>>>>>>As for those of you who've had the pulley done, congrats and Enjoy! I'll be watching closely to see if any problems occur to numbers of your cars within the next several years. I really hope they don't!!
>>>>
>>>>Neither do we!
>>
>>Here's an update for those of you who missed it: blown engine (pulley and ECU mod) waiting for service at a dealership with 3 other blown engines with same mods. His car, though had a problem with the oil initially.
>>
>>https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...c=15494&14
>>
>>the JCW looks a mite better to me now...


Cat, this is just hearsay at the moment. Bigtim was told over the phone that there are 3 other modded MINIs on the lot. I think we need to wait for verification of that fact, before jumping to any conclusions. And Randy will be in attendance at the engine tear-down, hopefully, to see what the real problem is. The loss of oil looks to be the culprit, not the pulley/ECU mods. Let's see what develops.

 

Oh yes, I believe the oil was the culprit, definitely! But if it's true there are 3 others there that is worrisome. I hope they get the details on all of them and let us know!

 

Although this MAY be true to a degree, in the MINI's case, the stock S was basically "detuned". Same with the MINI ONE and the Cooper. The ONE is just a detuned Cooper. Is the Cooper unreliable b/c it is more powerful than the ONE? No. With the S and JCW, they didn't really change anything to add the pulley - well they didn't change anything else that will help the MCS handle the pulley better from a reliability standpoint. This tells us that BMW felt the S could always handle the smaller pulley from the beginning and part of the reason they gave us a larger one was so they could give the JCW kit extra horsepower with very little addition work and parts (and R & D). This keeps the costs way down and in this case, the profits way up (for the JCW kit). I think that's the main reason why the power output on the S is so conservative.

 

You can't tell me you actually believe this, do you? No one on ANY of the sites have mentioned this and anyone with ANY kind of problem with their MINI finds this board. So no mention on blown engines and there are 75+ MINI dealers and this one has not one but THREE blown engines on the lot plus this guy who is their forth? No way. Liars...I hate liars...

 

I think a big issue here is basic maintenance. If you keep an eye on your engine, and don't abuse it, it will last a long time. Of course there will be an odd case of "engine go boom" for those unlucky ones that happen to catch a case of bad parts. I firmly believe a properly broken-in and maintaned vehicle will last for a long time breakdown-free. I'm positive BigTim's engine would NOT have self-destructed had it the proper oil level. I also feel that there was another probley beyond just oil consumption, due to the volume of consumption, but that's another thread.

I also will not believe unsubstantiated rumors based on hearsay of a pissed off service advisor.

Major point: The MCS engine was designed to handle the JCW kit. Running the engine at the JCW HP level is not only safe but reliable, at least according to BMW and their imposed warranty. I would not feel comfortable heavily modding a MC engine and expecting long-term reliability, since it lacks the go-fast and high strength parts the MCS engine has.

Bottom line: Don't mod you MINI just because you can, mod your MINI because it will allow you to greater fufill your life's pleasures (like firenewt said).

...and Motor-On already,
Ryan

 

>>You can't tell me you actually believe this, do you?

No, since there's no way to tell for sure and dealerships exaggerate to support their false or shaky claims. And since he didn't specify WHICH dealership can't call them either. I just thought it'd be worth keeping an eye on. Don't mean to come across like chicken little screaming the sky is falling!

Motor on!

 

>>>>You can't tell me you actually believe this, do you?
>>
>>No, since there's no way to tell for sure and dealerships exaggerate to support their false or shaky claims. And since he didn't specify WHICH dealership can't call them either. I just thought it'd be worth keeping an eye on. Don't mean to come across like chicken little screaming the sky is falling!
>>
>>Motor on!
>><<

Cat, the only dealership in Colorado is Ralph Schomp in Denver. They are the only game, not only in town, but in the state.

