Anyone know of a good place (or places) to get a pulley installed and dyno tuning afterwards?

TIA

 

I bought my pulley direct from Alta and MINI Yaletown installed it for me when I had my car in for regular service. Since I also brought my own parts (lower temp spark plugs, shorter belt) and didn't need to buy them from the dealer at dealer prices, my overall service was actually less expensive than if I had just paid for the entire Inspection 2 service.

I've noticed both MINI dealers in Vancouver are mod friendly.

 

Thanks Beken. My car actually came from Yaletown Mini. Do you know how much time they charged for the pulley replacement and did they say anything about voiding the warranty?

 

2006, your car should be nearing end of warranty anyways. Installing the pulley (especially by MINI service) does not void the warranty except if said pulley was what damaged your car. It is unlikely since a 15% reduction is not a whole lot different than the JCW pulley. At end of warranty, I had a full inspection done. MINI Yaletown even checked my car for any issues that seemed common amongst the R53 MINIs and covered them under warranty. Something such as the lubricating the sunroof rails was covered under warranty. Make sure your upper engine mount is not leaking. That's about the only thing I can think of that broke about a year after the warranty on my car expired. It wasn't very expensive but I was rather annoyed that it went when it did. It had nothing to do with the mods, however. My car's power is still below that of the full blown JCW cars so the pulley install would not have affected the warranty on it if it was still in effect. BTW.....after running 2 years post warranty, servicing my car has cost less than if I had bought an extended warranty, so in my case, it was a good thing I didn't buy an extended warranty. Others might consider getting extended warranty as an insurance policy against a catastrophic breakdown.

MINI Yaletown also warrants their work so it should be all up to MINI specification if they do the mods for you. In fact, they have, in the past, offered up mod packages for club members.

I believe a pulley install takes about an hour. But since they are replacing the belt with inspection 2 anyways, the install of the pulley on my car was essentially free - buried in the labor cost of Inspection 2. Bring your own shortened belt as the JCW belt is fairly expensive. The NAPA 60535 works well. Also, if you're installing a pulley, you should consider cooler temp spark plugs. The JCW plugs are also a lot less expensive if you bring them yourself.

The risk you take with bringing your own stuff is if they are faulty, MY can't warrant the parts. You have to bring them back to where you got them and means more labour charges to de-install them.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the very detailed response. Much appreciated.
Yes, I think my car's warranty is close to expiring - I believe Sept. Great idea on getting an inspection done prior to warranty expiring. I'll order the Alta pulley soon and take it to YM.

I'm guessing YM doesn't do tuning. Do you know anywhere close by that does tuning and have you considered getting that done for your car? I only plan to get a CAI and pulley and I know a lot of people say it's not necessary to mod the software but can be beneficial.

 

I have only the CAI and pulley but decided to get the lower temp sparkplugs also. I have to climb Royal Oak or Gilley or Nelson (south slope of Burnaby) on my daily commute and I usually do it in a spirited way. I noticed a slight knock with the stock temp plugs.

You realize, of course our MINIs are designed with a fine balance in mind. Once you've added all that power, you'll consider some suspension or stopping upgrades. It's never going to end.

You probably should only mod the software once after you've done everything you intend because it does get quite expensive with dyno time each time you do a custom tune.

Alternatively, though not an exact custom tune, installing a 15% pulley, plugs, CAI and exhaust, you can ask MINI Yaletown to install the JCW software and you would be pretty close to JCW spec.

I am considering a custom tune but only if I can get WAF (wife acceptance factor) for them. I haven't been able to cost justify it yet, nor does my driving style require it.

I don't know who locally does it, but I hear Garage5 has modded a few MINIs in the past. Bishops in N. Van has attempted to get RMW here but have not succeeded. A few of the VMCC members have taken their cars to Seattle when Jan of RMW was up there. Watch the PSMINI forums.

Good luck and hope to see your car around.

 

I actually grew up around the southslope so I know those roads well. I assume you're talking about the stretch of those roads upwards from SE Marine Drive.

I don't plan on doing any performance mods other than pulley, CAI, and the plugs. For me, I like the quietness of the stock exhaust and therefore plan to leave that alone.

I don't think garage 5 has a dyno but I could be wrong. Although I haven't called yet, I'm going to check if Miller Performance in Abbotsford does tuning for Minis. They specialize in BMW tuning so I imagine they might work on Minis as well.

I totally hear you on the WAF thing Maybe if the timing is right, we can get a volume discount on tuning if we talk to the same tuner.

 

I agree 100% with Beken. I had Yaletown do my pulley and belt. Then went back and had the JCW exhaust done. The JCW is not much louder but does have a bit more burble.
Yaletown can load the JCW tune on which does help abit with the pulley upgrade.
I was able to swing a custom tune with from Jan (RMW) when he came to Tacoma. My results were 188hp and 167 torques (this puts it similar to a factory JCW). The power is smoother and Jan also revised the throttle tip-in and backed off the traction control a bit so it does not intervene as quickly.

No matter what you do you will enjoy the MINI.