Hello all,

Living in Japan, I have to say I enjoy having easy access to a lot of MINI aftermarket accessories.

On one of the more popular car community site (MinKara), the MINI Owners are raving about some thing called "earthing".
After thoroughly searching NAM forums, I found nothing, so I checked the Japanese Wikipedia, which has an entry on that term. (sorry, Japanese only)

Basically, you wire a few grounding points of the chassis to the negative pole of the car battery. The target is to have a more stable electric current, which translates into clearer audio, better light intensity, etc. It is NOT a "performance" part, but more of a "optimise what's already there" type of thing.

With all the Japanese R56 owners giving this "mod" 5 stars, and the price of the most popular kit being 12,000 Japanese Yen, I bit the bullet and ordered it.

Installation is not difficult, just somewhat time-consuming, as some of the "earthing" points are not easy to reach.

Here's my R56 MCSa engine bay after installation :

The 2 points under the fuse box were a b*tch to access, to say the least...

Now, for the "effects". Again, this does not claim to give you an extra 400hp. What I observed however is: the engine at idle is a tad "smoother" for a lack of a better word, the throttle response, especially in D mode is much less erratic (in 1st and 2nd especially), the shifts are quicker, and the lights in the cockpit are brighter (I had to re-adjust the brightness level down one notch).

All in all, nothing earth shattering (pardon the pun), but for the minimal efforts involved, quite nice results in my opinion.

My question is, as the thread's title implies : Has anyone outside of Japan ever heard of that kind of "tuning" ?

krgds

Christopher

 

I think over here it's known as "grounding" instead of "earthing" (not to be confused with ground effects kits), but one question.. Better throttle response, would that slightly decrease gas mileage like the sport button? ..and affect battery life?

awesome idea i'm gonna search for japanese minis too see what else Differently they've been doing

 

yeah here in the US its called grounding.

 

Yes, of course, "earthing" is borderline "Engrish"

But I've searched for "grounding" as well over here and found nothing of the sort.

Actually, most people reviewing this "earthing kit" on minkara (link here, sorry all in Japanese) are saying that their mileage has slightly improved in city conditions. I have not driven with the kit long enough yet to report on that front, that's why I didn't say anything about it.

What I meant by better throttle response is that I feel the engine respond quicker than before (in "D" mode on my automatic gearbox) and the gear shifts are more swift.

I don't know about you guys, but I've always hated driving in "D", but now after this modification, I can tolerate it for long trips. I always found the throttle in D mode to be sluggish and "stuttery" at low rpms...
(The "DS" mode, on the other hand, is always fun )

I wouldn't know if that mod reduces battery life, but I can't see why it should.

 

I've heard of it in the aspect of giving stereo amps better power.

 

smoke and mirrors.

Unless you have a problem with the ground this does nothing to aid in performance.

 

I think every Japanese tuner has an earthing kit. I think extra grounds do certainly help (not as much as stated I feel), but you could make that kit yourself with heavier gauge wiring for like $10. Sans the fancy colored cable sheathing, of course.

Carview has always seemed to me to be like the equivalent of Edmunds or something like that, but it's not bad. Maybe ask around on some of the MINI BBS' as well and see what they think about these kits and their experiences?

 

Read again my first post, I specifically say "this is NOT a performance part".

There is no claim of increased speed, or torque, or whatever performance-related.
I noted an increase in *brightness* in the lights of the cockpit, and a less jerky throttle at low gears/rpm on my automatic box in D mode. That's all electricity related.
I doubt people will see that much of a difference on a manual box! But for an auto box, that's my experience.

Does that hint at a problem on my car related to the standard grounding ? Yes, perhaps.

Is that smoke and mirrors ? No, I can repeatedly get the same differences in brightness and throttle when I plug/unplug this wire net from the battery.

Is it worth the price I paid ? Some would say no, as it's just wire that you can probably get for 10 bucks. But they are cut at the correct length the connectors are already in place in the right sizes, come with instructions specific to the car, and it only took me 40 minutes to install the whole thing. Worth it for me.

I appreciate all the comments, that's why I posted this in the first place!
I am simply trying to understand why this is popular here and not in the US. I am not trying to prove to the world that this is the best thing since sliced bread...

 

Oh Ya I know what that is I have a kit from SUNAUTO. http://www.sfxperformance.com/parts/sun_auto.asp
I haven't installed it in the Mini yet cause I am lazy and it takes some time to figure out where you want to put the points. I had it on my Spec V and they supposedly stabilize the voltage going through the engine. I really didn't notice to much of a difference but the windows rolled up faster and the music was clearer. If you want when I get mine put on I will take pictures and post them up. The biggest problem is that all the points connect to a box that is connected to the neg of the battery and it is like I think 8g or 6g wire so you have to drill a hole in the plastic and I don't know if I want to do that. But I will give it considerations while I am waiting for the movers to get it here. If you have any more questions just post them up.

 

Things like this are fads and can be localized, hence the popularity in Japan and the lack of popularity in the US . They can also move from one car brand or model into another. A few years ago, this was a big fad on anything with a Mitsu 4G63 or 4G63T engine. It finally died out after being repeatedly proven to have no impact to any car where the ground is correct. When I say no impact, I mean none at all. This only changed on cars where the factory ground jumpers had failed.

 

@ran-o-matic : well then that would mean this thing at least helped me isolate a potential problem with the grounding of my car!
I'll ask the dealership to check that out next time I visit them.

