Northern's N18 R56
 

Porting my build thread over to NAM. Not sure why I didn't do this already.
First few posts are going to be copy & paste from r3v and might have poor formatting or have references that don't make sense. I'll try to edit everything for clarity after the fact.

11-10-2021:
My Wife has wanted a mini for at least a year at this point, and I've always been a little fond of the first/second gen reboot Minis. We looked at one rusty R52 before I told her I'd be interested if we could find a manual Cooper S, hoping to find a first gen/supercharged car.

Fast forward 6 months of halfassedly browsing kijiji/FB marketplace and she sends me a 2008 MCS (Pre-LCI R56).
We go test drive it and it drives nice, has a decent amount of power but there are dozens of trim bits broken, the engine (N14B16) has the chain/tensioner death rattle, and there's at least one decent rust bubble on each panel. The dealer thinks it's made of gold and has no interest of budging on price. So we move on and make a pact to not buy what is essentially a fourth vehicle.

While we were planning to look at that 2008 R56, I sent my wife another ad from a 2012 LCI car ~300KM away, almost as an "If this were closer and we could just spend another $1500, I think this would be the one we'd want" Two days after we agree we don't need one, she texts me out of the blue and told me she had been negotiating with this dealer and was down to drive up this weekend and pick it up. Long story short, that's what we did last Friday night.


The car:
2012 Mini Cooper S (R56 LCI)
Production Date: 2011-11-04
160 000 KM
Eclipse Grey Metallic (B24) on Carbon Black
Slicktop.
6 speed manual
N18B16 - Turbo, Dual Vanos/Valvetronic
R108 Multi-Spoke Wheels ( 17x7 ET48 @ 22.9 lbs )

Options List:
1CA Selection Cop Relevant Vehicles Selektion Cop Relevanter Fahrzeuge
210 Dynamic Stability Control (dsc) Dynamische Stab. Control (dsc)
249 Multi-function For Steering Wheel Multifunktion Fuer Lenkrad
255 Sports Leather Steering Wheel Sport-lederlenkrad
258 Runflat Tyres Bereifung Mit Notlaufeigenschaften
2P6 Light Alloy Wheels Rip Spoke Lm Raeder Rip Spoke
314 Heated Windscreen Washer Nozzles Frontscheibenwaschduesen Beheizt
359 Visibility Pack Sichtpaket
381 Roof In Body Colour Dach In Wagenfarbe
3AB Body Coloured Mirror Caps Spiegelkappen In Wagenfarbe
450 Height Adjustment F Front Passenger Seat Beifahrersitz Hoehenverstellung
481 Sport Seats F Driver/front Passenger Sportsitze Fuer Fahrer/beifahrer
493 Storage Compartment Package Ablagenpaket
494 Seat Heating F Driver/front Passenger Sitzheizung Fuer Fahrer/beifahrer
4AU Additional Decor Rings Erweiterte Dekorumfaenge
4C1 Colour Line Carbon Black Colour Line Carbon Black
4CU Interior World Carbon Black Interieurfarbe Carbon Black
4UF Sport Button Sport Button
520 Foglights Nebelscheinwerfer
521 Rain Sensor Regensensor
534 Automatic Air Conditioning Klimaautomatik
548 Speedometer With Kilometer Reading Kilometertacho
550 On-board Computer Bordcomputer
563 Lights Package Lichtpaket
5AA Rear Fog Lamp Nebelschlussleuchte
5DD Car Jack Wagenheber
5DT Dynamic Traction Control Dynamic Traction Control
645 Radio Control Us Radio-steuerung Us
653 High Definition Radio High Definition Radio
693 Satellite Tuner Preparation Satellitentuner Vorbereitung
6FC Radio Mini Boost Cd Radio Mini Boost Cd
736 Second Radio Remote Control Key 2. Funkfernbedienungsschluessel
785 White Direction Indicator Lights Weisse Blinkleuchten
823 Hot Climate Version Heissland-ausfuehrung
838 Canadian Version Kanada-ausfuehrung
842 Cold Climate Version Kaltland-ausfuehrung
845 Acoustic Belt Warning Akustische Gurtwarnung
853 Language Version English Sprachversion Englisch
876 Radio Frequency 315 Mhz Funkfrequenz 315 Mhz
8SM Vin, Visible From Outside Fahrgestellnummer,v.aussen Sichtbar
8SP Cop Control Cop Steuerung
925 Shipping Protection Package Versandschutzpaket
927 All Season Tires All Season Bereifung

Biggest disappointments were that it came with a single key, it wasn't optioned with Xenons (the halogens are terrible), and it doesn't have comfort access (but meh)

Issues:
Fog lights look nasty, either need a polish or complete replacement.
Paint/light has a lot of scratches, some small dents. Would be nice to get it PDR'd and polished as much as I can.
Both sun visors have the mirror covers ripped off (who does this?)
Has some amount of aftermarket exhaust that drones badly at highway speeds. Likely will add a muffler.
Battery cover is missing, as apparently every other car.
Hood release handle in the cabin is messed up somehow
Driver door is stiff and has issues latching.
Rear fog is full of water.
The dipstick is impossible to read.
Misfire at high load/high RPM, maybe also upon first start when settling into idle. Coils seem hilariously cheap on rockauto. After the first day I couldn't make it misfire up top again.
Missing the tiny flap under the car in front of the DS wheel.

