so as some of you know as i have posted that after mario flashed my stage 3 RPM my car has just been chaotic, and i have never once felt like i was hitting anywhere near 250HP along with a slew of other oddities.
But never once has a code been thrown which has scared me that some sensors are not reporting/being ignored because of the tune but i have no proof. (the MAF is i know that, as i forgot to plug it in one day and got a MAF code right away)

Frantic and sporadic boost and overboost (boost would bounce the gauge when above 20psi looking like a spring between 20-24psi) and at less than 1/2 throttle boost would just max out, at way too low of RPM's.
the car idled like it was going to die, from the very minute i placed the ECU in the car and started it.. just a very low, doesn't want to stay running sometimes type idle until its fully warm, and even then it's not right. i have to hold the throttle up or feather the gas.

today, out of curiosity i grabbed the original Mann filter i put in it that i had from the stock Air box and blew through it with my mouth, no harder than as if i was blowing out a candle on a cake, and i could feel it with my hand, and a fair amount of air too.
took off the oil based K&N filter stuck my fingers in it as far as i could and did the same thing,, not a lick of air, not a bit.
grabbed the air hose and blew through the filter, all i got on my fingers was that damn K&N filter oil...but i could feel air but this was 100lbs of air or so from the compressor.

so i removed the K&N and assembled the stock air box back on the engine.
started the car up.... idle is better... woah... ok thats a good thing. but i am still at -3hg on the boost gauge at idle when warm,, not the end of the world but would like to have it in the dead zone on the gauge. (gauge is zero when car is off)
took it for a drive.. engine is way tighter, more refined... its not loose and just boosting like mad,, i can actually get into it now before full 21psi boost hits and when it does, that 21psi boost holds there.
it also doesnt seem to be so jumpy to dump boost or drop boost when my foot bounces on the gas from the bumpy roads around here.

now i am seeing 15-ish PSI at half throttle, where before it was sucking so hard she was shitting out a full 21psi at half throttle at 3000rpm. (im not kidding, it would full boost at that low of RPM in sport mode - which is why i have always posted that sport and normal modes are drastically different in my mini.)
so i drive around town, hit an exit on the highway, starting in 3rd 3500 rpm and i gun it (not completely to the floor) and I am shifting into 4th and 90mph in just a few seconds... oh yeah.. she it 21psi boost and didnt move, just sat there as the RPM's climbed.
shifted into 4th and the boost dropped to maybe 10psi, then came up to 19psi then came back up to 21psi and stayed til i let off at about 90mph. (paul dont need no tickets)
so this is a good thing but also concerns me in some twisted backwards way.

I now realize the K&N filter, when wet with the oil, is absolute ****,, it only allows marginal air through it compared to a stock filter or something like the Mann filter i put on it which is naturally offering more flow than the stock filter.
but i dont understand how all this time i wasn't throwing codes, and why the turbo isn't freaking out from lack of air flow. - it had to have been 100% over working the turbo trying to create boost with a lack of air. - so again why no codes?
why are codes not being thrown? am i simply at minimal air flow and boost is just all retarded because of it? where now i may infact be well within proper air flow specs?

but whats to become of air pressure, air temp, engine temps, etc.

my biggest concern now though,, worse than anything is that i am pretty sure i am burning up my clutch lol from the power, but its been like that since day one. when i run it hard i keep smelling something. could be heat generated, could be clutch generated, cripes it could be the tires but doesnt exactly smell like i am spinning my tires. its been so long since i smelled a clutch i wouldnt know for sure it was a clutch if i really was eating it up. but given how the car operates when i beat on it, i think it is slipping.
oh the joys of tuned cars lol.
guess that will be my next high dollar fix.

 

I also cleaned the k&n filter of all the oil as best i could and let it dry so now its more of a dry filter and there is a noticeable difference from when it was wet. Car isnt as tight as when the normal filter and air box is on but there is a difference.
I have a feeling the cone filter isnt giving enough air until a massing amount of suction is created from the turbo, thus the turbo slamming to max right away. Vs. a stock type which is restrictive but a consistent flow
So the stock air box and aftermarket higher flow filter is on the car now.
there is still something off with the car its not perfect but its alot better than it was.
the weird idle may be the VVT solenoid by the throttle body so a replacement is in the works. There are a number of valid articles out there about rough and bouncing and a loping idle caused by the VVT solenoid by the throttle body being bad.
going to try cleaning it first and see what it does.

