Stealth Stella Build

[ORazor]

As most of you know, I recently purchased a 2007 MCS from a dealer, which I am extremely pleased with. I also purchased the dealer's (not the Mini) extended warranty, which, while comprehensive, also appears to be pretty prohibitive of performance aftermarket parts. I'm likely not going to go the JCWs package route, so all of my performance modifications are likely going to be "stealth", or invisible to the dealer in a pretty short amount of time.

 

As both a computer scientist and a soon-to-be-lawyer (be scared), I'm always drawn to "documentation" - E.g., chronicling the process that I took, so that others can learn from my screwups, which will be the first purpose of this thread.

 

The second purpose is to ask the community what additional mods I should pursue, in addition to the ones below that I have planned:

 

1. WMW BOV

2. Alta AccessPort

3. Rev iPhone Application + OBDII device (this presumably takes the place of a boost gauge, and gives me insight into other relevant things like temperature readings). Incidentally, if anyone has any experience with this, please let me know.

4. Sweet racing stripes

 

So, what else could I get away with? The RM Torque Arm, perhaps? I suspect exhaust and CAI are out of the question?

[astarte]

Hey I'm in Alexandria and have a Comp Sci degree did two years of law school and bailed and now do computer security and am a lot happier for it (and work with a lot of lawyers with comp sci degrees). Not that I'm saying you shouldn't do it as there are certainly people who ARE happy with that combo, but I think if I'd known more going in things would have been different, or my assumptions would have been different. I'll feed you coffee.

[JAB 67]

Not sure how you expect to mod your car in such a way that it is 'invisible' to the dealer, unless it is something easily restored to stock in the event of a warranty claim.

[ORazor]

Hey I'm in Alexandria and have a Comp Sci degree did two years of law school and bailed and now do computer security and am a lot happier for it (and work with a lot of lawyers with comp sci degrees). Not that I'm saying you shouldn't do it as there are certainly people who ARE happy with that combo, but I think if I'd known more going in things would have been different, or my assumptions would have been different. I'll feed you coffee.

 

I've been working cybersecurity issues for a while now. I really dig it, but I'm also easily bribed. I'll be doing patent law, specifically comp sci/IT patents, and I think it's a great combination. Considering I graduate in 3 months, it would be pretty late to bail now

[ORazor]

Not sure how you expect to mod your car in such a way that it is 'invisible' to the dealer, unless it is something easily restored to stock in the event of a warranty claim.

 

The BOV is nearly identical to the stock product.

 

The Alta product allows you to reflash the ECU to the stock setting.

 

The Rev app utilizes a plug and play OBDII is literally a cord that just plugs in.

 

So, yeah, basically all this stuff easily unplugs in the event I need to bring it in!

[ORazor]

Today I installed a Kuda Mount (pic from the web)

 

 

The directions are a 3 step process, which seemed too good to be true.

 

It was.

 

It took me 3 hours and the help of a friend, but I was finally able to remove almost the entire dash of Stella, seat the mount, and put the dash back in. Check out this thread, which chronicled how difficult it was - http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/interior-exterior/110837-installing-a-kuda-mount-in-the-r56.html

 

Now, that said, I have a sweet mount, and I was pretty much able to get the screws back in (though I am still having issues with the ones in the air vents).

 

Whew. I might just leave this on the car if I ever sell it.

[GreenCactus]

As most of you know, I recently purchased a 2007 MCS from a dealer, which I am extremely pleased with. I also purchased the dealer's (not the Mini) extended warranty, which, while comprehensive, also appears to be pretty prohibitive of performance aftermarket parts. I'm likely not going to go the JCWs package route, so all of my performance modifications are likely going to be "stealth", or invisible to the dealer in a pretty short amount of time.

 

As both a computer scientist and a soon-to-be-lawyer (be scared), I'm always drawn to "documentation" - E.g., chronicling the process that I took, so that others can learn from my screwups, which will be the first purpose of this thread.