 

Dude the over stating over power from the companies that developed these things is what gave them a bad name. They were saying htat you could get ridiculous numbers from these things and in reality you might be lucky if you 2 to 3hp more like known but you can't deny they work cause they smooth out the electric current going through the motor and that helps take a load off other components

 

total placebo on a relatively new car, if you feel any difference, your car had a problem that should have been fixed at the dealer under warranty, or .... you're f_____ nuts.
When your battery starts to grow fuzz and you let the corrosion get into the wiring a kit like this could band-aid the situation (although you should just replace the cable-set at that point).

 

Well opinions are opinions and if you get one you get on if no then not. But If you are expecting power out this you are nuts but if you want to help ground it better and help other electrical products to work better go for it. But it is all up to you.

 

This may be of interest to the US people thinking about using a kit like this. Not sure how it would affect the European or Asian markets.

This is straight out of the MINI WDS Wiring Diagrams:

Protection of the intelligent battery sensor
CAUTION! Risk of destruction if subjected to mechanical stress.

• Do not attach any additional connections to the negative terminal of the battery.
  
• Do not modify the ground cable.
  The ground cable also carries off heat.
  
• Do not set up a connection between the IBS (intelligent battery sensor) and the sensor screw.
  
• When disconnecting the pole piece from the battery terminal, do not use force:
  
  • Do not pull on the ground cable.
    
  • Do not apply any tool under the IBS to lever out the pole piece.
    
• Do not use connections of the IBS as levers.
  
• Use a torque wrench and set the tightening torque in accordance with repair instructions.
  
• Do not slacken or tighten the sensor screw (Torx screw).
  
• Avoid contact between the IBS and ground.
  
  

So doing any of the things listed above could or may void your warranty, like connecting any other cable to the negative of you battery.

I have heard of someone who replaced teh battery in their car and when they had a problem it was diagnosed as the IBS and they were denied the warranty claim on the parts. All because the dealer did not replace the battery. BTW the battery was also the wrong type for the car but it distroyed the IBS according to the dealer.

This could be a hard thing to fight if there is a problem later.

 

You claim it did something that made the car "better" thus it supposedly increased the performance of the car. Performance is not always about power.

 

Wow! What have I started? Now all the big shots of these forums seem on a mission to prove me wrong

Geez people, can't you -read- ? I am not trying to sell the idea, I just reported my experience with something I bought!

There is no "IBS" on my R56 battery, nor is there any mention of such thing in the manual. I went for an oil change yesterday and the dealer asked me if I felt any difference in engine performance, to which I replied "no, but some electric systems seem to work better". The dealership manager didn't say anything about having voided my warranty.

I never said I knew anything about MINIs in the US... Heck I'm not even American, I'm just a guy living in Tokyo. But Schatzy seems to make a point reminding me that accessories sold here won't work on US specs MINIs.

Can't we all just share experiences and discuss them normaly? Or are these forums only US centric?

 

Well, according to your reasoning, it shouldn't make a difference in performance, thus that would mean my car had grounding problems that were "patched" by this kit I installed. I'm perfectly fine with entertaining this theory.

 

Good plan. My Clubman had a grounding issue that was fixed a while back as a warranty item. Dealer said it was a common problem.

 

Back to the original poster's point of interest. I too had heard of this but I was under the same impression that it helps for a better connection that gives the same results that the OP has seen.

I hadn't heard of it on a mini and with BMW's electrical eccentricities, I wouldn't think it would be a good thing.

Anyway Kurisu, thanks for the review....something interesting.


Mark

 

I heard that it helps with the low rpm bucking. and some of the pesky window issues.

 

Thanks for the short review of kit, have not seen them before.

 

Coming from a JDM car background i've seen these grounding kits quite often there..

and they have been proven affective...

it's similar to ignition amplifiers.. some ppl agree some ppl don't

Good grounding is always important...

some car makers just put enough to get by others don't..

in my personal experience I have benefited from the grounding kit as well.. but it was an older car..

I'm curious if the grounding kit would help with some ppls cold idle problems and such...



on a side note.. Can u tell me what the JDM mini tuning crowd is like?

is it supported by any of the big names? HKS, Trust, etc

is their any tuning garages focused on minis?

For example in the RX7 world we have RE amemiya, Knight sports, FEED, etc

how did u end up in japan? what is your occupation?

 

No the forums are not US centric although that is where most of the people are from. But there are people from Germany, England, Japan, Mexico, Canada and other places I can not remember. EDIT: i remember someone from Kuwait or United Arab Emirates somewhere.

I understand you are from Japan and that your car may or may not have the IBS. So that is why I put in the statement. "Not sure how it would affect the European or Asian markets." But I will say this the MINI WDS does not state that there is any differences on the ground cable between countries. Most (but not all) of the time the MINI WDS does cover the differences in the country specific changes.

I just wanted the US participants of this thread to understand that it could cause a problem on the US Spec Cars.

kurisu, Thanks for the review and keep them coming.

 

not true. Import tuner tested 2-3 kits about 5 years ago and each showed an improvement of 1-5hp. The reason is, the 12v system of a car runs through the grounds unlike most people believe. If you improve the grounds you improve the current flow to the computer, the ignition, the alternator ect.. This also improves mileage because the computer has once again a better signal because of better power. Stereo guys that have installed the "big 3" will also tell you that most of the time the car runs better after the install. I will be doing this to the mini when I find time but I will build my own kit with 4 gauge cable.