Giant intercooler, my friend. Giant intercooler.

 

Theta, I respect your posts and contributions to the forum, totally serious. But brother see my inline responses.


Theta, again, totally respectfully written but I had to toss in my .02

 

Completely understand - I very much enjoy your posts and videos, as well! Let me do a follow-up on those:

Recall work is, indeed, serious stuff - sometimes, it is due to a federal mandate. However, while the have the responsibility to fix the item in question, they are only qualified to remove the factory equipment. Perhaps in this case, the technician honestly didn't know how to remove / replace the CAI. Some techs are not properly trained, after all. I believe in this case the service wasn't denied, but was rather delayed due to a proposed charge to remove and re-install the intake. It's horses**t in my opinion, but they're technically still within the law.

The very first time I took my car in, I was told that they were voiding the DME warranty, along with the electrical system, and a handful of other things. This was less than a month into ownership. I went head-to-head with the SA, SM, and regional service manager. At one point, I was told to go **** myself and take my business elsewhere next time. Not even kidding, sadly. I've had to pick my battles after that one...

I went down this road and attempted to contact MINI USA and the UK offices regarding this first run-in, and that went nowhere. I was told that any time aftermarket equipment is involved, everything falls under the discretion of the local and regional service managers. That being said, does it look like I stopped modding?



To summarize, I'm with you all - just giving a heads-up on how crappy some of this stuff can go for us sometimes... I wish the OP luck, and good for you for fighting the charge -- I would have done the exact same!

 

Oh man, that looks good!!!

Thanks for the response, I understand your points. It's as bad as fighting a traffic ticket when innocent, the odds are against us EVEN if we are right!

 

Chrunk, they complained about the turbo heat shield too. They actually listed every mod they saw on their "World Class Inspection."

Theta. On your earlier post saying they don't have to touch aftermarket stuff, it's not that they won't touch it, they want me to pay for them to touch it.
My OEM air box is in SF and I'm in Reno this week so it will be awhile before I can take it back in to the dealer in Reno. I just might have it done at a dealer in the Bay Area.

 

It's delicious, in fact!

I believe the correct term in these cases is: "Damned if you do, damned if you don't." If Mini Coopers weren't so darned cute and fun, I'd vote with my wallet.

 

I'm sorry - I should clarify. They do not have to touch it under the standard warranty. The warranty on parts and service technically only covers the original equipment installed on the vehicle.

It's still BS, just clarifying.

 

I dropped mine off this morning as-is and half expected a call about the mods, but I guess they weren't bothered by them. They just called to say it's ready. I don't know why there is so much inconsistency between dealers.

 

That's awesome - I always love hearing about the "good" service departments out there!

 

I guess I'll be getting aftermarket part approved by my dealer service manager prior to purchasing. Hopefully that will help me avoid any issues.

 

Just got this email from Clint at DOS in regards to an ETA on their CAI....

Hi Mark,

We'll make an announcement on NAM and *** in mid-December announcing the R60 CAI product release. We've dragged out the release date a few times this year, but this product has been a tough nut to crack.

Thanks for your email and have a great afternoon.

-Clint

Defenders of Speed, LLC
1043 Marin St,
San Francisco, CA 94124

web: www.defendersofspeed.com
email: clint@defendersofspeed.com
phone: (404) 433-2452

 

Looking forward to it - will make a nice Christmas gift!

 

A sneak peak would be awesome.

 

Hi All,

As it turns out, our current trusted R60 owner who was assisting Defenders of Speed with the CAI project is unavailable to help us out.

Are there any R60 S owners local to San Francisco that would be willing to helps DoS out with final fitment and maybe some dyno time? If so drop me an a PM on the forum or an email at clint@defendersofspeed.com.

More info about the R60 CAI can be found here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...63-post45.html

So you may be asking yourself, "What do I get for all this?" -- You get a free DoS R60 CAI system in exchange for your time!

If anyone's interested, let me know!

-Clint

 

Not in the Bay Area, but if you need anything from us, the cars are in Florida sitting next to a Dynojet as we speak. And we like cutting cowls...

 

where at in florida are you theta? i would like to see your countryman

 

It's currently in Miami, though most likely in pieces at the moment.

 

are you shipping them back or driving? are you at PAW?

 

Yes, this one is at PAW at the moment.

 

Hi All,

Any one have any idea when Defenders of Speed will re-open. I really want their CAI and have been waiting since Oct. to order it. I really don't want to order a different one, but it might come down to that. Any other recommendations that are comps to the DoS CAI?

 

In my opinion there is no real competition for the DOS intake which is unfortunate because at this point I really think he's out of business. No updates to the website. No notification on when it'll reopen. No posts on Facebook, here, etc. I'm sure he's lost tons of business by now due to the lack of communication. I'm writing DOS off. Sad!

 

Oh that is such a shame, I have heard such good things about it and Clint. I have a line on a "slightly used" one from this thread actually. Someone trying to go back to more stock. So, hopefully that works out.

 

I figured if he was going out of business he would at least take down the website, disconnect his phone, and maybe post something on here. I keep thinking he had an accident or something to just disappear like that.

 

He did write me back in October saying they were closing for a month due to a family emergency. I hope everything is ok.

 

I know this is jumping on an old thread, however I found that you can put a 3" cone filter right on the MAF, there is room and it is supported by resting on the back firewall with a small piece of foam. This is a $35 solutions and it works very well. I just finished 300 mi of driving in 70-90 degree weather and I am still averaging 35 mpg on the high way, 27mpg in the city with some spirited and frequent stops. This leaves the bottom of the stock air box in place for quick change up when I take it back to the dealer for service with no questions asked.

The stock snorkel tube is blocked by the hood so less air is somehow diverted up and through, I cannot see this really pushing air in to the engine bay. Certainly for all of the intakes that even sit over this inlet, that snorkel is not the path of least resistance and I suspect all of the short ram intakes from NM, VIP, etc all gather just as much air from the engine compartment. I'm sure the intake suction pull from the snorkel to some extent, but certainly not as much as the stock closed box which sucks all air from this location. If anything the mix of hot engine air and the snorkel mix in this location would not be too far off from the filter sitting right over the snorkel. What are we- in LeMans- or just looking for a bit more performance and engaging noises

Power did seem a bit better, especially with a hard pull in first which in the countryman adjust the boost a bit heavier. I am not sure about the other intakes, but with the simple cone filter on the MAF, you can really hear the turbo bleeding off boost to maintain whatever the set point is when gassing it in 2-6th. This can especially be heard when on the highway in 5th at 60 and then laying on the gas.