Hello all,
I am looking to spice up my Mini over the coming summer with some beefy mods, but before I bolt everything up I want some opinions.

1. Quicksilver R56 or Alta Downpipe and Muffler?

• I have heard the Quicksilver adds about 35BHP and the Alta can add up to 22BHP with the combo kit, but what do you think? Also I live in IL, so I want it to be legal and not too noisy, but have that nice tiger purr to it.

2. How is the Alta Accessport?

• I have heard nothing bad about the Alta Access port and was thinking about using it to tune up, after I do all the hard mods below. Anyone had any really bad times with it or damnaged parts on your Mini?

3. Defenders of Speed Water-To-Air Intercooler?

• I already have the DOS CAI and it really sounds and works great, but what are everyone's thoughts on the Water-To-Air?

4. The SprintBooster....

• By what I have on paper here, I could be adding about 150lb/ft and 100BHP to the car. If I add a Sprintbooster, will that add anything to it besides more throttle responce? Also should I keep the delay to keep from "torquing" the entire front of my Mini or damaging the crankshaft...etc

5. What do you think of this list of Mods working togather, and do you have an suggestions or additions?

1. DOS Water-To-Air
2. Quicksilver R56 Exhaust
3. Titanium Turbo Cooler with a Peilter/TEC and Fan Cooler attached to air cool the turbo
4. Alta Accessport on 93 Shell V-Power
5. BSH Dual Tap Boost Port + BSH Oil Catch Can
6. DOS CAI
7. Automatic Transmission (Just FYI)
8. Sprint Booster
9. New R56 Fuel pump (Replaced the one on Recall) (Also FYI if you have R56 fuel or half power engine problems, learned this from a BMW Dealer that they are all on Recall)
10. Some kind of Water to Air thermal electric intake cooler. TEC Most likely (The Goal is to supercool the ambiant air and add more O2 to it, increasing the power of the Mini.
11. Plasma direct IGN + Ground upgrade.

Appreciate your time and comments. Try to keep the hazing or humilation to a minimum. I have been a electronics guy my entire life, and Engines is new and exciting to me.

 

The QS definitely does not add 35 bhp, lol. But sure does sound great

 

Thanks for the feedback, I will keep that in mind! Do you think it is a good second mod to do over a chip/tune? (1st mod was a DOS CAI)

 

No catback exhaust will add much, if any, HP to the R56. You will see some power gains with a down pipe and an exhaust together.

I have the access port and there's no doubt that it will add power. If you're on a limited budget and your goal is HP, start with that.

I'm not familiar with the DoS intercooler. An intercooler won't add horsepower but it will prevent heat from robbing the car of HP by keeping it cool. I have a Helix FMIC on order.

The sprint booster sounds interesting. I don't think it adds power though. I thought it only improved throttle response. I've been interested in the SB myself too.

If you add all those mods to your car you'll definitely see some power. Most will come from the access port. Add a down pipe and you'll see even more power. The cooling parts will keep temps low so you maintain the added power when things get hot.

 

Your DoS CAI is highly popular around here and a good choice I guess, I have the NM (hot air) intake. I am satisfied with it for now... the car feels like it pulls harder and sounds amazing. As far as the QS exhaust, I got it not knowing much about what it would add or how it would sound but when I compared the published stats with everything else out there, as well as the not so bad price range - I pulled the trigger. All in all, I have not dyno'd the car yet but will be doing that soon at the RMW event in a few weeks. I'm guessing it helped a bit with the exhaust flow and maybe added 3-5 hp max, if even, without a tune. The sound is the incredible part. I absolutely love it, it brings a grin to my face every time I drive. Its very deep and throaty and you will get a little drone at the 3000+ RPM range in 5th gear on the highway, but just upshift and even out the throttle and it disappears. Aesthetically, it is very nice polished piece... the upswept dual tips look stellar. I'm sure you will love it but unless someone else posts about their proven HP increase after bolting it on, take their specs with a grain of salt. I also liked it because it is British made

 

Agreed with above, a downpipe will be my next addition.

