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I think R53 fuel lines are ethanol compatible. I've been driving mine on E85 for over six years and 120.000km so they probably would have failed already if they weren't.
By "compatible" I mean large enough to provide the fuel delivery needs for this kits purpose.
Also there has been mixed reports out there about degradation of fuel system components after switching to E85 for long periods of time. Keep an eye on the braided fuel line that goes to the fuel rail.
Maybe I'm missing something but even using a mix of 85 Octane gas and 110 Octane Ethanol an E51 Mix would have an octane mix of 97.5 to 98. At least according to the E calculators.
I've talked to several tuners and shops about E85 and they all basically say the same thing about ethenol content below 65%. The octane rating over here just isn't where it needs to be to run a full dedicated E85 tune on it. Best to have a safeguard in place then to take chances on what it's supposed to be.
By "compatible" I mean large enough to provide the fuel delivery needs for this kits purpose.
Also there has been mixed reports out there about degradation of fuel system components after switching to E85 for long periods of time. Keep an eye on the braided fuel line that goes to the fuel rail.
So you're saying 6 years isn't long enough period to see issues? :D
And what kind of fuel delivery needs are you talking about? Over 300bhp I suppose..?
I believe Co0p3r has some pics of the inside of his first Link that he could post. It will show the spot where the expansion harness should be plugged in. The software itself is very intuitive. If you're not sure of what something is, right click on it and click "what's this". It will open the help file with a detailed explanation.
What output wire from AEM goes to what wire on XS expansion loom?
So you're saying 6 years isn't long enough period to see issues? :D
And what kind of fuel delivery needs are you talking about? Over 300bhp I suppose..?
Yes, target power is around 280WHP or about 315BHP
As far as the fuel lines, this is the area that I was saying to keep a close eye on.
The majority of the fuel system is steel tubing except the short portion that's connected to the filter housing which is plastic. And the rubber section that goes to the fuel rail itself.
Chemistry teaches us that alcohol degrades and dries out rubber over time. How long that takes depends on usage. I don't know if you use E85 exclusively or not in your 6 years and 120k, but I would suggest keeping an eye on that area.
The first one here is to show you the locations of the 'expansion' connectors on the inside of the LinkECU, Blue Arrow is the CanBus Expansion Connector, Red Arrow is the Aux Expansion port, (this is the one that you can buy a harness for, I did not, I bought just the connector to make my own harness), I did this for a couple reasons first it WAYYYyyyyyy cheaper, second you have to drill a hole in the case, LinkECU suggest 1/4" I was never comfortable with that and by building my own harness I can just add the wires I will need/use and drill a much smaller hole. Yes I could just buy the pre-built cable but then you cut 75% of it off (see reason one)
In this shot you can see the 'dimple' that is provided for you to drill the hole for the expansion port / wiring
I have recently bought an r53 as a project. I believe the DME is no good. I have heard of some people reprogramming a used DME to the car, but I cannot communicate with mine at all. I was considering doing a stand alone ECU as opposed to a new one from BMW as I may want to tune the car later down the road. Will the link g4 work to run a car with a 15% pulley just out of the box on its base map tune?
Is this really a cost effective alternative to new from BMW?
The ECU from Link will run it with no problem, but what you really need to make sure is not bad is the 'body computer' because if that is damaged then all the other function like power windows and locks are not going to work correctly.
The base tune provided for the Link ECU will work, but you should really have it looked at once the car it running before running it regularly or hard.
The ECU from Link will run it with no problem, but what you really need to make sure is not bad is the 'body computer' because if that is damaged then all the other function like power windows and locks are not going to work correctly.
The base tune provided for the Link ECU will work, but you should really have it looked at once the car it running before running it regularly or hard.
The MINI base tune that came with the MINILink I got for my R53 had aggressive timing (about 6 degrees too much timing for my motor configuration), and Knock Mode set to OFF. That's a dangerous combination. Install the MINILink ECU, make sure it starts the car and there are no errors indicated, then drive it gingerly to a competent tuner that also knows how to correctly configure Knock Control.
So for those who think an ethenol content sensor is not needed and the companies are just trying to sell a $450 gauge, this came out of the E85 pump by my house today. This is basically regular unleaded at only 15% ethenol. LOL
The ethenol content is way less than what's labeled on the pump. I have a friend who is running E85 in his Toyota 86 without a content sensor. He switches back and forth between tunes depending on what he puts in the tank. I had to call him to tell him not to fill up at this station on his way home from work. If he had filled up with this thinking it was actually E85, he could have done some serious damage.
I hope others that may have the ECU or planning on getting one will post here also so that people can learn about the installation and advantages of a standalone ECU.
I had one of these before in a 2005 MINI Cooper S it was a lot of fun, I had the Launch Control feature turned on but had not got to the No Lift Shift function. That car ended up in a big debacle and I moved on from it.
An opportunity came for this nicely equipped 2006 MINI Cooper S, it had been setup with some track parts installed. I don’t really care about the track parts and I am in the process of removing most of them and taking the car back to a pretty much stock configuration.
The performance upgrades I will do:
OEM JCW 380cc Injectors
GTT Stealth Airbox
OEM JCW Exhaust
Boost Gauge
15% Pulley (already installed on the car)
So my goals for the car:
Install the Link ECU
Install Link G4+ CAN – Lambda Wideband O2 sensor
Have it tuned & Launch Control & No Lift Shift Setup
Install an OBDII connector on the LINK ECU so that my Garmin Camera will interface with it (using Bluetooth)
Drive the car, makes lots of loud obnoxious noise!
Physical installation of the ECU is pretty ease and straight forward, turn the car off and let the ECU go to sleep. Remove the factory ECU and plug in the new Link ECU. Connect a Laptop to the Link ECU via the provided USB interface, unlock the ECU, install the newest version of firmware and a base tune and start the car. It really is that ease, for that part.
To actually tune the car you need knowledge of what you are looking at when using the provided LinkG4+ software (I don’t have this knowledge). You will also need a Wideband O2 Sensor installed. On my previous 2005 I have a standard 0-5v+DC wideband. Link did not have the CAN-Lambda version at the time. So this time I will be installing the LINK wideband. This is slightly more involved you need, the LINK wiring harness, a relay, and an OBDII connector (if you want the OBDII functionality).
This setup is not a cheap option so I do not see most people going in for it. The ECU is 1200$, the CAN-Lambda is another 300$ and you will need another ~30$ for the connector cable. Then you still need to install it and program it/tune it.
I will post more here as I go along with the installation, setup and configuration. I would like to encourage anyone that has one already or is interested in the ECU to post in this thread also, I really do want to share the knowledge.
any update on the progress I'm curious how it worked out and wanna see what u did with that Garmin camera
Put this in another thread, thought it should be added here as well....
There is now Chrono-Pack compatibility.
From an e-mail response Link sent me.
"In the latest firmware there has been an addition of Oil Temperature and Oil Pressure values to R53 Mini CAN stream. I believe there are the 2 parameters in the chrono pack. This addition will not affect any of your other readouts."
06-13-2019, 05:54 AM
