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SO....Nobody makes a VIABLE r53 replacement piston for street use other than MINI?
I've looked, read many different threads on many different forums.... searched and searched.
It seems that no one makes a Viable, non factory MINI, replacement piston for the R53 engine that will last 150,000 miles plus with ZERO piston slap?
Seems strange.
By viable... I mean one that is NOT a 2618 Alloy piston.
A piston that is eutectic or hypereutic... forged or cast.
Weisco.... NO
Mahle.... NO
JE.... NO
CP... NO
What gives? Or have I missed something.
Also... with all of the claims on the web/forums/etc... I see no proof that the factory R53 pistons are cast or forged... with any kind of documentation, I HOPE I've missed something and that info is actually out there somewhere with some kind of documentation to back it up. I just cant find it.
IMO... If I'm detonating enough with a strong street driven, low-boost (less than 16% overdrive pulley/stock-balancer) car that I NEED 2618.... I'm not doing something right.. and the tradeoffs to run a 2618 alloy is not worth it to me.
I would have thought that one of the suppliers on here OUT, Way, ECS, Pelican would have contracted with one of the piston houses to make a high silicon (12%-ish)... they would seem to sell well with great characteristics for all but the super high boosted racers out there.
These pistons are CRAZY expensive from any supplier, MINI or Aftermarket !
Am I wrong... does a eutectic/4032 piston exist for this motor in a non OEM piston?? (sincere question)
I would have thought that one of the suppliers on here OUT, Way, ECS, Pelican would have contracted with one of the piston houses to make a high silicon (12%-ish)... they would seem to sell well
No, it wouldn't sell well. The market is way too small for an aftermarket company to be interested.
If you are detonating....you need more fuel octane and/or a better tune (less timing) not a better piston. Hyperutectic pistons don't like detonation any more than cast pistons do. For enough money, any of the big name piston manufacturers will custom make you any piston you want.....but its going to cost you.
But with the factory MINI pistons working so we'll for everyone......I'd say fix your detonation issues, and they will work great for a long time. Plenty of guys out there with 200k+ miles on there minis with no issues.
No Deto Issues here. But one of the big reasons touted for using 2618-alloy forged pistons (readily avail) is that they are tough and can handle deto incidents.
I have also seen a lot of well well cared for minis go more than 200K.. and many that did not make the century mark, even with good care.
Though, IMO, demand is there for a high silicon piston for rebuilders that is as good as the OE offering.... based on just how many used pistons and rods are for sale.
The mark up on pistons that would be factory-replacements is high enough, IMO, to justify production.
With the youngest of the BMW-MINI's hitting the 17 year-old markets... and people junking their cars because rebuilds are so expensive... maybe it is time to see these a silicon forged piston offered. The parts counter guy at a local MINI dealer said that they are seeing a steady increase in sales of replacement remanufactured engines for these cars in the last couple of years... so people are keeping them.
I see plenty of offerings out there in quasi-affordable 2618 forged race pistons from the above mentioned mfgs... but really nothing in a eutectic or hyper forged or cast.
I'll be contacting some suppliers this week that offer both 4032-alloy and 2618-alloy pistons to see if they have a workable 4032 raw-forging to cut this piston from.
Done this many times with SBC and even some pretty oddball engine builds in the past.
At $1200+ per set of OE-MINI pistons... there is room for entry.... and in this day and age of CNC... there really is not much complex tooling or design cost as good mfgs like Weisco, CP, JE, etc all offer 4032 in their lineup. I see some of the aftermarket R56 pistons offered in silicon alloy though.
On a 100K motor...if I'm opening it up... and even doing rings... for me... no sense in not bringing it to new or better spec with new clean/bore/pistons.... the factory price is out of control though... and the aftermarket seems to need improvement to make a piston that will go 200k like Ian mentioned above.
hmm....
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Last edited by mountainhorse; Jan 13, 2019 at 11:17 AM.
Easy answer, order a billet set. There are a few companies that offer the service. They'll cost more than shelf units, naturally, but you will get what you want.
Properly setup 2168 pistons slap for about 5 seconds and can go high miles.
Hyperexplosive and cast pistons are a step down, regardless of material. You can't find them because it makes no sense to offer an inferior product when a forged piston does everything better.
I've done custom 4032 pistons with JE, Arias and Icon when they only normally offer 2618.
Of these, JE already has the engineering on a W11 piston done... but in the non-silcon alloy.
I'll see what they have to say this week.
I've not had good luck with daily-driver 2618 pistons over the 20 years.... for me, non racing and moderate boost levels that even a 15% pulley makes... the 4032 is certainly the optimal choice in a street Supercharged or Turbo engine that is tuned correctly... IMO of course.
