This is mainly for any UK people out there as I dont know wether the US dealers have a different time scale for servicing, but any advice would help.
I have my MC in PS/B on the way but I want to fit an after market induction kit and exhaust system (Cat back system only!) The idea is to eventually fit a performance manifold, downpip and CAT and then go for a performance head or turbo variation as and if money allows. I was going to get a Piper X kit and run either a Magnex/MiniSport/playmini S/S exhaust and then just remove before servicing so BMW doesn't s**t themselves over it and claim my warrentee is void if the engine blows up.
What is the time/milage between services at BMW normally.
I know that fitting induction kits isn't too bad on the MINI in terms of difficulty but what sort of time does it take....just a rough guess will do from someone who's fitted one. Piper X prefererred but because the Green Cotton and K&N kits are so similar I guess a timescale on any will do.
Same question with the exhaust....has any UK person fitted a playmini S/S exhaust?...Are any of the after market exhausts better for ease of fitting? And approximate timescale for fitting removal. Is it as simple as unbolt the joint at the cat/backpipe and then unharness from the rear clip then drop off? The answer to my question may lye in a diagram of the MINI exhaust system if anyone has a Haynes style DIY manual with a pic?? any chance of a scanned image? Cheers in advance.
The last question is....when talking about chipping a car (ECU) is this a job do-able at home? Is it an unbolt the ECU cover and unplug the chip then add the new one? and can the chip key (as provided by superchips or other companies) just be swapped back and forth for the old chip ready for delivery to the servicing dealer?
Cheers in advance for any info.
I have my MC in PS/B on the way but I want to fit an after market induction kit and exhaust system (Cat back system only!) The idea is to eventually fit a performance manifold, downpip and CAT and then go for a performance head or turbo variation as and if money allows. I was going to get a Piper X kit and run either a Magnex/MiniSport/playmini S/S exhaust and then just remove before servicing so BMW doesn't s**t themselves over it and claim my warrentee is void if the engine blows up.
What is the time/milage between services at BMW normally.
I know that fitting induction kits isn't too bad on the MINI in terms of difficulty but what sort of time does it take....just a rough guess will do from someone who's fitted one. Piper X prefererred but because the Green Cotton and K&N kits are so similar I guess a timescale on any will do.
Same question with the exhaust....has any UK person fitted a playmini S/S exhaust?...Are any of the after market exhausts better for ease of fitting? And approximate timescale for fitting removal. Is it as simple as unbolt the joint at the cat/backpipe and then unharness from the rear clip then drop off? The answer to my question may lye in a diagram of the MINI exhaust system if anyone has a Haynes style DIY manual with a pic?? any chance of a scanned image? Cheers in advance.
The last question is....when talking about chipping a car (ECU) is this a job do-able at home? Is it an unbolt the ECU cover and unplug the chip then add the new one? and can the chip key (as provided by superchips or other companies) just be swapped back and forth for the old chip ready for delivery to the servicing dealer?
Cheers in advance for any info.
4th Gear
Richard,
I'm in the U.S., but I have a Pipercross Viper and have fitted & removed it a couple of times. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to switch back to the stock airbox if proceeding carefully. But one can definitely re-fit the original with no issues. The one point of caution is the open plastic hinges/fasten-downs on the left-hand side of the airbox lid. They are quite easy to break if you are not careful.
I also have a catback exhaust, but have never removed it once fitted. There would be several difficulties here... the original exhaust has a support bracket that was difficult to detach upon removal, and I imagine would be difficult to re-attach.
It would probably take several hours to switch back to the original exhaust.
The other reason I would not switch the exhaust back is that my U.S. dealer MINI service department has told me that aftermarket exhausts are not a problem with regard to the warranty.
Regarding the ECU chipping, I am not sure... perhaps someone else can answer this. Cheers.
I'm in the U.S., but I have a Pipercross Viper and have fitted & removed it a couple of times. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to switch back to the stock airbox if proceeding carefully. But one can definitely re-fit the original with no issues. The one point of caution is the open plastic hinges/fasten-downs on the left-hand side of the airbox lid. They are quite easy to break if you are not careful.
I also have a catback exhaust, but have never removed it once fitted. There would be several difficulties here... the original exhaust has a support bracket that was difficult to detach upon removal, and I imagine would be difficult to re-attach.
It would probably take several hours to switch back to the original exhaust.
The other reason I would not switch the exhaust back is that my U.S. dealer MINI service department has told me that aftermarket exhausts are not a problem with regard to the warranty.
Regarding the ECU chipping, I am not sure... perhaps someone else can answer this. Cheers.
I thought the filters would be in the half hour mark, thanks for that. I checked with the dealer and althought the exhaust doesn't automatially void the warrantee, if they can trace the fault back to it (eg. head gasket blows and they blame it on incorrect backpressures from the exhaust) then I have to pay not them!...gutted!
I am hoping I can find a performance sounding and producing exhaust that is OK to fit/remove easily. I run coopers and 1000's of the classic mini at the moment with aftermarket equipment and they are a bugger to mess with as everythings so small and theres no rom to work so the new one looks like a walk in the park compared to them!...lets hope so anyway.
Anyone on the ECU chipping front???
Cheers again
I am hoping I can find a performance sounding and producing exhaust that is OK to fit/remove easily. I run coopers and 1000's of the classic mini at the moment with aftermarket equipment and they are a bugger to mess with as everythings so small and theres no rom to work so the new one looks like a walk in the park compared to them!...lets hope so anyway.
Anyone on the ECU chipping front???
Cheers again
Temporarily Banned
Richard,
Welcome to MCO!
THe ECU is an automatic warranty issue, and if the dealer does somediagnostics, they will see it - and it can also be erased by the dealer just by doing a factory upgrade. It is straightforward, especially for you in the UK. Superchips has several distributors there, and you just drive your car there, they download your program, rewrite it, then flash the new program onto your ECU through the OBDII port. If you wanted to dso the EVOTech, you would find a distributor there, remove your ECU (ehich isn't difficult at all), send it to them, they rewrite it and send it back.
The exhaust would be a pain in the **** to remove every time you went to the dealer. There is a sport exhaust for the Cooper from JCW that is factory sanctioned, so you may want to check that out (which I would guess is why your dealer is giving you a hard time anyway - so they can sell you "their" exhaust). The remove and replace time on the exhaust would be about 2 hours.
Hope that helps!
Let me know if you have any other quesitons.
Randy
Welcome to MCO!
THe ECU is an automatic warranty issue, and if the dealer does somediagnostics, they will see it - and it can also be erased by the dealer just by doing a factory upgrade. It is straightforward, especially for you in the UK. Superchips has several distributors there, and you just drive your car there, they download your program, rewrite it, then flash the new program onto your ECU through the OBDII port. If you wanted to dso the EVOTech, you would find a distributor there, remove your ECU (ehich isn't difficult at all), send it to them, they rewrite it and send it back.
The exhaust would be a pain in the **** to remove every time you went to the dealer. There is a sport exhaust for the Cooper from JCW that is factory sanctioned, so you may want to check that out (which I would guess is why your dealer is giving you a hard time anyway - so they can sell you "their" exhaust). The remove and replace time on the exhaust would be about 2 hours.
Hope that helps!
Let me know if you have any other quesitons.
Randy