ok. so I am about to buy a 2nd hand unichip from an owner with the last generation MC.
I know I will need to flash it for sure, but Will I need a different harness to fit that on my 07 MCS?

Thanks in advance.

Johnson

 

YES, for sure. The harness is not even close. While it is possible to hard wire the Unichip into the harness it not recommended as reversing it is VERY expensive. Mini Mania has both the Generation I and II in stock-
http://new.minimania.com/web/SUBTYPE..._Inventory.cfm

 

Define expensive? I hardwired mine myself. All it took was a soldering iron from Radio Shack for $9.99. I have installed it, put it back to stock and installed it again. I can do it in about 30 minutes. However I am not sure if the UNICHIP from the R53 can be programmed for the R56.

 

Hey guys. Sorry for the confusion that Don has placed above. Obviously not familiar with the product or the car in this case.

Mike has it nearly nailed!

The hardwire is REALLY ez on the R56. We can sell you a harness and instruction set. If you do the wiring farther back on the harness and invest in some felt tape like the OEM uses, you could nearly NEVER tell it was even there.

Your biggest problem that was not eluded too above is the R53 uses a different ECU brain vs. the R56. So hardwiring it in isn't a problem, it simply won't work. There aren't enough drivers on the old ECU to run the R56.

Hope that helps! BTW: We have the NEW style harnesses PnP style and ALTA Programming should be available next week!

Let me know if I can help further!

 

No confusion in my mind. Our experience is very first hand as one of our cars was the very first generation II MINI Cooper S to have a Unichip. We provided the car to Unichip for the initial development.
The real advantage of a Unichip is the ability to simply plug and unplug the unit to keep the Dealership happy. The hardwire process took me less than 1 hour to do the last one we did. But the cost to replace the harness to regain acceptance by a dealership is where the real cost is. The dealership wants almost $1,000 to replace a harness in an '07.
Sorry for any confusion. The Unichip for an R53 will NOT work on an R56, regardless of the wiring method.

 

ok guys thanks!
at least now I can save some money! LOL

 

and they have the 2007 R56 version on sale for $599

 

What are the advantages/disadvantages of hardwiring aside from the install/uninstall issue?

TIA,

Richard

 

Advantage is that no other pins / wires are touched other than those needed to interface with the UniChip. So little no no chance of any communication concerns like with the pass through harness that UniChip uses. So better set up. This is the way MOSt UniChips are installed around the world. Just the US and Canada prefer the harness route.

Hope that helps! Thanks for asking!