Saturday I installed the Detroit Tuned Bypass Valve.
Directions say "about an hour".

3 hours later she was all done. 2 hrs to remove everything and one to put it all back together.

A few things:
1. The stock cold air duct just snaps out when you give it a good pull - and doesn't want to snap back in. Still working on that...
2. The 11mm nut on the back side of the air horn can be reached with a 1/4" 11mm socket. Found this out when I re-installed it and wish I'd figured it out when removing it.
3. I'd really like to see the channel lock pliers that will fit in the space available to lock the clamp for the tube on the throttle body from the air box. Think "needle nose pliers" for this.
4. The Supercharger Intake Tube has two vacuum fittings on the side: watch out that they don't pull out when you're trying to move the tube off the BPV and out of the way enough to remove the intercooler air horn. One of mine did pop off, but it wasn't difficult to reinstall.
5. "Be careful not to score the face of the air horn mounting surface on the studs sticking out from the intake manifold." Ahem. Getting it off was fine. Putting it back on, well, like Chad says, be careful. I was careful, but not quite perfect.

The old BPV was in pretty good shape. Definite difference in spring stiffness and the old BPV was showing about 70% more light around the circumference than the DT BPV.

I don't feel much change in response with my 2006 S. I'll have to drive her some more before I can really tell, but there is no big "Aha!" or "night and day" difference. I did reset the ECU, as recommended and I'll see how it feels after a couple hundred miles. Being at 7k ft above sea level means considerably less O2 and the performance does suffer some. I intend to put a 15% pulley on and will service the S/C and check all the connex then.

All in all, not a bad install. My first real wrenching on the MINI (I had replaced the power steering pump fan, but that doesn't count. The most difficult part of that was getting her jacked up).

I'm glad I did it. DT got the part to me very efficiently and the instructions were pretty thorough. I'll probably get my Pulley Kit from DT and my Control Arm Bushings.

Here's a Before and After pic:

 

Good-day,

I'm seriously thinking about installing a DT bypass valve on my '03 MCS.
After looking at the install directions, decided to have an experienced shop
do the install.
I was surprised that you didn't notice any real change after your install.
Most people have reported a significant increase in throttle response.
Have your impressions changed?

 

i think maybe the big "a- has" come from replacing a tired or broken bpv...i gained 4 lbs of boost at full throttle after the install, so that really says to me that mine had degraded over time and performance decreased slowly...as far as replacing a "good" valve, hopefully others can chime in

 

Rod - believe you are correct!
My boost is good, with my mods I think I'm to expect 15 lbs. or so and saw that right after installing my scangauge a month ago. Need to do some more testing at wot.

I was thinking that it wouldn't hurt in the long run to upgrade to a stronger spring and better closing valve. Plus a yo-yo solution which I think is starting to come into play. Then again possibly reading too many posts on Nam!

 

Hi, I think my BPV was in rather good shape, hence no diff in performance. My car is a 2006 S w/84k and I don't think the PO's drove her very hard.
Do you mind sharing what the shop charged for the install?
thanks!

 

I haven't had the install done yet. The shops I'm looking at are a
5 hour drive for me, one due east other west. One of the disadvantages of living in the sticks.

Detroit Tuned have stated 1 hour install (generally) @ 80/hr.

The shop in Montreal says 1.5 hours @ 72/hr(if they supply parts) or
90/hr if I supply parts! The part in Montreal if supplied will cost me an
additional $100 for shipping, duty and brokerage fees!!!
Plus, they haven't done one for a couple of years. At least they,re honest.

So, I think I'll going the Detroit Tuned way. I'm very confident they know what they're doing. Plus the part remains $125

 

Hey Eggburp! Get 'er done yet?

 

Yup! Took the 5 1/2 drive Thursday by Sarnia way. Boring drive, major highways all the way. I had a 5:30 p.m. appointment but decided to arrive early to allow the engine to cool. Chad wasn't too busy and took me in early.

I decided on adding my Alta IC boots (red), a red Samco intake tube plus the DT bypass. I was out of the shop by 6 PM!
Chad was very nice to deal with, I was able to watch the work, chatting about my Mini, Minis in general and future projects!

My bypass value was in good shape but you could see the better closing of the DT valve plus feel the stronger spring. The added "bling" of red silicon is pretty cool too!

I would strongly recommend Detroit Tuned for anyone considering any Mini work. Super clean shop, they only do Minis, don't try to oversell and helpful in giving free advice.

I was charged a grand total of $60 labour! Chad charged for 3/4 hour of labour, less than the 1 hour install time quoted and he added the Alta boots and Intake tube. Definitely took at least an hour!!!!!!

I'm a happy camper. Unfortunately, it rained all the way home so couldn't really get into any real spirited driving, plus I need a car wash!