Hello everyone I'm new to the mini, I have an 04 Mini Cooper S, I have had it a month it's awesome I love it, just got the one ball exhaust it's sounds good I'm happy with it, I was wondering what other mods I should get like i said I'm new to this so all advice is welcome thank you

 

Most people do the 15% smaller SC pulley with colder plugs next. Then maybe an intake.
Make sure you have a reserve of cash to fix things when they go bad. You have a fairly high maintenance machine. I suggest you drive it for at least 6 months, then decide on mods.

 

Alright thanks. I had heard that I should change my pulley just wasn't sure what size I should go with

 

This depends on what you're going to do with the car. Most say, for a daily driver, go 17%, for a track car go 15%...I got the 15 and am happy with it but I keep wondering "what if" about the 17....

 

It's my daily driver but of course I love the extra power so ya that's something I have to consider, what did you have to change to put the pulley on? Or were you able to just change the pulley by itself ?

 

Look at your pulley closely...
Many cars have them....and they are left on when the car is sold....the pulley is one of tge few mods that can't be readily undone to sell a car...
Oem pulley is a black steel pulley, hot pressed on, no boltholes. 99% of reduction pullies are cnc machined metal...with 3 bolt holes most common, colours varry.

 

There are many detailed writeups online of the proper procedure of changing the pulley. You will need mini-specific puller and possibly a belt tensioner tool if you don't want a world of headaches.

Also, +1 to what Zippy said.

 

Talking about pulleys, there's the another 1 you need to replace. If you still have the OEM CRANK PULLEY, change it to an ATI or fluid type damper. Way has a 2% overdrive ATI that works like a charger reduction pulley. The OEM damper fails w/o warning.

 

I would just change it when the oem fails and take the time to save money for the ATI because some of us can't just go out and drop $500 for the pulley, bolt, seal, and tensioner tool.

 

Ya that's very true, hey I had another question hopefully someone could answer it, I was told that I could cut a hole in my intake air box and it would help?

 

I did something like that on my Jetta by cutting entire bottom out of my airbox and it seemed to improve throttle response and make it slightly louder. On the Mini I would recommend cutting a hole in the bottom section of the aribox on the backside to allow air flowing into the cowl to enter the airbox better. Realistically you should just get an aftermarket intake like from Alta, DDM, or Cravenspeed

 

+1 mine has this hole not sure how much it helps but it likely helps keep intake temps marginally lower.

 

What mods should be done now? Basic maintenance. I wouldn't add another performance part without going through the car with a fine tooth comb. As Aspen said, these are high maintenance machines, and there's a good chance that a domino effect will arise if nothing is done. Before getting a smaller pulley for the supercharger, you might want the charger serviced. No need buying parts of that's going out the door, and will cost you anywhere from $350 to $1500!!

Check all the tech articles, and stickies on here, will give you great insight on what to look at and replace, and how to do it.

I'd suggest supercharger inspection/coolant system flush and replacement, Power steering fan inspection/replacement, Power steering fluid replacement, Passenger side upper engine mount/replacement, coolant tank inspection, fuel filter replacement, transmission fluid replacement, C.V. axle inspection, Coil Pack inspection/tune up, and a few other things needed going over.

Hate to say it, but my philosophy is, unless the person has all the receipts of what was done to the car, and when, always assume it was never done, so do something about it before it fails.

After that, mod away

 

Hey thanks for the comment, makes sense what your saying I will definitely get all those things checked before I mod