Initial observations:
Engine seems to be happy, no death rattle (yet???).
180hp feels way stronger than I would've thought.
DME seems to blip throttle itself when clutch engages. I even basically dumped the clutch (I apparently can't wear dress shoes in this car because they don't fit) and it didn't stall out.
Exhaust is unbearable on the highway.
I wish it had native bluetooth, but it's not shocking that it doesn't.
Halogen lights are useless at night.
Would be an absolute riot with ~225 hp.
Tons of headroom without the sunroof.
Sport mode makes throttle response respectable (yay), makes pOpS aNd BaNgs from the exhaust (boo), and steering heavier (good but meh).


Basic Plans:
Oil Change
Fix Broken ****™
Intercooler upgrade
Add a muffler
Downpipe if it doesn't already have one
Figure out how to read/write/edit the DME
Lightweight 17x8 wheels, summer tires
Maybe retrofit some better headlights once I'm more confident that they're PNP or can be successfully coded.

Pictures:

At the dealer:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...211ea974_b.jpg

Heading home:
​https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...458499e9_b.jpg

Pit stop for gas (for the outback lol) and coffee.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d0e25cde_b.jpg

Stopping at the Homeless Despot for plumbing supplies
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At the DMV, unintentionally ft. the Vitamin O distro plant
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Dirty Engine bay with some rusty fasteners and missing battery cover.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b09aac51_b.jpg

Interior from ad:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e603498b_b.jpg

11-12-2021

It took a mere 6 days to run into my first issue with the car.

My wife took the car to a meeting and upon arriving, listened to "just one song" with the car off. Then she tried to move the car and it wouldn't start.
I told her to just leave it until she was done her meeting and call me, banking on the battery recovering enough to be able to start.
Lucked out and the car did start.

I investigated the exhaust a bit.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a9d43a6b_b.jpg
Sadly it's not an aftermarket anything, the PO just straight piped the first section with some gross looking tubing, and fired what is probably a Magnaflow on the back.
That explains the drone I guess.
Ordered a 2.25 Vibrant Ultra Quiet Resonator to install where the old res was, hoping for a miracle but I'll settle for basically any improvement.
Tried to find 2.25" quick release vband clamps but apparently they don't exist so I'll weld it all solid lol.

Discovered that all the chrome badges aren't actually peeling the chrome off, but apparently had been poorly painted black. It'll take some effort to chip off the paint that's still in the crevices, but polish seems to remove the weird haze left after the paint comes off.
Lights are equally gross, mostly from scratches. Gave the tails a single quick pass by hand with some Flitz and it made a big difference:
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Today I bought a new massive (760 CCA AGM) battery. Original was 480 CCA. Should be good for listening to maybe even two songs with the engine off haha.
I was pleased to discover that this car does not have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, err Intelligent Battery Sensor, so no coding to deal with yet.

Also picked up new Bosch wipers and some fancypants halogen low beam bulbs in so I can hopefully not drop $600+ on the Xenon retrofit.
These were awful:
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Better:
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One rear fog/reverse light was full of water and I thought I'd find the backside had been smashed by a rock or something, but I was excited to see the bulb carrier was just not clipped in right. Pulled it and dried it overnight and it looks good as new.

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Ordered a new key and some E30 bits at the dealer after that. It's been an expensive day.

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Doing a junkyard run tomorrow to try to locate like 20+ random bits of trim/fasteners.

11-17-2021:

[responding to someone]
Yeah it has a lot of that e30 small car snappyness, just FWD and more modern interior. I like it a lot so far, other than the exhaust - still waiting on the resonator.
I'll consider those clamps if I don't just weld it solid. I don't 100% remember, but I think the sizing on the vibrant res would allow those to be used.
I really think I'll end up ordering a full exhaust at some point down the road since this is still <2.25" in some spots.

Saturday I did a junkyard run, They had two cars I knew about and had just dragged a clubman in that was basically untouched.
I managed to snag:
A hood release cable
Two hood release handle mechanisms (one spare since they seem flimsy)
Two full sun visors (in the wrong colour sadly)
One wrong underbody trim panel
A bunch of clips for the underbody trim panels
Front "wing" hood badge that hadn't been painted black at some point (I think the "Mini" roundel is separate?)

Bonus junkyard clubman slander:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8667fa91_b.jpg

Once I returned home, I ordered the remaining stuff from FCP Euro:
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I changed the oil Sunday night and it was a fairly painful experience as far as oil changes go.
The dipstick is basically useless as I mentioned before.
The sump plug is on the bottom of the pan instead of the side, so as soon as you crack it loose it begins to piss oil all over socket/ratchet/hand.
The filter is located about halfway down the block under the turbo on a 45 degree angle, so you can access it by removing the coolant reservoir and brute forcing it out of the way.
Said coolant reservoir has a plastic tee piece which is known to crack during this operation. Something about mine leaked coolant but I'm choosing to ignore that for now.
The filter cap being on a 45 degree and buried deep in the engine bay means there is no quantity of rags that will catch all the oil that comes out.

