My Clubman S All 4 needs a little more giddy up and grunt. I love the car compared to my old R53 but it’s a touch flat. I know there are a lot of threads on Dinan, some positive some less so but undecided on how to go. The gains from Dinan unquestionably yield better performance figures for less $, but the parts inevitably get removed and put on the marketplace down the road. Hopefully nothing breaks or wears out prematurely in the process. The JCW tuning kit is OEM reliable, the flash is reasonable and the exhaust sounds amazing without the drone. The bundle is incredibly expensive for what it is but will increase the value of my Clubby when it comes to resale.

Since my car has 1 year left of warranty, the guarantee from the elite doesn’t mean as much and the sport isnt as well rounded of a piggyback. People seem to love it here but I’d guess long term it’s less reliable. This is my family hauler, I’m getting older and have little kids to cart around. So, I’m more risk averse when it comes to CELs and unnecessary maintenance and I’m certainly not as heavy on the pedal. I plan on keeping the car for at least 4 more years...Any thoughts or advice?

 

Dinan, purchased from dealer so if you have CELs or issues it can easily be returned. I self installed and never had a problem, but the newer ones seem to run into issues.

The JCW add on makes little sense to me. Not enough power difference and I guess if you like to be noticed because of the sounds, ok. I try to make my car quieter as I'm far removed from 18 y/o self.

If your talking about a flat dry panel air filter ok, if you are talking about a Cold air intake, again doesn't compute.

 

I find the clubman S has no burbles and pops at all. The JCW tuning kit I assume is the same exhaust that would come on a JCW from the factory so I’m hoping it’s not a chint sound. I was looking at the Dinan intake which would at least let me hear the turbo spool and the blow off valve. The extra issues I was reading on the newer Dinan boxes is what is concerning me. I can return it to factory at the dealer but then I have more labor to remove it (and fix what’s broken) a part to sell at a loss and no tune. I have 1 year of warranty they will cover other than that I’m on my own. FYI in canada, the tune will cost $1600, the intake is about $675...the JCW exhaust and tune is $4000.

 

It does pop. You kinda of have to know when to down shift to make it intentional though.

You may have to turn your volume up.

 

Okay, since OP has read the other threads this won't be new news:

I installed the Dinan Sport on my 2017 ALL4 and drove it for 3 years and 20,000 miles without any issues, using California 91 gas. Tried it in Race Mode and dialed it back to Sport+ (which is the way it comes from Dinan).
The extra 3psi boost is great -- plenty for me.
When I turned in our 2017 at lease end, I took out the Dinan and transferred it to our 2020 Clubman S All4. Works like a champ so far. Same improvement overall. What I have noticed is there is less turbo lag in the 2020 than the 2017. I noticed that even prior to installing the Dinan in the 2020 so I imagine it is improvements in the car from 2017 to 2020.
The Bluetooth on the Dinan Sport is not wonderful for boost monitoring, but works well enough for switching between modes.
Most of what you pay for with the Elite is the extra warranty protection, which runs in parallel with the original MINI warranty. While the Elite is supposed to be smoother in the way it prompts the car's engine management systems to adjust fueling, I have found no drivability issues with the Sport in sport+ mode.
When in Race mode, one time, with 100+ ambient outside temp, after about an hour of stop-and-go freeway driving, I expreienced a tiny bit of knock, though there were no codes and no warning lights. Dialed the Dinan back to Sport+ and have never had another issue.
Best $250 mod, IMHO. Never felt the need to modify the air intake box or the filter -- I don't want more intake sound and I don't believe for daily driving there would be any benefit.
I'm satisfied with the stock exhaust, though the 2020 doesn't pop or burble like the 2017 did - I guess the strict Euro standards have caused MINI to tone it down a bit.

The concept for all of these non-flash/non-tune plug ins is the same. They all trick the engine management systems into thinking there's less boost pressure so the engine management systems call for more boost and then, when those systems sense lean conditions or knock, they add fuel or adjust timing or whatever magical things they do -- and it happens so fast that, for most of us, all we feel is the extra boost, and it's nice. YMMV.

 

Damn, maybe it’s so quiet in the cabin and so freaking cold outside I don’t hear a thing when I’m bundled. I’ll have to suck it up and drop my windows to check. My r53 had an Alta exhaust and intake, the supercharger whirl and burbles from the back were intoxicating in the city. On the highway, the drone was annoying at 3k rpm.

