Not really.. Just interesting..

 

i would not buy anything from a place selling the magic "magnetic fuel conditioner" ... per ******** ... just burn the money, at least you can play with the fire ... lolololol

scott

 

FWIW I've had a different tuner box, same theory, intercepts boost and intake manifold pressure sensors, adjustable from 1-9. I've posted my mixed feelings. I'm a bit more negative on it of late. The temperature is getting into the upper 90s here now, and I can't used it above a 2 or 3 without getting a CEL or two (too low boost, funny ambient pressure codes). Usually when just on cruise control headed up a hill at 60mph or so. Works fine in colder weather and adds a significant amount of low end torque. But I guess without intercepting the temperature sensor and without anyway of adjusting timing, there's only so much the piggyback boxes can do.

 

Well that is definitely interesting, and a little discouraging. However, moving to the Northwest, I don't expect to have temperatures quite so high. Maybe a performance intercooler or higher octane fuel would resolve the issue?

Also, are you sure the same thing doesn't happen with a tuned ECU as opposed to the plug in module?

 

I don't know. I'm only guessing that at the same time BMW gave us the RSA hash tri-core computer to prevent OBDII port tuning, they also made the ECU more sensitive than the previous generation to abnormal sensor readings, resulting in more CELs. I suspect that where some tuners look over the ROM for the ECU and find the fuel and timing tables vs. load vs. temperature vs. RPM vs. color of your eyes, or learn from other tuners where to look, and tweak it a bit mostly by guesswork... over time more and more tuners find the places where the speed governor or other controlled features are, and can offer other tweaks. On vehicles that have been out a while, with a lot of customers into mods, eventually you get dozens of really good tuners that offer a full menu to let you decide exactly how you want the engine to behave, like how much engine braking you'd like (tweaking the timing) when off the throttle and above 4000RPM. A long time ago tuners would just find the feature that threw a CEL and simply turn it off. Not a good idea in case something really is going wrong with the car. Now I suspect they tweak the tables until the ECU rarely throws CELs. Can't really do that with a piggyback. But the lack of OBDII port tuning has probably kept a lot of players like Alta and others away from this engine... it's just not worth the money to built up a really good tune that makes a lot of potential customers happy, when only a handful of people are willing to send in their ECUs to get reflashed just for a little more low end torque. Looking over the dyno charts from the few tuning shops bothering to try, I'm not really seeing super flat torque curves with a clean 20% improvement across the RPM range. Not being critical, at least they're bothering to do something. Don't know if waiting a year will make the marketplace any better for us.

I sometimes wonder if Countryman folks would do better putting in a previous generation ECU from a salvage yard (and maybe a few changed out sensors) into their cars and then find a port programmer that gives enough flexibility to provide an effective tune.

 

Interesting idea about the ECU swap, but I wonder if it would be worth the time, energy and cost to do so. Also wouldn't bode well for your warranty.

Hopefully Mini will offer a JCW Stage 1 kit for the feint of heart to get the extra juice they are looking for. For now I am satisfied with the RaceChip and hopefully I won't face the same issues you are.

When the CELs were coming on did you notice anything abnormal about the way the car was running or performing, or were the emissions just out of tolerance?

In other news: It sounds like I will be installing this in my dad's 2011 Clubman JCW when I pull it out of my car for dealer service. Should be an interesting experiment, and exciting seeing what it does in that car.

 

95% of the CELs on the TMC tuning box are when in 6th, on cruise control, and you start to climb a mild hill. Pre-TMC, car (automatic) would shift down to 5th, but now with extra torque it doesn't think it needs to, but then it gets confused because of the sensor readings. Can be avoided by just shifting to 5th. Occasionally a hassle, but the extra low end torque (as you know) sure is nice though. The few times I turned it to zero, I missed the way it drives with a Racechip or TMC too much. I think I prefer the way Racechip does things at the point it intercepts ECU signals and I'm guessing you won't have the CEL issue. I think you can even control not only level, but RPM at which Racechip starts tweaking. At least for some cars.