Upon refill I went from memory and put 4.5L of oil in, googled after the fact and found 4.2L is the spec.
I also drained the old oil into a jug and found only ~2.5L of oil?
I just topped up the oil so I'm not sure what is going on but I'm a little concerned.
Is the dipstick just completely useless (would help make sense about the existence of the cravenspeed dipstick, as well as how many people say to order it), or did I somehow burn 1.5L of oil in like 3 hours of driving without leaving a puddle of oil or noticeably burning anything?

Ordered a bunch of misc stuff from amazon/ebay:
Stubby Antenna
12pt spark plug socket
phone mount
catch can
Aluminum tube for pre-intercooler intake muffler delete.

Phone mount already showed up, and despite the hideous rendition of the union jack and "MINI", it's a huge improvement over google maps/spotify from the passenger seat.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1cb66c04_b.jpg

Bolts onto the three tach screws and fits decently. Forgot the "after" pic...
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Trying to research this DME, MEVD17.2.2. Not a whole lot of complete info out there, just little tidbits here and there.
Also trying to plan out a mod path to bump power a bit but it's hard to sort through a lot of the old info on the various mini forums... finding good concrete info is like pulling teeth.

11-22-2021:

I got some decent feedback from one of the facebook groups. Didn't learn much, but confirmed some things.

I guess there's a good Damos file out there somewhere, so if I can find someone with it, I could tune, toggle DTCs, etc.
You can (sort of) read/write the calibration section via OBD2 with TGflash, which is ~1/10 the cost of an authentic/new KessV2. I'd order this now, but I don't know if the DTCs are in the calibration or the full dump (so I might still need a different method - probably bootmode read with K-Tag which involves removing/opening the ECU.)

Edit: No luck on any good definitions for MEVD17.2.2, and at this point I've stopped looking and will probably cave and get a tune from Prototype-R sometime next year.
BMW Tuning Tools now makes a version of QuickFlash for Read/Write on all (?) R56 DMEs:
https://www.bimmertuningtools.com/pr...n2-quickflash/
Benefits being $34 lifetime license instead of recurring subscription/VIN based shenanigans.

Getting a little annoyed with the suspension. Not sure if the dampers are bad or what, but it is definitely harsh over bumps and almost feels like a skip or bump steer while cornering and hitting bumps. I'm sure some of this is just from being FWD but I'm looking into options that aren't significantly lower/stiffer.

Oil level was still good after one week, dipstick is still ****.

Filled the tank up for the first time after ~300km highway and two weeks of the wife's commute.
The Outback was basically one (10L larger) tank per week, which is very close to negating the base cost of this car.

12-16-2021:

Something went wonky with tracking/delay on my FCPEuro order, so after asking for tracking, they refunded my shipping.
Annoying that it happened, but happy with their customer service.
In the meantime, I duct taped over the battery access hole.

I learned that the "Visibility Pack" means it came with a heated windscreen. Sadly, some dickhead swapped it out for the cheapest replacement at some point during the car's life.

I started chasing the high load/high RPM misfire I had.
New Bosch coils (OE were Denso) and NGK 1422 (ILKR8E6) plugs from Rockauto, plus a 16pt spark plug socket to remove the original plugs.
The OE plugs are apparently NGK 95770 ILZBR7B8DG.
New plugs are commonly suggested by the forums, differences being .024" gap instead of .031", Heat range 8 instead of 7, and Projected tip instead of Extended Projection.

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Honestly I don't know anything about iridium plugs and how they should/shouldn't look, but one did have a crack in the porcelain at the tip.

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Chased some rattles in the engine bay - Airbox had two mounts missing, coil beauty cover had one rubber missing.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b70eb2d0_z.jpg


The driver side door is starting to drive me insane. It doesn't latch when you swing the door closed, and needs an extra pull/push.
Basically every thread on this says it's the window regulator not winding the frameless window down when the door opens, but mine works fine.
Door has zero play/sag in the hinge.
If I oil the latch, it works fine for 2 days, then it's back on it's ********.

Exhaust is getting old. Pure drone from off idle up to like 2200RPM. I really need to do something about it.

Confirmed FWD/Open diff cars are awful in the snow despite winter tires:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...43646a82_z.jpg

Basically zero progress otherwise. Spent a week and a bit in Quebec for work, then lost a few days with a snow storm, and now I have family visiting until the new year.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6672b22b_z.jpg

Pretty significant snowfall overnight after the first snow pic, but was all gone 48 hours later.

2-23-2022:

Also the stupid cold start/catalyst heating function makes the car loud as hell at idle for the first minute or so.
I'd love to turn that off even if I add a resonator.

Same ****, different month. Resonator still not installed.

