Ok internets. You have to help me out here. The wife and I did a Quaife install this weekend on our 2010 R56 fJCW. While putting stuff back together we encountered this mystery connector. We've probably got 5 hours or so into looking for the other end of this stupid connector. It's not a long cable so the other connector can't be far but we've pulled out the dme/fuse box and the intake piping on that side and still can't find anything. If anybody has some time and could tell me where this wire goes I would love you forever. It clips to the front of the DME bracket. I believe it will be on any of the cars with the N14 motor so fJCWs and Cooper S. You can see it's bundled with the rest of the large connectors that connect into the ECM.

The offending clip...


It's only got two connecting pins...


And a picture i found on the internets of where it normally sits.


And a pic of the Quaife sitting pretty in the transmission as a reward for your help...

 

HA! I will look under my hood right now.

 

The other end of the connector is tied into the bottom of the smaller wire bundle going into the ECU.. right behind the windshield wash reservoir. I'll try to take a picture of it.

 

So here is where the connector comes out of the DME and down to the male/female union connector.



Here is a view of that male/female union clipped together under the DME and there is a small two-wire harness wrapped in black electrical tape that is zip tied to the larger harness leading back to the DME.



Here you can see me hooking the small two-wire harness. It's got to be down there somewhere near the washer fluid bottle.

 

I added pictures but they're pretty small, countryboyshanes pictures are spot on! Exactly what I was trying to take a picture of with my phone haha.. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the pictures. Unfortunately I still can't find the other end of that connector

We spent another 2 hours fiddling around trying to find it. Even removed both transmission mounts and tilted the engine so we could see in there better through the wheel well. I checked to make sure we didn't pinch the wire in between the trans and engine when putting it back together. I've looked all over and have no clue. I can find pictures and RealOEM diagrams showing the connector that I have in my hand but nothing showing what that thing actually goes to.

CountryBoyShane that small wire wrapped in electrical tape I believe is the neutral/gear switch that connects to a connector on the trans casing. It mounts to the bottom of the DME holder that's why it's in that location.

At this point I'm just putting the car back together and hoping that a dash light or CEL will clue me in as to what that could be. I have some emails out to friends and might stop by the dealer on Monday to see if I can peek in another car with an N14 or see if anybody has any ideas what it could be. This is just sooooo frustrating. The Quaife install wasn't actually that hard and if it weren't for this dumb wire I'd be rocking around town in my mini enjoying my new differential.

 

Who knows, it may end up driving perfectly fine on the track. Cross your fingers for that. Electronics are a nuisance.

 

So I figured I'd update this thread. After 6-7 hours of looking for this dumb connector and disassembling half of the engine bay and talking to 3 different mini techs at two different dealers we think the connector is for some option that we don't have. We never plugged anything into it and the car seems to be running fine. We just took it for a quick spin around the neighborhood last night so time will tell if it causes any issues.

 

heh, like the wires in the hood for heated washer nozzles. a buddy of mine spent hours trying to figure out what he'd missed before realizing it was the same situation.