Old Thermostat Housing
Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum, and as most people, they're probably coming here to get a bunch of questions answered, and I have a bunch. I'll give you a little back story, I'm not a mechanic, but I don't mind turning a wrench, I live in Michigan, so I'm more comfortable with American made cars, and I've never messed with a mini until we bought this one a few days ago. The car is a 2007 S. I'm building out a weekend track car, not looking to go crazy with it, just something that can hold it's own, and wheel around a track.

We picked up the 07 for a steal, because we knew going in it had some issues. The first was the thermostat which we swapped out yesterday. The old thermostat looked like a pitbull had got inside the engine and chewed on it from the inside out. Here are my first line of questions, hopefully someone can help me out.

1. While bleeding the coolant, I loosened up the bleeding screw, and waited to see coolant. I had the heat on High, the reservoir would drain, and I'd fill as we went, but I'd never see coolant seap out from the bleeder. This went on for easily 20 minutes or more, finally i loosened the screw too much and the thing popped out. I was able to shut down the car and get the screw back in very quickly...and started the process over. (obviously there was coolant coming out when the screw popped out). Still no seapage.

2. I finally decided that it was fine, took it for a cruise around the black a few times, no sign of overheating...So I think we were all good. So, now I decide to have a little fun with it. (I don't really care too much if I break it, because we're planning on replacing just about everything on it anyway). I jump on the go fast pedal a couple fo times, I'm screaming out of 1st and second, and all of a sudden the engine is no bueno. It starts to sound a little different and the pedal isn't as responsive as it was. I immediately think I have a problem with one of the cylinders.

3. I check the coils, the coils are good. (Swap around trick). I'm having a misfire on CYL 3, but it's not showing up on OBD2 (at this point anyway). So, I'mn at the point of needing to check compression on the cylinder, which I'll do as soon as it stops raining. (Maybe I get lucky and I cooked a plug).

4. I spoke to a friend who has owned Minis, he said the 07's had some inherent problems because it was the first year they moved from the super to the turbo charger. And that if I'm going to buy a spare engine, I should look around for a 2010'ish. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, is it compatible with the 07's...(Still becoming familiar with these cars).

5. Can any of you track guys lead me in the right direction for performance suspension parts that are good but won't choke a horse in price? And what would you recommend?

6. Same question except for brakes. Thoughts on performance brakes?

7. Performance engine parts? Pistons, cams? etc.

I guess that's enough for now, I still have a list of questions but don't want to overstay my welcome!

Thanks for reading!

 

Sounds like you're headingin the right direction on the learning curve! I would invest in a Foxwell scanner loaded with the BMW / Mini software for reading codes. The run-of-the-mill OBD scanners won't read the Mini's diagnostic codes.

As for your other questions, I can't answer to engine internals, but there are a couple other good folks here that can steer you in the right direction.

For suspension, you might want to just get a set of Bilstein B6 or B8 dampers and run them with the stock springs for now. Plan on a full set of poly suspension bushings, front camber mounts, and rear lower adjustable camber arms. A stock Mini can be quite a hoot on the track, and will allow you to learn the car and figure out next steps.

 

Thanks for the info Nik, I've always been happy with Bilsteins, will definitely check them out. At a minimum, this thing needs a decent amount of suspension work, I can feel that the bushing are bad, getting a pretty serious thump here and there.

I made it outside and checked out the compression.

CYL 1. 130lbs
CYL 2. 140lbs
CYL 3. 120lbs.
CYL 4. 150lbs

I changed all 4 spark plugs with what was already in it... NGK Iridium something or another. (Not going outside to look).

I'm getting a misfire on CYL 3. And the car as of yesterday when I jumped on it, is shuttering once started, gas pedal isn't responding like it was yesterday. Wasn't stuttering and shaking at all until after I jumped on the go fast pedal. I'm starting to think valve seats, unless someone else has some insight as to where I might look. My natural inclination would be to go to the fuel injectors, but they're not causing the compression problem.