 

Hi Lunacy, I was wondering could it have been a faulty filter from KN. From what I have read and seen on the internet, the testing showed that the aftermarket filters flow a bit more air than stock filters.

 

dry makes the car run better than wet not sure i'd call that a faulty filter
the 2 oil based filters i have 1x K&N and the 2nd a mini mania foam stock filter used in the stock filter box are so restrictive when wet there is no way they pull more air unless its more air at higher rpms/suction than a stock filter.
the mini mania foam filter was so caked with oil though mini mania should be openly ashamed of shipping them like that.
and oil based should never be used on a MAF based engine as the oil eventually just cakes the MAF sensor and though you can clean them with MAF cleaner, they still may not get proper cleaned.

either way i am still experimenting with the different filters, air boxes. but no matter what i do, wet or dry stock or open intake, something is really off, could be a vacuum leak but i dont know... next week the car goes in for a smoke test so hopefully they will find soething otherwise i am can do is drive it this way.. no codes are being thrown until the day one does and maybe that will shed light on things...

 

Hello cyberlunacy, we are so sorry to hear that you were not completely satisfied with the product that you purchased from us. Please feel free to contact us directly at 1-800-946-2642 and one of our product experts will be more than happy to make this situation right for you!

 

thanks.
there is only 1 line of text on the product page that states that it is oil based and I never saw it and that was the last thing I wanted to buy. I wanted a dry foam filter.
be it cone, cylinder or otherwise.

but understand that I can take 120lbs of pressure from my compressor, stick the air nozzle directly onto the filter and there is absolutely ZERO air coming out the back side.
I am not sure how this filter is ever going to work.
plus there is soooo much oil on this thing its no wonder.
but I did clean and dry it and it doesn't make any difference.

 

I believe you took your lesson.......... NEVER put a K&N air filter in a Mini. Some after market filters don't even fit correctly in the airbox.

K&N are good only for carburetor set ups. This is my opinion.

 

I decided to look into the oil from the filter issue and found this video from K&N themselves talking about how safe their oiled filters are on MAF sensors.

 

Just for piece of mind, I can confirm that with the RPM tune, all your codes and sensors are still functioning properly. The only thing codes out is the 02 CEL. Sounds like its had some trouble breathing. Just stick with the factory airbox, it does as good or better than almost any aftermarket intake you can get. It is mostly just for sound.
I can easily be in full boost at half throttle, the amount of boost called for by the ECU is based on engine load, not rpm. It is situational to an extent.
Another thing to consider is the fact that when the tune is loaded, the adaptations are reset. If your car had a small issue that it had adjusted to compensate for.... it won’t be anymore, and will need time to re-adapt. Or it may have caused a previously unknown issue to rear its head? Just a thought.

 

I think several months is enough time to adapt yeah? - bigger issue, is how to do I or a mechanic wipe that learned code? to force the car to relearn.
MArio said if they reset the DME to wipe the learned driving it could erase the RPM Tune, which to me seems pretty weird.
they are not resetting the entire ECU, just the learned coding from driving .

my problem in a way seems backwards from what I am used to.
Stock airbox and Wix filter the car idles better, and boost is more controlled if you will. it sless prone to hit 21psi until I get into it more.
K&N CIA - car idles lower, seems to lope (idles jumps 100rpm or so when cold, or shut off for a while after warm) - boost seems to more erratic, meaning less controlled and will hit 21psi real fast.

now I agree the boosting faster is air flow, it can spool faster because the K&N is allowing more air, but I cant explain why it idles so differently unless the same math is involved, there is no restriction to the air that the idle may or may not think it needs. it has a hard time running sometimes because of it

I know a lot of people say the tune is designed to get you to boost as fast as possible... ok... but at 2500-3000rpms??? really? this isn't a big block, this thing needs the RPM's to be up higher before full boost is engaged, at least that's what I always knew about turbo's. you wanted higher RPM's
but that could be the das of old... maybe its not like that today.

my biggest observation was only how much smoother, refined things were when using the stock intake. it was controlled, not erratic like when using the K&N.
now maybe for a track its fine but for city driving I think a good aftermarket filter that breathes better than stock, is the way to go.

