Hello everyone this is my first but I own a 2009 mini cooper s that has a blown motor. I have put a good amount into the car for performance parts and I'm trying to avoid selling it. I'm looking into the sned4speed engine and I was wondering if anybody has any info on these or any other providers I could look into? I'm looking for some power not an oem engine swap but also was wondering what the reliability of these motors are compared to stock? I'd be running the stock turbo for some time on this motor so I would assume the reliability would be good since I wouldnt be stressing a built motor for power. Any advice is greatly helpful and thank you guys so much!!

 

Hi when you say 'blown motor' what's blown? Is it the head gasket or something worse like cracked block?

If head gasket and the rest of the motor is not destroyed then it might be worth rebuilding what you have. There a number of kits out there from a number of shops that I think would be a better route to go but that greatly depends on what you have already done to the motor and how bad the damage is. There is always the JCW upgrade and you might want to check with the forum sponsors on here.

Also you wind up going down a real slippery slope if you do the motor but not the brakes and suspension etc. And if you don't beef up some of the other parts after swapping in a lot more power you wind up breaking other parts that weren't upgraded.....granted not sure what you have already done.

 

Hey it's the head gasket but I was advised not rebuilding the block I have because the shop believes that it was overheated. For parts I have not touched the suspension gearbox and drive shafts but I have a clutch master racing 2+ clutc with aluminum flywheel, borg Wagner intercooler, Forge boost tubes hot and cold, aem ram air intake, short throw shifter. I had plans for the car to make some power but with what I was running I didn't see a point to do suspension yet and stuff because I've heard good things about the stock suspension on these cars anyways. How much can the axles handle before you would say to swap to something more beefy? I plan on changing the water pump, alternator, etc. If I was to do this route but what else would you suggest changing? I would be running the stock turbo for a short time on the built motor I'm not expecting huge power but a definite increase for sure.

 

1. Is this your daily driver?
2. How comfortable are to take on the task of performing the rebuild yourself?

 

Yes it would be my daily.
For the most part besides not having some of the proper tools, space, and time :/

 

Ok, I guess at this point a couple of things. How long did you drive the car for with the blown head gasket? If it was a matter of noticing the overheat warning and smoke and then shut down immediately the damage might be limited to just the blown gasket.

As far as shops, yes this can be a big job so how are you with local shops, is there one you deal with regularly that you trust? If not perhaps someone local to you can recommend a place. I have a buddy who owns a shop up here in Toronto who does all the work on my cars. My dad owned a machine shop so pulling apart motors and repairing them vs replacing them is more in my DNA.

If you have a trusted shop then I would pull the motor and see what exactly got damaged, my gut feeling if you didn't drive it hard after blowing the gasket is that you may not have warped the head. But the thing is, you can have the head decked (machined to be flat again) and since it is at the machine shop I would port and polish the head as well. On my N14 I also keep reading about walnut blasting but I suspect with the head off you could just clean it up.

Now if it were my motor, whilst out I would probably beef up it's internals a bit. I'm looking at forged pistons and rings and valve guides since I'm going to have the motor out of my Mini to fix the slight oil burning I see. Also do the timing chain and tensioner if it was not done (N14 motor) or check it as this seems to be another area of concern. You are lucky being in the states as you have much better and less expensive access to performance parts than I do up here in Canada.

 

I understand. I do have a guy I trust to work on it I'm actually in atlanta so I can take it to waymotorworks and I also have a a separate mechanic that I would trust. If I do forge the motor out and put a performance head gasket and all new water pump and accessories, besides my high pressure fuel pump possibly failing soon cause it's the oem fuel pump with 86000 on it, would the car be more reliable? I really need reliabilty and I have been having some issues with the car before this is just the latest thing. This is why I'm just a bit hesitant to spend the money but God would I love to have a built motor mini. I love the car.

 

Whoa Atlanta.... didn't see that coming!

It's always tough to decide whether to fix or replace. You've done a lot of work already from the looks of things, and if everything else is pretty much mechanically sound I would say putting money into the mini might be worth it. If your suspension, brakes, exhaust are all good then may just be worth fixing. You love the car and that's also a good reason.... If the replacement is going to be a used car then you could always be buying into someone else's headache..... if you've had this car for a while then you would pretty much know it's service history and that may be the deciding factor.

What other issues were you having? My N14 motor is puffing blue smoke after idling and hard run (why I'm going into the motor to do the rings) I was able to reduce it quite a bit by switching to a heavier weight oil. Not sure what the previous owner was using as I just bought my Mini a few weeks ago. Going in I knew I was going to have to spring for a clutch so figured I'd do a few other things to increase reliability at that time. Car won't be my daily driver though, but I am driving it a lot right now. Car had two sets of brand new summer and winter tires on nice wheels and a good history of what had already been done such as timing chain, tensioner, alternator, brakes, tires, didn't need anything for the certification. Has high milage but almost no rust for a car up here.

 

How many miles are currently on it?
I’m into my second motor rebuild and have a couple friends around Denver that have rebuilt N14 motors and every one had to have the head face surfaced. They were all slightly warped from years of hot/cold cycles. Just a nature of the beast.

Sneed would definitely be the easier route. Bolting on all the accessories (water pump, alternator, etc) is easy. Since its the DD, time is probably the biggest challenge. Buying tools, learning curve of dissecting the motor, locating machine shop, disassemble, head/block reworked, reassembly. Factor in a job, regular life, the occupied garage space and you’re looking at weeks or possibly a month or two. All that for one endeavor, unless you plan to rebuild another motor.

Add up what you need to do the rebuild yourself, then compare it to Sneed’s engine. That may determine the decision.

 

When running a lightened flywheel, you can expect loss of engine inertia when trying to launch. This isn't readily noticeable with OEM or hybrid turbos, but if you go with a slow spooling turbo upgrade, be prepared to do a lot of clutch slipping when launching from stop lights. I don't consider this a bad thing, 'cause it minimizes stress and strain on axles, and doesn't attract unwanted attention. The upside feature to a light flywheel / big turbo combo is awesome acceleration at high RPM's. I'm still on OEM axles and have well over 300WHP, so the need for an axel upgrade will depend on your driving habits.

As for suspension, consider a Hotchkis HSport Competition Rear Anti-Roll Bar. Significant improvement with cornering, and it has 3 different mounting holes to select from.