This morning I got the bung added to the header, allowing for the addition of the new wide band sensor.

Last week my son and I installed the gauge, cup, bracket, tapped electrical, mounted the PLX brain and ran the sensor cable to the engine bay. So today it was simply a matter of screwing in the sensor and connecting the sensor cables.



Having done a boost gauge previously, we were familiar with what needed to be done from a gauge addition point of view so it went easily and quickly.

Lively little sucker! Besides being educational, it clearly bumps up interior entertainment.

 

Nicely done Bart. How does this(PLX) compare to others? Innovate? AEM? etc???

 

PLX separates the gauge from the brain, so does innovative if I recall but AEM does not. The funny thing is that I put it in a gauge cup so that point is rather immaterial . I bought it because PLX said that I could avoid adding a bung by having the new sensor support the gauge and the ECU. Since this was a father and son project, and we do not know how to weld nor do we have the equipment, I thought this was the way to go. I thought that you simply taped the old harness to the new harness. NOooo, it requires adding a resistor and some other nonsense - so I added a bung making this point immaterial.

Conclusion - add bung, buy the gauge you can afford and like the way it looks! I think any of the brands you mention are worth consideration.

I do like the gauge - its almost distracting because it instantaneous and it has the lights around the ring - green, yellow and red besides the center LEDs. In cabin entertainment has gone up two fold in my mini.

The whole set-up was around 250 via ebay.
the bung & install was 26.50 (stainless steel).

 

Thanks Bart. The information that you gave me is what I was looking for.

 

My pleasure. I think the minimal gauge depth like PLX and Innovative can be real advantageous but in my case didn't help because it looked unbalanced to my boost gauge so I put it in a cup. The kit came very complete, well packaged and nicely made. I would assume innovative i & AEM are no less. The AEM is a single piece requiring a cup = less flexibility perhaps for some applications. One thing that made me look twice at AEM is their matching true boost gauge that allows you to program the max boost so you get max needle action. The gauge is designed really for a turbo car w/ lots of other features one would not use for a SC and it was like 300 dollars. Since I already had a boost gauge, I passed but those two gauges together would look awesome.

I think any of the brands would be fine and the decision falls more on looks and price. If you can get a deal on any of them I would go that route.

What have I learned so far? That while my LDG tune did lean me out, I'm still a little too rich near redline. While tuners like LDG and RMW have figured out how to make the car less pig rich, they all still have a richness dip just before redline.

 

So, does the richness at the end of the RPMs mean - it is there for safety so someone does not blow their engine?

 

I HAVE NO CLUE WHY BMW MAKES THE MINI RUN PIG RICH.

 

I know one thing, you can tune the Hell out of our cars now...

 

Its amazing - when I first joined Nam a couple of years back, 200 hp was the threshold number we were all chasing for level 1 mods. Today that number is easily broken w/ level 1 mods and a good tune. It is clear and proven that a tune is a must for those doing engine development.

Back then if you sought a tune, your only choice was a generic tune. Today custom tunes are being delivered for about the same price as a generic.

We have come a long way

 

It is amazing how much you can learn in a few years and how technology can change...

I found a great deal on a Innovate XD-16. The guy is even holding it for me until I can save the money...I cannot wait(about a month)