Experiencing pinking at full throttle with a 15% pulley that was on there when I bought it.

I'm always on V-Power and the plugs are the upgraded NGK iridiums with the 7 in the part number. Any thoughts on how to resolve?

 

What octane is premium in your area?

 

97 V power 98 Premium. Can't find higher.

 

OK...just making sure you don't have crappy California gas...their Premium is the same as everybody else's midgrade...can be an issue for some....some early data said that there was always a timing pull and some pinging with a pulley..but that was a octane issue..the max octane in case is 90-91...the mini suggest minimum in the us...
Different rating system than the north american r+m/2 rating, but 97/98 is similar to 93/94 octane with the us rating system I think.....
Is that temp rating the Plugs the same as jcw? Not sure of the number off the top of my head..know some even went 2 colder...but largely due to mini changing the temp of plugs midlife of cars sold here in the us...guessing the warmer climates in some area made an issue...
Things I might do asap...
I would put a bottle of injector cleaner in the car, check the ignition Coil plugs and wire ends for corrosion...
Other stuff is more of a crapsshoot...educated guesses and detective work...don't think there is any instant fix...might be worth a compression check to be sure valves, etc are healthy...

 

I do have CA gasoline :( I just buy the most expensive one, it's 97 Octane V Power. I went one colder on the plugs, but the coil and cables haven't been replaced. I was thinking that would be the indicated by misfires.

 

I very recently had a problem with misfires and bad cables myself that I really only noticed after a pulley install. Def consider that first and of course check/clean up any corrosion on your coilpack too.

 

Definitely not experiencing misfires

 

Ahhh I misunderstood and thought that's why you were talking about misfires in your previous post. Carry on :D

 

Since the specific gravity of "race fuel" if different than road fuel, I would run mostly road premium, then add s couple gallons (max) of unleaded race fuel...
Know from experience two things...
1) you can burn a valve from TOO MUCH octane...not linkly here....but have seen it in some motors that run mostly 100LL AVGAS unless a bit of oil is added....
2) high octane race fuels have a different weight/specific gravity.... So you must tune a motor to run with them since the volume of fuel needed vs BTU I'd different....
Case in point...folks that just run 100LL avgas in a race car get little benefit unless the motor is setup for it...guessing you are having a similar issues... Remember the maps for the car are based on road fuel...more than octane matters for fuel... Btu's per given weight and the weight of the fuel matters...e85 is an example of this...great octane, but less btu's, so more volume is needed or the car runs lean......

 

Did I read that right? You are running 97 octane fuel? I didn't know they sold it that high at the pumps.....with that level of octane, I don't think you should have any pinging at all!

If it was me, the first thing I would do is a compression test...see how much you really have. Maybe you have a bunch of carbon built up on the cylinder head, bumping up the compression a bunch?

I run a 17% pulley, and if I run 91 octane fuel...every now and then if it's really hot out, I can get some pinging. I have switched over to running 93 octane.....and I don't have any problems at all.

 

I run low grade and don't have any problems.

 

What do you mean by "low grade"? What's the octane rating?

 

89 octane and no issues at all.

 

 

Do you know if the car has been tuned? Mine pinged with the pulley installed until i got it tuned.

 

It was modified with the pulley before I got it so I assume not tuned. Reading around I understood the pulley and the colder plugs were the only required modifications.

What is involved, as I need to be CA smog compliant after the tune.

 

Maybe i am getting ahead of myself. if the pinging is caused by some other problem, you want to get that corrected first (before tuning). Tuning is always recommended to optimize the FI, ignition.

Like IQ said: if your motor is sound (good compression, good valves),
Then try an ECU reset:
Seafoam the motor to get rid of as much carbon buildup as possible
Put in new ngk bhr7equp plugs (single electrode, less chance to ping)
Reset the ECU to get the motor to relearn its ignition curve
See where you are at, ping-wise after doing this.

 

"bhr7equp" is not an NGK part #. The one you're thinking of is BKR7EQUP. Also, they're not single electrode; they have 4 stupid ground electrodes.

Here's my suggestion: Go down to your local parts store, fork over $6.00 for some BKR7E V-Power plugs. Gap them to .0.032" and go on your merry way. Let us know what happens.

 

BKR7EQUP is what i meant, but maybe i grabbed the wrong NGK box. i dont want to pull a plug out of the car right now to check for the correct number for single electrode "7's" right now. I'll look into it if anyone is interested.

 

Right on. Damn typos. Plugs are one of those things where keeping it simple generally pays off. BKR7E V-Power at factory gap is solid choice for these cars, but you have to change them every 10k or so.

 

A good tune won't affect smog. I have had no issues with smog on my setup.

 

First I thought the highest octane we can get in California is 91 octane.
With 91 octane you will get timing retardation at full throttle.
However, I never had pinging on my 2003 R53 with 15% pulley or on my 2006 R53 with 12% (JCW) and 2% crank pulley.
The knock sensor should quick reduce timing so that you do not have pinging. Maybe you knock sensor is not working properly.
I would also try different spark plugs as others have suggested. I use NGK.

 

Do you fill up at the same gas station all the time? Try another brand or gas station and see how it does.
There are alot of variables going on with fuel these days (winter blend/ethanol) we just dont know about.

And being in California stuck with 91 is like being kicked while still on the ground...it really sucks.

 

My 06 with 15% pulley - 1 step colder NGK plugs and an Alta CAI which I just installed 2 nights ago pings at full throttle with non ethanol 91 octane. There is 93 available in the area but it's not ethanol free. May be trying some of that soon anyways.
Hoping to get a custom tune this spring / summer if there's a tune event within 300 miles of me in Upstate NY. (one can only hope) The only tune I've considered otherwise, is the WMW ECU tune but they don't lean out the fuel map. May do it anyways...not sure.
Based on the appearance of the old plugs I just replaced a week ago. It appears to be running rich.

 

Before I would attempt to lighten my wallet blindly throwing parts and pieces at it, I would run a can of BG44K through it. My MINI/BMW independent guru swears by it. If it doesn't help, then back to the lightening of the wallet. Good Luck.