Thoughts?

 

Another issue with these cars is the high pressure fuel pump. (HPFP)

I suggest planning to go through the whole car methodically. Get all the maintenance up to date, then replace the in tank fuel filter, coils and plugs, make sure all the vacuum hoses and coolant lines are in good shape. Probably want to do all those anyway before getting on the track. A failing HPFP will start the car, barely, and run rough until warmed up when the internal seals start swelling. The fuel filter will cause rough running when the car is warmed up, starving the HPFP of the fuel supply it needs.

Also, don't go cheap on the HPFP. The cheap ones have a high failure rate right out of the box.

 

So, I ended up yanking the valve cover off to see what I could see. I think I'm just going to go all the way down to the head gasket and work my way back up. While I've got this thing cracked open, is anyone throwing more aggressive cams in them? Anything special that needs to be done?

 

Before going much farther into the engine, be sure you have access to a good repair manual, like Bentley. Then get familiar with RealOEM for illustrated parts lists. And as njaremka says, get a scanner designed for Mini's. You're wasting time trying to fix a misfire or most any other engine problem without knowing the codes.

I highly recommend you get familiar with the car running good BEFORE adding any mods. Then work with a tuner to get specific mods. There's only a few engine mods that can be installed without needing a matching tune.

When I shopped for cams, I was warned by my tuner that the best one for my engine wasn't the most aggressive one available and to stay away from it. Cat Cams and Schrick are the two most popular sources for Mini cams but there are others out there. The more aggressive versions require stiffer springs and keepers. Also, consider cleaning up the ports for better air flow. I like Thumper Performance for this --- lotsa experience. Have the valve guides checked too. Depending on power goals, think about higher rated valve materials --- inconel and stainless. Oversize valves are available but just barely --- size difference isn't worth the added cost. Then if you remove cams, DO NOT interchange cam caps, they're numbered and very sensitive to placement / orientation --- cam journals are "line-bored" and are NOT to be switched between engines. If one gets damaged, the head is considered shot!

Look into adding a Water Methanol Injection (WMI) system. Biggest advantage is keeping valve stems free of PCV sludge build-up. Big disadvantage of a "direct injection" engine is there's no fuel going thru the intake manifold to keep intake valves clean. A 50 - 50 WMI mix is a good cleaner --- won't clean existing build-up, but will minimize build-up as the engine runs. Higher mix ratios like 80 - 20 or more will add nice performance gains, if tuned for it. I have yet to need a "walnut blast" --- typical fix for removing sludge build-up.

I could go on and on about mods and performance, but instead I'll refer you to my build threads --- https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ec-2018-a.html I suggest you read a few different build threads to get ideas. Another good one is --- https://www.minitorque.com/threads/thepenls-r56.25947/ this one is for a track car, while mine is for a "sleeper".

Best of luck ---

 

Thanks for the advice, yeah, I've already ordered a Chilton's (the ugly step-sister of the Bentley). I've also already ordered a few other items to work on it, (i.e. camshaft lock tool, scanner, etc.) I also went ahead and ordered a re-man'd cylinder head for it. I figured since this is going to be a track toy, there's no harm in having an additional cylinder head laying around ready to go, so we'll pull this one out and swap them.

I knew the codes I was getting because I have an OBD2 on hand, and it was throwing a P0303. Then once I saw the low compression, I figured let's just swap the cylinder head.

For the rest of this year, Aug, Sept, Oct. The goal is pretty simple. Hit a few different open track days, take it easy, and have some fun. Once the season is over, then start thinking about performance upgrades.

However, at this point I need to get some of the basics wrapped up, I'll definitely check out your build threads, that'll be a great help to someone who knows nothing about Minis like me.

