At least two or three times before.... If I had held my breath waiting for the JCW kit for the MCSa, I would have passed out from lack of oxygen by now....

 

i am happy.

the rep from bmw/mini had my tech look over everything in the engine compartment: firewall, bushings seals, the works... turns out it was the throttle body - which has now been replaced.

the noise is gone!

what's odd is that when i drove off the lot i heard the noise (only much quieter) for the first 10 minutes or so of driving - but then it dissapeared completely. after a few hours of hiway and city there was absolutely no trace of the dreaded dentist drill sound ;-)

if this problem is bugging you then i would suggest having your throttle body looked at - it could be the culprit!

best of luck - drew

ps - got the LOW-DOWN on the mcsa works kit directly from the latest mini company bulletin. it IS done. it DOES exist. it's had some difficulty getting through emissions testing, and the common co2 sensor problem did throw it off schedule while mini was writing an updated software patch for the stock mcsa, but it is now all signed off on and is supposed to land here "within the first two weeks of september." in other words - soon!

 

I hope so (that the works kit for the MCSa lands here "soon"). It is just that I have been told soon so many times that I am starting to wonder if the word soon is just the way that the parts dept. staff shut down the conversation....

 

Well, here is the latest (as of 12-Sep-2005) on the JCW kit for the MCSa from AskMINI:

Thanks for contacting MINI. I am glad to hear you are interested in upgrading your MINI.

We have our engineers working away on this project. We are in hopes that it will be available for you very soon.

If there are further questions I can assist with, please feel free to drop me an e-mail. I will be happy to lend a hand.

LET’S MOTOR.
Amanda Cordell
MINI Customer Relations and Services
Representative
866.ASK.MINI (275-6464)

FWIW. I am still not holding my breath waiting for the kit to become available in the U.S. any time soon. I don't doubt Amanda's sincerity; it is just that soon (even very soon) can encompass everything up to one day from never.

 

first of all, here is an email directly from jcw in the uk i received last week:

Hi Drew ,

The Automatic should now have been released in usa they have here in the uk. have a great weekend
Regards

John Cooper Works
www.johncooper.co.uk


so take heart dude - customer service people are never in the know like the service guys who get monthly bulletins on this stuff, and i will be happy to let you know what i know:

the kit is exactly the same kit which has been out for a couple of years now. there are absolutely no changes to it - except - for the software. and there lies the problem. the software has been a pain to get right (failed emissions due to stumble problems at idle) but i believe they've buttoned it all up now and it should be to us soon.

like you i am eager too - just hang in there! it will be worth the wait...

cheers - drew

 

and it's here to stay.

after having it replaced last week i can once again hear it - only much more faintly. i spoke with randy webb at webb motorsports (who has got to be one of the nicest guys ever!) and he was very helpful in schooling me on how a throttle body works and what noises it produces. the bottom line is this: even though mini replaced my throttle body and it might have been louder than the one i have now, they ALL whistle. it's how they are designed. period. now that i know this i actually, for some strange reason, feel better about it and know there is nothing that can be done about it. onwards and upwards!

as for my experience with the noise getting louder with an intake installed in the car, randy assured me that of course it would amplify the sound of the throttle body whistle and that if i didn't want to hear it i should just run without an aftermarket (or jcw) intake. the stock one, in my experience, will keep the whistle the softest.

so there you have it - mystery solved.

happy motoring - drew


and thanks again to randy for all of his insight. by all means check out his site and buy his gear! ;-) http://store.webbmotorsports.com/

 

Thanks Drew! Glad I could help!

mdsbrain,

How are you liking your Webb Motorsports Equipped car? It is one of the dozen or so MCSa's I've done, and I've had a lot of questions about what the difference is. I realized that I have never driven a "before" car, so I have nothing to compare it to!

Thanks,
Randy

 

The difference is like night and day. But the difference is very much the same as in the MCS. Better RPMs on launch with the A/C on and better low-end tourque. A very satisfied customer

 

We are having transmission issues. Not always down shifting to 1st after a stop. The 2-3 shifts shudders/studders bad. Almost feels like is shifts from 2nd to 4th. Switch to manual mode and it does the same thing. Occasionally it will stay in 3rd or 4th way to long. Won't up shift. Going to the dealer soon.

 

Just FYI, the tranny is not designed to go to first at a stop on its own (I think it is a gas saving/emissions thing, BMWs have been like that for awhile) - I do it via manual shift myself. The other stuff sounds odd though, good luck with it and let us know how it goes

 

If its staying in a gear to long it may have learned that from you The ecu learns from the driver how to shift. If your more of a aggresive driver it will shift later.

 

Not true. After stopping at a stop sign it is supposed to start in first. This is the normal Auto mode. We have owned 7 BMW's and none of them exhibit this trait. On top of that it is intermitent. Some times it does some times not.

 

Again this is wrong. In the normal AUto mode it is designed for effeincy. How can the Auto mode be addaptive when it controls the shifting. I am talking about every day in traffic not spirited driving at all. Part throttle shifting is not supposed to hold gears. In Sport mode or Manual mode, yes that would be normal. Once "stuck" in either 3rd or 4th (it varies) I have to switch to manual bump the gear up then switch back. Tell me thats normal addaptive learning?

 

Well, my E46 with steptronic only went to 2nd on its own in manual mode and it felt the same in auto mode, not like first feels when I put it in first manually (I have no way to be sure because the car doesnt display the gear in auto as it does in manual, but first does feel different when i use it intentionally). Every loaner I have driven over the years has acted the same, from 3 series sedans to the X3 and Zs, and its one of the reasons I choose to drive in manual mode. All of the cars I am referring to have been steptronics MY 2000 and newer (vs the regular automatic trannys BMW had), and the Mini in auto mode feels like it starts from second after a stop as well. {The Dinan software changed that on my 3 series among the other improvements and I was hoping Dinan would offer something similar for the Mini auto tranny.}

Perhaps there is a chance that in regular auto it is in first so briefly I was not feeling it as I am accustomed to the more aggressive mapping of Dinan as well as my own starting from first in the Mini, but can a tech or someone who knows confirm what the transmissions are supposed to do at stops in the various modes?

 

Interesting way you post...Let us know what the stealer says

 

Every BMW we have owned and driven starts in first. Not the point of this post especially since the Mini does not have a BMW transmission or software. Trust me on this it's not normal.

 

I own a 2005 mca s Covert. I just got mine back from the dealer mine was a bearing inside the fan. My mini is great but its been to the dealer 11 times since May . I have 9500 miles on it. All the recalls are up to date , they replaced engine wires , throttle body, wheels (clickingMMMM still clicks). I like this car plenty i def think ill get extended warranty on it. Does anybody have a good ext company?. Crevier Mini in Santa Ana ca offers 100k for 1600.00 is that a fair price ?. Thanks Charlie

 

I had a slight whine with the stock intake that I noticed and the dealer told me it was normal. I just put an Alta intake on now and it's a lot more noticeable. I guess after reading this thread it's probably the throttle body. Has anyone tried a larger bore throttle body to get rid of it or putting the plastic wall piece back in with an aftermarket intake to lessen the noise? I may just end up going back to stock.

 

Another consideration would be to install the JCW intake. Less noise than the Alta, slightly less power output improvement, but better than stock. Then again, its your $. Personally, a CAI by itself is such a small improvement, it is not worth the expense.