Just bought the boost guage set Link for my MCS from R-Speed in Atlanta. Great set of people over there. I would reccomend them to anyone looking for mods for their car.

Anyone installed one as yet ? Difficult ? Any tips or tricks that you can share ?
How hard is it to route the boost vacuum hose ?

I did buy the pre-tapped oil filter cover so that I don't have to drill & tap the existing oil filter housing for the oil pressure guage.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Kesh

Can someone explain to me what you would do with the boost gage information? Isn't the boost just directly related to the engine speed because of the supercharger?

Apparently it's related to throttle position and engine speed. Still dont know what you'd do with the boost info though.

>>Can someone explain to me what you would do with the boost gage information? Isn't the boost just directly related to the engine speed because of the supercharger?

Looks Cool... Does that count ?

>>Can someone explain to me what you would do with the boost gage information? Isn't the boost just directly related to the engine speed because of the supercharger?

Almost, but not exactly. The amount of boost you get can change depending on the type of intake you have on the car, as well as current air temperature/humidity. The amount of boost is not only connected to the RPMs of the engine, but also to the speed of the vehicle... the faster you go the more wind you will get forced into the cute little scoop....... but, with all that said.... the gauge is mearly nothing more than something cool to look at..... it is not like you are ever gonna get too much boost, or you need to monitor it constantly for adjustments.... there is really nothing to adjust.

I would say anyone serious into modding the car might want the boost gauge to see if the changes made a difference (new intake, smaller pulley on the supercharger, etc.).

Anyway, it never hurts to 'look' cool. :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

kesh420: yeah, it does look nice. I like the way BMP put that assembly together. :smile:

>>>>Can someone explain to me what you would do with the boost gage information? Isn't the boost just directly related to the engine speed because of the supercharger?
>>
>>Almost, but not exactly. The amount of boost you get can change depending on the type of intake you have on the car, as well as current air temperature/humidity. The amount of boost is not only connected to the RPMs of the engine, but also to the speed of the vehicle... the faster you go the more wind you will get forced into the cute little scoop....... but, with all that said.... the gauge is mearly nothing more than something cool to look at..... it is not like you are ever gonna get too much boost, or you need to monitor it constantly for adjustments.... there is really nothing to adjust.
>>
>>I would say anyone serious into modding the car might want the boost gauge to see if the changes made a difference (new intake, smaller pulley on the supercharger, etc.).
>>
>>Anyway, it never hurts to 'look' cool. :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

Please spank me if I am wrong, but I am attempting to gather some insight into the Mini's computer operation. I'd love some feedback from someone who has some experience with the Seimens ECU. As far as the statement above, this is how I see it; The amount of 'wind" forced into the cute little scoop will have little to do with boost levels, directly. That cute little scoop is not an air intake that leads into the motor, but a cold/fresh air supply for the intercooler. The more air that goes over the intercooler makes it a bit more efficiant but will not neccessarily affect peak boost levels, unless we are going to explore operating extremes. The intercooler allows a cooler/denser charge to enter the combustion chamber, which allows the Computer to apply more aggresssive timing and fueling parameters. It does this by taking the output of the superchager and passing it thru a "radiator for air" to exchange the heat from the compressed air to the intercooler fins, which transfer that heat to the air that flows over the outside of the intercooler. If the MAT sensor registers elevated temps, and the knock sensor picks up knock, the computer will retard timing to get rid of the knock. I am not aware if the Mini ECU will relieve boost pressure as a knock reduction strategy.
A boost gauge is just one of the parameters that will be important to me when I begin modifying our S. I will want to see what the peak boost reading can be attained while maintaing acceptable knock and MAT readings. I hope someone comes out with a user friendly scan tool for these little rides soon...

i had a boost guage on my last car so i could monitor it over time. if there ever was a leak i would know because i wouldn't be getting max boost. safety precaution i guess.

actually the intercooler cannot increase the density of the air going through it, it can only cool it. to make it more dense, you would have to increase the molecule count or change the volume. The cooler air has two benefits; it will help resist detonation and it will lower the pressure against which the blower has to work thus reducing the power load used by the blower.