 

I have a custom Magnaflow catback on mine. Like you mentioned before, the sound is so cool! I plan to add a down pipe sometime in the future as well. I need to save some more money. Downpipes are $$$!

 

The DOS Water-To-Air allows the loop to heal more quickly and keep the turbo cooler under load. I have an entire seperate list for just keeping that little guy alive and not raging. Here is an example of the Intercooler preformance. It also deletes most of the Turbo loop and makes it very short and quick. It is also a throttle responce increaser.

 

Oh okay, I know what you mean now. I thought it was an air cooled front mount intercooler that you were talking about.

Sounds like a good system. I've never used one but it seems to be effective based on how it works.

I really like DoS. They have great products. If I ever decided to upgrade my air intake it would the the DoS without a doubt.

 

Don't let the price steer you away. I got a whole bulkhead (with the hole required) and DOS intake on ebay for 200 bucks. They also have microfiber water filters to keep water from getting in, and also a new butterfly hidge that makes it sound like an old school ram air. I would make sure you get the water filter as a staple.

 

If you’re getting a tune, don’t waste your money on half the crap you’re trying to buy.

I promise you after 4 minis and countless tunes, you’re wasting your time. Get a good exhaust (mostly for sound, helps breathe a little), a good cold air intake (which believe it or not, the stock one with a better filter is superb to most on the market) and a tune.

All the rest of that crap is just that... crap that will probably give you problems and I promise you won’t see any performance gains from it.

But what do I know?

Mark

 

Advise is never wasted on me...ever.
I am still thinking about the water-to-air and the turbo shield just for keeping my turbo cooler. I will prob put the water-to-air off for a bit since you said that.

I will prob get the Quicksilver and the turbo heat shield and start working on making it look cooler instead. I am ruling the plasma injectors and ground out completely.

New List:
1. Quicksilver Exhaust
2. New heatshield with 120mm 150CFM fan
3. Alta Accessport
4. Sprintbooster (just for the throttle improvement)
5. Water-to-air Intercooler (Not sure if I am just going to go bigger intercooler or water yet.

Removed
-BSH Dual Tap Boost Port + BSH Oil Catch Can
-Plasma direct IGN + Ground upgrade.
-TEC Prechiller (made a test markup and too much water)

 

Orangecrush makes good sense. The BEST thing to do after getting your AP is to try and get a custom tune. There's no better way to add power than that.

Also, my advice would be to save the money on the SB until you see how the car drives with the AP. You may find you don't need it after the AP and can save some money.

People do report good things about FMICs though. Again, won't add power but will prevent heat from robbing power.

You may want to do more research on the BSH catch can. Some are saying it's a good thing to have on the R56. It won't add power though, but is more of a safety measure to keep carbon from building up. I'm trying to decide on whether it's a worthy addition myself.

 

Okay... here is my thoughts on a few things.

1) if you’re going to keep some of the stuff, the oil catch can is okay. It’s not necc. but it’s definitely better than the sprint booster.

2) you won’t need the sprint booster because the tune will take care of any throttle control issues... they (especially AP tuning) will vary the throttle response (ie. linear, super linear, etc, etc) No need for the sprint booster.

3) An intercooler doesn’t make HP. It does however keep what you have longer because it prevents heat soak. IMO unless you’re doing track days, I wouldn’t waste my money.

HTH’s,

Mark

 

So Mark,

You are saying if you were in this situation (I am in the same boat as the OP, but I do not have a list that long...haha) you would get a new intake, some kind of exhaust, and then just get it dyno tuned with the AP?

I have been going back and forth about things.

I have the DDMWorks Street Intake, and will have a custom Magnaflow catback before the Dragon this year. I was stuck between getting the AP and a custom tune with what I had done by that time. I trust your opinion, Mark, because I love your car. Haha.

