My '03 R53 has ~78,000 miles on it and I'm wondering when or if it's necessary to port or rebuild it. I can't stop thinking about an '04 R53 I drove while I was looking for one to buy and how much more power it had in the lower end. Before you ask, it was a production 09/2003, which is actually only a month after mine was produced, so it didn't have the extra 7 hp the facelift provides. I remember hitting it in 3rd gear at 30 mph and the front end picked up immediately and it just went. I don't get that kind of power in my car in 3rd gear until about 50 mph.

I don't think the car was modified. I asked the sales rep at the dealer I was at and he said he didn't know. It was pretty ratty though (dings on the body, broken antenna, bad road rash, leaking trunk etc.) so we didn't buy it.

All that to ask, is there a time when you should replace your S/C? Does that kind of low-end power sound like a new S/C or a pulley?

 

Did you check to see if there was a smaller pulley on it? It's a pretty common modification which would yield some significant hp and tq gains. If your car doesn't have the pulley that would explain a lot. Don't rebuild SC until it fails - if you want to remove it and check the oil you can buy that wouldn't explain low boost/power

 

I know that's a possibility, but the car was otherwise stock and not well cared for so I assumed it didn't have one. My car is stock, yeah, but a pulley is on my list.

 

I wouldn't make that assumption at all -- this is by far the first mod that most owners make.

Do the pulley before you go ripping out the supercharger for a rebuilt or upgraded unit. The cost and effort will be far less -- even if you have a shop do it -- expect it to be $200-300. DIY - you could prob pull it off for about $150-175 including buying the puller.

In fact -- I have a used 15% pulley sitting in my garage -- PM me for a smoking deal.

 

So when do S/C's normally fail? I drove 6-7 R53's before I bought mine and I'm sure they were all stock (except this '04 possibly) but they were all at different power levels. There was another R53 on the lot with this '04 and I don't think its S/C was functioning at all; it felt like my dads R50.

Thanks for he offer, but I'm broke and I'd probably go with a 17% if I weren't.

 

I'll be the first to say it -- bad car to buy if you are broke. R53s require a significant amount of maintenance / care.

If all the common issues haven't been addressed start saving up for:
- LCA bushings
- Power Steering issues
- Tons of oil leaks
- Ball joints
- Coolant expansion tank
- Upper strut bushings
- etc.. etc..

Not to scare you -- but more to prepare you

To answer your question -- people were seeing failures around 100k miles or so -- but it varies greatly. I'm already at 105K and its still going... I have a Steigemeier rebuilt unit sitting in the garage for when the time comes .. but given the car gets driven MAYBE twice a week.... I am hoping it will be a while.

 

I know, that's how I went broke

My car is in great mechanical shape as far as I can tell right now.

 

I'm over 140k miles on my original charger with a 15% pulley, and it still gives normal peak boost.

I'm of the opinion that you run it til it fails, then replace.

You could have a bad bypass valve that's keeping your boost low.

 

The Eaton m45 unit only really needs to be replaced when the PTO gears for the water pump start to eat them selves. and theres no telling when that will happen. some cars they are over 150k miles, some at 75k. but its a very audible noise. that's when the charger should be replaced. as for maintinence theres only bandaids. MINI and Eaton say that the fluid driving the gears is a lifetime fluid. most people don't believe that. so they change it and end up making the PTO gears leak and go bad again. so figure just like anything else, when its time, its time.


as for the two different cars. there is a difference in the supercharger, and there also could been a difference between the two gear boxes. some of the 04's (late) had the updated gearing which was shorter, making the car feel faster. also if the charger had the pulley, the boost can increase 4-5 psi even more depending on the pulley. this is typicially a 15 ftlb -20 hp increase instantly. but the charger itself between the coated and the non coated shouldn't have any real difference. its also debated wether or not the porting would help the charger breathe anything for gains.

 

I gave my son my old 2006 R53 with 140k miles, then we drove cross country from SoCal to SC (son is stationed in Beaufort).

Along the way we stopped at Way Motor Works in Atlanta, and asked similar questions.

