I am only interested in the ECU flash for my 2007 MCS...

Thoughts on "parting out" the JCW Stage 1 Kit?

• purchase kit at Morristown Mini: $1680
• sell exhaust $500 (price on this board for new)
• sell intake $325? ($380 at Morristown)
• sell badges $100 (I want sleeper not bling)

That would leave me paying $750 plus 1.0 hrs. labour ($100?) = $850 for a MINI-approved ECU reflash. This assumes the dealer would let me NOT install exhaust, intake and badges, and still warranty the car.

Thoughts on is it worth it?

• immediate performance benefit? any guesses on HP or 0-60 gains?
• future performance benefits (i.e., more powerful exhaust and intakes from non-OEM manufacturer (e.g., Alta)

I would not currently undertake any mods that would void warranty - obviously once warranty is over you replace OEM parts with the best available after-market.

Thanks,

Tim

 

Well, I'm not sure what the benefits of an ECU reflash without any of the associated hardware changes would be, but I'd have to assume that they're going to be significantly less than the advertised gains of the full JCW Stage 1 package (19hp, I think?).

As for the warranty, keep in mind that adding aftermarket parts doesn't void your entire warranty.

 

Almost certainly the ECU flash is tuned for the included hardware and not for a stock MCS. It's possible you not only won't get benefit, but could end up worse off. Not to mention a dealer might not even do the flash without the installed Stage 1 kit (and may even be prevented from doing so by MINI).

 

I'd bet that 95% of the performance enhancement comes from the ECU flash.

I'd say go for it if they'll let you do it. I highly doubt it would hurt performance. When I installed the intercooler and intake i barely noticed a difference. As soon as i put the chip on, it became a whole different beast.

 

My main interest is HP/dollar spent. So when I paid $40 for a K&N Filter Replacement for my WRXes and got 4 BPH, I spent $10/HP - a great deal!

Paying $2,000 for a JCW Stage I kit and getting 19 horse does not seem so great to me ($100/HP).

From my reading of WRX chips and reflashes (e.g., Cobb) it seems that the a conservative "good" reflash can give decent "general" benefits through fuel map, ignition, etc. even on stock models, although obviously benefits would be greater on a "custom" tune - which is what the MINI reflash is. Not installing the JCW exhause and intake would mean that the reflash would NOT be a custom tune.

My thoughts (based on general reading) are (please correct me that the JCW exhaust will give about 5 HP, the intake another 3-4 (in combo with exhaust) and that the reflash will the rest of the 19 HP benefit (another 10-11 HP in combo with exhaust + intake); BUT that the changes the reflash does to ECU will probably give 8-10 HP WITHOUT the intake and exhaust (maybe with a $40 K&N filter.

I guess I would still be paying a steep $75/HP, but after my OEM exhaust lives out the rest of its natural life, I could at that point increase airflow and benefit from the reflash with a more aggressive exhaust.

I guess your point that the reflash without mods might lower performance is valid - for the WRXes it turned out that some of the cold air intakes (AEM?) actually hurt not helped performance.

Other thoughts?

 

Motormouth - that's what I would hope might be the case.

Then the challenge is to find a LOGICAL service person:

"I will pay you to install the parts. The I want to pay you (or someone else) to UNINSTALL the exhaust and intake; OR could we save ourselves some time and just keep the intake and exhaust in the boxes they came in..."