Good day
I've searched around and haven't found exactly the answer I'm looking for, so perhaps someone can point me in the right direction.

I have an '05 r53 to which I've added a 17% pulley, open air box, one ball exhaust mod, MSD ignition, colder plugs and new wires.

I've heard a couple different things.
One is that it's imperative that I tune the car,(leaning towards RMW) or risk damage. Also when I tune it I should run bigger injectors, maybe even bigger than the jcw 380s.
Others say I can just add the jcw injectors and it will be fine.
Still others say that I can keep the car just like it is, and it will have no problems.
Personally I wanted to try to talk a dealer into installing the JCW tune on my car, the way it sits.

Obviously I'd love to have the custom tune and bigger injectors, but that's $700 i can't part with at the moment.

I'm sure there will be differing opinions, but I appreciate any and all feedback.

 

You can....you may gain a bit...
I had stock....added jcw380's....drove s bit, then had RMW tune my car...got 200 hp, and was still fuel limited with a 17%, CAI, and stock exhaust.....so if you do decide to spend $350 to tune....the idea of spending $300 or so on new injector to maybe get 20more ho might DOUBLE your hp gain....
Stock injectors were typically getting about 180 hp to the wheels, JCW injectors about 200-210,....
You might be getting 170 to the wheel now...if healthy...remember stick is 163-168 to the CRANK...dyno's measure to the wheels....so there is loss...
Only you can answer if the extra $$ make sense....
My suggestion is a tune in kinda like the final item to bring a bunch of parts together....and make a "tuner" car feel factory.....the trick is, the MORE THE CAR is different from STOCK, THE MORE YOU GAIN from a custom tune.
I picked jcw cause I got a set cheap, new in the box, and I knew 100% they were quality, had the right spray patterns, and fit...and they fit my goals, kinda OEM+, to gain power, but keep thing reliable and efficient...it also left the door open to driving with a factory flash if done on accident, or on purpose to troubleshoot a problem.
I did run jcw380's untuned for a bit....ran ok...not ideal, was likly too rich WOT, but fine in cruise and cruise acceleration...so the cat, etc would have suffered if I did lots of WOT or ran lots of miles....
Jan/\rmw has some very good options now for bigger injectors....when I did mine, there was tons of experimentation, with sporadic luck....but know other injectors are well known...get what RMW tells you too imo if he is doing your tune....

 

First off forget the JCW tune, it will basically be a waste of money for what you have.
Remember, tuning is about optimizing settings for the parts that "you" have, the JCW tune is a "one size fits all" for the JCW modifications, and even then, since all parts work differently when put together with other parts, even factory JCW cars can benefit from a custom tune over the stock JCW tune.

So, for what you have....
-You can run it as is, just limit your WOT pulls to around 6400 RPM and you won't run out of injector
--A custom tune will definitely make things safer and give you power benefits, but I'd wait since $ is an issue.
You can do this in stages.
First find yourself a set of 380cc JCW injectors, install them, the ECU will adjust itself to them just fine (you simply can't go any bigger with an immediate custom tune, and honestly with your current mods, you shouldn't need anything bigger)
Then save up for the custom tune at that time, also with the 380s you won't have to watch your RPM limit anymore, the extra flow of the 380's will cover that.

 

I think you are 100% right.
If I'm doing the custom tune than I will absolutely get injectors.
And RMW will def get my business when that time comes.

I just want to A) make sure I'm not hurting the Cooper and B) possibly get something cheaper (stock jcw tune) to hold me over for now.

So I'm not going to harm my car without doing anything at the moment?
I know I probably should of made sure before I started bolting things on.... Buuuuut I got excited 😔

 

I think that's what I'll do.
I'll wait for the 380 injectors and pop them in for now.
I would love to have done everything at once...
Buuuut money.

Any ideas about where to pick them up for cheap?

 

Not really, you just have to look around, they still come up here in the marketplace from time to time. I don't think I've heard of OEM's failing so don't automatically shy away from used ones, most of the time those are from people who have actually gone bigger and just have them left over.
And besides, if the idea of "needing" a custom tune for the car to run at all, doesn't bother you, and you can't find any while your saving up, you'll eventually be at the point you can do a tune and something larger all at once, just because you don't "need" larger injectors, doesn't mean they can't be scaled to work.

 

Again very valid point.
If I start now I'll have both before I know it.

I appreciate the insight.

 

I can anecdotally say that the mods you have can be run with stock injectors without problems I've been running almost the exact mods (minus the one ball) for 30,000 miles with no problems. I do tend to not rev much past 6,000 RPM though. I'd like to get a tune but haven't had the time/money. I do think that with bigger injectors and a tune you'll make more power, but I don't think you're hurting anything for now.

 

yup wait till you have the cash to get a header and the injectors, that with the tune will be a big difference. your ok with the stock injectors now

 

You don't have to have a tune. There are hundreds of people running around for years with the same mods no tune and no injectors and it still works fine.
You do gain a little low end with the injectors, but not a must do right now.
If you are looking for power the next mod I'd look at is our mild cam as it is cost effective and the gains are real.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/way-mi...t-r52-r53.html

As for tuning we also offer our quicktune that you can just ship your ECU to us and we do it and ship back. We offer it for both stock and 380cc injectors, but advise that it is best to get the real JCW injectors as the cheaper aftermarket ones don't have the correct spray pattern or tune the same.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-ec...-cooper-s.html

 

Depends. Seen some with mods only ( no tune ) run fine w/o injector upgrade but in my case while having so many air flow management devices installed I would periodically see lean codes. Happened only after removing one ball mod and installing back section of JCW exhaust with other mods already complete. Once 380's went in, lean code never came back so injector upgrade alone did help some.

Part of the JCW tune is also having the 380cc injectors pulse at a specific rate. The software is designed specifically for those injectors/pulse rate. No MINI shop will go against the "required installation of 380's " before their software down load[/quote]

Then just throw in a set of 380's in preparation and wait on the tune. Start ups will improve some, engine idle will improve, but basically until the tune is loaded they will not pulse at the proper rate for power/torque gains. ( Note, MPG's on your MINI's Trip computer will be off until the tune is loaded )

Usually circumventing the process of modding a daily driver MINI's engine/drivetrain, a process which has already been mapped out in the last 14 years by being a "test pilot" of sorts will only bring one trouble down the road.....