I started getting a suspension clunk, wasn't sure why (Obviously I CBF to jack the car up and look) until I found a late Christmas present in the driveway:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535\...4f66e47a_c.jpg

I was planning to do something with the suspension anyway, but that forced my hand.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1abd440f_c.jpg
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Bilstein B12 Pro Kit from FCPeuro. I think the box they put the bilstein box in was definitely large enough (And FedEx decided it would be worth a fine ransom fee)

Around this time, the car decided air should not be in the tire one random morning.
The mini is one of those runflat cars, and the winter tires aren't runflats, so I got to use the new tire pump.
No idea why this happened, but it's been fine since.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a2ff4129_c.jpg

Front suspension one afternoon, rears over the weekend. Easy stuff, just regret not buying new mounts/spring perches, because now I have to do this again at some point.

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Old Strut Video Here

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535\...fceb9f45_c.jpg

On the other side:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...78259e5b_c.jpg

And the rears, drowned in fluidfilm:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a2285fed_c.jpg

It drives like a different car. I'm sure more from fixing the blown shock on one side and broken spring on the other, but even when new, people complained about the front end skipping over expansion joints and bumps and there's none of that anymore. Ride height also still seems reasonable.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...be664a64_c.jpg


Basically I just want this to hold together until spring. Then I can install some items from the original FCP order, a resonator, some basic performance mods I've been sitting on, and get a few things checked over (Accessories, carbon buildup, timing chain/tensioner).

Had a few expensive bills in Jan/Feb, so I'm hoping to get all that paid off before I do much else.

4-12-2022:

​"Quick" ~2 month update.

I installed a bunch of 50mil Kilmat on the trunk floor, hoping to deal with the exhaust noise a bit before getting the resonator in, but it really didn't do much.

Speaking of the resonator, it went in. The Vband nut at the bottom of the downpipe looks like it's off the Titanic, so I didn't remove and TIG everything, instead MIG'd the whole thing in-situ and it still took me ~5 hours.
That led to some regrets about not just taking it to some muffler shop and having them blast it on. Could've saved a day of my life basically, but really thought I was going to make this already butchered exhaust nicer for no reason haha.

Not perfect, but did way more for the sound than it had any right to. Cold starts are tolerable, and I can talk (yell) to my wife at highway speeds.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ef9c567f_c.jpg

Spent a lot of money in Feb/March...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f9a49e10_c.jpg

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It looks like it clears, but with tires it needed a 3mm spacer ​

​https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...31fc0e4c_c.jpg

General G-Max RS 225/45R17 installed (a bit O/S - Stock is 205/45. I'm tired of this BMW weird tire diameter ****, I chose to save $50/tire and have 3x the selection.):

​https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...966a5b47_c.jpg

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Feels really good with the tires. Much less road noise than the winters on the now bent R108s.

I installed this cowl trim, went the winter with the battery access panel made of ducttape. Works fine, but wasn't right.

​https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ff173ac8_c.jpg


Tricked by forum info again about TPMS and wasted two days googling/searching for it in NCS Expert.
The moment I turned the key after swapping wheels, it threw a low tire warning. Reset it and it came back next start.

Despite almost every hit on the internet saying otherwise, this car doesn't have TPMS, it has Flat Tire Monitoring, which compares ABS wheel speed to find low tires.
ONLY the US market comes with TPMS.

I have no idea why the low tire pressure light came on when it did, but it threw me for a loop.
I must've screwed up the reset the low tire warning, so it didn't really "come back"
At the end of the day, there's no low tire warning and I saved the $200 for sensors, so I guess that's a win.

Car continues to sip fuel (something like 29MPG combined) and doesn't seem to burn oil.​


4-13-2022:

Took it to have a cold start rattle looked at.
Car has 160k km (~100k mi) so thinking chain is due and maybe a walnut blast.

Basically they want to change the chain tensioner (updated part) and check back at 200k (km).
Recommended an oil flush because of how much buildup they've found in other cars with 15k+ mile oil change intervals.
With how little oil was in this when I bought it, I'm not surprised.
Also mentioned shifter bushings could be better and the FL wheel bearing is new but already making noise.


Signed up for the High Performance Driving School in May - I've wanted to do this for 10 years.
Would love to do it in the E30, but basically it needs a hell of a lot of work to be ready in a month...

I forgot to say: They're Konig Dekagrams, 17x8 ET45. 16.83 lb.
(Stock R108 are 17x7 and 22.9lb, so 6lb unsprung/rotating mass reduction before you consider the larger tires)

I originally was eyeing the Sparco FF-1 in the same size/offset, but I couldn't find them North of the border for anywhere close to what TireRack has them listed for.

05-07-2022:

Not much to report. Fulfilling daily duties pretty well, even if the exhaust needs some more muffling lol.

Hauling E30 tires
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...18af4381_b.jpg

PNG'd from the driveway along with the other cars to make room for the roofing dumpster:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...de7e134f_b.jpg

07-04-2022:

Finally made it to an Autoslalom with this nugget.
I had a blast. First Autox in a FWD car, and 5 years since I did an autox in gerneral (and it shows.)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c6912cd5_c.jpg


Another guy was a class down with a pre-LCI R56 Cooper S and absolutely slaughtered me.
He did change tires to something else, but no idea what they were, or what mods it had. To add insult to injury, he also had a passenger lol.

