Ok, pic time as the site allows. I'll add more later if it limits it.

BMS clutch stop install

 

More new shtuff arriving. JCW intake & AMSoil filter, various GoBadges fun stuff, blackout trim grille set, H-Sport Competition RSB, oil change kit, & JCW puddle lights.

 

JCW air kit install. It was fairly straight-forward, but if you haven't done one and have the JCW strut bar on it will have to be loosened on one side and disconnected on the other to raise it. Otherwise you might be able to squeeze the old cover out but the new one won't go in with it in place. The AMSoil filter does seem a tad loose as I think I mentioned before but seems to sit ok so long as it's against the bottom triangle mount for the regular JCW filter. I had to take off the screw by where the filter mounts to the rubber hose in the 'lid' and apparently it didn't want to sit in place for the side without a screw when I put it back in. Why that side doesn't have a screw as well I couldn't say. So I put some duct tape over it so I could remove it later to clean the filter. So far the box vibration when the engine's running has stopped.

 

Sorry for the multiple posts, keeping the pics working.

NM Eng torque arm mount install. My bolts were surprisingly clean, just took some grunt pushes to get them moving. I used the ratchet handle to pry it back a little to swing the arm down as needed. To get it swung back into place I pushed a bit on the transmission towards the front of the car and it swung up fairly easily. Doing it this way, and without a 2 year old supervising, it would be a very quick and easy job. I was surprised 1) by their size as I'd never seen a size comparison (I thought they were slightly bigger than a silver dollar) and 2) that it was right behind the oil pan. It was done pretty easily on ramps with the parking brake on and chocks behind the rear wheels.

 

And some of the cosmetic items. Air freshener from GoBadges, grille blackout set in place, and FINALLY getting on the carbon fiber door pulls I bought for it while deployed last November (give or take). Thanks to ra2fanatic for that, I caught a side mention from him in another thread about just pulling the arm pads forward to remove them. I figured out the speaker covers from there.

I tried to put on the license plate bolt kit from GoBadges but after taking one of the bolts to Lowe's with an original screw it would seem the bolts are M6 while the screws are M5, so I'll be asking them about that. I bought some silver ones that might work as replacements if needed.

All that's left for this round are the spark plugs (have to order the socket, local MINI place doesn't sell them), install the RSB, receive & install the GFB DV+, and install the headlights I picked up today. I'm hoping to have the latter installed with pics tomorrow.

Edit: Oh yeah, and put on the Light in Sight a bit ago. Takes some getting used to but is definitely handy. Pic added.

 

Getting ready for the new headlights! Should've been a 10 minute job. So of course there's an issue. One of the lower outer bolts rusted a bit to the threaded sleeve, which proceeded to break loose from its plastic housing. With nowhere to grip it they just spun together & the bolt couldn't come out. So I had to dremel off the bolt head to get the light off then the other end so I could slide the plastic sleeve housing out. 10 minutes is now half a day plus wait time for replacements. 😛

 

Aelwulf how did you manage to install the JCW intake air box type and the Mini strut tower brace? I've been told you can't fit the aluminum strut tower brace and the JCW intake.

 

I've seen this done several times

 

Didn't do anything special. Car came with brace on it. Wound up just loosening one side & detaching the other to lift it out of the way. Swapped old intake lid for the new & re-attached & tightened the bar. Goes around the intake fine, as evidenced in one of the pics.

 

Ok, Brisk plugs are in after some confusion over spark plug socket issues. Ends up it had Denso Iridiums in it which are 6-point 5/8"/16mm rather than 12-point 14mm. Bu the Brisks I put in are the same as the Densos so it wound up being something I'd have had to deal with anyway. Bit of a pickup after, the old plugs looked toasted.

GFB DV+ is in, and in. One of the few swaps so far that went as it was supposed to. no huge difference noted so far but I don't have a lot of actual upgrades yet and don't get many chances to go WOT.

New headlights are also in. They darken the look of the front end a fair bit but brighten up a nice BRG green when the sun hits them, which is also when you can see the MINI & JCW logos in black on the side (one in each). The lights are definitely brighter and working well, just need a slight adjustment.

Carbon fiber license plate posts are on front & back after getting some M5 bolts from Lowe's. After checking GoBadge's site again winds up they do mention that the bolts may not fit, but at the bottom of the page under 'Features' and in relatively small text. They said they'd see about making it more noticeable.

I'm thinking about going mid-range on some coilovers since the ones I want are almost $5k. It'd let me replace the ones on it now that, except for maybe one, probably were on it when it was first sold and still get an upgrade.

The only part I've received that isn't on it yet is the H-Sport Comp RSB, and that's just because I haven't had a chance to get up to the auto shop on the Academy. Once I actually get a few hours on a Saturday I'll see about getting that on.

 

Previous pics of GFB DV+ install and comparison to stock pieces. These are post-install of the headlights.

