I've read that the Mini's supercharger only lives for about 100,000 miles. Has anyone here had to replace theirs yet? It looks like the supercharger and water pump cost around $1800, but I imagine the install would take quite a few hours.

(I tried searching when starting this thread, but nothing came up.)

 

A MINI5280 member had to replace his..

Now I can't find any of the posts he had..

 

Found some info in the 1st gen drivetrain mods thread(?) https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...archid=5077397
Already searched, just scroll down and read away.

 

Got some information in the powertrain section about SC rebuild sources that may help.

 

Thanks, folks. I'm just trying to prepare myself for big expenses that I know will be coming up in the next couple years. Repairs are cheaper than car payments, but I want to have some idea what I'm looking forward to. I'm sure I'll need a clutch at some point, and the supercharger will need attention.

Anybody have other big-ticket items to plan for?

 

I'm doing my clutch right now. Clutch masters fx2oo with clutch masters flywheel along with other random stuff fluids etc. Pulled in 900. Mechanic quoted 750 for the job. Around 1650 all together. and I'm a college student. Hurts.

 

If the supercharger hasnt eaten itself yet you can pull it off and relube the the thing and not have to buy a new one. The cost of that is just labor and maybe $30 in parts. The reason you dont see everyone with an MCS pulling off their SC at XXXXX miles is because there is no service interval on it and they have been known to last anywhere from 20k to 100k+. Basically that means if you decided to relube the SC at 50k you might just be wasting effort because it still had another 50k on it, not a big deal if it werent for the fact that it isnt a very quick job.

 

haha the "just" labor part alone is a good sum of money. taking apart the supercharger and putting it back together is hefty work. expect 700 to 800 there.

 

I've planned for that eventuality by buying a used SC on ebay for >$200. Beats the heck out of $1800 for a new one!

 

Well, you can expect to double that if you actually have to replace the unit. Actually removing the water pump from the SC is simple, just four bolts, beneath that another 4 to get to the drive gears (based on picks in the Bentley manual). And you can skip that step by making use of the fill and drain nuts and simply top off the system if you dont want to inspect it.

 

Isn't Jan at RMW working on a supercharger upgrade for the R53?

 

why waste money on a new or used one. you guys should rebuild and add performance at the same time. check out this place -- http://www.stiegemeier.com/pricing.html

i got my m112 eaton for my cobra rebuilt and ported here. i picked up ~15% more power (~70hp) from a port job. and man does that eaton scream louder.

 

Hm-m-m-m. I've got 143k on the original s/c and clutch. The clutch feels fine but the throwout bearing gets stiff on cold mornings. Let's not go into what else I've had to replace or repair though.

 

why rebuild and port one when you can buy a aftermarket supercharger? there's a lot of options. just depends on your budget.

 

Based on the number of recent supercharger failures i have been noticing on NAM, I decided to make changing the supercharger oil as part of my 50k mile maintenance on my 04 MCS. It is labor intensive to remove the supercharger for inspection, but it is doable. No real specialty tools were required. What I found was a bit disconcerting. The pulley side was fine as I was able to drain about 4.5 ounces out of the 5.5-6 ounces there. The water pump side was another story. I drained less than half an ounce out of the 2-2.5 ounces that are suppose to be there. I am assuming the oil "weeped" out via the seals as the waterpump was covered in black from what I assume is the weeping oil attracting dirt in the area (this is probably a good telltale sign of how much oil is lost...). Anyway, after draining both sides, I filled it back up with supercharger oil that I purchased from a Chevy dealer parts counter as my local Mini dealership does not sell the oil. Anyone doing the inspection/oil change should be aware that a number of replacement gaskets are needed (as well as band type clamps to replace the BMW crimp type clamps) and these need to be ordered/procured in advance as some of them are special order. Just lessons learned on my part. My car is now back up and running as of Feb 28, and I should theoretically be good for another 50k miles, though I am leery in light of how much oil I was down in the first 50k....
Just an FYI on my experience.......

 

Very interesting website over at "Stiegemeier" thanks Thought these quotes were interesting:



Porting your supercharger is an option that will increase the efficiency of your blower, adds boost in many cases, and lowers inlet air temps.

Porting the blower also increases your HP. The exact amount of power gain is based on many factors. Some of the more important factors are your engine displacement, pulley size, headers/exhaust combination, ignition and plugs and the quality of your tune. For example, a properly tuned 03' Cobra with a reasonable choice of exhaust and pulley could improve as much as 50 HP (maybe more). However this same car with fouled out plugs and/or improperly gapped plugs may only gain half the HP. Basically the quality and combination of modifications will either amplify the effect of the ported blower or tend to mute it's effect.

Also, please keep in mind that not all engines are equal. A Mini-Cooper motor simply does not have the capacity of air flow that a Cobra motor has. For instance, if you start with 150 HP and gain 15 HP from your ported blower, that is the same percentage gain as a 400 HP engine gaining 40 HP



Wonder if they really did before and after dynos for the Mini? If so, then wow this would be a good deal. 10% more hp for $395. thats the price of porting a SC. If you start with 200hp you would gain 20hp.......sounds to good to be true? What does everybody think?