Hey guys. So in February of 2017 I bought a 2010 Mini non s and had no idea what I was getting myself into.
By that I mean I absolutely love this car. I previously had built a 300zx to 900 WHP. Besides the disgusting amount of speed the z had I think there are elements of the Mini that make it more fun.

Now I’ve toyed around with the idea of turbo charging it but I don’t think that’s really worth it unless I want to do an insane power build. So my second idea was to swap a motor, wiring harness, ecu, and maybe the transmission (depending on the gear ratio difference) from a turbo Mini of the same year into it. I’ve had a few questions that I can’t find the answers to.
Will the ecu of a Mini Cooper s (of the same model) communicate with the rest of the car?
does anyone know the gear ratios of an S and non S from the R56 modes?
Shouldnt the drivetrain from an S bolt right into a non S? I’m pretty sure it would since they’re pretty much the same.
Is there anything else I’m not thinking of that could really cause some issues with this idea?

if you think it’s not cost efficient you are probably right. But I’m here for the smiles. Thanks guys!

 

are you keeping to tranny (Manual I assume?)

I think the interior wiring will be somewhat the same but the fuse box will have to change and gas paddle will have to change too. I think you can source a rear ended MCS and swap out the parts. It will take time, but it can be done.

 

I had non S R56 and S one. S one is little zippier but after some time (for me it was couple of month) its not enough power but still lots of smiles per gallon )

Its easier and cheaper to get R56 S from copart and ride it as is than swapping S motor to non S car.

If you want more power on your mini, well...

I think it make more sense to turbocharge non S motor than swap S motor into your car.

Non s motor does have valvetronic and dual vanos.
S motor only intake vanos and no valvetronic.

It's probably going to be a pain in the *** to tune it all to work properly but should be better end result IMHO.

Second gen mini comes with aluminum block and cylinder sleeves is pretty thin.
There is not enough "meat" on the deck of the block to handle lots of power.
If we are talking about serious power it's 2k$ to sleeve the block plus couple more K's$ for forged internals and you need to machine your head and make the engine breathe well (intake, exhaust, turbo, intercooler, piping etc) it's going to be really expensive and in the end it's a FWD that can't handle too much power.

I would pull max 250hp from stock engine (but you still need to build it to make it more loose).
This way car would be still balanced. Too much power on the mini will kill all the fun. Mini its not a dragracer.

First gen mini with iron block its a whole different story but again I would turbo non S model rather that try to mess with S model and its supercharger.

With small mods on 2nd gen you can easily get over 200hp. but still its pricier than any JDM build.