 

Miscellaneous GoBadges bits (pirate air freshener, black jack glove box button & door pulls). Poorly lit cell phone picture. :p

 

Aelwulf how did you manage to get a good tight fit with the hard turbo inlet pipe? My turbo inlet port is smaller than what comes with the N18 engines (42mm compresser). As I understand it is the 2007-2010 MCS comes with the smaller turbo inlet port. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Not sure I'd be much help there, as I have a JCW vs an MCS. If memory servers the fJCW has a larger turbo than the MCS of the same year (at least 2009+ anyway). So maybe that's part of it? I didn't have any issues with fit on the pipes that I noticed. And mine's an N14 so if you have the same and are using something off an N18 there might be fitment issues. I haven't seen an N18 yet though so couldn't say.

 

How are the headlights working for you? Any bulb out errors? And, if you don't mind me asking, how much did they cost and who did you have do them?

 

Headlights are working great. They're only off adjustment by a small amount, not enough to worry about so I'll fix it when I get time one evening. I had one day where one didn't turn on at first when I started the car, but turned it off and back on and no issues since. If it were to become an issue I'd just contact the guys who did it and they'd check it out. No errors inside, they're plug & play with no lights or anything. They also have both high & low beams, unlike some aftermarket ones where you lose the high beams.

I had it done by Black Flame Customs up by Ft Collins in Colorado. They were $1,050.00. $300+ of that was the housings, they use OEM housings to ensure it fits. That was also an option I chose as I still needed to drive the car while they were doing the lights, so have spares if needed as well. I also chose to have them painted with amber delete turn signals and the plug & play custom HID conversion upgrade kit. They knocked a bit off for both military discount and for paying in cash at pickup.

So I'd guess if you had them use your current housings and just did the HID conversion it'd be somewhere between $500-700?

And yeah, I could've used the money on actual performance parts but I wanted something to help make it unique that would also be an actual upgrade.

 

As is probably evident the car has more or less been on standby as far as mods are concerned. I've been driving it daily, at least while waiting to get brakes and tires done on the motorcycle, but not much added.

It's still waiting to get the new brakes and the RSB put on. I haven't had the money to have someone else do it, or been able to get away from the family long enough to do it myself. I barely had time to do regular maintenance stuff today. :p I am probably about to order some stainless steel brake lines though to go on with the pads when they're done, in red to match the calipers.

It's been about 4k miles so did an oil change today and swapped out the spark plugs. Oil change was nothing special per se, usual new filter and Mobil 1 European. I did add a new magnetic plug. +10 HP there. :p

I put Brisk plugs in at the last oil change. I'm putting the 'stock' NGK Laser Iridium plugs in this time to see how it does. I'm pretty sure the Brisk were too cold as when I took 'em out all four had some brownish crud on the tips. I've only done a couple spark plug swaps and they've typically been blackened, so guessing this is what it looks like when they're fouled? So knock on wood the NGK's will be set. FYI for anyone tracking the old NGKs for N14 JCWs (5992s?) have been replaced with 95770s. They all came gapped about .029-0.030 so left them pre-gapped to see how they do. There seem to be mixed reviews about gapping these lower or leaving them be.

I found some carbon fiber patterned tape I'm going to try and do the trim with. I have tape to black it out but wanted something different and I saw another post where someone did this and it looked pretty decent. So we'll see. I'm hoping to get that and a couple stickers added for fun tomorrow if time and family permits.

The wife and I have embarked, if you will, on a plan to have things in place when I retire from the USAF in about four years so as not to need a regular job. So that's also taking extra time and a bit of any 'free' funds at the moment. But knock on wood, if things continue as they have, in a year or so that'll repay in dividends and the fun can continue. But I still intend to do a bit here & there along the way.

Someone had asked before, although possibly in a different thread, about the Brisk plugs. They're the QR12LS or something really close to that. I'll still double-check but that should be enough info to whittle down the options.

 

Grzld, how do you like your Battle tune? I think so far you & ra2fanatic are the only folks I know of with them. Manic seems to be getting really popular from what I've been hearing, with a couple of folks in particular popping up in comments. I was planning to get a Battle tune but I've heard about zilch about it aside from ra2fanatic. Any info would be appreciated.

 

Beltline blackout done. I had a roll of black tape, but saw an instance of using carbon fiber tape. So used that instead.

 

I like that look. Where did you get the carbon fiber tape? I might do that to mine.

 

Think it was O'Reilly's. There or Autozone. It's in the striping/tape section. Easy to find, but each store in town only had one in stock. A roll is about $12, but should have more than enough for a beltline.

 

I might do that once the weather cools off.

 

I'm very happy with it! I'm going to a dyno one of these days to get my A/F's mapped. That way I can get my tune adjusted accordingly. I think I'm running a little rich. But all is good.

That being said. If I were to do it again, I would probably opt for the Manic Tune. Simply for the lower engine coolant temp and ability to switch Maps on the fly with the SPS switch. The only thing that I don't like about Manic is if you visit a dealer for whatever reason and they have to reprogram your ECU that wipes out your tune and you have to get it reloaded. Manic does update your ECU when you get the tune, so the odds of that happening are slim. But its still possible.

