Miltek - sounds great on my friend’s R53 JCW. Not loud. IMO sounds better than Borla.

 

I'm on the fence between Milltek and Invidia. Hoping to find an opportunity to hear both (all 3 really, since Milltek does resonated and nonresonated) in person. Really hoping to ride in them to hear at 70 mph on the highway, which is my biggest concern.

 

I had an Invidia on my 07 S. Really boomy above 65 and worse going up hill. A lot of people like the Invidia which is why I bought it. For whatever reason the stock exhaust on my 2012 S sounds great for my tastes. Much better than the stock exhaust on my 07. I know, that part is no help.

 

I love the sound of the Borla - and I'm a bit miffed that I am running in to these problems with the Borla Mini Cooper exhaust system warranty. Yes there are nearly 80k miles on the exhaust, but that is 920k short of the warranty period. I'd be happy even prorating - 80,000 / 1,000,000 is only 8% of my warranty used up. I'd happily pay 8% of the price for a replacement and pay for the shipping. I'm sure they're banking on most folks having sold their cars before the warranty period is up - but they *HAVE* to realize folks that bough their product because of that warranty are gonna be pissed when they give us problems claiming warranty service. And with the advent of the internet - it's getting really easy for folks to find out which companies consumers have trouble getting warranty service from.

anyhow, \rant.

 

I'd like to hear the non resonated Milltek in person also. I've been told that the resonated one drones around highway speeds.

 

Boomy, like annoying at highway cruising speed?

I don't mind loud exhaust, particularly when I'm romping on it. My Mustang was perfect-gentle rumble at low RPMs that caused you to suspect that something wicked this way comes... Highway cruising was quiet, but mash the go-pedal and mom's were yanking children into the house three blocks away. I realize that the MINI and the Mustang have two very different noisemakers attached to the exhaust (my supercharger displaced more than the MINI engine!) but I'd like to have an exhaust that causes heads to turn when I romp it, but won't drive my wife crazy on a road trip.

That's my concern as well, but I also know that one person's "too loud" is another one's "just right" so hearing it myself is the best option.

Really disappointed for you on the Borla support. Surprised Summit has been slow.

 

Yep - I suspect Summit will come back asking for the original receipt, or they'll tell me to take it up with Borla. Unfortunately, I cannot find the original invoice - the laptop I had in 05 won't turn on, the email address I had back then is long closed - so no way to get the original invoice electronically. BUT - I do have all the box tags from Borla and Summit - and both of those have my name and shipping address (and both Borla and Summit part numbers) on them though, so I'd imagine that should suffice as proof of purchase.

 

Well, some good news to report. Even though Borla never got back to me, I sent Summit all of my evidence (box tags with shipping address, part numbers, UPCs, etc., along with images of the current condition), and Summit has done right by me as a customer and they will be warranty replacing the exhaust! So I guess the moral of the story is print out multiple receipts and put them in different places and save all box tags and labels - and buy from a reputable retailer with a good rep for doing the right thing!

 

That's great news!!! Glad to see Summit come through. I would have been really disappointed if they'd have dropped the ball too.

 

On my R56 S the Invidia would drone at cruising speed (70-ish). It was tolerable on the flats, but was really annoying, boomy, with a little extra throttle to go up hills. Around town it was good. Full throttle had some good volume, good sound and not so loud the children run home...

 

Well. this is somewhat disappointing. Borla no longer manufactures the 140035 'sport' exhaust system that they say is for the 02-03 MCS. However, their #140119 (also the sport) is supposed to fit the 04-06 MCS, has the same resonator in front and the same smaller round cans. All other aftermarket exhaust systems for the MCS that I am aware of fit the 02-0 R53 - so why is Borla excluding the 02 and 03 from fitting the the newer part number?

I've told Summit I would prefer the replacement #140119, but will accept the non-sport system if I must. I worry though that without the front resonator I won't care for the sound. Anyone ever hear both the sport and regular Borla exhausts on an R53?

 

Hopefully someone with more direct knowledge weighs in here, but my understanding is that the difference in exhaust systems for model years only varies by hanger orientation, and that it's not a big challenge to cross over. So you should be fine with the newer model sport system if that's the sound you like, but may need to do some tweaking /adjusting to mount it. I would go with the sound you know you like, even if it is a little extra work or expense to modify the hangers during installation.

 

Just found out that all I need to do is get a set of the 04 or later exhaust hanger brackets. Should bolt right in then! I let Summit know I want the 140119 replacement.

 

Well, no need to worry about it. Turns out that Summit called Borla and got them to make the sport exhaust with the correct hangers for an 03 (#140035 which they list as discontinued on their website) and they will ship directly to me when they do. Summit is pretty awesome!

 

Go you for hanging in there and pushing for the right thing...

 

Big kudos to Summit!

I'd still send a letter to Borla letting them know that they should bring in some Summit customer service reps to provide retraining to the Borla staff.

Glad it's all working out for you!

 

LOL - after they ship my replacement exhaust maybe! Customer service is definitely one of the things that I notice has gone way downhill over the time since I was a kid - even over just the past 15 years. Common courtesy is another one. And don't even get me started on parents who don't know what that word even means.

I'll tell you, sometimes some of the other online general parts retailers have a bit of a better price on something, but I usually will go with Summit just because they answer my questions quickly, they ship fast, and now I know they will stand behind stuff they sell even when the manufacturer won't return your emails.

