Hey all. I figured I would share my story as a review of sorts trying not to disparage anyone, but only providing positive feedback. I'll start by saying that I can't thank Lou@Prototype-R enough for helping me how he did and the amazing tune I ended up with! I recommend him to anyone! Skip to the bottom for my experience with Lou.

That all being said, I purchased my 2013 JCW (N18) right before the pandemic as I wanted a Mini again after having sold my R53 a few years back. I ended up buying what turned out to be the MOTD 2013 JCW that was built my Mini of Knoxville specifically for MOTD. It had most of the go fast bits I wanted. When I got it home I spared no expense getting it to where I wanted it. The rear sway bar was shot so I bought a new NM Engineering one. The ST Coilovers were shot, so I bought bought brand new KW Street Comfort coilovers, tore the engine down to parade rest and changed out all the gaskets, new turbo oil line...The list goes on, but I immediately made it a spare no costs model R56.

About 6 months ago I started getting codes indicating that the turbo was getting ready to go, so I decided it was time and I purchased a brand new OE Borg Warner JCW turbo from FCP Euro. I thought about an upgrade, but I kept hearing horror stories about them so I stuck with stock. I also purchased a Milltek catless down pipe and started searching for a tune.

It seemed as if everyone moved on from Manic for a myriad of reasons so that was out. It looked like RPM was the only other act in town so I decided to go with that. It was going to be stage 2 because that was the right thing to do with the parts I had. I contacted one provider and then that provider went radio silent. I then went with the other provider and went through the gymnastics of providing a list of my modifications, pulling the ECU, packaging it, insuring it, and shipping it. Luckily I have another car while I was without the ECU for a few days. As soon as I got it back I knew something wasn't right immediately. The car would boost surge and it wasn't predictable. I contacted the seller and was told "the thing with these tunes is that if you have a problem, the tune will amplify it." He said all of this as I'm staring at my rebuilt, brand new, pristine engine bay. He then proceeded to go through a list of things that it could be. So, assuming he is the expert I started changing things out. First the cold side pipes, then the hot side pipes, then the vacuum lines, then the turbo solenoid, then the intake valve cover and PCV. Nothing made anything better...no change.

REVIEW OF LOU AT PROTOYPE-R

I started doing my own research after being in the tune for $1000 after shipping, insurance and the cost of the tune and then another $1500 in OEM parts, because, like I said, I spared no expense. I ran across a bunch of threads of everyone seeing similar things with their Manic and RPM tunes...boost surge. A lot of those people went with Lou at Prototype-R to fix it. Everyone made him sound like their solution...so I took the plunge and I'm glad I did. When I first contacted Lou he knew immediately what was going on as has he had seen it a million times before. We set up a time and he tuned my car. The fact that he can do remote tuning and troubleshooting is worth the cost of entry as far as I'm concerned, especially when you need to insure these ECUs for $1600 when you ship them if you're smart.

He first put a subtle, probably stage 1, tune on my car and then had me take some logs to see how it was and probably to make sure it didn't break anything. He then put the stage 2 on and had me take some logs and dialed everything in. It pulls all the way to redline in a linear fashion with no skips or surges and it FEELS good. The RPM would kick you in the *** at 2000 RPM and then throw surges at you all the way up to 6500 and I would feel like I was breaking the car. Not with Lou's. It feels correct and I'm peaking at around 23 psi which I'm happy with with my JCW.

The last thing he needed to dial in, and was very patient with me, was the pop and burble. When he first put it on you could hear me decel from a mile away. It was impressive honestly, but not my taste and I wasn't clear on my pop and burble desires so my fault haha. He got it down to a 44 year old father of three level and I'm super happy with all of it.

I can't thank him enough and if you want a tune on your Mini or BMW I wouldn't hesitate for a second. He's friendly , honest, and knows what he is doing!

 

Glad the car is driving great now. Lou is the man!

 

Lou kicks all kinds of ***, I'm consistently amazed whenever I drive my clubby the powerband it has. My buds are always wondering what the heck I got under the hood and yeah there's a bunch going on but really the magic is all Lou!

 

It cant be just luck or random that EVERY ONE OF US(Tuned by Lou) the first thing we say is ...."Thank you is not enough for your help".
I mean he not just the best tuner for these engines, but he is also a GREAT MAN. He wants to help consistelny, he shares TONS of his knowledge and trying to protect you from things that he already knows its bad.
I will say once again thank you to @Lou@Prototype-R for being that kind of man and top of the notch tuner.
My project would be not as close as good if you werent there for me.

 

I just loaded a stage 1 from Lou on my 2012. His remote tunes are as close as you can get to a custom dyno tune without actually being there. He looks at the data coming from your car and adjusts to it. Doesn’t just throw a cookie cutter bench tune on and tell you to hope for the best.

 

I'm about to have Lou do a couple tunes on both my Minis and am very confident of this service and his abilities. He's responsive to queries and communicates very well - honestly I would feel far more comfortable having him working on my cars over anyone else EVEN without all the great anecdotes online. Great reviews just provide that extra level of reassurance. Sadly I may need to put off the work for a bit while I work out some issues I'm having. But when it's time I know who I'm going with.