 

My understanding is that on some cars you can adjust how much "performance increase" and "where in the RPM band" that performance is delivered. I believe the latter is controlled by the right tuning dial. Unfortunately, for the Mini, that dial doesn't do anything. So, I don't believe that you can the "where" factor.

Driving the car last night I did notice a distinct "kick" at 2200 RPM where the power comes on fairly abruptly, and another kick at just over 3000 RPM. Right now I have the RaceChip set to "7" (max), so I am not sure how that relates to the programming vs. the mechanics of the car. I am going to try a couple different settings to see if I notice a difference.

 

So, noticeably Ebay isn't the quickest method to go for this. The Ebay seller just informed me that the Racechip is going to finally get to them this Friday and then they'll ship to me.

 

Maybe not the fastest, but definitely the cheapest. I just got hit with another $20 from my credit card provider charging me for the international transaction. That brings my grand total for this experiment up to $740. I'd say the $60 is probably worth the wait.

 

After much deliberation I have decided not to keep my Countryman. After having my car at the dealership twice in the first week of ownership, being 5 hours from the nearest dealer after I move is just not a situation I want to put myself in. After exploring several options I have decided that getting a different car is the best solution.

That said, the RaceChip is up for sale. When installed it did work without adverse effects, although my testing was pretty limited. If you are interested send me a PM and I will sell it for $625 shipped in the lower 48. I paid $740 after all the fees and shipping, and I have the option to return it to RaceChip which will net me the same amount. If someone wants it I'd rather pass the savings on to someone here to enjoy the chip.

First paying buyer gets it. I will post in the classified section as well, but thought I would put a heads up here for those following the thread.

 

Man, that is discouraging to sell the countryman for stuff covered under warrant. I thought you was going to install it in the clubman.

 

Which Mini Dealership are you taking it to? I thought you just moved here to the PNW?

 

Yeah, it sucks, but I am better off to resolve the problem now than run into unknown issues down the road.

Tried to install the RaceChip on the Clubman, but the JCW must need a different harness because the connector on the MAP sensor was different. My dad ended up with an AccessPort instead.

I am still in NJ where I have access to 3+ dealerships within a few minutes drive, but I am leaving on Tuesday to drive to Spokane. The nearest dealer would then be Seattle, and I would have to get the car towed there for service and be on my own to get it back. Not worth the hassle or aggravation IMO.

 

Good News, I talked to Spokane BMW, they sell and support mini's!! Good luck! Hope you don't have to sell the countryman!

 

Not sure if you are referring to Camp BMW, but that is the only BMW dealer I found in or around Spokane. I spoke to their service department and was told they will not do warranty work on MINIs, although they will do standard maintenance (not under the free maintenance). I will also be moving again in 12 months, and it will likely be to a location not near a MINI dealer again.

 

Ahhh dang! What do u do that causes u to move so much?

 

I am in a rotational development program with Caterpillar. I will have 3 twelve month rotations, the first of which is in Spokane.

 

Let's see if we can come to a deal on this... I'll more than put it through its paces.

 

Please sell to Theta! He has helped with the coding of our countryman's, Im sure he can get this race chip to have max potential!!

 

Racechip finally showed up at my doorstep; just in time for me to go out of town for work. Looks like I won't get to play with it until Friday sometime.

 

Finally home and looking at the hardware in the box. All3Mini3, do you have any information which two connections you hooked in to? You're correct, the instructions are extremely lacking. I know where the MAP sensor is, is there another? Perhaps on the intake?

 

One connector is on the left (passenger side) and the other is underneath the airbox.

 

Ok Threar.. Now your turn, Hook this up and gett his running!

 

So far unimpressed, but that was just the first attempt with stock settings. I used the built in MINI Connected App ("Driving Excitement") to look at the HP; without I get about 181HP registered by the program. Using D61 (default setting) I saw 184HP with the same program.

I'm going to try a couple more options and some other ideas for getting readings.