 

So I've mentioned previously that I am CDO. Am starting to do a gradual deep clean on the interior and starting with the front console so I can be ready when the new shift boot and handbrake boot come in from England. Found a smoking deal on a set from the UK - $29 bucks shipped - real leather with blue stitching. Has already shipped, and will take some pics when they show up, but they look really nice and will match what I plan on doing for leather seat reupholstery.



The obvious place to start the cleaning with these on the way is the front console, so i pulled off the shift ****. For those of you who have not pulled the **** before, you just grab hold firmly and pull straight upward with some force. Just be careful not to whack yourself in the face with it. I love the shift **** on the Mini - I think it looks just perfect as it is - and it's got some nice heft to it. I *DON'T* care for how the shift pattern is sticky, and I really don't like how dirt has accumulated in the recess around that sticky bit. So I started thinking that everything else on the Mini disassembles, the **** must be no different. I was hoping that it would come apart in three pieces - the insert, the top metal bit and the lower leather bit. And this is one of the pieces in the interior that is actual leather - it just has a nice feel in the hand. So I yanked it off, and this is how it looked to start.



This is after I tried to clean all the grunge out. I was not satisfied. Note that the chrome is not as bad as this photo appears to show - the flash brings out all of the tiny cracks and pits and makes them much more visible. If you turn the know over and look at the underside, you'll see the two plastic prongs that attach the **** to the shifter shaft. There is also a reinforcement at the bottom of the inner plastic sleeve - that is perfect because I thought pounding that insert out was probably the way to go. So I stuck a 3/8" drive extension into the shaft and gave it a couple light taps. Nothing. So I have it a few less gentle taps. Still nothing. So then I thought that there is probably some kind of collar that retains that plastic insert in the ball - otherwise ti might pop out. So I got a pair of long slender needle nose pliars and grabbed the non-pronged sides and gave it a gentle squeeze and a fairly good single tap at the same time. That did the trick. I took out the pliars and gave it a few more gentler taps. I was rewarded with this...



You can see the goo that was on the edges of the insert in the picture above. The grove in the top of the ball was worse - yech. Looking down the hole, I quickly realized that the rest of the **** is just a solid ball of metal - aluminum probably.



At this point I thought briefly about unlacing the leather and re-lacing it with cobalt blue thread - but I don't have the proper thickness waxed thread in blue, so it was a brief thought. But a full restoration of this part should be fairly easy to undertake if one wished. Unstitch the leather and remove. Use the old leather as a pattern for cutting a new one; send the ball off for re-plating with chrome, and clean the insert thoroughly. Stitch the new leather cover back on, pop the insert in, done.

I just did a through clean, metal polish, leather clean, and leather condition. I tried to get the gooey, sticky coating off of the insert, but no dice. I tried goof off, I tried polishing compound, simple green, nothing. It's clean, but it's still got that weird stickyness to it. After that, pushed the insert back in, and noticed the prongs had not returned to their proper locations. Gave the top of the inert a good whack with my hand, and it went right back in and seated properly.

Another disassembly mystery solved.

 

The stickiness could be the material itself. I've got some older bits on my car that are the same way: super clean but still have a slight stick to them.

 

I think that is what it is. They probably used a really sticky vinyl compound there to increase the grip between hand and the ****. Kind of feels like those old school coloforms stick on vinyl things.

 

So I got the Davies Craig EWP 115 installed and plumbed in. Hooked up the electrical yesterday following the excellent directions given by Raven Mocker in this threat -> https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-balancer.html. To grab an ignition signal for the relay, I used the same place that he did, but I removed the pin from the connector, removed the wire from the pin, opened it up, spliced the two wires together, reinstalled them in the old pin and soldered them in. It's small, delicate parts - put the connector is quite easy to take apart, then a push with a small screwdriver releases the pin and wire for modification.


The sides of the connector can be gently pried off using a tiny electronics screwdriver. There is a slot at both ends. Only need to remove the side with the number 5 pin.


After removing the pin from the wire, I used a flat exacto blade to gently open up the crimp end and a pair of very small needle nose pliars to bend back the 'wings' that wrap around the wire.


Connector reassembled with the wires joined and soldered. Heat shrink added as well.


Backside of the modified connector. I went to home dumpster and got some of the corrugated split wire loom stuff, routed the wires, and tucked it all inside of the wire loom. Before the radiator/fan assembly went back on, this is what the plumbing routing looked like and where the pump was mounted. I wanted to mount it upright, but the manual says it can be mounted in any orientation - so that is where it fit best. It tucks in nicely, and fits with mm to spare, but I did have to cut off a small **** that stuck off the radiator shroud - just a part of the casting that did nothing.



More in a little bit...

 

So I got the radiator on, connected it up, added the new aluminum expansion tank, checked all connections, and then reconnected the battery and started the pump up (one click before crank) to start bleeding the air out of the system. I can't really get in there to change the orientation of the pump, but I can reach in with a couple of fingers to rock it back and forth somewhat. Seem to be having a tough time getting all of the air out of the lines right now. Need to try a couple more things and will report back later.

 

I have the resonated and I don’t feel it has a hywy drone. Not, hywy but only clip I have.

 

interesting. Curious what made you ditch the SC spun water pump. The only think I could think of would be less drag on the system equals more power.

 

Bunch of different reasons. 1) Increased throttle response and less power being sapped from mass not being driven by S/C PTO; 2) eliminating a crappy design flaw and an O-ring prone to leak; 3) eliminating a point of failure (mine did fail); 4) moving more water through the engine. These are all good reasons, but in particular, I *hated* how the pump moved at engine speed, and how bad that sucked when sitting in stop and go traffic and having that fan come on and go off all the time because of the terrible cooling efficiency of this design.