I have started to play now I have had the car for some time so time for a project log.

Firstly the plan for this is quite tame as it is my daily family car and it still needs to be used to cart clients about and used every day.

The car;
As an early build the good news which was unexpected was I have the JCW turbo fitted, the bad news was that I also had a few early build parts which I have had to have changed as they were already failing

Spec;
2.0 petrol with JCW turbo 8 speed auto
Electronic adjustable suspension
Comfort access
LED auto headlights with that auto rotate function
Panoramic sun roof 18" JCW wheels
Aero kit though sadly there are no skirts for this car yet (may have to make some)
Black on black as the blue I wanted you couldn't have the aero kit
JCW seats which are heated and alcantara which are a nice place to be
Black headlining
XL wide screen sat nav and touch pad
Harmon Kardon
JCW steering wheel
Heads up display
Automatic park function
Lots of gloss plastic round the center column which I liked more than just the normal no trim option
The door rings all light up forgot what that option was
Auto dipping mirrors
Black roof lining
Front, rear, and side ultrasonic sensors
A bag of nets in the boot
Adaptive cruise control
Driver assistance
***I am sure there was a lot of other items on the build sheet but I don't have heated front window even though that was on the build, didn't get the towbar, reversing camera, and do not have the assistance button, everything else is on the car

The car when I got it








I wanted a tow bar but at the time they could not fit one as it wasn't fully ready, when I came to fit it I found it was still not ready... The cable which came with the towbar has a 30mm connector on one end and the other a 45mm connector, the guide tells you to pass the cables through the 25mm hole! was a pain in the bum as I had to strip the pins out to get it fitted. Took ages and then there was tones of cables and modules to connect along with making the comfort access fit as apparently it can't be fitted at the same time It can after a lot of work. You also need an additional fuse box and have to pull half the car apart to fit.
Also a cheeky de-badge





Got to say it tows so well and I love the way the electrics fold away and the tow bar hides away, unless you was looking under the car for a towbar you would miss it while it is away, it is the most hidden I have ever seen. you need to lay on your back under the car to see it.

Used it to bring the R53 home which it did with ease (tow bar is only for pulling our collection of other cars when we need too


Next I decided to do a little coding;
Changed the DRL lights to include the rears at all time
Added the towbar
Added shift and rev change to the HUD
Added memory to the start stop button so it will recall the last setting which is nice
Changed lots of other items, GPS time made the kombi go crazy and it didn't work so be aware of that



Then I decided I wanted the reversing camera, again this wasn't an option when the car was built or it was missed? I know now its part of the new tech pack but that didn't exist then - so camera time

New camera with the holder

Got hold of a new number plate surround with the camera hole in

Had to buy the repair cable but then just connect to power, CAN, head unit and camera


Then coded in the camera so it is all happy. Took some time to fit though. I do like that most items are CAN and LIN also they are all quite easy to install as a retrofit item

Then got fed up with the key size so set about making and printing one, I went black in the end - then someone said that someone else was doing the same, thought I had come up with something different :cursing:


Now the fun starts, I am currently working a few items;

I have on order all the parts for the exhaust which will be turning up soon, the plan is to keep the stock box and add a bypass on either side. This will give me the stock sound when I want it and variable sound using the valves. Unlike the other systems out there including the mini system mine uses both sides to exhaust like the M3 system. All the other systems is one pipe loud and the other is the hush pipe, this seams stupid - I plan to do this as a kit next year though I will help others if they want to do similar



Once that is done its time for a manic map as currently they are having issues with the auto as are all the other tuning boxes, basically over time the gearbox is down tuning and slowing on the gear changes to protect itself from the extra power - some changes will be needed for the gearbox ecu too. So for this reason I am holding off while they work on the development. Wait and see I guess.

That is all for now although I am working on suspension

 

Just had these turn up. Just waiting on the pads, disc and a few parts to still order from mini [emoji16]

 

JCW exhaust tips arrived,


Exhaust valves arrived and vacuum controller turned up, a few more bits to turn up and then I'll start the fabrication work to build the exhaust



Next part of exhaust 1 into 3 pipes custom made, got to make them shorter and join the 2 in the middle down the middle. Something for the weekend. Shouldn't be too long before I start installing.
Just flick back to the sketch of your not sure on the plan.



Cut the y pieces down ready to make


Then added valves and welded it together, was lazy and went MIG. Next step to get this plumbed into the stock exhaust, add the rest of the bypass to tail pipes. Should get it fitted soon



Next week I will get the exhaust installed into the stock system so I will post a video up when that happens

 

Awesome work OP! Thanks for the detailed write up/photos. Looking forward to seeing your progress (and picking up one of your key-adapters??)! Subscribed.

 

Here's the key fob replacement available....


http://www.shapeways.com/product/WKV...more-from-shop

 

I finished work today and headed to get the exhaust finished.