 

The second purpose is to ask the community what additional mods I should pursue, in addition to the ones below that I have planned:

 

1. WMW BOV

2. Alta AccessPort

3. Rev iPhone Application + OBDII device (this presumably takes the place of a boost gauge, and gives me insight into other relevant things like temperature readings). Incidentally, if anyone has any experience with this, please let me know.

4. Sweet racing stripes

 

So, what else could I get away with? The RM Torque Arm, perhaps? I suspect exhaust and CAI are out of the question?

 

I have the Rev iPhone app. I don't use it much, but I should. I have the Kiwi WiFi OBDII cable and my plan was to leave it connected all the time, but I haven't gotten around to that, yet.

[cmcveay]

I know I posted something to this thread last night but it's not there now...

 

Like Laura, I also have the Kiwi WiFi adn the Rev app. They work well. A good alternative is the Scan Gauge II. I wouldn't have a worry in the world about taking the car in to the dealer with that installed, it's reading data that's coming from the OBD-II port and the two devices have no ability at all to change any settings.

 

If you do a search for "tuning", you'll find a thread with an excel spreadsheet with a list of mods that can be made. None of them are really performance mods, they are more convenience mods and again, since it's just using what the factory has done, there's no warranty issue.

[Gart]

I am not so sure about the stealth part but i would say get an rmw tune for your 07. There is an older thread from when some of us had gone up to mach v motorsports to get our minis tuned by mr. jan b (cant spell his last name) In my opinion it may be the best bang for your buck mod. He plugs in his laptop to your mini,waves his magic wand and poof you have a beast. :top:

[ORazor]

I am not so sure about the stealth part but i would say get an rmw tune for your 07. There is an older thread from when some of us had gone up to mach v motorsports to get our minis tuned by mr. jan b (cant spell his last name) In my opinion it may be the best bang for your buck mod. He plugs in his laptop to your mini,waves his magic wand and poof you have a beast. :top:

 

Thanks for the great info.

 

The only issues I see are:

 

1. I'd like to be able to flash back to stock before I take it to the dealer. I don't think you have that control in your scenario.

2. Whenever the ECU is accessed by the dealer, don't they reset it? Does that mean you have to keep going out to Mach V?

 

Thanks again!

[ORazor]

I know I posted something to this thread last night but it's not there now...

 

Like Laura, I also have the Kiwi WiFi adn the Rev app. They work well. A good alternative is the Scan Gauge II. I wouldn't have a worry in the world about taking the car in to the dealer with that installed, it's reading data that's coming from the OBD-II port and the two devices have no ability at all to change any settings.

 

If you do a search for "tuning", you'll find a thread with an excel spreadsheet with a list of mods that can be made. None of them are really performance mods, they are more convenience mods and again, since it's just using what the factory has done, there's no warranty issue.

 

I'm not worried about that at all, actually. You can always just unplug it before you go to the dealer!

[RichSperry]

Jan, (RMW) can use both the Accessport and the older DIMSPORT flash loaders. With either you can revert to stock before taking it to the dealer.

 

With ANY flashing, the dealer, or MINI can eventually tell if you have altered the programming if they want to dig deep enough. (IIRC there is a counter in the ECU memory that tells tham how many times it has been flashed.)

 

The real question is if the person/company doing the warranty work will care if it's modified?

[ORazor]

Jan, (RMW) can use both the Accessport and the older DIMSPORT flash loaders. With either you can revert to stock before taking it to the dealer.

 

With ANY flashing, the dealer, or MINI can eventually tell if you have altered the programming if they want to dig deep enough. (IIRC there is a counter in the ECU memory that tells tham how many times it has been flashed.)

 

The real question is if the person/company doing the warranty work will care if it's modified?

 

Perhaps you guys can help me with that - I'll be doing all my maintenance at Passport Mini of Alexandria. Have any of you had issues with getting warranty work done post-modification there?

 

Thanks!

[cmcveay]

Bill - Never have so far.

[TGGRRR (Ali)]

Perhaps you guys can help me with that - I'll be doing all my maintenance at Passport Mini of Alexandria. Have any of you had issues with getting warranty work done post-modification there?