>>actually the intercooler cannot increase the density of the air going through it, it can only cool it. to make it more dense, you would have to increase the molecule count or change the volume. The cooler air has two benefits; it will help resist detonation and it will lower the pressure against which the blower has to work thus reducing the power load used by the blower.

Yes, jlm, but the compressor is constantly feeding more molecules into the intercooler chambers. For a given volume and pressure, you can fit more air molecules at a lower temperature.

The points that you make may well be valid, however I can't imagine they would have a great effect on performance. Intercoolers usually have a dramatic impact on the performance of forced-induction engines, due to that fact that they help get more air (and fuel) into the combustion chamber.

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::Indi Blue MCS, White roof+wheels, All 3 packages:: She's finally home!

at the risk of sending you too far down the road, check out this forum:
http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.c...TOKEN=74091665

>>actually the intercooler cannot increase the density of the air going through it, it can only cool it. to make it more dense, you would have to increase the molecule count or change the volume. The cooler air has two benefits; it will help resist detonation and it will lower the pressure against which the blower has to work thus reducing the power load used by the blower.>>

Colder air is more dense than warm air. Here is an explanation from "how stuff works.com"

"
Intercoolers
When air is compressed, it heats up; and when air heats up, it expands. So some of the pressure increase from a turbocharger is the result of heating the air before it goes into the engine. In order to increase the power of the engine, the goal is to get more air molecules into the cylinder, not necessarily more air pressure.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/turbo-plumbing.gif


An intercooler or charge air cooler is an additional component that looks something like a radiator, except air passes through the inside as well as the outside of the intercooler. The intake air passes through sealed passageways inside the cooler, while cooler air from outside is blown across fins by the engine cooling fan.

The intercooler further increases the power of the engine by cooling the pressurized air coming out of the compressor before it goes into the engine. This means that if the turbocharger is operating at a boost of 7 psi, the intercooled system will put in 7 psi of cooler air, which is denser and contains more air molecules than warmer air. "

While the explanation includes a turbo, the intercooler operation applies to our application.


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you will get more molecules into the engine using an intercooler to cool the air, but the reasoning is not what you think.

if you take a closed volume of air at a higher temp and cool it, the denstiy does not, cannot change. Just because something is cold does not mean it is more dense.

take the same volume as before, heat it (or cool it) the pressure will go (up or down), but the density will stay the same.

I've read in a few places that there will be more power gained from an intercooled supercharger because cold air is denser, meaning more molecules in a given volume, but where are those molecules coming from?

here is my explantation: the blower forces air into the manifold/intercooler until the manifold pressure matches the blower output pressure; the volume is fixed, temp is hot, molecule count is fixed. Now the intercooler cools the volume; no change in density yet, but the pressure goes down (Boyle's Law) letting the now higher pressure of the blower force more air and molecules in.

there are more molecules getting in because the cooling drops the pressure, not because cool air is denser.

Okay... boost guage installation requires drilling and tapping of the oil filter cover or you can buy a pre-tapped cover for around $45. I bought the pre-tapped cover, don't have many tools living in an apartment. The installation looks pretty straight forward. Remove the tach, bolt the guages on the side. Remove the intercooler and pigtail a tube for vacuum pickup into the intake chamber. Route tube to the sending unit and then run the wires back to the guage. The oil pressure sending unit screws into the tapped filter cover with a single wire cominig off back to the guage. You have to piggy back off of existing ignition switch wires and dash light wires for power and illumination. They give you all of the hardware that you need including wires and scotch connectors.

I am installing the boost guage this weekend. I am getting the rogue intake on Tuesday.

I'll post the changes on the boost readings for both before & after rogue intake.

Kesh

right on man. I'm interested in hearing the results.

bmp makes a geat product; that being said, getting at the manifold pressure port is a bugger!. Also, I found the canister wall VERY thin where the oil pressure sending unit taps in.

