New to the Mini world and recently purchased a 2013 N18 R56 S Hatch. It was purchased as a work commuter car but quickly becoming my go to car over anything else I have. Bought it from a wholesaler who got from a dealer that was a new car trade in. I know it had a few mods done to it and the CEL light was on (p0136, p0420). replaced both O2 sensors, reset the CEL and in about a hundred miles it would reappear. It came with a full cat back BORLA exhaust sytem, Burgertuning module and the K&N Typhoon intake (Car runs very well and is fun to drive). I removed the module and reset the codes but that was not it.
Upon further inspection I found that it does not have a cat convertor on it. Just a straight down pipe. Now, I need to get this through inspection in my state, so do I get a cat convertor and install or can I get a tune/reprogram that will not throw any codes and pass inspection? Apparently there are some hard codes stored in the ECM. If I need to spend more money on this problem, I like to at least get some more performance out of this thing. Seems to be a lot of options but do not know where to start?

 

I know this isn’t an answer but I also have a 2013 MCS with a Borla catback exhaust. Currently running a high-flow cat with a Manic tune but upgrading to another tune that requires a catless downpipe. Do you have any issues with noise, (hwy droning, loud cold start) with your catless DP along with the Borla?
Thanks

 

Go back to the seller....The vehicle cannot be sold ( Federal law ) especially by a licensed dealer sans the cat.
Did they also perform the state inspection before delivery ? That inspection certifies by their inspector that the cat was present. He could lose his state inspection certification.....If yes then on both counts you can hold them over a barrel and get them to purchase and install new one.

No dealer wants to lose their abiltiy to perform state inspections and will go to great lengths in preventing that. They can be reported to your states Inspection Compliance Division of the Registry of Motor Vehicles Dept.

They will have to order one and install it at their cost.....

 

I have a catless downpipe with a catback exhaust and let me tell you, around 70-80mph I have to talk so loud so my passengers can hear me. The drone is pretty horrible but ive gotten used to it. The music at max volume usually drowns it out. But it sounds so good at WOT through a tunnel haha.
Heres a link to my cold start

 

I replaced the down pipe with a cat from PLM (Private Lable MFG). Easy to swap out. Car is quiter from inside now but still has nice tone.

 

You are correct, it does(or did) get pretty loud. One trick I did was to fold up a bunch of old shipping quilts and pack them the area behind the rear seats (just above the muffler) to act as insolation between the floor and the inside of the cabin. I just recently swapped the down pipe for a PLM cat and it got even more quiter.