Why don't US MINI exhausts pop/burble?
 

I'm curious as to why US Minis exhausts don't make the popping noise. And what's different mechanically compared to Euro Minis that has eliminated the sound.

Whenever I watch videos of euro minis I get a kick out of the popping exhaust. I'm digging it.

Probably because of how many people complained about that "Feature" on the 05-06 models. I for one think it was a horrible idea. It sounds fine on the stock exhaust, but if you start modding your car and stick an aftermarket exhaust/headers on your car's going to sound like a machine gun (I should know, I live and work in LA and people are constantly ducking out of the way when I lift at 20-30 MPH going down streets). If you install an exhaust, most any car will "Pop and Burble" you don't need to make it do that from the factory :roll:.

Mine does do it sometimes, but I think it only happens when I lift a moment late in the shift. Just a couple or three low ones. I am still shifting at 4000 rpm due to the break in period, so it might be short shifting causing it, too.

(edit: That is when I am shifting into neutral )

It was actually a computer setting. The car was letting a bit of gas into the system after the throttle was lifted, thus the pop-burble.

The pop/burble on coast down is causes by the baffles in the muffler system and the turbo dampens out the sound. If you want a pop and re when you upshift then you need to run the system a little rich.

Actually, the muffler bearing is what's causing it... BMW/MINI took it away on the 2nd gen MINI's though. Good thing too as it's a really expensive part to replace according to my local JiffyLube.

If the noise meant something meaningful in the way of performance I can see wanting to keep it, but as it is it's just a noise. Irrelevant...and certainly not worth worrying over. My opinion...:)

Because people got sick and tire of the fake burble.

Last time i brought my car into jiffylube, they replaced the muffler bearings for me... they even flushed and filled my blinker fluid.

Fake? It actually happened. :confused: Not like it was a speaker and an MP3 player stuck to the car :lol:

Not sure if your serious or not so in case your serious:wink:
http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/06/28/exhaust_popping/

Yeah fake. Kinda funny (IMO):wink: Its not like its an old funny car (no pun intended) with open headers dumping raw fuel into the exhaust:)

:grin:

BTW, I just have to step in with a serious comment... We have two 05 MCS that have the exhaust burble. The one that is totally stock sounds kind of silly to me. The stock exhaust makes it sound as if the car is back firing all the time. I've never gotten used to it.

However, our other MCS has a Miltek cat back exhaust system on it and I can tell you that the back burble sounds amazing on that car. It really adds to the driving experience/pleasure with the car. It's not overly loud (inside or out), and it really makes the car sound great. I LOVE it!

Drive your R56 with the hatch open and you can hear it pop every time. I had to fit a couch from Ikea in back and couldnt close the hatch. Therefore, I had to tie it down. It was an awesome drive with the hatch open as the exhaust noise goes straight into the car! :cool:

Last time I went to Jiffylube they cracked my head. Man did that hurt. :cry:

I thought I rememberd reading on MotoringFile that the EU R56 Gabe was driving did not have a burble or pop.... but I can't find the post :confused:

Let's make everybody happy with the 'burble'. Make it a programable option, to be turned on or off by service along with the other 50 or so things the computer can turn on of off for a fee. :nod:

running it rich and letting raw fuel into the exhaust system will shorten the life of the cat converter, right?

Running the system rich can shorten the lifespan of the cat.
Not sure on letting in raw fuel?

My understanding from our MINI service reps is the feature was not possible (or even desirable) with the turbo. It is one of the things I will miss when I get my 2008. :sad:

Makes sense. .. . supercharger doesn't use exhaust gas but turbo does. if there was excess fuel it would go through the turbo propeller and the turbo could explode. KABOOM!

Please, *DO NOT* take your car to Jiffy Lube!!! When they're not blatantly ripping you off, they're screwing up oil changes and installs.

Muffler bearings are fairly easy to replace, and you can save yourself a good amount of $ by doing it yourself. You can get the part here.


-Paul!

their blinker fluid is quite amazing as well.

The pop on the '05/'06 MCS is the result of careful ECU tuning. I got that from an engineer who worked on the car.

Also the 2007 MCS I had in Germany for 10 days this summer DID NOT have the pop. So we can now verify that the US and EU specs don't have it. I've seen the video of the guy in the UK who seemingly has it but I'm not really sure what's going on there.

When I talked to Eric Sonntag (the lead on the R56's engine project from BMW) about the pop, he smiled and said they had to get rid of it due to US customer complaints. At the time I was thinking that he was only referring to US cars. However since then it's become obvious that he probably meant worldwide.