 

If you think it is quiet now, just disable the fake engine noise that is injected into the cabin by the speakers lol

 

Holy smokes, 20k miles in 3 years in LA?! I did that a year when I lived there and like a rookie, ate $5000 on lease return. Apparently they didn’t like the Schnitzer stuff either 🤷🏽. The sport tune is for sure more cost effective. I’m a pansy now, I don’t have the same tolerance for problems. $4000 Canadian for an exhaust and ecu flash is a lot, but it’s only 40% more than a Dinan setup that adds 0 value down the road to most people. Is it wrong to think the JCW is more long term value?

 

didn’t even know I had that ?!

 

Yeah, I used to put over 20,000miles/year on the odometer. Mostly freeways. I went through a series of Range Rovers and Jags, thinking it would make all that seat time more enjoyable.
Then I retired, turned in that last Range Rover Evoque, and visited the BMW Center, where I saw a MINI Clubman, test drove it, and, though we drive much, much less, we are having much, much more fun with these MINIs than we did with the other British beasts.

It was a toss up between the NM plug in and the Dinan. ECS had a holiday special on the DInan, and, back in 2016, Dinan had an outstanding reputation. So I got the Dinan Sport, plugged it in, and motored. Never removed it for dealer service visits. Dealer service tech saw it and wanted to test drive to see what it could do -- they never once gave me any greif or ever mentioned anything about warranty risk due to having the plug in. They just complimented the car and agreed it gave it the extra kick that it needed.

I think the JCW, especially the 300hp JCW, is an outstanding MINI. I prefer the tamer dynamics of the S configuration. I have 17" rims and non run flats for smoother, quieter ride.

My days of fishtailing my V8 XK are long behind me. That sick beast was a true joy. Now the go to car is the Clubman, with our ancient V12 Jag and my wife's 1980s era Vanden Plas straight 6 spending most of their days silently seeping oil in the garage.

I doubt we'll put 7,000 miles/year on the Clubman. And 0 - 60 in 6 seconds in our Clubman S All4 with the Dinan Sport is all I need... for now. I love the paddle shifters and the 8 speed auto tranny is really good.

There is a season for everything.

 

When I purchased my 2019 Clubman S, I had it built with the JCW Tune and exhaust, so I've never known what it was like before the tune. At 1000 miles, I added the Dinan Elite (20 minute self-installation), and swapped out the stock air filter with and afe dry high-flow filter. This really did wake the car up. It is a total blast to drive now, especially in sport mode and driving in "manual" mode. I also disabled the active sound (I don't want exhaust sounds battling with my music through the little 4 inch speakers), and the exhaust, when the baffles are open, really is, well, a bit loud, I never realized just HOW loud the pops were until I drove through a parking garage a couple weeks ago. All I can say is DANG!

And for what it's worth, the JCW exhaust (which comes with a tune), does pull significantly harder than just the F54 S. You can absolutely feel the difference. The Dinan Elite on top of that makes it an incredible ride.

 

its great to hear! I ordered my tuning kit today, which should go on in a couple of weeks. There is a bracket backordered. I was considering a complete Dinan set up but they don’t do an exhaust for an all4, which is a bit disappointing. I’ll hold off on the elite tune until I can play with the new set up. I have no where to push it here the roads are so bad. I may go with the Dinan carbon intake next, but will for sure look into the afe filter, I’d never thought of it. Thankfully I have no idea what the active sound is so it must have been off from the start.

 

Yeah, the afe air filter lets more sound out. You can hear the intake turbulence with the afe when you're not really getting on the gas.

As far as the JCW tune / exhaust goes, it is pretty nice to be able to run with a nice sounding exhaust, but when you get the bug to really hear it and feel a bit of difference, you can open the baffles and let her rip.

I average 28.9mpg, for what it's worth with this setup as well. My drive to work is about 70% country roads or city streets, on a 9 mile commute, and I normally have my cargo rack rails on top...

 

i like the idea of a simple upgrade to a filter that rounds out the sound. The whirling of the supercharger is a hard thing to match with a turbo, and spending $600 on an intake is a tough pill to swallow. I have a 12 km drive through a quiet residential neighbourhood and then a slow, trafficky, pot hole laden ridden ride. It’ll be nice to flip on the burble on some open road. Sucks with our winters that I’m sure I’ll be replacing the Bluetooth module every 2 years

 

Please educate me:
Seems like the F54 intake system can be installed without the need of tune?
I had a 2010 WRX years ago and I cannot simply just change a intake without remapping the car, either with a plug in tuning box (Cobb) or a pro tune. If not might risk car running too rich or lean.

 

Correct. No tune is necessary on the F54 with intake change.