At 140k miles the super charger was going strong. Asked Way about preventive maintenance and was told there basically is none. "Your just as likely to introduce a problem as to prevent anything. The SC is a consumable item, run it tell it breaks, then replace."

The son put on a 15% pulley and we continued on to Beaufort without another thought.

According to Way the SC gives you plenty of notice when it starts to go.

 

As was stated, don't replace the charger until it's giving you trouble. The most prominent point of failure is the PTO section of the charger that drives the waterpump, it will start to give you a growling/grinding noise, and at that point I would start to prepare for a new unit.

We have seen them as early as 75K, but as late as over 200xxx miles.

These cars make about 11 PSI stock, and 14-16 PSI with a reduction pulley, but the biggest thing you'll notice is the RPM range at which the power begins to engage.

You can drive 5 different cars and have 5 different feels, it all comes down to: stock, JCW, reduction pulley, pre/post facelift, owner care, miles, cabrio vs hardtop.

 

Thanks everyone for your input! I will not worry about the S/C then. I guess the '04 must have had a reduction pulley on it.

 

also the 2 lobes never actually touch. therefor there is no feasible wear unless your injecting in something pre charger, such as water meth, the lobes shouldn't wear, and all the gears are hard sealed except the PTO gears, which have a metal gasket (to my knowledge) which is basically hard sealed


pulleys are also very common mods, since they are the highest hp per $ gain

 

Yeah, I know pulleys are very common I just assumed since the rest of the car was stock and not great shape that he didn't have one. I checked AutoTrader today and the car is still listed so I might drive up at some point and check it out again.

 

So I'm bringing this thread back to life because I drove the '04 R53 again today. I checked out the engine bay and the car looks totally stock. In fact, it looks pretty terrible under there. There's corrosion and pitting all over the supercharger bell housing and a bunch of other metal components in the car. There was no aftermarket pulley as far as I could tell, yet the car did perform noticeably better than mine, especially in the low-end. Could it just be that this car had a better built S/C than mine or something? I'm just trying to figure out why mine doesn't come on boost nearly as quick as this one. It feels like it has an extra 10-15hp/lbft. than mine.

 

I still come back to the need for empirical data. How do you know the 2004 doesn't have the JCW tuning kit? That pulley looks stock. Just because the badging isn't there doesn't mean it's not there.

We also don't know If your car is running tip top - what about your car? What are the compression numbers, is your belt slipping?

What does 10/15 lb feet of torque feel like?

 

there are also 2 different tranny ratios from some 04's to the 03's, late model 04's could have the facelift tranny making it feel faster

 

I suppose you're right. I am just judging based on looks. It's on non-JCW wheels, MCS exhaust tips, the engine bay looks exactly the same as mine etc.

Here's a shot of it:





I don't know about my car. I did an oil change recently but that's it. As far as I know the car is running on the original components except for the coil pack I replaced in September. It's always felt totally solid and I've never heard any belts slipping. I guess I could be wrong.

 

The transmission ratios changed effective with July 2004 builds and those are 2005 models.

 

My engine looks downright stock from the top but it has 15% pulley, modified airbox, colder plugs, solid motor mount, Alta inter cooler couplers etc..


Did you actually look at the 2004 engine from the side?

http://www.billswebspace.com/MCSPull...tTensioner.htm

You could also have a boost leak - but really tough to know because you are going by seat of the pants dyno.

 

I looked all over it, nothing looked like it had even been touched since it was new.

I wish I could dyno the thing just to get it out of my mind.

 

Why?? What's the end game here? What if you found a hp freak - that has 250hp? That's not going to change a single thing about your car. Dyno your own car if you want to dyno anything -- focus on improving the characteristics of your car vs. obsessing over one you don't own.

 

No, no. I mean dyno my own car just so I can reassure myself it's making stock power like it should. Sorry, I didn't clarify that.

 

So what's stopping you? Plenty of dynos all over the country - just remember wheel hp vs. at the flywheel are not the same.

 

I'll see if I can find a dyno around. I'm aware WHP isn't the same as HP
Isn't it about a 15% loss through the drivetrain?