Next questions. I'm going to swap out the rotors, and brakes. Don't want to go crazy with brakes right now (Brembo), as we won't be pushing this car to the limits this year. So, I was thinking something like some decent rotors and some Red Stuff brake pads to get us through a day at the track? Thoughts on that?

Lastly, I need to go through all of the suspension. No reason to get into coil overs at this point. I've yet to take off one of the tires, but I've read that in order to change the control arms, you need to remove the sub-frame. So, that led me to think,...Maybe control arms aren't supposed to be changed on these cars unless they're damaged, and instead you only change bushings? Is my thought process right/wrong?

Thoughts on suspension installation/parts are appreciated!

Now I'm going to spend the next few hours looking at your builds. Thanks again!

 

I'm no help with brakes, still running OEM discs and pads. Not much more with suspension either --- Koni struts and a rear sway bar. Front strut brace is more for looks than usefulness --- street, no track. Highly recommend the Hotchkis RSW tho, corners really flat. Front sway bar and all control arms are still OEM. Thepenls build thread should have lots more suspension help.

Here's another great guide for some of the more common repairs, including timing --- https://bmwrepairguide.com/category/mini-r56/ Use it instead of Chilton's where applicable?

 

Nice, How awesome is that bmw repair guide. Thanks!

 

re: brakes I run yellowstuff and they are great for street/track usage. No squeaking on the street like I feared, and they are strong on the track. Rotors don't really matter, find the cheapest blank rotors (I once found front Zimmermann rotors on ECS for like $60 for the pair). Pads and fluid are probably more important in this case.

For suspension I am on Koni yellows and NM alpha springs, good enough for me on the track (i'm not trying to break records or anything, just having fun).

 

Same here. Just out to have fun on some open track days. Thanks for the info.

Are you running the standard single caliper on front and back?

I was considering keeping the same on the rears and upgrading the fronts to a 2 or 4 piston caliper on the front.


Since you brought up ECS Tuning. I'd heard good things about them, so I purchased a bunch of stuff. It was supposed to ship on the 18th. (I know that because I removed a bunch of stuff from my purchase that was going to delay my purchase because I'm going out of town for a week). So, I reached out to them yesterday when the stuff didn't show up and I hadn't received any tracking info. They claimed that since I made the order after 12pm, it didn't ship (although their website said it would). Long story short, today is the 20th and my parts still haven't shipped. So frustrated, because I'm going to have $XXX amount of parts sitting on my porch for a week until I get home. I don't think I'll be purchasing from them again.

 

I have the JCW which i think comes with the 4 piston fronts. I did track my old S which had 1 piston fronts a couple times but at the time was on greenstuff, so brake fade set in quickly
You will probably notice a difference with the 4 pistons, and it makes sense to just upgrade the front. the JCW uses the same rear brakes as the S.

I've had mostly good experiences with ECS, but have had some issues with shipping delays before. One time I needed parts before a track day and ordered well in advance, but for some reason was delayed. I spoke with a CS rep and they told me they would put a rush on the order but it did not happen and ended up getting the parts late. Can be hit or miss

 

I am here if you need anything also. I can also provide advice and sometimes see if items are here in the states, If its in our warehouse it will say in stock. Ships in "x" amount of time means its not here and at a vendors warehouse most of the time. We seen some vendor delays which then pushing things back.

Yep cutoff time can vary dependent on the time of day. If you get an order that's large latter in the day it can be a little longer till it gets out. First thing in the morning helps the chance of same day if all in stock here.

Shoot me a PM with your order and i can help sort out what's going on.

 

Just curious what you ended up deciding on for brakes and suspension.

My mini was my first track car, then I used it as a backup to my GT350 for the last 3 years. Now that I just sold my 350, I'm back to the mini full time before I get something else next year. I started with the Koni red shocks and NM lowering springs. They worked just fine when I was starting out, but now that I'm significantly faster than I was 3 years ago, I'm 3 wheeling around half of the corners. I have some new ohlin coilovers on the way which should solve that problem.

