lol running out of popcorn?

 

i was now it's time to make a fresh batch.......:p opcorn: LOL

 

For those of you wondering...removing the factory exhaust manifold/turbo etc isn't really that difficult. I just swapped new of both onto my car with very little difficulty. The hardest part was honest the stupid factory heatshielding. The rest is fairly simple. 11mm nuts hold the manifold on.

some people say to remove the turbo first, but I think it was easier to remove the whole assembly, THEN unbolt the turbo.

Here's the order I did things in


-Unhook and remove coolant reservoir (just easier to have out of the way spills coolant though lol)

-Remove intake tubes, unplug diverter valve, vacuum lines from wastegate and whatnot

-Remove upper and lower 02 sensors (use the right special socket!)

-Unhook battery if you haven't already(found this out the hard way when the lower heatshield made some sparks lol)

-Loosen bracket by alternator so you can twist that out of the way(clearance for heatshields and downpipe)

-Remove upper and lower heatshields(craploads of 10mm bolts...)

-Unbolt and remove downpipe. This is fairly straightforward. Getting the flange to slide off the turbo can be tricky though.

-Unbolt coolant lines on side of turbo and oil feed on top of turbo

-Unbolt small 8mm bolt i think it was that holds oil return line on bottom of turbo, pull down to remove that hose/line out of the way

-unbolt all 10 exhaust manifold nuts. They are 11mm and you will need a deep socket so you don't strip them at least to start them. the hardest two are the ones under the turbo on the bottom right. That's why you moved the lower oil line out of the way you can feed an extension through there.

-Shimmy manifold with turbo attached off of head, making sure you have EVERYTHING disconnected, then with some finesse get the angle just right and slide it out of the engine bay. This takes some attempts to get the angle just right DON'T force it, when you get it just right it comes right out.


I replaced a ton of oil lines, coolant lines, etc etc when i did this for other reasons. The exhaust manifold gasket seems reuseable but I had a new one just in case. I would def recommend replacing the downpipe gasket, the o-ring on the lower oil line that slides into and bolts to the turbo, and all the copper crush washers on the coolant and upper oil lines.

I'm sure I missed a few things, but it's probably a good afternoon job if you've never done it before. Just take your time and keep track of what goes where. I always use plastic baggies and a sharpie.

 

Did you not put the car in "service mode"? (slide the front assembly forward)

I do not see how its even possible if you don't. FWIW, I followed the BMW TIS and that is a main step.

 

Front assembly...who in the what now?!

 

I, too, have no clue what you are talking about Thumper! Enlighten us!

 

I just thought I would let everyone know this is going down tomorrow. I am lazy and am going to remove as little as possible to get the new manifold on. But I would like to hear of this service mode that Thumper is talking about.

 

Service mode allows you to have more room to work in front of the engine. To put a R56 in service mode you need to remove the front bumper cover, front bumper, head lights, the bolts holding the upper metal section of the core support, and the bumper crush tubes. This will allow you to pull the core support forward giving you more room. It sounds like a lot of work but it's really only about 30 min if your not familiar with it.

You may be able to find info on doing this to an r53. It's not as involved but it may help understand what needs to be done.

 

What Mike said....

When I bought my JCW turbo and swapped them, I literally thought it was going to be an easy hr job lol. Thought to myself, well the turbo is right in the front and totally accessible, its gotta be simple....but quickly found thats not the case....I do not see how its possible to reach everything u need to if you do not do the steps which Mike mentions above. We had no clue what to do, so we just started pulling crap off till we had room to do what we needed lol. Nothing terribly hard, if you can install an exhaust, I'm sure u can R&R the turbo/manifold, but its just a pain in the ***. This is why I said earlier, I would not do all of it just to put in a new manifold.

 

Did this Way Motor Works manifold ever get fitted?

Reading about the mismatches in MCS Turbo and Manifold resulting in discolouration and cracks I am thinking this may help if it is matched better and flows better.

 

No I have had a bunch of work with my BMW trying to get the engine back in that. I have not had the time to do the MINI yet.

 

I have the manifold on my car, but don't know what different it made because I did alot of things at one time. I didn't really notice a big difference between the 2 manifolds side by side.

 

I had the JWC tuning kit installed a month or so back. It came with the manifold in question. I asked to see the 2 of them together when the stock one was off. I was told the new one was a JWC manifold, although the one shown here: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do...tor=N14&arch=0 is like my stock manifold.

 

JCW manifold is a mini part and this one from Way Motor Works is made differently by an aftermarket manufacturer.

 

MattyKHZ,

Are you sure? Here is photo of my stock manifold, left, and manifold that came with my JCW tuning kit. The local service manager confirmed that the one on the right is a factory JCW manifold. It looks the same as the one from Way Motor Works.

 

You're right it does.

The JCW Manifold we get here in the UK is more like the shape on the left ie similar to the MCS but different part number and allegedly made of more heat resistant materials.

I will post a pic up later.

 

They look so similar, is there any performance gain?

 

I would recommend reading the last paragraph or 2 from link posted by Porthos in post #3 from this thread. It explains why a slight difference in exhaust manifold design makes quite a difference in performance on an engine with a twin scroll turbocharger. I have no way to know which of the things done with the JCW kit produced what % of the benefits from the kit, although I am quite sure that the Engine management software update is responsible for MOST of it. As most know, BMW Mini is the only one modifying the software for the '11 and '12 Mini's. I chose to go this route, as I wanted a JCW car with an automatic and with the JCW tuning kit and other mods I am doing is the closest that I can come.

 

Mine is part number 11657568591 which is from the JCW Tuning Kit and looks like the one on the left ie standard MCS but I presume is made of different materials to cope with extra heat as the blurb says and maybe is better finished off for better flow.

Not sure what the one on the right is? Factory JCW Manifold? Can you read part number on it as I cannot.

 

Sorry, I don't' have the old manifold and can't see the numbers on the one installed.

 

So it seems that WMW is simply selling the JCW exhaust manifold separate from everything else?

Porthos, did you get yours installed?

 

Nah I have been so damn busy with moving I haven't had the time. And with MTTS taking and leaving my MINI in Cali it is going to be at least another month if not 2 before I can do it.

 

Damn it, Porthos!!!

Why didn't you tell me you had one when I asked about it in Jax at the MINI dealership opening?

 

Thought I would bump this old thread. Any updates, Porthos?

Also, any confirmation this will work for an N18 engine?

RealOEM shows different part numbers for pre- and post-August 2011 exhaust manifolds:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...45&hg=11&fg=50

 

No updates. I moved to Cali and am going to be doing this in about a month. I just need to get my new turbo. I have been putting this off way too much.