Tomorrow morning I'm going up to Morgan Hill to have the S1 package installed

I'm hoping that I can take some pictures during the install to share.

I've been involved with BMWs for quite awhile, so this will be something of a treat for me. It will be interesting to see how the MINI acts on the way back to Monterey. There are some twisties I can take, so we'll see.

Anybody with the S1 care to chime in on what might (or might not) be expected?

 

You will notice a difference for sure.
Smoother range especially after 3500 rpms.
You'll love it.
Wait to you get stage 6 with the cam.
but it takes some molaah.

 

Here's a thread with my impressions after I had it installed in Nov. or Dec.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ighlight=Dinan

All in all, I'm happy with it now that they replaced my rusty exhaust with a better one! It even sounds better...wonder what the issue was there.

Had I known that my car was going to turn into a weekend/track car, I might have gone in a different direction. That said, the S1 is a good place to start. It's definitely fast enough for me; once I get the suspension all worked out to my ability level on the track, then I'll try to make it more powerful.

mb

 

The tips of my Dinan exhaust are starting to show some rust.

Are you saying that they had a bad batch and will replace them if you complain? I had my S1 package installed in October of last year before I picked it up at Motor City Mini.

The left tip (looking at it from the back) is worse that the right tip but both are showing rust on them.

Tom

 

I'm actually taking my car in next week to have the Dinan exhaust replaced under warranty. The left-hand tip was rusting around the etching. There's more discussion about this and other general Dinan discussion on this THREAD

 

Yep, they've had a bunch do this and will replace them under warranty. The etching on the new one is different, the left tip doesn't get as black as the old one (it's more dispersed between left and right) and the sound is more subdued, which is what I was expecting from this exhaust in the first place.

mb

 

How subdued? My current one is crazy loud and pops ALL the time!

 

Um, not as crazy loud. The one I had that rusted, I'd call it "crazy loud" with ridiculous popping. This one is not as loud and the popping isn't as brash - it's more burblish and bassy. I like it a lot better this way. I was very surprised when I got the initial exhaust since I'd heard it on a friend's car sound completely different. Guess I got one of the "early" non-stainless models. I posted in the above mentioned thread about how my exhaust seems to hang down lower than normal - I'd like to get this resolved. Pics included in that post.

mb

 

I've got the stage 1 also. The first thing I noticed was the burbling.
The second thing I notices was how the car reacted after 4000 rpm.
Wow! You WILL find yourself swinging it to 7000 rpm alot more than
before.
The other day I had a friend in the car who had never been in a Mini before.
He was under the impression that it ran ok. I slowly ran it up to around 5 grand and stayed there for a few seconds and told him to hold on.
I punched it to 7000 in second then to 7000 in third. You should have
seen the look on his face.
He thinks of my car differently now.
It really is a whole new car around redline. You will love it.

I will calm down now

Shawn G

 

Well, after a whole day up in Morgan Hil here's what I think.... first of all I was at their shop around 8:30 or 9AM. I didn't get back on the road until 3PM. This kinda' sucked. Hours charged = 3 .... Hmmmmmm.

Anyway the shop had a number of BMW's around, includng a Z8, a couple of M6's, M5's, M3's and whatever... but mine was the only MINI there to be worked on.

I'll say this... although it took a lot longer than I had figured it was worth it. The exhaust sounds sweet, a little drone at highway speed but I can deal with it. It's what I was looking for. The CAI is not too loud, but I can tell it's not stock. I drove home on 101 due to traffic on some of the side roads at that time, but the car just pulled so much better. I was only able to get up near red line once or twice.... but yea, you can tell the difference.

I was heading into Prunedale, near the cutoff for the Monterey area when I went from 6th to 4th to get around traffic... whoa!! Doing 120+ YIKES...

 

I spent the better part of today up in Morgan Hill to have the Dinan S1 package installed. I got up to their shop around 8:30AM and didn't get out until 3PM... that kinda' sucked. But it was relaxing as I wasn't at work.
Anyway, they installed the CAI, Stage 3 software, free flow exhaust and strut bar as documented.

On the way home I had hoped to take some twisties over to CA highway 1 but traffic was kinda' heavy so I cruised down 101. There was a point where I had to drop from 6th to 4th and jam it... whoa!! I'm doing 120+ and thinking... hey, this is cool hope the V1 is working

I get home and the wife and daughter think "it's the UPS guy" when they hear me coming down the street... WTF

 

I just got the s1 package installed at rasmussen bmw here in portland oregon. They are a wonderfull dealer and the car drives with more ferocity than before, i keep thinking "this is what a mini cooper s should feel like!" So far just a bit of driving but the difference is very noticable, just what i wanted!