 

>>>>>>You can't tell me you actually believe this, do you?
>>>>
>>>>No, since there's no way to tell for sure and dealerships exaggerate to support their false or shaky claims. And since he didn't specify WHICH dealership can't call them either. I just thought it'd be worth keeping an eye on. Don't mean to come across like chicken little screaming the sky is falling!

I heard that there have been S/C failures after pulley install but these were due to damage done during the removal of the stock pulley. Apparantly as like most things in life experience counts. Getting a little to aggressive in taking the pully out could cause damage to the S/C. But I have never heard of engine blown out before.

Anyway, I was at my dealership, Nick Alexander in LA, last week for 10K maintenace and I asked them of their views on mods and was told that the failure or damage must be dirctly related and caused by the mod before they will void the warranty. Incidentally, they are one of the dealerships to give you loaners or rentals if you bought your MINI from them. I got a rental last week and a BMW 530i loaner about 2 months ago for 3 days so that they could take care of some rattles. They managed to cure all except for a couple of buzzes around the seat belt areas on both the left and right side pillars. This is one battle that I don't think any MINI owner can ever completely win... the battle against rattles I mean.

 

Okay, Randy has spoken and the dealership did indeed exaggerate! None of the cars had mods! Just to keep things up to date for future searchers here's the thread:

Blown Engines

 

Mike Cooper speaks about the Works Car in below quotes and the potetntial problems of just doing a pulley and ECU upgrade. Personally I have no interest in the works package after driving it, but would do it before I did unwarrantied work....I am interested in the Works sport seats, made by Sparco and which also have the side airbags and full BMW safety warranty, due out soon, but I am sure BMW will be gouching price wise like the works package, but will definitely consider them since my leather sport seats on my MCS are so atrociously uncomfortable....can't wait to sit in them once they are out, the works test car I drove had the standard sport seats, not the Sparco's...Cooper works is also out with special suspension and brake kits as well...guess you could spend a fortune getting the whole works package...lol !

"The supercharged Cooper S was a different kettle of fish altogether, and we knew early on that, for cost and volume reasons, the bulk of the aftermarket tuners would be taking the easy way out. That means just replacing the supercharger pulley with a smaller one to raise speed and boost and recalibrating the ECU. "While we agree that is fine for, say, 20 bhp extra, our target was 200 bhp with total reliability. Because of this, we did things the hard way," Mike explained. "Forced aspiration produces a lot of heat, and when you increase the charger speed and boost, you get even more heat."


Heat is the thing that destroys engines if the intercooler and radiator are not up to the job, and the other problem is the poor fuel quality in some countries, which means the engine is running into detonation and will destroy itself if you are not careful. "The BMW test regime also included running the test cars flat out for 35,000km on race tracks like the Nuerburgring and Hockenheim," Mike explained. "As the official factory-approved Mini tuner, we had to do a thorough job that BMW would be willing to put their name behind.

"When we had the engine on the dyno, we quickly realized that the factory supercharger was on the limit at just over 200 bhp, so we made the decision to change the unit. Our supercharger has an abradable rotor coating with ceramic particles so that as it beds in it creates a better seal. The pulley is smaller than standard, so boost pressure is up from 0.7 bar to 1.0 bar. We also gasflow the cylinder head, and flow through the head is improved by up to 15%. The spark plugs are changed for colder range ones and the ECU re-programmed. "Our objectives apart from the extra power and torque were efficiency, driveability and fuel economy," Mike continued. "In normal driving, there is a 10% improvement in fuel economy over the standard car despite the extra power!"

 

>>"When we had the engine on the dyno, we quickly realized that the factory supercharger was on the limit at just over 200 bhp, so we made the decision to change the unit. Our supercharger has an abradable rotor coating with ceramic particles so that as it beds in it creates a better seal. The pulley is smaller than standard, so boost pressure is up from 0.7 bar to 1.0 bar. We also gasflow the cylinder head, and flow through the head is improved by up to 15%. The spark plugs are changed for colder range ones and the ECU re-programmed. "Our objectives apart from the extra power and torque were efficiency, driveability and fuel economy," Mike continued. "In normal driving, there is a 10% improvement in fuel economy over the standard car despite the extra power!"
>>

This is a bunch of garbage. How on earth does a supercharger "bed" iteself?