Car felt really good, but I have no point of reference.
The "Low Brake Torque" brakes are still on the car and felt fine. I was called out for using too much brake as well.
Car feels like it wants more power (I'm sure the O/S tires don't help), bigger rear bar is a really popular mod, probably because the front end pushes really bad.

I wanted gopro footage but realized I lent all my mounts and adapters to someone.


2-for-1 deal on posts today:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2344a191_b.jpg

Not sure who's touring, reminds me of a facelift version of 2mAn's old E46
Red E36 coupe is the FTD car by Steve from ISI.

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Colin's CRX Si, and Scott's M3. Both typically in the running for FTD.

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No idea who's car this is, but I like E36 sedans more and more.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d3bd7ac6_b.jpg

Other mini:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3162c1db_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8e14edb3_b.jpg

Still a year and a half to go, photos are being a pain to transfer over so I'm taking a break.

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to more.

Those wheels look like they fit on the car pretty good, even with the larger tires.

07-05-2022:

In no particular order, some other pics from this summer:

A basic pic a day or two after the first wash.

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This piece was missing since I bought the car. It came with that first parts order, finally installed with clips from the junkyard.

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Rear badge was rough, and can't seem to find just the mini logo as a sticker unless it's in a weird colour and from ebay/amazon.

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A beaver had clearly removed the badge to plastidip at some point and reinstalled with JB weld, so I used an Olfa blade to shave off the JB weld and a touchup pen/clear from the dealer to fill the chips. Some wet sanding/polishing turned out alright but still a few spots clearly touched up...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4327335d_b.jpg

07-08-2022:

Another update:
My R56 has had issues with the driver's door latching shut since I bought it.
Sometimes it will close, but usually it bounces back to that intermediate latched position and needs to be pressed/hip checked closed.
I've cleaned/lubed/adjusted the striker probably 20 times now and the latch just seems to be messed up internally.

Wedsnesday I decided to drop almost $400 on a new OE latch at the dealer because the other options are URO or used.

I was not prepared for how much was going on inside the door. Basically unclip an outer door card and a bunch of covers, remove the speaker and the glass, then undo a bunch of Torx fasteners to remove the "Inner Door Module" that has all of the window regulator/motor/speakers/etc. in order to access the latch.
I followed Pelican Parts' DIY and it had me disassemble a pile of extra stuff strictly for the hell of it.

After installing the new latch, I had 3 issues:
The window no longer dips/raises when the door opens/closes.
The interior lights do not change state when the door is opened/closed.
The door does not lock/unlock via central locking (in car or key fob), but can be locked manually with the physical key.

I distinctly remember plugging in the connector, because I almost forgot to do it and then thought "wouldn't that have sucked"

Anyway, a day of searching for some sort of reset procedure and dreading trying to return a DoA latch to a BMW dealership (lol) I re-gutted the door and found that the connector wasn't clipped in.
Now it finally all works, so the sooner I forget this episode, the better.

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09-01-2022:

Well my wife has been dailying this for the summer largely without incident... BUT

I've had a few issues...

Left/right shifter cable end rubber popped out of its metal carrier... This is why there's an SB to add a metal clip, which I bought and never installed. Regrets.
Anyway, I pushed it back together with some Channel Locks and threw the clip on and it has been fine while I procrastinate deciding the solution (adhesive, aftermarket bushing, new cable?)

I caught the wife driving around with 700 lbs of marine batteries in the trunk for who knows how long.
I notice the rear of the car is slammed and I ask her what the ****? How does it not rub?
Well, long story short, it certainly rubs over every bump.
Now there's a clunk in the back that sounds like a bad RSM, so I'll be doing those at some point soon.

My most annoying issue is some sort of boost oscillation at mid/high throttle in upper gear, basically 1~2Hz sound/thrust changes.
I think most people say it's WG rod being too long, other chassis seem to have issues with boost control solenoids also. A lot of these people seem to have tunes where I don't.

Similar to this video:

Unfortunately TorquePro won't log faster than ~1.3 Hz so it's hard to pick up in a log.


Otherwise nothing to report - Spending my time on other things and my money on uncool things like debt.

12-21-2022:

Quarterly update time...

Starting with some on-topic stuff late July.

Homeless Despot run, dirty car but sadly this is the closest thing I have to a nice picture of it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c2d2d259_b.jpg

This grommet I just replaced vanished the second I removed the airbox again...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...522605b3_b.jpg

The SB shifter clips retrofitted after one of the cables popped apart and I lost all gears other than 3 & 4...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c2612ae8_b.jpg

This is my modded dipstick. Bought a Cravenspeed one but was worried about how flimsy it is. Probably fine but filing the stock one flat on one side and adding grooves makes it much more useful.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7e3f06c2_b.jpg

I started messing with my boost oscillation issue. Checked WG rod adjustment. Rod checked at 6.1" ( ~155mm) and spec is 151.5mm so I tried to adjust it...