First thing to do was remove a section from the straight pipe in the middle


Tail pipes cut off, then added the valve section in, made some bypass pipes to go around the back box and then made the connection from the stock box back to the tail pipes


Fitted up to the car



Then on with the JCW tail pipes


First impressions;
On initial start the valves were closed so no surprise it sounded stock, took it out for a spin and it is exactly how it was both in sound and performance as it was before I started.
Pressed the button on the remote vacuum unit and the sound change to a deep idle, the crackle and overrun sounds great, much better sound and much louder.

Very pleased with the outcome and I will get a video up tomorrow

 

Looks awesome.

BTW- thanks for the key-shrink! When I am back in town, I'll share some pics of them on my key.

 

Any chance you will get a vid w/sound up soon to listen to the 'stock' vs 'mod' sound on the exhaust?? You came up with a pretty complex system, curious to hear it!

 

Hey, checking to see if you ever got the vid posted somewhere with the comparison sound clips??

 

WOW just WOW, Great work

 

Cool mods, did you ever get anywhere with that video. I'd love to hear that exhaust

 

After having the camera installed for ages I never got round to getting it working, coded all the modules but nothing, I had another look at it and realised it should have been connected to CAN3 and I had it in CAN2. CAN3 is only used for corner headlights, camera, 4 wheel drive system. I have the headlights but nothing at the rear.
I ran a twisted pair of wires to the rear of the car on the RH side and added a CAN termination, connected the camera and immediately it worked



As I had the car with the EDFC so the car can do casual and stiff suspension and I really like being able to change the feel of the car I wanted to take some height out so springs as the dampeners are very nice. I was going to just leave this car suspension as I have my R53 for fun setup and this is the family / tow car but the gap is just too much

First set of UK Cobra suspension



This was the first set and the verdict is... the car is lower the electronic dampers work nicely still as it is the same stiffness but adjusting the dampeners works nice and I do not have a huge gap. For everyday they are quite nice.


VS original

 

Looks great lowered, what springs did you use?

 

Used cobra springs through orranje performance

 

Tuning update

The time has come to play with the F54 a little so I talked with Dervtune who are making some good noise with minis so I booked in about 3 months ago. Saturday the 2nd came and I took the car there.
The car is a petrol S FWD with an ITG air filter and Twin valve exhaust.

Runs were all done on 95ron

The exhaust was then tested closed and then opened valve and this made 7Bhp more once the vlaves were opened. Which is quite pleasing considering I made it and it was a cheap mod to bypass the rear box

The ECU was then removed and unlocked so it could be tuned over OBD

The guys then spent a few hours mapping and the result is about 275Bhp which had to be limited and also the torque had to be limited as the auto box was not liking the extra power so I am sure the 4WD and JCW could have a lot more power the the FWD auto box maxed out at 275bhp, any more puts the car into limp mode as a transmission error
All done I drove the 200 miles home and wow what a difference, the car has so much more power and it is very noticeable - much quicker than a stock JCW and finially has the power it needs, infact I think 20Bhp less may have been better as when the boost comes on its quick a whack of torque and really pulls.

I am now also noticing more driveshaft wobble with it being lowered. Over run was left as it was and I have the option of sports, normal and green maps. They also changed the mini excitement gauges to give the right numbers

If I wish for more power it would have to be to upgraded to 4WD or manual but due to an operation I can't have a manual as a daily drive.
On first runs the car made 289bhp with the first map but the auto box locked up and was not happy - we found that below 400nm torque and less than 280bhp would not trigger the car to have gearbox faults

Very pleased with the tune and its a huge difference but disappointing to know that the auto box will now not let me have any more power.

 

Wow!

 

Do you still get more "sportiness" by also pushing the shift gear to the left? I don't use it as "manual", but if you push to the left and don't touch it further, it adds an extra step of kick to the drive. I didn't at all understand what you did above (nevermind; I don't need to know!) so maybe my comment about gear-shift-left is beside the point.
Deb

 

I wonder about the longevity of the transmission if you tune it to fault tripping level and then just back off a bit. Seems like accident waiting to happen.

Now I think I know why MANIC tunes aren't available yet for the F56. Probably more complex to deal with than manuals.

Anyway, lots of extra power good luck sounds great.

 

If you move the gearbox shifter over the box is more responsive as it is before the tune

As for running and manic, I spoke with them to get my clubman in but they weren't interested and says they were not developing at this time. The company I took it to have been doing them for many years now as a live rolling road tune. They have done many mini and bmw autos over the years and had to lock the power down but they have been ok so far. I don't drive hard all day long just every once in a while so I won't be pushing it all the time

Worst case it's a new auto box which is only a few hours to change out. Interestingly the JCW auto has been fine with more than 300bhp and it's a torque converter issue, well actually it's the auto box ECU which is torque limited that is the issue. If we could map the auto box then we could push more

 

were I can Oder the Exhaust valves arrived and vacuum controller turned up