reduction S/C pulley w/Alta tensioner
ALTA 2% larger crank pulley (not yet installed)
Madness motorworks 380cc injectors (not yet installed)

I'm planning on doing the last two items during the first week of September and then would like to immediately get the car tuned.

Couple questions:
1) Should I hold off and buy a cam for it before doing these last two items? Any experience with those?
2) Do I need to purchase a "remote tune" before I can have this dyno tuned?
3) If I have the injectors installed by a tuning shop that will immediately do a dyno tune, would that make the remote tune irrelevant?
4) Anyone know of any good Mini/BMW tuners in the Baltimore/DC area I could take it to?
5) What is a good price for a tune on these cars?
6) How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Thanks in advance!

 

1. If you're going to tune the car and want to add a cam to the mix, just do it all at once so you're only spending your money on dyno time once.

2. Yes, I highly recommend Mynes ByteTroniks or RMW and a wideband O2.

3. You can run the car with 380s installed and not have any issues, but to take advantage of them and make maximum power you need to tune the car.

4. If you get RMW or ByteTroniks software and pay for the remote access and tuning you'll only need to find a dyno that will work for your application. Or you can street tune and save yourself the money of dyno time. (it's harder to street tune a car, based on traffic and local regulations)

5. RMW

 

Moving you to the Mod Section.

I put in a more modified cam and like the results. Not that difficult and ModMini has a good video on a head replacement that details everything to do with the cam. Some may say I am crazy but with the cam I have a deeper exhaust note.

 

Thanks for the info and recommendations.

As is usually the case with this stuff, there's always more to spend money on. Sounds like I will really want to spend the extra cash for the cam. Oh well. A happy addiction we all have.

I found a local shop in the Baltimore/DC area called Induktion that specializes in euro cars. Going to reach out to them and ask a few questions to see what they say. If I get good vibes from them I may have them do the last of the engine work and then tune it. Otherwise it sounds like RMW will be the way to go.

 

The FA53 Self-Tuning kit is always an option and you can tune it yourself or have your local tuner tune it for you...

 

I definitely don't think I have the skills necessary to self-tune. I wouldn't even know where to begin! Much rather leave that to the professionals.

 

Just giving an old thread of mine a bump to provide some info, in case anyone else is searching for similar info:

I ended up not really liking Induktion. They did good work but overcharged. Their labor rate was low but they took too long to do the job. 5/10

So I ended up doing the rest of my work recently with PURE Automotive in Crofton, MD. They are really knowledgeable, friendly, and provide good service at a decent price. Highly recommended if you don't want to (or don't have time to) turn wrenches yourself. 10/10

Also, I found a tuner in Crofton, MD called Tuning Tech Frank Smith that did a great job on a custom tune for my Mini. After my parts install, he got me to 200 whp and recommended I come back to get things amped up just a bit after I install a larger intercooler (I have the Airtec unit waiting to go in right now). I also recommend his work if you're in the area, although his operation is small so make sure you have an appointment and that you can afford to be a little patient. Price was pretty good for a custom dyno tune: $675.

Just info for anyone looking.

 

 

Sorry to hijack this thread, so if you want me to make my own thread, i can, but my question is in regards to the injector size. I have the 380 JCW injectors currently on my setup. If I were to add a cam and want to get the car tuned, would i need larger injectors than what i currently have? At what point does the 380cc injectors become inadequate?

 

You are going to get differing opinions based on who you ask. I was told conflicting things from two places. One (Madness Motorworks) said the 380s would be fine and 550s would be overkill. Chad from Detroit Tuned (who I now trust much more than anyone else when it comes to Minis) told me I would need 550s.

You can see in my signature the setup I'm running. I had put in 380s and the tuners couldn't finish the tune with them. Had to upgrade to 550s midway through. So that was an expensive mistake.

 

I had mine tuned twice. Once with 550's and once with 380's. In my case the 380's worked out better. I have several mods but the 380's work just fine. By the way RMW tuned it at his shop.

 

it will depend on the injector duty cycle, with a cam my injectors were at 86% when only at 5.5k, I was led to believe that the maximum duty cycle isn't 100, it's closer to 92 when the injectors begin to lose efficiency. So, at 5.5k I wasn't going to waste money on the rollers chasing power into waning injector performance so I fitted Ford Motorsport 550's and then the map was continued. Fwiw, they're approaching 80% now, so I would say depending on the type of cam perhaps, 550's are likely required.