Hi North American Motoring! My name is Joe and I'm finally a MINI owner! I've always loved MINIs since their rebirth in early 2000s with the R5x generation. I almost got one when I was in college but my parents pushed me to get a Mazda6 instead. Then in 2009 I was in the hunt for a JCW Cooper. This was at the time when the JCW package became a factory installed option rather than dealer installed. Unfortunately I couldn't seem find one in stock anywhere in NY before I test drove a 335i. I sold the 335i in 2014 and picked up a 2004 330i ZHP in 2017 and still have it. However I needed something with AWD and something a bit more updated as it would be doing some dad duty things.

I've always loved the clubman. I remember checking one out at the NYIAS and fell for it immediately. A few weeks ago I finally had the chance to test drove one and was sold. I found a 2017 british racing green All4 S with satellite grey leather. It really is fantastic.

My original plan was to wait until the spring and go for the new JCW but that wasn't going to pan out. I don't have any mods planned for right now as it's going to be pretty much a station car but we all know how that goes. It currently has RFT tires which id like to ditch and put on my snows from my 330i. Then I'd look for a set of JCW 18s and run non-RFTs. I would also consider going the dinan route with the elite tune and intake. I wouldn't mind a little more speed but would really love to be able to get some more burble from the exhaust. Would love some insight on that.

I actually have a question about the CPO warranty. When I went to check out the car I was told it would be covered until 9/2021. The car was first sold in 9/2016, which would make the car 5 year old when it's up. But when I was going over paperwork yesterday with the advisor we got to the warranty form that was filled out for the car to be covered until 2023. We both looked at each other sideways. I told him what I was told and said that if I sign that paper it would be a legally binding document. He told me I was correct and let me sign. Did I get 2 extra years CPO warranty on the house?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to being part of the MINI family! Thanks for having me!

 

Welcome to the club Joe! 2 or 3 pedals? Either way, I would at minimum spring for the Dinan Dinantronics tuner as that will wake up the Clubby enough to really make driving it more than entertaining. Happy motoring!

 

Had to opt for 2 pedals so my wife would drive it too. As much as i enjoy a good 6-speed i have to say that driving the auto is relaxing. Also i've taken some bends carrying some speed and I can tell the chassis has enough pizzazz that I don't think the fun factor drops all that much without having the 3rd pedal. If I had to make a gripe I'd say I wish I had paddles on the steering wheel. That would make the manual shift so much better than reaching down for the shifter.

Regarding he dinan tune (Elite) I think im going to go that route in the spring. Just need to find some place to have it installed. Im assuming one of their approved locations has to install it to have the warranty cover it, correct?

 

If you have any mechanical ability, you should be able to do it yourself. The Dinantronics unit was plug and play and I believe the Elite is the same.

 

I wonder if anybody has done a long-term review of the Dinan Elite? I got the JCW Tune+Exhaust on my F54-S, and honestly it's zippy enough like this for my driving...but of course I'm a little curious about the Dinan tuners =). Quick googling doesn't show anybody's review who has had the Elite (or even the Sport) installed long-term, I wonder if any motor or transmission issues have cropped up after years and tens of thousands of miles of use, which might not otherwise be present in the B46...I know the JCW version of the motor has strengthened internals compared to the stock B46 (not sure about transmission or clutch on manual JCWs though).

I will say the JCW exhaust is plenty noisy with the exhaust flap open, if you want more sound, especially in Sport mode with the crackles and pops.

 

So, I had the Dinan Sport Tuner (the Elite had yet to become available) starting winter of 2016 and kept it on My Clubman S All4 with the 8 speed sport automatic for three years and 20,000 miles. No codes, no issues. I now have the same box on my 2020 Clubman S All4 and it's purring right along so far with about a thousand miles of mixed driving,

The Elite is a bit more complex than the Sport, reading an additional sensor and, supposedly, helping the car adjust fueling with greater smoothness and sensitivity.

Basically, the Elite and Sport Tuner are similar in that the net result is more boost.

Here's my take: If you already have something like a JCW tune, then the NM or DInan Sport is the quick and dirty way to add a bit more boost, well within the safe limits of the car. And you do feel it.
Basically, the simple boxes only mess with a single parameter -- the boost signal -- and by tricking the car's electronic engine management systems into thinking there is less boost than there actually is, the engine management systems call for more boost and, when the feedback tells the engine management systems things are too lean, the engine adjusts itself, dumps in a bit more fuel to avoid more than momentary over-lean conditions, and whatever timing adjustments the engine "thinks" are required are made in response to the lower boost read coming through the plug-in tuner box.

Most of the extra cost of the Elite is for the so-called "warranty." Dinan has a long history of standing behind their claims that their equipment won't damage our cars.

Of late, since Dinan moved and changed ownership, we have seen complaints about quality. And there is the ongoing issue of BMW/MINI taking the official position that they do not endorse ANY brand or type of add-on that messes with parameters. So, BUYER BEWARE. We add these tuning boxes or ECU tunes AT OUR OWN RISK. With the Dinan Elite, there is the possibility that if something goes wrong with your car, during the original factory warranty period, if MINI accuses the box as the cause of the issue, Dinan will, if you have the Elite, step up. Maybe....

I think the extra boost has been worth the risk in my leased cars. So far, so good. YMMV!