Getting access was a pain. Multiple nuts heavily rusted, one required a 7mm because it was rusted so badly, and this one took me an hour to give up and drill through it.
(The shiny stripped bolt ~8" deep in there)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9211a853_b.jpg

Shoutout to 12" drillbits.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...45f9bce1_b.jpg

Punch to break it loose
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7c610b51_b.jpg

Fin.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a6190300_b.jpg

Measurement
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...068f9d52_b.jpg

At this point I thought things would start getting easy, but no.
The nut on the right of the pic refused to budge, so I removed the whole WG actuator off the turbo with the turbo in-situ.

Torched the nut, tried to give it a small impact back and forth. After the 3rd or 4th change in direction of the impact, the shaft just sheared off and I almost said **** it and pushed the car off a cliff.

Luckily there were no cliffs in sight, so I ended up cooling down and basically trying to take 4mm off the shaft and welding the nut back on. I mocked it up and welded it.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ce603bae_b.jpg


I also realized the scuttle panel turn signals aren't connected and don't seem to have the right connector... no idea why, but the lights/pigtail look shitty so I can only assume they're some ebay garbage.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3431728d_b.jpg

That brings us up to early September.


12-28-2022:

September thru November:

I started to get some clunking/popping in the front end when transitioning to/from a stop.
I picked up some new strut mounts from Rockauto to hopefully fix that.
Additionally, when I installed the B12/Pro-Kit, the upper perches were super rusty, so I ordered some on ebay from Latvia.

Threw the combo in:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...028946c3_b.jpg

The fun part was that one of the Bilstein specific strut nuts vanished after I removed them. I spent hours of my life looking for it before I caved and ordered a 25 pack from Fastenal, which took a few days to arrive. And of course the phone company chose this window to remove some old lines that stretched across my driveway, so I had to drive the car out onto the street sans strut nut.

R108's were bent all to hell from the last winter, and the mobile wheel repair guy that services the dealerships vanished a few months back, so I went to down with a deadblow/hammer/etc to straighten the inner lips and for the first time bought some X-Ice Snows in 5% O/S.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4dea9880_b.jpg

I dragged the wife to the local Kenny U-Pull where they had a pre-LCI MCS I wanted to steal some trim from.
I assumed the turbo would be long gone, but the car was fairly intact when I found it.

I snagged:
complete Turbo + Manifold
one Scuttle light/trim
Some chrome beltline trim (mine has been sanded/plastidipped/peeled and most pieces are missing the end caps)
Misc hardware

Wastegate actuator adjustment for future reference. This one is different (smaller, has a weight on the shaft?) than what was on my car, but I installed it anyway. No change in the boost oscillation.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6a37218c_b.jpg

Scuttle trim without the plastidip residue and scratches:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...52d96484_b.jpg

Valve cover was leaking for a while so I finally went for it.
The way the bolts have a captive steel hat that holds the gasket is truly a pain in the ass to work with, forcing the gasket into the slot in the VC while forcing it over the bottom lip of the thing is ****ing awful, especially when you already dabbed some Ultra Grey in the corners/seams and are trying to get everything installed before it kicks off...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1b460691_b.jpg

One of the new coils is already discoloured for some reason, not sure if this is a sign of heat/failure.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d2eff18d_b.jpg

While I was in Quebec for work, I killed a morning walking around Princess Auto and found a vacuum tester to mess with the WG.
R56 Wastegates are backwards from any aftermarket setup. Basically, they're normally open, and the ECU controls a solenoid to allow vacuum from a vacuum pump to close the valve to increase boost.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...25fe622b_b.jpg

I find 3 things about the wastegate adjustment on the forums, none of which appear in any official document.
Shaft length from Compressor Housing to WG arm: 151.5mm +- 2mm
WG Closed Vacuum: 7inHg - also see this as 15inHg on Pelican now so I need to look into this more...
WG rod travel: IIRC this was 35mm but can't find the reference now.
I think the 15inHg is the most logical, but I tried all of them with no success, suspect the wastegate is just worn out.

---------------This line marks the end of copy/pasta updates.

November 2022 I wrecked my motorcycle and grenaded my knee. Would not recommend.

Once I was walking again, it was time to have my R56 safety inspection done and it failed for a crack in the exhaust flex joint.
Something like $300 parts + shipping for the replacement section. + New clamp and whatever else, was quoted $700 for a full replacement just to patch up an exhaust I hate. Obviously I let it twist my rubber arm to splurge on a resonated Scorpion full setup, but unfortunately they seem to have stopped offering the downpipe.

R56 has been parked for almost a year now.

Again, I am enjoying this thread!

on this point:
Looks like you’re hitting ~20psi? First off, a stock Cooper S shouldn’t be boosting that high, unless it has an aftermarket tune loaded. And that boost oscillation reminds me of my Manic tune. My gut says you have an old Manic tune loaded to the car, which is why is feels strong and has that boost oscillation.

Thanks!

I should've been more clear, that video isn't mine, but is the same behaviour mine has.
I don't know what boost I'm hitting. Torque's OBD2 logging is way too slow to be helpful. I have a post saved by Tigger/Lou about a better logger but haven't implemented that. I also have a boost gauge/pod/tap in a box somewhere waiting...

