All --

Just a quick question. Reading through some of the posts here, it seems like people use the E39 throttle body on the Mini Cooper. In order to do so, do I have to re-flash my ECU -- if that is the correct terminology? I am just looking for a simple way to get a couple more horsepower over stock.

Thanks for the help,

John.

 

personally I'd bin that idea and go and buy a cam for it

 

:-) I am trying to parse out my upgrades!

 

I guess the first and foremost question is what type of upgrades do you currently have installed, if any?

IMO flashing the ECU to accept a non stock part like the throttle body is silly. Its adding extra unneeded steps and money that might be spent in other places on the car that will net you more horsepower. Now if you have already got a ton of upgrades and you are trying to eek out just a little more power then it might be worth it if the next step in power is going to be pricey.

 

No other upgrades at the moment. The engine is completely stock, so I was looking at "simple" upgrades before moving to a full tune, cam, etc. So if I have to upgrade the ECU tune, then I do not want to install the BMW E39 TB. I looked at it tonight and while the plugs are compatible, I would certainly need some kind of an adapter plate -- which I have not seen anywhere -- to make it work. Again, for the moment I am just trying to make it slightly more capable.

 

Most of the bolt on stuff that does not require a tune would be a good start. Intake, supercharger pulley, colder plugs, etc.. Depending on injector size you might or might not need a tune. There is quite a bit of power to be gained here before you even get to head work and custom tunes.

 

When replacing the throttle body, you should only need to reset the ECU. Follow the Mini Mania instructions outlined here. This resets stored values in the ECU (position probably).

 

Thanks for the post. I am actually worried that the car -- which is new to me -- may already have a flashed ECU and if I reset the ECU to relearn new mods, I will lose any performance tune that was placed in the ECU! Ugh. Any ways, before I reset anything, I am going to see if I can find an adapter so that I can at least test how the larger E39 BMW 5 Series TB will work on the MC.

 

Resetting the ECU will not remove a tune. If you don't reset the ECU as outlined, you'll have rough idle, starting the car will be difficult.