For brakes, I started out with EBC red pads.... I cant say enough bad things about them if you plan to push your car at all. When the heat became too much for those poor little pads, the pad material separated from the backing plate in the front leading to metal on metal. If you google that issue you'll find TONS of cases. After that I went to the G-lock R10 in front and R-8 in rear (which has been an amazing combination.). Great bite, very low wear..... the only downside is the noise when driving to/from the track. Ive tried different types of rotors, but honestly they'll all warpI was planning to swap to a wildwood big brake kit in the front, but honestly the stock S brakes have been fine. For the rears, I purchased the JCW bracket and rotors which moves the caliper further from the center of the hub giving it a better bite.

Other than that, I have the strut tower brace in the front and rear sway bar from NM which do what theyre supposed to do.

For performance mods: I have a bigger turbo, catless downpipe, larger intercooler, Intake, low compression pistons, single mass flywheel clutch, and tune. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Now. . . if someone only offered an auto blip solution for the mini I'd be a happy camper.

 

You don't think the wilwoods would be less likely to warp? I've been considering going to them when my current rotors warp. I'm also really into how much easier it is to change/swap pads. I just wish the wilwood rears could be hot swapped like that.

 

I am also in Michigan, have a 2007 (Cooper Sport Non-S) R56, and have dug very deep into the engine. I'm aware your engine is different, but the rest of the car is practically identical. If you have any questions about the interior bits, let me know, as I have gutted the inside of this car to bare metal, and reassembled it, while I was building the engine. (Field mice!)

Also, the best longevity upgrade you can make is to upgrade your water pump. I have a machined aluminum one, because the old shitty polycarbonate impeller water pump started decomposing in my cooling system. I've flushed the car 3 times since then and only now is the fluid not black from the water line plastic eroding. The thermostat housing is something I wish there was an all-metal aftermarket part for, with an accessible generic thermostat. If anyone ever comes across one of those, let me know!

The absolute worst thing with these engines is how they're oiled. Tons of flaws and/or reliability problems. It's like they built the car for the economy market and then the French remembered they're working on a BMW. I'd recommend an oil catch can, as well as any other oil system-related upgrades you can find. This car needs it more than most.

These cars burn a lot of oil. It's not completely out of the question that you might need to put a half to full quart back in after every full gas tank you go through. I personally will run my car almost out of fuel before refueling just so I know to check the oil when I fill. OH, that's another thing. I'm sure you've already met the world's shittiest dipstick. There are aftermarket options, and they're kind of spendy, but it's worth it just so you're not having to adjust in the sunlight just to see where the oil actually is. The oil system will run dry at light speed if there's a problem, and that problem is likely going to be a front main seal. There is a hundred million dollar OEM tool to fit a new one in, but there's also one you can 3D print for free on Thingiverse. Super handy.

I also bought a lightened crankshaft pulley. Mine was bent, so I figured "what the hell, why not" and got one from Sneed4Speed. As it turns out, I DO notice a difference! The engine is a little bit easier to stall, but it definitely affects how quickly the RPMs increase. It's not gonna wow you, most likely, but I felt a difference.

You may want to keep spare fan parts, as both the motors, and the resistors for the motors, like to die, and the failure mode is identical. Having both on hand means you're not waiting on parts that are a coin flip as to which one it is.

For brakes, I'd go with Wilwood. I have a full Wilwood brake kit on my Ford Galaxie, and it stops better than anything else I've ever driven in its size. They do make a very nice kit for Minis of all flavors.


Working on this car has been the absolute most frustrating and rewarding experience I've ever had in my long time hoarding cars. It's an extremely capable car with superb handling, and has more interior space than many cars twice its size, but it is also some of the worst engineering that Germany and France have to offer. It's not bad in the sense that it's technically incompetent, it's bad in the sense that it's got an autistic amount of design put into parts that aren't disposable on other cars, but are on this one. Volkswagen Syndrome.