I can't guarantee it doesn't have a tune on it, but I'm really hoping it doesn't so that whatever tune I get makes a solid difference.

If it has a bad tune, you’ll still notice a difference. Send a message to Lou and get started.

Car has been sitting for 1.5 years after it failed MVI May 2023 for the front flex pipe.
I hated the butchered exhaust that was on the car, and went nuclear and bought a Scorpion catback with resonated center section.
Lots of other options out there, but most are very loud, no larger diameter than stock, or both.

I guess they were backordered, because it took 4 months, and I got distracted with progressing my in-progress garage, and to get my kitchen a sink and dishwasher before my daughter arrived in October, among other things.

Since then, Garage and kitchen are ~90% finished, I replaced the Outback with a Volvo, I bought some other Mini parts, and a Quickjack

Anyway, this car needs to run by August. I have 90% of parts I think.

How the 2 e30s and the mini spent the winter, as I wired and insulated:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e8ffbfbf_k.jpg

Quickjack finally setup:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...04b4aa7a_k.jpg

Exhaust stuff:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...048b07ab_k.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5e063e83_k.jpg

And here's the problem with the Scoripion setup... at the resonator it necks down to probably 2.25" and at the muffler it was even worse:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...16385cda_k.jpg

A bit of flipflop grinding later and it wasn't much better.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f5e10d04_k.jpg

Side-to-side:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...67465ed0_k.jpg

Up/down:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a32dd9ff_k.jpg

Not ideal... I'm going to finish installing, but I'll also message Scorpion and see what they say.
How can you market an exhaust as 2.75" if it necks down to <2"

Didn't want to answer this before and bump the thread without an update.

I think my WG flapper is worn, so I'm going to pull the turbo and see what's up. I have some performance bits in boxes, but I'm throwing this back together relatively stock and trying to resolve my issue because it didn't always do this... and I need to pay off the garage build lol.

Hopefully this winter I'll probably talk to Lou, make a parts list, etc.

I guess I don't consider that modifying, just par for the course when fitting a new part? All I did was grind a blob of weld, not really worried about it. I stopped when I realized I was about to make contact with the "Y" inside. Also I'm not considering returning, but may swap at least the muffler out in the future.


Anyway, for the curious:
This is a ~29% reduction in X-section vs the stock 2.25"(ish) setup
This is a 52% reduction in X-section vs the 2.75" tubing in the Scorpion kit.

I have reached out to Scorpion. Honestly not sure what they could possibly do to remedy this.

Curious to hear what Scorpion has to say on this. I'm not quite ready to rip the exhaust off my R55, but Scorpion was at the top of the list for the install. But if it's just 2" at any point, then the entire system is effectively 2", and that's really no different than stock....

I agree. Not ideal at all. Scorpion still hasn't responded to my email either, but I'm trying to remain patient.

At this point, my goal is to fix the issues keeping this off the road (Exhaust, brakes, O2 sensor, plus a few things around the front of the car.)

This winter I'll try to make time/money to fix any issues I create now, and ideally tune/dp/turbo/intake. Time will tell lol.

20-some days later, still zero response from scorpion. I'll probably send the email again.
I feel another exhaust in my future...

Over the past month I've made a bit of progress. Was hoping to be done by August but that clearly didn't happen.

I don't know what it is, but bumpers on newer cars are always a complete twat to remove. A lot of the plastic pins were so seized, I just cut them off.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ee422100_k.jpg


The intake muffler on the hotside piping is held on by a T25 screw that's absolutely buried halfway up the backside of the rad support. I spent a long time trying to remove it before choosing the nuclear option of destroying the mounting boss from the front of the car:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...75351e10_k.jpg

I kept up that theme when removing the diverter valve. The screw was corroded into the BOV spacer and completely stripped with no clearance for a damaged bolt remover or anything. I already ordered the updated DV at this point, so I just snapped the old DV off. Should've done this months ago.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d8a83272_k.jpg

Hotside piping out for delete

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5df3ab23_k.jpg



A lot of cracked plastics at the bottom of the front of the car. PO must've crushed the bumper against a curb or something.

Brake ducts, new & old :
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...20141bb1_k.jpg

Lower bumper mounts ziptied and epoxied back together:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...64454645_k.jpg

New fogs are pretty cheap vs the time to polish

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c2ac716d_k.jpg

Fogs and new duct installed:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...31144f92_k.jpg

Snapped off / spare / Updated DV:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...80377b30_k.jpg

Installed, sans BOV spacer.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...94183da6_k.jpg

Everything here is basically roasted. No-name pads feel like crap according to the shop that did my post-purchase once-over.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...103ae61a_k.jpg

Calipers seem to work fine, so I'm going to run them for another cycle. New Pagids and some cheap coated rotors:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7562fbdc_k.jpg

New FMIC in. I should've notched the rad support like some guides suggest, because it is offset to one side by like an inch.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...06b127c7_k.jpg

Bumper back on with new ducts, new fogs,

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...78ea1d5d_k.jpg

Old smoked ebay LED turn signals. I'll take pics of the new ones at some point.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e73fe1e4_k.jpg

Rear brakes are equally pooched.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...109c1803_k.jpg

Honestly this car has the most hateful parking brake setup I've ever seen. I've had normal BMW/Subaru drum parking brakes, Manual twist-back calipers on my old Mazda, and have EPB motor calipers on my Volvo, but these ones absolutely suck. I just don't understand how you can twist either way and the piston comes out. You basically need C-clamp force to push it back, WHILE spinning it.