INSTALLATION:

The install was a little more involved than I thought. (Always the case... right!)

The tach is first removed and the guages bolt right into pre-existing holes on the back. The wire harness MUST be routed away from the steering column so that it doesn't contact the steering column and make a knocking sound when turning (resembles the creak that most Mini owners know, but loud), this sounds easy, but there's almost no room to route the cable, I ended up using wire ties and securing it to 2 small holes that I drilled in the plastic housing.

Taking off the under dash kick panel is a mystery. The instructions say to pull on the panel with moderate force... doh... I broke part of it. Never did get the panel off ! It's a mystery. I ended up epoxying the part that I broke so you can't tell that anything went wrong. As a result of not getting the panel off, it was a real pain to thread the wires through the firewall and attach the wires to the correct places. I was upside down in the front seat with my head under the dash when I got a leg cramp. NOT FUNNY at the time !!!

The intercooler removal was easy and the vacuum hose routing is straight forward. They don't metion that the hose has a tendancy to kink once you re-install the intercooler. I solved this by using a splint (lolly-pop stick) with 2 wire ties to keep the hose straight. Not the most professional idea but it works like magic.

The wire harness is cut to the correct lenghts already so it routes easily throught the firewall and connects to the vacuum module. The oil pressure sending unit is also a snap. I have to get an oil change next week so I'll connect the sending unit at that time.

The guages look awesome and provide some good information relating to boost pressure....

GUAGE READINGS:

The boost guage has a peak recall and a peak warning light. The peak warning can be set to any pressure you desire.

My MCS is bone stock! I have gotten a max of 12Lbs of boost yesterday (38F ambient), today only got a max of about 10.5Lbs (52F ambient). This would be due to colder air being more dense tham warmer air, thereby giving more once the air begins to expand in the throttle body, thus giving more pressure (Boyle's law).

The pressure is usually around the 6-8Lb range when driving normally. The faster you go the more boost you seem to get. I gave full throttle in 2nd and 3rd gear but only got 8Lbs. When you hit about 90-110mph and give full throttle you get more boost 10-12Lbs (max reading so far).

Of course this was done on a closed road... (disclaimer).

I should have the rogue intake installed by Wednesday and I'll post the results of that related to amount of boost that I get compared to the stock set-up. This should be interesting to see if you actually get more boost from the different intake.

I don't have my own site so I'll post the pics on Yahoo and provide a link for those that are interested.

I have gotten some good comments from friennds and family. The concensus is, that looks cooler than the other side of the pillow. It really does look cool. The guage is colour matched to the factory guages so they don't look out of place. I hate the guages that people put in their rice rockets, this is not a mis fit product, it looks like a Mini product and fits the theme of the car perfectly. i.e. doesn't look like a cheap aftermarket trinket.

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/kesh420

Kesh

I was messing with photoshop - this is a cheezy job, but it gets the point across - what to people think of a setup like this - Oil Pressure, Oil Temp, Boost Pressure, and Air/Fuel Mixture.

http://members.roadfly.org/casey/guages.jpg

Kinda Cool but I find myself looking at the boost guage too much when driving.

Might be information overload for the 3 good brain cells I have left...

Kesh,
I thought 4 were the requirement for living in FL???? :lol:

Looks a little cluttered.

Yea, I agree it is cluttered...just trying to come up with good locations to mount a few extra guages.

MINI-Madness is working on some guage pods that will have better matching guages than the ones BMP is currently using. The needle will look just like it does in the MINI, with the silver bubble in the middle that the needle attaches to. Made by a company that I can't think of right now...starts with a K I think, something like Kyora or something.

R

I have seen some column gauges on some rice burners. The gauges are mounted on the column between the front window and drivers side window. Pretty cool looking actually. All nicely attached top to bottom. You could probably get the 4 gauges attached on it very easily. Maybe retro fit a rice burner version.