I have done some searching and found that others, like me, would like to have their idle speed increased from factory. My car idles at about 700 rpm when hot, sometimes as low as 650. It rattles a little which goes away by 850. Apparently you can have it bumped up with a $10K scan tool. Has anyone explored other ideas? Here are some of mine:

1. drill a small hole in the throttle plate. I think I could easily plug it with epoxy if it doesn't work. But probably not easily adjustable.

2. Drill a hole in the intake after the throttle plate.

3. Find a vacuum hose and put a Gillis or needle valve on it. In all cases

4. Make some sort of adjustable bump stop at the pedal.

5. Make the ECU think the AC is on all the time. How would I do this?

For 1,2 and 3 I think the ECU would try to restore the idle and throw a code if it couldn't.

Any other ideas?

 

Anyone who can do a tune for you can raise the idle speed the correct way. If you try to trick it, the computer will just fight you, and neither you nor the computer will get what you want.

 

You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find that you get what you need.

I just looked at my pedal and I think I could make an adjustable stop for it. I wonder, however, if as you suggest, I will get an error code if the idle can never drop to what the computer wants to see.

 

The ECU will look at the pedal and, if it is above a certain value, not go into idle speed control. What this means to you is that it will not actively target a specific speed, so the pedal will have to be set such that it idles how you want when hot, but when cold it may not be right. It also means that the idle speed won't respond to load changes and may bog or bounce up as the alternator, AC, and whatnot change their loads on the engine. You'll also see a fuel economy hit, and temps may creep up in bad traffic. If this is a worthwhile compromise, then the cons may be outweighed by the pros for you.

 

Were are you at? Is there a shop close to you that can change the program for you? This is a service that we could provide. The idea's you can up with are not going to work correctly. it's best to do it correctly and while it might be a bit of a drive to find the right shop to do it, your going to have a much better finished product with a low cost. We are in Detroit area and will be in NC the first week of May.

 

^ This is what I was referring to in my first response, haha

 

I am in Sacramento. I know of a shop that specializes in Minis near here. I am loathe to take any of my cars to a shop (this 2007 is about 30 years newer than the average age of my fleet, haha), but maybe I will ask them if they can do it.

 

I think my AC idea is the one most likely not to cause ECU issues. What harm would there be in the ECU thinking the AC is on all the time?

 

I get it, people hate to take it to any shop and always want to do it them self. but these cars require a computer to talk to them to even start to figure out what might be wrong. It's very easy to bump the idle speed up with it. just let them do it and call it a day. Do things like brakes and wheel bearings, but the computer stuff is you need to by it or let someone do it for you.

 

Well, it might be the second least likely to cause problems. The solution that is the MOST likely to not cause problems is to change a single curve in the ECU. I'd wager that any of the tuners would sell you a discounted flash since it doesn't take any dyno tuning or proprietary knowledge. If you value the time you'd spend doing a hackjob on it, then the flash is cheaper.

 

Here in CA shops are not too keen on doing things like this. I just called the expert shop in this area and they said they would not bump up the idle because of emissions reasons.

 

Passing smog is a whole 'nother beast. Since the hot idle is spec'd for your car already, anything above that - through a tune or otherwise - will technically fail you if your inspector sticks to the rules.

Here's a different approach: fix the rattle instead? With your car's age, it could just be that the engine mounts are getting sloppy or something else has worn down. Fixing that could be all you need. Or, ya know, just turn up the radio

 

Will do!

But the guy at the shop told me to try some heavier weight oil first. What do you think about that? He said 5-40 but he would go as high as 20-50 in a Motul. I was thinking I would try some 5-40. He said avoid Mobil 1. Is this a motor that needs ZDDP or Zinc?

 

 

It doesn't work predictably. I adjusted it this morning on my way to work. It was set at about 900 but it jumped to 3000 when I shifted. I might try again, by bolting a metal tab to the pedal up higher and making that the point where the adjusting screw stops it. I think there is too much leverage on the system at that location on the pedal.

 

Every reason why an ECU tries to control idle speed is a reason why this will be unpredictable. I worked with race motors than occasionally had no idle control, and you'd just have to set it so it idled too high when hot. It didn't matter though race cars don't idle much. I had a customer once dead set on trying to control idle with the spark timing which can be done within limit. Just to make him happy, I demonstrated how bright red the headers get when you pull out enough spark to idle at 800rpm when the throttle is set up to idle when cold. After seeing the headers, he let me finally set the hot idle a bit higher, haha.

 

I hope you gizmo doesn't cause a throttle jam.

I think you are playing with fire.

 

Get a Schwaben scan tool. I just reset my idle speed from 700 to 750 no problem.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben...hoC8YYQAvD_BwE

 

Wow that looks awesome! I think that's what I'll do!

 

I wonder if this will work?
Creator C110 OBDII/EOBD Scanner for BMW Airbag ABS Engine Fault Code Reader OBD2. On ebay for $43 shipped

 

 

How about this? We have these at the high school where I teach math.

 

Maybe but it may not have the mini specific coding.

 

I think at least one of them does. What features or words am I looking for? Do I need it to adjust adaptations?

 

This is where I adjusted mine, just get the Schwaben you will be glad you did. ECS has them on sale sometimes. I got mine for $175.