I have nothing against K&N I think their filters are fine, but I think in many ways the days of oil based filters needs to go away, a good foam or dry synthetic material is all that's needed. yes the oil naturally catches more particles but yeah...

 

I use barely any oil on my k&n filters. Foam is better, but I learned that after I already had a couple of k&n’s. Less oil seems to be a lot better in my experience, but they will work ok with a very light oiling. I would say no oil, but then too many particulates may get through, I would think.
You should be able to reset the adaptations without it affecting the tune, I’ve done it a few times. I use my Schwaben scan tool for it. I have been told that disconnecting the battery for a half hour or so will do it too, but I have not confirmed that myself.

 

I thought initially disconnecting the battery did that but read otherwise, unless more can confirm it does work???

but having an N18 also, there is nothing in the Schwaben tool to reset adaptations. - not that I have seen or read.
where are you doing this?

 

Dm’d
But for anyone else wondering, here is the process.
First access the MINI menu:
Then select number 3 SERVICE.
From there select number 2 DRIVE.
Then select number 1 MOTOR ELECTRONICS.
The next menu only has one selection, number 1 ADJUSTMENTS.
Next select number 1 DME: CLEAR ADAPTATIONS.
and you are there!
*NOTE* This set of steps is only for the Schwaben scan tool.

I’ll include photos of the steps if it lets me:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

You are home free!

 

damn thank you sir!! you are bad *** as always!

 

Any time

 

I really wish that idle speed adjustment worked on the N18 with the way mine works I would like to bump the idle to 850

 

I’ve never tried to adjust that.

 

Which adaptation reset do you do
1. Values and version
2 values
3 taught variants — this may be the thing mario was leary of since in my eyes a tune is telling the engine to run differently
4 cancel

 

I don’t remember which one I usually do. It’s all kind of seat of the pants half of the time, lol.
It seems like under one of those sub-headings, there is one that says something like : Reset learned adaptations, or something close to that.

 

Well damn
nothing tells you what to do with the key and ignition it says terminal this and that but not ignition on or off
thought its obvious you have to have the key in and pushed all the way
but i did it with just that and i also did it with that plus pushing the start button so that the car was in the ON status. Dash lit up headlights on but car not started.
either now my god dang radiator fan stays running when i shut the car off and the engine coolant was up to 212F just driving for 10 minutes.
the coolant fan was on the entire drive, it never shut off, it was just loud enough when i pulled up to stop lights i could hear it running.
Shut the car off and 10min later fan is still running
checked coolant temp with Schwaben and it was 108.

only way to shut it off is to reset adaptations again with just the key pushed in (ignition off).
reset adaptations.
unplug Schwaben, take out key
go inside.... :(

but start the car and shut it right back off and the fan is back running again.
i dont need this...

So what are my steps here?
Key in, Ignition on (hit the Start/Stop button once without starting the car??)
OR key in ignition off
run the Clear Adaptations - but during this, it tells you a terminal replacement is required... but its like code speak, not something normal humans would understand. you can hear things clicking under the hood so i know its resetting, by why the sam hell is the coolant fan running when i shut the car off.