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Last edited by mountainhorse; Jan 15, 2019 at 01:09 PM.
My main assertion in this thread...
If a 4032 forged R56 piston were available... there really would be no reason for 90% of people rebuilding their W11/N14/N18 to use a 2618-alloy piston IMO.
Maybe some Jan or Way can chime in about this... they both offer pistons for this application and have TONS more experience than I'll ever have with MINI motors... mine is only based on 40 years with other motors, mostly domestic big-cube stuff.
Last edited by mountainhorse; Jan 15, 2019 at 01:57 PM.
So... Looks like SuperTech is the only silicon forged piston on the market for the R53...
ECS... Can you tell me the cost of 4 pistons and ring sets in .5 over?
Any NAM discount?
Supertech Pistons are manufactured from extruded high silicone, enhanced 4032 alloy (with additional Cu, Ni & Mg) that had low thermal expansion, excellent wear resistance, and higher thermal conductivity. Supertech Pistons, with this alloy, have withstood up to 42psi of boost, with alcohol, without any problems.
A two or three step forging process yields a fine structural grain which is then submitted to several machining steps in state of the art CNC machines.
Several heat treatments provide the piston with high tensile strength and evenly distributed hardness.
Contact reduction grooves are standard, and pin bores are honed and reamed for a precise fit. Wrist pins are constructed of cold extruded chrome moly steel for high strength and used with wire clip locks.
Finally, the pistons receive a 'phosphate dry lubricant' coating to protect the rings against 'micro-welding' and enhance lubrication on the skirt/cylinder area.
Compression ratios are computed with .030" head gasket and .010" deck unless indicated in each case.
8.3:1 compression ratio
Rings sold separately.
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Last edited by mountainhorse; Jan 15, 2019 at 06:16 PM.
Just add them to cart, add your zip, and select the shipping method you like. 1 set of pistons and then 4 sets of rings. We don't have a nam discount but we do have a military %5 off discount on most items. You have to call in for that and our sale team can help you. If not in the military they should be able to help you out. I can't set pricing on orders on my end.
For a FORGED, 11%-silicon, street and track compatible piston... NOT bad
This supertech 4032-alloy piston seems to be superior to the cast factory piston and aftermarket forged 2618-alloy pistons for 90% of rebuilders and street/track users
Keeping in mind durabily/longevity and the fact that you are not paying the extortion-level price of the BMW/MINI factory pistons.
Probably the route I'll go !
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Last edited by mountainhorse; Jan 16, 2019 at 01:44 PM.
JE Pistons just got back to me with a quote for new 4032 pistons, coated in any overbore needed... with rings $732 shipped. Looks like the super techs are the way to go!
On the phone, they said if there were a larger order placed... the price would come down drastically.... might be an option for suppliers looking for a great Road and Track piston domestically produced.
Are the oem Mini S pistons not forged? I always heard that they were forged...not cast.
To date... I've heard arguments on all sides of this... but most point to the factory W11 piston as cast.... but I'm open for correction.
As I said above... I've seen no documentation or strong evidence that the Factory R53 pistons are cast OR forged.
But I can tell you, after looking at many high mile pistons in the Minis... good ones, all the way to failed ones.... They have a fairly high silicon content IMO... and are definitely NOT 2618 alloy. IMO... only high boosted race or street-drag cars actually NEED or SHOULD use a non-silcon alloy piston.. again IMO.
Longevity wise...in a properly running, moderately boosted street engine... the 4032 will outlast the 2618 even with good skirt coatings.
I've seen the RMW offered Mahle pistons...but they make no indication as to the alloy used. I've heard nothing back yet on emails to them about this. Given the all-out race reputation that RMW has worked hard/long on... I'd suspect that these pistons are 2618 alloy or other Mahle hypo-eutectic alloy (M-SP25?).
I do know that Mahle makes some of their forged pistons with Eutectic/HyperEutectic content however... M124/126/142/138/145 etc... but see no indiction of this for the W11 engines.
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Last edited by mountainhorse; Jan 16, 2019 at 02:04 PM.
I did some research of my own on this subject because I have a cracked piston in my R53 W11 engine and want to replace OEM pistons and rods with forged versions and there's two brands using 4032 alloy for their forged pistons - Wössner (EU made, code K9123DA) and Wiseco (US made, code WK618M77).
I chose Wössner for pistons and K1 for rods.
Just bought the car, always fun to rebuild the engine right after (96k miles)
Last edited by Charlemagne; Mar 16, 2024 at 12:26 PM.
If not in the military they should be able to help you out. I can't set pricing on orders on my end.