My tried-and-true needlenose plier method did nothing other than extend the piston. Ended up watching some videos where they used a C-clamp and channel-loks to do it. It works but it's sketchy enough that I finally caved and bought the thirty dollarest caliper tool on amazon.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2fbf5cea_k.jpg

Back to the front of the car. Wastegate actuator has been a trip.
I tried to adjust this one a year or more ago to try to mess with my boost oscillation issue.
One adjuster nut was seized so bad, I sheared the shaft off. I welded it back on, but there was no adjustment and my issue was still happening.
I swapped an N14 actuator, but it's different and didn't solve my issue either.
So I managed to find a long M6 stainless bolt and graft it onto the actuator. Hell, I even made a jig to weld it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7b798578_k.jpg

Turned out quite well honestly

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1794de3f_k.jpg

N14 left, N18 right. I imagine the diaphragm size impacts how much force the air can exert on the shaft.
Travel vs vacuum is similar, so the spring might be stronger too?

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3ffd512b_k.jpg


Front end just needs a boost tap, then the engine bay stuff is done.
One more rear brake now that I have the tool, then the wheels can go back on.
Then it's just replacing the rear fog/reverse bulb housing, and finding some trim rivets for the front bumper and the car can come back down.

Nice Job

It came from a used car dealer on Prince Edward Island. If you think this is rough you should've seen the other Minis I looked at haha.

Harsh roads and harsh winters aren't kind to these cars. This winter I need to address some rust issues where the fender flares have rubbed through the paint. If I keep it long enough, I'll end up recoating or replacing a lot of the suspension because it is pretty rough.

Continuation of the above... I'll try to keep the pic size reasonable here since it doesn't autosize lol.

New cheapo LED turn signals, but at least they're not yellow/brown. I grabbed bulb holders from a junkyard to hook them up. Wish they had an OE clear cover to match the other one I have, but oh well.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f77f87ba_c.jpg

New downstream O2 to fix the code, it was really in there but it managed not to destroy the threads in the DP.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cfabd25e_c.jpg

New RL stuff. Shock mount metal bits and the subframe all look really rough. One downside of the garage is that I'm hesitant to spray things like Corrosion Inhibiting Compounds because there's no ventilation. Not sure how to get around that atm. I need to grab a blower fan and some tube or something.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4db4fd95_c.jpg

This side sucked even more than the left. The dust boot wasn't even installed on the caliper piston, just hanging loosely. Piston wouldn't budge, so I ended up replacing the caliper. Prefilled the new caliper and it was easy to bleed.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9b733c7e_c.jpg

Moving onto the boost gauge. It's really a pain to get at the firewall in this car unless you want to pass through the passenger side. I ended up popping the driver side cowling up enough to wedge my arm in and pass the hard boost line thru the hood release grommet, because that was the most accessible spot. I have a lot of adapters between the MAF boost tap and the hard line, but I'm hoping it holds.

Used an Autometer gauge since it kind of matches the gauges - probably would look better if I painted the trim ring black, but later.
Basically started with one of the Thingiverse boost gauges and redid it from the ground up to sit flush with the rest of the cluster, have a way to bolt the gauge in place with adjustment, and a little lip so I can eventually print a backshell.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d1a758f4_c.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...542de0bf_c.jpg

On the ground, ready to come out of hibernation.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c5c6ba65_c.jpg

Quickjack fits almost perfectly in the corner. Would be nice to have another inch or two to the outlet, but it'll be fine as long as I hang the left and right frame in the correct spots.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5b1448e9_c.jpg

Trying to test the vacuum pump. 23 inHg looks bad, but I think it's the gauge setup... going to verify soon with a better gauge, following the PelicanParts article, since the TIS is extremely vague.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c6766c37_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3a4278f0_c.jpg


Car just passed inspection this morning.
Had a P053A and I found the PCV heater connectors not seated 100%. I've also heard people say they can be seated too far and not make connection. If it comes back, I'll mess with it more.

AC seems to have died since I last drove it. Not sure what to make of that, but it would be nice if that worked lol.

Scorpion Exhaust sounds a lot deeper. Quiet at idle but not under throttle.

Gas is old, so I'm going to try to burn a tank running errands before I give it the beans, but under moderate throttle, I'm still getting a boost oscillation around 10psi.

Basically plan of attack will be:
Burn existing tank of gas.
Check vac pump function, and replace if at all sketchy.
Replace Throttle pedal because there was some thread about it, and I have a brand new one in a box somewhere.
Get Testo or RomraiderLogger working with this car to take some actual logs and see if it shows anything.
See what actual boost this hits since the Torque logs are too slow to be useful and I think it's actually displaying absolute pressure instead of boost.