was having a convo with a fellow R53 Mini owner yesterday and he mentioned having the dealer install the JCW tune and that it made a big difference, even without 380cc injectors. I searched a bit here and can't seem to find a consensus on the JCW tune w/o the injectors. I have an 06 with a pulley, CAI, MSD coil, and exhaust. I thought the ecu could adapt itself to these mods, but would I see any benefit with the JCW tune? Thanks!

Cheers,
Jason

 

I would like to know as well and how much it costs to have a dealer do that

 

I don't know about all the dealerships but the one I work at BMW won't send us the codes for tuning anymore. Personally I'd have one of our aftermarket tuners give you a better tune. Just my 2 cents

 

My problem is that there is nobody in Ohio that does mini's

 

Not sure where you are at in Ohio but there is a thread here,
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-2013-rmw.html

where there is group of folks working to get RMW to DetroitTuned for a tune with Dyno in late summer. (No firm dates yet).

If you are not familiar with Detroit Tuned, they are a premiere MINI shop. I have taken my car there several times.

Jan is RMW. You will find many many supporters online for his work. He also tunes a lot of pro race teams. He knows his stuff.

If Detroit is too far, I hear that Louisville KY, MINIists are also trying to work up a date for Jan. (I have not confirmed this)

Lastly, I am not affiliated with anyone mentioned above and have no stake in these events.

Good Luck.

 

I have contacts detroit tuned and they told me tey don't tune anymore only premiere race cars

 

They won't be doing the tune. They would be hosting the event. Jan from RMW will be tuning. He is based in California. When he has time, he does road trips. He was at MOTD this year and just was at Helix Motorsports in Philly the first week of June.

 

The DT tuning day would be a great place to do it. Or if you have a good dyno, a remote tune is the next best thing--I have a BVH, Cam, Header, 440's, did it all with a remote tune (RMW), and it went perfectly smooth. It's the next best thing.

RMW will also be in Milwaukee June 29th.

 

Cct1 do you daily drive your mini?

 

Jason, with your mods, yes, the ECU will adapt itself, personally I wouldn't, unless it were free, while it may seem to give you a little more "pep" just remember, it was designed for the JCW kit which was not only the injectors, it also included a slightly ported head (exhaust ports) and a larger pulley than what you have (13% or so) so in reality there are quite a few difference in your air flow & fuel needs.

Basiclly I would follow some of the above advise, just wait it out until you're sure your done modding, (possibly injectors, cam and/or exhaust) or even if you are finished, wait it out to get it tuned custom, either remotely or wait for a tune get together, it will be well worth the wait, travel and or money to know it was done right.

Don't forget, tuning is all about finding the right balance for "your" car, all parts react differently on different cars, and "any" canned tune, even the factory JCW one, won't be exactly right.

 

Yes.

It's become more and more of a track toy, but I drive it on the street whenever I have the chance.

 

Exactly the type of response I was hoping for. Thanks for the advice! I'll hold off for now.

 

I was wondering I want to get a bvh but wasn't to sure how reliable it would be for daily driving

 

No issues at all on a DD, 99% of "any" issues with a BVH have had Nothing to do with daily use, honestly the only issues I can ever remember with any of the BVH's had to do with the core, not the upgrades, no matter if it were from Thmpr or Jan.

Mine went on in '07 @ 68k & isn't coming off until now @ 212k and the car was driven Every Day.

 

What was wrong with the cores? And what happened that you are taking yours off?

 

With the cores it's hard to tell, early on there were a few issues with some hidden heat / stress cracks that weren't evident until they were heated up when being used, but it didn't happen often & every one I had heard about were taken care of by the vendor, with no problem, actually now they seem to be checked better before hand and while of course anything is possible it really doesn't happen that much anymore. But as far as workmanship & the upgraded parts there hasn't been any issues that I'm aware of.

As far as mine, I have a miss & greater loss of compression in #1 so I'm running the appropriate tests & prepairing to be ready to pull it if need be.

 

Alright you talked me into it lol.. Now did you feel a great difference in performance?

 

The BVH is a huge improvement in performance. I did top notch valves/springs all the way around--the head should be more reliable than stock, it's certainly built better.

The cam I have shifts the torque curve the right, so I lose a bit down low, and gain a bit at the top (My redline is a bit higher than stock). This is the only thing that is a downside to a daily driver--I've never stalled it, but the loss of low end torque is noticeable (The gain of high end torque is even more noticeable, but that really only comes into play on the track).

If you are thinking BVH, it's time to consider a cam (If you don't hit the track a less aggressive one than what I have in would fit nicely), header, and of course larger injectors, if you want to maximize your gains. It makes a HUGE difference, it literally transforms the car.

If you're going to go this route, you're best off talking with a tuner first, it'll save you a ton of money and heartache--you might be able to hit your goals with a less parts than you think. I went the RMW route (simply because IMHO no one puts together a better complete package), but whichever way you go, talk to them first, let them know what you want specifically, and what you are using the car for, and they'll steer you in the right direction.

To do it right, so that the car is reliable, isn't cheap. But it's not a place to cut corners or take shortcuts. There is no such thing as a "budget" head; you do get what you pay for.

 

Where in Milwaukee will Jan be? I'm interested.

 

Chris Schuh's place, CS motorsports.