 

Belated but thanks for the reply. I'm leaning more & more in that direction, especially since a guy named Mario seems to have a rep for doing the Manic tunes well and tends to pipe up in discussions on some of the FB MINI pages. I see/hear very little from the BattleTune folks. :/

Had to put the suspension mentioned above on hold again unfortunately so that's still pending. BUT...with this tax return Corsair is finally getting new tires. I'm leaning towards the new Continental ExtremeContact DWS06s (I think it is). If not then the Michelin A/S 3s.

Corsair's clutch has also gone downhill fairly rapidly in the last 2-3 months. It's gone from some slight slipping to almost constant slipping, 'Chewbacca' noises in first and occasionally other gears, and every so often a burnt smell. So that's looking at getting replaced. I can get a discount on an OS Giken clutch but I've been reading those are pretty harsh in traffic/commuting situations and since Corsair is my daily driver that'd be every day. So I'm seriously leaning towards JMTC's Stage 2 with the lightened steel single mass flywheel. I'm not sure which of their two Stage 2s yet. I have an e-mail to Arric for his opinion on best option between the two.

Aside from that I should be replacing the battery (which is likely the same one from when it was first bought in 2009 and is causing some phantom headlight error lights when there's no issue with the headlights) and possibly some software updates. I'm disappointed the RSB is still in the garage, need to get that on ASAP but resources got tight quick in regards to both time and money. With the MINI items we also have to get new tires on the truck, snow tires on the minivan, and new tires and brakes on the motorcycle. Might end up selling the truck but will be a bit yet until it's in the black. Until then...

More to be posted as things happen.

Edit: Talking to the guy with the Gikens apparently they now have a GTS version, along with the GT and STR. When I asked about the harshness issue a lot of Giken folks are reporting in commuter-type traffic for daily drivers he recommended the GTS. So it's pretty close between the JMTC Stage 2 and the OS Giken GTS. Anyone have pros or cons specifically on those? Giken is driven more, but I haven't seen anything yet on the GTS specifically so to me the JMTC has more reporting.

 

Ok folks, been a bit but figured I'd toss out an update. Corsair's clutch & flywheel started going out back around early November. I left Sport mode off and limited driving as much as I could but it got pretty bad by early January so I parked him and just drove the truck.

I finally got a new clutch kit ordered from Arric at JMTC last week. We talked on e-mail and both agreed the Stage 2 was probably best for where I'm at and what I'd like to do down the road. So I ordered that one (black +15% Valeo clutch with the lightened steel single mass flywheel conversion, and installation kit). All in all it would've been about $1,350-1400 with the kit, but he also was a sport and gave me a 5% military discount. So the whole thing was just a hair over $1,300. I like that they back the parts, with a statement on the site to contact them if the parts fail and they'll make it right. I hope I never have to test it, but it's a promising claim. All in all it took about a week to ten days from order/payment to get the clutch/flywheel made/put together and shipped to me. So pretty quick turnaround.

At the moment it seems there's really only one place in town to take MINIs now, but they're a good shop. The service manager gave me a bit of a discount as well, plus $50 off labor since as much as both of us tried we couldn't get the warranty company to cover the flywheel (despite it being listed in both the contract and the brochure-I'll be visiting the Legal office about that). Labor was about $950.

So all in all a Stage 2 clutch and what should be better flywheel ran me around $2,250. You can get a clutch cheaper, but not much beyond an OEM-level Valeo or similar and I doubt with the support claim Arric has.

Apparently my water pump was also leaking considerably. The warranty company did agree to cover that so I only paid a $200 deductible and they covered the other $430 or whatnot. I also had the battery replaced as it was the original 2009 and after the cold this winter finally began refusing to hold a charge. Another $250, but about average-ish for the full reprogramming, etc. to let it charge right. If it holds anywhere near the original the extra money for programming should be worth it.

Now he 'just' needs some software updates, a walnut blast (apparently the carbon is starting to make two cylinders misfire), an O2 sensor, tires, and wiper blades. Then it's all fun stuff from there.

Pics of the clutch bits below. The clutch came assembled and I was on the clock to get it to the shop so didn't take it apart, and forgot to get one of the back with the flywheel. Sorry. :/

So far the pedal is definitely lighter/easier than it was, and grabs a lot quicker than it used to.





Installation kit. This punched a hole in the side of the box, but nothing was damaged. Arric said he'll start putting more packing in it.





Top of the shipped box. The box was straining from shipping with the weight, but with the extra tape put on held up well.





The box was probably 40-50 pounds. The flywheel is lightened steel, but still 30 pounds vs the stock-ish 36 pounds.





They included the 'tool' with the clutch.





Top of the Valeo clutch. I didn't see any scratches or damage to teeth, etc. The back of the flywheel was smooth and looked to be good, from the little I know.