 

YES... without a doubt. In my past experiences, most of the crap that gets thrown on a mini is useless. Ask Jan or anyone that dyno’s and you’ll see that even boost tubes aren’t that helpful (though I have a hotside)

First, get rid of the DDM street intake. I had one and could see immediate results from removing it. I’m running a JCW cold air intake. If I wasn’t, I either run a DOS or a stock intake with a better filter.

I then would get a tune. You choose AP or RMW. I prefer the AP because of the tool itself and user friendliness but RMW’s tunes are more aggressive. (however, I do believe you more aggressive maps are available for AP’s. It’s my understanding that AP tends to be on the conservative side to protect their customer’s engines.

As far as exhaust, a little freer flowing exhaust will help but unless you go with a converter/downpipe, I think the change is negligible.


HTH’s,

Mark


PS. Thanks for the compliment on my car.

 

What you are saying has completely changed my mind. I was thinking intercooler, boost tubes, an AP, and an exhaust. It was gonna cost me some serious $$$.

Before I got the DDMWorks, I had the stock box with a K&N panel filter. I got the DDM mainly for the noise factor, but now I wish I had just spent the extra $100 for the DoS. Haha.

I have been messaging with Jan, and he says the tunes which come with the AP would work great with my setup. He says it would just more or less fine tune the engine for my parts, which is awesome. I am not looking for huge power because my car is a daily driver. I just want it to sound fast. Haha.

 

I really like the stock air intake and am leaning towards just adding a high-flow filter. I have heard really good things about the DoS CAI though.

Have you ever used one Mark? Did you think it robbed high-end power like some CAIs are known to do?

I'm on the fence about CAIs. I may get the DoS if I think it will allow for more power with a tune above what the stock intake could provide.

 

I know several folks with the DoS. I like the setup, and think it would be the best CAI over the stock units. I think I may have to find a JCW CAI.

 

From an economical and bang for the buck, I would stick with what Laardilla removed from his car...lol.

Like I said, exhaust mostly for sound IMO. (unless you do a full exhaust, converter an all)

I have personally never tried the DOS filter but if I had to buy one, from everything I have read, that would be the one to buy if I weren’t going with the stock or JCW CAI.

The AP tuner will do you fine. It’s user friendly and the unit itself is far more useable than the Dimsport.

Now, the best of both worlds would be to have one of Jan’s tune on an AP. I would have loved for this to happen but unfortunately, I can’t get Jan to fix the problems I have with the Dimsport, let alone mess with the AP.

If you’re not tracking the car, I promise you that the AP tune from Alta will do you just fine. I’ve spent many hours on the track with Jeff’s tunes and they will haul ***.


Mark

 

For now, just get a filter with the stock box but get a tune, you’ll be smiling for days.


Mark

 

What about the muffler/restrictor MINI puts in one of the boost tubes? Is that on the hot side? I figured switching that out would benefit some.

 

The biggest benefit of the DOS CAI is the noise it makes. It basically sounds like BOV. I took my Mini to a BmW dealer to check on Recalls and he though my wastegate blew up, it was funny. More benefits of the DOS intake is the compressed air off the bulkhead and the space it frees up. Like orange is saying though, there is absolutly nothing wrong with the stock, except it doesnt have DOS logo on it....

My main focus is keeping my Mini cold for my tune. If I do a tune, I am going to push hard, and I don't want heat to be the end of my 20k investment.

 

That is the reason why I replaced that boost tube. I’m not sure how much difference it makes but in my head... I just couldn’t live with it...lol.


Mark

 

Haha. I hear ya. You just saved me a TON of money.

I have decided that I am going to finish my exhaust project. (Straight pipe from muffler to Magnaflow muffler. I just had the resonator removed and love the new tone, so the muffler may not be necessary.) I am also gonna keep the DDM for the noise factor. I am a loser I know. And finally, I am gonna use all that saved money to buy an AP. I need to talk with the folks at Alta to check out their different tunes that come on the device. I have checked their website, but it only says the usual marketing BS. Haha.