I am playing with the idea of tuning my 2008 Cooper S, but I am unsure of how reliable it would be after I do that. After reading countless horror stories on this forum and having to deal with the timing chain tensioner headache myself in stock form, I worry that tuning my car will yield some very negative effects on the reliability of my car.... Any tuned owners that can shine some light and give me some advice here?

 

I have an 09 R56 with about 130,000. I run a manic stage 2 tune with all the upgrades that go along with that. I drive roughly 140 miles daily to commute to work. I have not had any issues with reliability really.

 

not any less reliable then they are already i'd say

also been stage 2 tuned for about 40k miles, daily driven 100+

 

Very reliable at 175K and still getting an unbiased 37.X mpgs on Manic 2 map B. IMO, it's basically how it's driven. Timing chain (and tensioner), HPFP, thermostat leaks, turbo line failing is part of "routine" maintenance every thousands of miles to keep its integrity on these N14 engines.

 

I think the major horror stories you read about' are operator error' obviously the n14 have some flaws & problems' but majority of the problems are coming from neglect '

I have a 07's with manic stage 3 with frankenturbo ko4 - forge front mount- 3" ddm race exhaust - ddm race intake - wmw manifold - much more'
And Ive had absolutely no problem's with my n14 ' however am a crazy nut when it come's to it' !!!!I do oil changes ever 2,500 miles' am a very big maintenance nut' am constantly under the hood pocking around' checking oil checking coolant looking for leaks ' but that's just me'
Personally I think they're very reliable as long as you keep up on maintenance' however they won't last forever but that's just cars in general'

I would suggest getting all the maintenance done like timing chains carbon cleaning etc. before thinking about getting a tune' but if all that stuff is good to go I wouldn't worry about it'

 

^^ I agree with BigBoost. I have added tunes to countless N14's and 90% of them are driving the car hard everyday with out issue. The cars that had problems, are motors that were high mileage and maintenance was unknown because the car was on its 3rd, 4th, or 5th owner.
If your car is healthy and well kept, the tune won't hurt the car.

mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

What about the stock clutch life? I am on the original clutch at 53k and have heard that it doesn't last much past 60k or so.. Am I wrong?

 

08 S stock clutch was good up to 78k when i sold it, and was still strong at that point in time. Really depends on how you drive it, I did a lot of highway miles so it probably had much less wear compared to those that drive in stop n go or city traffic for 50k miles.

 

I've had my HPFP die on me at wide open throttle. 20 lbs of boost on Manic Stage 2 mean the motor went bang. It's all about the reliability of the car stock. Tuning at best will have no effect and at worst will magnify the effects of any issues you will have with the car in stock form. The Manic tune didn't destroy my engine but I'm only left to wonder how bad the situation would have been had it not been tuned. It's really just a risk vs reward game.

To answer your second question my clutch was shot when they replaced my motor but oddly it wasn't slipping so I didn't know. They replaced it with a new one, still doesn't slip. I've only heard of slipping on Stage 2+ (100 octane) and stage 3, but that's all about how you drive it.

 

107k on, what I presume to be, stock clutch (bought car with 30k miles)

but it is going to be next to get swapped sadly

 

The HPFP is kind of a shitty situation' they go out whenever they feel like' just the seal's !nothing mini could have done to prevent it'
And the clutch is another thing you can't be to up set about' it's a must when you're throwing power to it'

But all your concerns is not just a mini thing that's just a car thing!

 

On top of that mini will replace the pump for free' my dealer will just charges 115 for the diagnostics fees' then after that ever thing is taken care of ' at less that's my dealer 'b

We'll as long as you meet certain requirements'

 

FYI if the dealer warranties the pump you don't have to pay for diagnosis as that is considered part of the warranty. So if they charged you they owe you.

I've tuned hundreds of MINIs and reliability is all based on how the tune was done and if the customer ran the proper fuel and did proper maint after a tune. The most important thing is the tune is done right and not done just to make max power. We can all make a lot with adding boost and timing, but putting reliability 1st needs to be a priority.

I've got one R56 that I tuned 150k+ ago that still runs great
Also have many old R53s done years ago, highest mileage one has about 170k on the tune