 

Well found a thread but cant confirm its correct but it was what i did once already... but if someone wouldn’t mind confirming PROPER procedure i will be happy to confirm on my end also.

key in, ignition on, car off (tac, lights dash etc lit up)
fire up schwaben, go in and clear any dme’s (there were a few from antilock breaks and low tire stuff from the previously attempted resets)
go back and reset adaptations.
prompts are cryptic, and dont tell you what to do other than car must be in park for auto trans. And some things about a terminal change and terminal 15
i had the e-brake on and in gear though.
As it resets you hear the clicks and wizzes coming from the engine bay as things reset.
30 second count down which goes so fast its about 10 seconds, but i waited the full 30 seconds.
screen comes up and tells you something about terminal 15 and wait 15 seconds.
i waited 20-ish
pull the key out so nothing is on.
hit ok, and done.
i waited another 20 seconds or so
Put the key in and ignition on.
i waited about 20 seconds.
Go into schwaben, clear any codes/cel’s
fired car up
let it run for 5 minutes
no fan. Idles smooth. But engine is cool, not stone cold.
Will fire it up in the morning while its cool air and cold engine and see how it idles and runs. Cold engine in the morning always idles super low, 650-700 rpms and had a bit of a time staying idle.
So tomorrow will go for a good ½ hour drive and beat on it not too hard though.

i will say this. While i had reset something earlier and the coolant fan was running nonstop the car ran friggin great, better than it ever had. Boost seemed a bit controlled bit hit hard but didnt overboost but i didnt floor it either.

my biggest issue with adaptations is i have a 10 min drive to work through town, i cant beat on it, i cant drive it hard other than holding higher rpm’s and holding gears.
so tomorrow i am going to have to go for a pretty spirited drive and teach it to be my little toy.

 

For anyone wondering i found by searching “mini cooper terminal 15” on google where the Schwaben gets its “terminal” terminology during the adaptation reset.

Terminal R = key pushed all the way in and locked
Terminal 15 = key pushed in + tap the start/stop button so that all accessory functions turn on but car doesnt start.

"terminal" references are:

• KL R (terminal R) = ignition position 1 (some control modules are running but not all): https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...inal-r/ZJqvn6a
• KL 15 (terminal 15) = ignition position 2 (all control modules are running): https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...nal-15/ZLzcuYy. {CORRECTED}
• KL 50 (terminal 50) = ignition start position
• KL 30/31 (terminal 30 or 31) = ignition position key returns to after start

 

Took it out today and pounded on it more than I normally do.
took it easy in town got on the interstate, let it get up to temp for a good 10 min.
sat steady at a hair over 180deg.
got off on an exit where i could hit some paved county roads and railed on it good for a while, its too bad we dont have any curved roads around here.
ran it hard up to 100mph several times, hitting 6000 rpm each gear up to said 100mph
temps stayed in the 185-190dg range.
hit the interstate again let it cool down and drove home.
never heard the fan once.
seems to run smoother?? I meant to go back out an hour or so after i parked and start it up to see if the idle was all shitty and loping again but got tied up with work calls.
will do it again tomorrow maybe, or atleast get on it a bit in town.

 

Started up this morning and no different than previous, but this time if pushed the gas, about ¾” the car dang near died several times. Its pretty much either opening the throttle body and not compensating with fuel, or the opposite...
It has never actually dropped idle that far before, so much it almost died. Iike really tried and was almost there
cooler morning though it seemed to hold idle a little better when i wasnt touching the gas.

i hear tell i can recalibrate the throttle too after the reset adaptations, i will have to read up on that and see what needs done.

ran to target with the kid and when we came out idle was low again, not terrible and it stayed running but,, ugh.
will drive it for a few days or the week then switch to the stock air box and do this reset adaptations again and see what happened.

odd thing about the

 

#1 is my hang up, is that key clicked in 1 time, or key in all the way (locked) i assume since it says ignition off it meant key fob either in position 1 (first click when pushing in, no lights, nothing on) or key fob completely removed.

BMW & MINI Throttle Body Adaptation Reset

If the Vehicle has a rough idle, then we need to perform a Throttle Reset Adaptation

(No Diagnostic Tools Required!)

• 1. Please make sure the ignition is Turned Off

• 2. Press the Gas Pedal to Full Throttle (while ignition is off).

• 3. Turn on the Ignition to the 3rd position for 30 seconds (Do Not Crank the Vehicle) (Do Not let go of the Throttle)

• 4. After 30 seconds are over, Turn Ignition Off and Remove Key (Do Not let go of the Throttle).

• 5. After Key is Removed, let go of the Throttle and wait 30 seconds.

• 6. After 30 Seconds, the Car can now be Started normally.