I would love to reserve a stainless dp. Thanks in advance.

 

Send me an email and we can go over the little details. MarioPalza@gmail.com
Thank you
Mario

mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

I'm About to purchase a F56 jcw 2016 manual. I'm guessing this will fit the same as the MCS? and As soon as I purchase my car, I will order one of these ceramic dp. If you still have one in stock.

 

It will for sure fit as along as you are a US JCW

mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

I'm new to tuning on a Mini so forgive me! I just want to make sure I know exactly what I'm getting into before I do this.

1. I noticed yours is a 2013. Will this DP work on my 2012 R56?
2. Is this a bolt-on piece?
3. Do I need to have a tune on the car before I install it?
4. Will the stock sensors work on the DP or do I need to get new ones?

 

Hi JellyBean
This is for the 2014+ Mini, but I do the the R56 ones and they are completely bolt on.
Send me an email at MarioPalza@gmail.com
Thanks
Mario

mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

Incredibly frustrated at getting this downpipe installed. While I'm not full time mechanic I am very comfortable installing pretty much anything but this I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Everything was easy and smooth until it came time to put the new downpipe in its home. It took close to an HOUR it get it through the engine bay into the exhaust tunnel. Relieved that it was in there I thought it would be smooth sailing.

Nope i I was wrong. No matter what I do it will not sit flush against the turbo v band nor the two bolts that secure it to the engine block. The issue is that it is sitting on the heat shield that is under the downpipe. So amount of angling it will fix the issue.

So either the downpipe angles are incorrect or my car has a heat shield that is bent in ways that others aren't.

Now you are probably thinking why not just bend the heat shield. I thought of that too. Well in order to attempt that I need to remove the downpipe. After TWO hours I cannot get the downpipe even close to being removed. This is insane.

I can't get anywhere without removing the downpipe and the damn thing won't come out. Had other people try as well and it just refuses.

No no idea when I will be able to drive my car at this point.

FYI I have an automatic F55 S. Which I was told it would fit.

 

Perhaps it's the hangers? Mine were off... Had to bend in shape.

 

It's a tight fit but send me your phone number so I can get you some pointers. Email works better MarioPalza@gmail.com
mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning

 

Is it coated? If so, could you just take the heat shield off?

 

I just went through all of this yesterday, exzact same thing. yes, you have to bend that heat shield that its hitting... The v clamp wont seal on the bottom part of the DP (at the top clamp) without the bend in that heat shield. Also get the bracket on the two studs, and barley tighten them so it wont fall off, go underneath, slide the two exhaust hangers almost off the rubber mounts attached to the vehicle. call me if you need more help 850.5984866

 

my exact issue. Thanks for the tips. I will be working on it Wednesday so hopefully I get it all finished.

the heat shield that it sits in that needs to be bent did you remove the shield from the engine bay? Seems really tough to bend due to placement

 

I thought the same thing, no don't remove it, I mean you can, but you don't have to. I'm sure it would be a pain to get back on also.. I saw that some people did. but don't! I went by AdamLZ install on youtube. yes just bend it down.... I actually got in there with my foot lol. but it didn't move much that way so I pryed it down with a floor jack handle or something from underneath.

Once you get the DP on (make sure you swap the soft copper ring off the top of your old one) those heat shields (top & bottom) (top of course is removed) wont line up and seem impossible to bolt back together! but I assure you they will! those things are amazingly flexable with force.

 

One last question. Since you pried on the heat shield from underneath did you drop the exhaust so it was out of your way?

 

Nope, I never dropped the exhaust. Also, to get the heat shields lined back up I used vice grips. It takes a little time, not a whole lot! but be patient, walk away for a min if you get stuck. I had a 76 yr old helper (not much help) but if you can extra set of hands it cant hurt! its not impossible to do yourself.

 

i have no idea how anyone bent that heat shield that the downpipe sits on. I wedged a jack handle from underneath and used the jack to apply pressure and it will bend only a tiniest amount and then once pressure is taken off it goes right back.

The heat shield that is causing all the problems is the one you can see under the downpipe. Why wasn't the downpipe made to avoid this issue since everyone seems to have it?

oh and I can't get the downpipe out to give me more room lol. This is a disaster

i no longer know what to try except set the car on fire and walk away.

 

i think i was the 2nd guy to get the M-Qubed DP installed february of last year. i dont' recall having any heatshield issues. the only issue i had was that the DP hangers didn't line up with the stock hanger location and was pressing against the subframe. the shop (helix) ended up bending the hangers just enough to get it to fit, but just barely. truth is, i think it did mis-align my exhaust as it hangers lower than stock now. it hasn't cause any negative issues so i haven't really pushed hard to fix it. if i were to fix it, i'd have the hangers cut and redone to match the OEM.

besides that, fitment was fine. sorry to hear about this bud. i'm attaching a picture of my DP if there is any way you can compare it.

 

well I made some progress where I think I can clamp it to the turbo and it will seal. I will post back shortly with updates.

 

It will have to bend down 2 maybe 3-4 inches, I didn't bend mine enough, but was still able to put some pressure from the DP to get it to seal. its just the one area where its hitting. concentrate on where that bend is in the weld. try to take it out if you can, I know its tough, but it will be easier to get it back in once the shield is bent down a little.

If you look at the pictures of the OEM stock vs Mario's you'll notice a smother bend in the 90* its extended a bit more from OEM one, you can tell the distance from the hanger, that's about where its getting caught up

Sorry your having a difficult time..

You are removing and installing the DP from the top side of the engine, correct? that's the way I did, Are you working on a F56?

 

f55. It's finally installed! Not happy about fitment but it's on there. It was still sitting on the heat shield but mated up flush to the turbo so I said screw it.

There was absolutely no way I could attach the two lower center bolts on the top heatshield. Holes weren't even close to lining up. Other bolts went in and I hit the shield a bunch and it was solid.

Only have one slight rattle when accelerating very very slow from a stop. I will deal with that some other day.im hoping it's just the driver side hanger as it was really close to the subframe. Maybe 1/8"

Thanks for for the help everyone!

 

I have an F55 too. We will see how this goes when I get mine installed. (Crossing Fingers) on another note. How are you liking the DP once installed???

 

so far it's great. Sound increase isn't much at all. Cruising around sounds stock. The exhaust pops are pretty loud now!!

also lots and lots of turbo noises. You really hear the DV doing its job

 

I'm glad you got it on the car. I went to the Mini Dealer today and confirmed that all the F series 54,55, and 56 use the exact same downpipe part number. I have have over 70 of these downpipes go on smoothly and a handful of odd ones. I'm guessing Mini changed some small things, like heat shields styles mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

its just my luck that I had the difficulty I did. Always seems to happen to me.

 

Trentiles glad everything worked out. Also nice to see other F55 out there getting upgrades. I really can't wait to get my car out the shop. Also can't wait to get the down pipe on and see how it runs. Then we shall see what's next!