 

sounds like Brit speak for breaking in, altho usually they say "run in" but "bed in" sounds like "settling in," which makes sense as he's talking about a seal.

 

>>sounds like Brit speak for breaking in, altho usually they say "run in" but "bed in" sounds like "settling in," which makes sense as he's talking about a seal.

Hmmm. The eaton blower is designed with extremely loose tolerances so it doesnt "bed" itself in. You dont want the rotors machinging their own cavities... you'll end up with metal shavings going places they're not allowed to go. That doesnt sound too reliable, does it?



--
Cheese

 

The silver paint on the intercooler cover helps contain the "abradable rotor coating". The engine uses a high-tech "hype generation field" to protect it from any possible damage.

 

Interesting chat here, let me join the fray!

I have an 03 MCS, 7 months, 21k miles.

I've been toying with the idea of JCW, for 2 reasons: warranty, and resale value.

I'm beginning to change my mind and will stay mostly stock unmodded for now, and then go aftermarket most likely.

My car does have quite a few problems that I am not too happy with, and I cannot see adding $6k of JCW to a car that I do not consider fully sorted out. My current problems are: throwout bearing, popping steering column, AC howl with strong engine vibrations, and a few more.

I am now looking at the savings between JCW vs aftermarket as money that I can put aside to have repair work done when something breaks, since I am now working on the assumption that on a car that is not fully sorted out something will break eventually.

I can also see getting sucked into spending more and more money on this car, and want to avoid that. Furthermore, I think that at this time I can get more enjoyment out of investing a given amount of money into suspension/wheel mods rather than increasing power.

Finally, one comment on expected reliability of JCW vs aftermarket. For all practical purposes I think JCW and aftermarket differ only in the cylinder head (I don't consider the supercharger any different because of the ceramic coating). JCW claims that the cylinder head mods will help with heat dissipation, and thuis reduce the likelihood of heat damage from the tuned engine.
Any thoughts on that?
Could this be addressed by getting e./g the Alta larger intercooler (a whopping $1k), or an oil cooler?
Speaking of oil coolers, does the MCS have an oil cooler or not?
(Saw another post today asking about this) I thought it did. If not, then adding an oil cooler may be the cheapest insurance you can buy for a modded engine!

My 2c worth, interesting discussion!
Markus

 

>>The silver paint on the intercooler cover helps contain the "abradable rotor coating". The engine uses a high-tech "hype generation field" to protect it from any possible damage.


I wonder what would happen if you boosted the plasma?

--
Cheese

 

The MCS does have a heat exchanger for the oil - it is on the backside and looks like a sardine can. It's actually a water-oil exchanger, so an efficient cooler mounted in the airflow that is air-oil may be even better (watch for that soon from Mocal).

Randy

 

>>...I think that at this time I can get more enjoyment out of investing a given amount of money into suspension/wheel mods rather than increasing power.

After my recent weekend in the track, this is exactly my view of the situation. Suspension/handling mods are the way to go. This car has really nice power to begin with, and boosting the handling a bit seems like it would be the real key, unless you're like some of the others on this board that are looking for 12 second quarters... Also, I think that suspension mods don't cause nearly the warranty worry since they can't really effect the big ticket items (i.e. the ENGINE!).

 

interesting point... I've been learning about tires from some techies, and they do like to stress the point that the quality of the tires has much more to do with the level of performance than people give credit. But this desire for more torque and HP is sooooo seductive! but at the same time I'd really like to be glued to curves and stop on a dime. In day to day driving can anything be more important to safety than the stopping distance?