Drivetrain (Cooper S) MINI Cooper S (R53) intakes, exhausts, pulleys, headers, throttle bodies, and any other modifications to the Cooper S drivetrain.

Drivetrain Mod now, or after Warrantee expires?

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Old Jan 14, 2005 | 10:18 AM
  #1  
Col.Bobby's Avatar
Col.Bobby
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Mod now, or after Warrantee expires?

I will be getting my 2005 MCS in June. I can't quite decide to mod with a GIAC and 15% pulley immediately, for fear of voiding the warrantee. But it seem kind of dumb to wait 50,000 miles before boosting the performance with these simple mods. Has anyone had a bad ($$) experience with having the warrantee voided by these mods? Does the GIAC eliminate many of the annoying engine problems which sometimes frustrate Mini owners? :smile:
 
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Old Jan 14, 2005 | 10:21 AM
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I'd might wait till the first 15K service/ checkup before I did anything. That is what I did, but I bought the car used with 10K on it already so the wait was only about a month.
 
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Old Jan 14, 2005 | 10:48 AM
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Many people moded their MINIs long before the warranty was over and had nothing but fun driving them and no problems. Some have had problems with the dealers, but I’m thinking either most didn’t or didn’t care because it was their choice.

If it’s what you want to do I say go for it.
 
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Old Jan 14, 2005 | 11:37 AM
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jump in...the waters fine.ripley.
 
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Old Jan 14, 2005 | 12:17 PM
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onasled
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My point was that you should really put the car through its paces as much as you can possibly stand to do. You really want to get any factory problems out of the way before you void certain warranties.
 
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Old Jan 14, 2005 | 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Col.Bobby
But it seem kind of dumb to wait 50,000 miles before boosting the performance with these simple mods.
Exactly my thoughts. I waited until the 10k mile service - that's the first service NOT 15k miles. It was easy for me though b/c I put on 2.5k-3k miles a month. But at the very least you should start modding after you feel comfortable that your MINI was built well. You probably want to wait at least a few thousand miles.

Unless your dealer really sucks, there's very little that will be voided b/c of a supercharger pulley. I've had TONS of work done on my MINI under warranty - even part of my clutch replaced - deemed faulty at 49k miles. Nothing was the pulley's fault and nothing was denied. However, if your supercharger for cylinder head or something is faulty and then you put a pulley on, when that part goes, they're not going to cover it. So you want to put enough miles on the car to make sure it came from the factory in good shape.

Waiting until 50k miles to mod is silly. You're modding an old car. Plus you're putting money into a car that you already used a good portion of its life. It's like you're paying DOUBLE for each mod b/c you're only going to get half the enjoyment out of it (say 50k miles instead of 100k miles).
 
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Old Jan 15, 2005 | 11:02 AM
  #7  
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I'd be crazy to wait... Yeah!

I've been convinced... prudent to wait til 10K (6 months for me), then make the car I want.
 
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Old Jan 15, 2005 | 02:05 PM
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I would say wait a bit before you do anything major like the pulley. I currently have 2300 on my 05 MCS and am going to wait a bit before I do the pulley but will likely do some other smaller non warantee voiding mods in the meantime.
Mike
 
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Old Jan 15, 2005 | 02:16 PM
  #9  
CustomAV's Avatar
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Oh go ahead and do what you want when you feel you are ready!

The only wait was for the fabled 1250 mile break-in period. At 1300 miles I had the engine jacked out and the pulley installed. All of my mods came between 1300-1700 miles. I know have 4800 miles on the car and have owned it since Nov. 19th.

Good luck and enjoy your car!

Chris
 
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Old Jan 15, 2005 | 06:48 PM
  #10  
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I've got about 35K miles on my car, and only put an intake on until recently. Now I just have an intake and a cat-back exhaust... I'm itching for more mods though soon..

I have a feeling that I might do some more intense stuff soon, becuase I think since I have a 2002 the warranty ends at 40K... Doesn't it? I forget now...
 
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Old Jan 15, 2005 | 08:01 PM
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Originally Posted by KiLO
I have a feeling that I might do some more intense stuff soon, becuase I think since I have a 2002 the warranty ends at 40K... Doesn't it? I forget now...
What's the matter with you? No, all MINIs are warrantied until 50k miles or 4 yrs - whichever comes first.
 
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Old Jan 15, 2005 | 08:19 PM
  #12  
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From: Lakeside, CA
Originally Posted by Col.Bobby
Has anyone had a bad ($$) experience with having the warrantee voided by these mods? :smile:
Never a bad experience and had the throwout bearing go bad and they replaced the whole transmission since the bearing does not come separately and had the water pump replaced about two weeks ago.

by the way I have the following mods:

1. Alta Pulley (how did I leave that out??)
1a. Alta intake (do I just have so many I can't remember them??)
1b. Throttle body
2. Plugs
3. wires
4. coil pack
5. Millteck Sport Catback
6. H.Sport Lowering springs
7. H-sport control arms
8. H-Sport Rear sway bar
9. SSR Comp Wheels
10. Webb stage one rotor/brakes kit
11. p/s fan cover
12. M7 Oil Catch can
13. Auto up windows
14. Voice operated GPS system
15. Upper and Mid grills
16. Alta short shifter
17. and last (maybe ) but not least Whalen Shift ****

TODAY I hit 50,000 miles That was earlier today I'm over that now and going on a drive tomorrow.

Earl
 
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