 

Thanks!

 

 

They haven't given me any problems.

I have an after market stereo that came in Tigger when I got him used. The steering wheel controls for the radio don't work when the weather is cold. They replaced them and it fixed one issue (I can now change stations on the wheel) but the controls still don't work in freezing weather. They said it was probably the wiring to my Pioneer, so they wouldn't fix any further. I was fine with this, they did attempt to fix it under warranty until they got to the after market part, that was fair to me.

 

Ali

[ORazor]

Re: stereo

 

I'm pretty sure an aftermarket stereo is fine, at least in my warranty. I'm more worried about putting in an exhaust and have them not replace a failed transmission because of the extra power, or something like that.

[Scavenger]

Ali, I've got the same little adaptor (PAC SWI-JACK) for the steering wheel controls and it works fine for me, I wonder if I have a newer version though, was yours replaced?

[TGGRRR (Ali)]

They replaced the part in the wheel but that was it

[Scavenger]

They replaced the part in the wheel but that was it

Ah ha! That's the problem then, if they didn't replace the PAC SWI-JACK! I guess they didn't since it is an after market part, anyways the older versions were prone to cold weather problems. You'd need to get it replaced, perhaps at a car stereo shop somewhere.

 

Update: actually, since you have a Pioneer, you might need the PAC SWI-PS. You could give Crutchfield an call and confirm with them before I steer you in the wrong direction!

[ORazor]

Update:

 

I realized that I goobered up on the Kuda install a couple days ago. I had some serious issues getting the mounting of the speedometer to sit correctly (I still am!), so I'm going to bring it to Mach V for the Kuda install, the WMW BOV install, and the NM Engineering Torque Arm install. All are pretty cheap things that I know I could do myself, but after the heart attacks I've been having while looking at my dash, I feel compelled to have the pros do it. Honestly, you can barely tell that it isn't sitting right, but I just want Stella to be a beauty.

 

Also, Stella stalled out last week, so I brought her to the dealer (she had a service light on too), and they replaced my HPFP, which I was really, really pleased with, because I know it's a known issues.

 

I'm still a bit queezy about doing any more noticeable mods, like exhaust or intake for warranty reasons, so I'd still love to hear from people who have modified their car and haven't had any issues with Passport Mini.

Edited January 23, 2012 by ORazor
Grammar

[ORazor]

So... I ran into this thread - http://reviews.carreview.com/mini-cooper-s-one-ball-exhaust-upgrade

 

Notice the curvy characteristic of the exhaust. Is that really how the 2007 MCS stock exhaust looks? If so, that ain't what I have. Any ideas on how I would go about figuring out what I have? Is there a spot that usually has a makers mark?

[cmcveay]

So... I ran into this thread - http://reviews.carreview.com/mini-cooper-s-one-ball-exhaust-upgrade

 

Notice the curvy characteristic of the exhaust. Is that really how the 2007 MCS stock exhaust looks? If so, that ain't what I have. Any ideas on how I would go about figuring out what I have? Is there a spot that usually has a makers mark?

 

 

Bill, that's the exhaust from a 1st Gen and the "one ball" mod is pretty popular with them. Yours comes from the downpipe, through a flex coupling and nearly straight back to the rear end of the car - I've worked on a few of them so I know the bends and turns.

 

Glad to hear they replaced the HPFP, that's a worry you won't have now. Too bad they didnt' take care of that recall while they were at it.

 

On my 09, I had a Boorla "Sport" exhaust and while it sounded really good, the drone inside the car was enough to drive me around the bend. One trip to/from Jacksonville, NC and the Dragon and that thing had to go. I replaced it with a VIP designs exhaust and it was better - and still sounded good. I can't help but think that you'll be safe (warranty wise that is) as long as a mod you perform isn't the proximate cause of any failure that you may need to take the car in for.

[ORazor]

 

Craig - that's the stock MCS exhaust, right? As usual, you've proven to be an unbelievable font of knowledge.

 

"Proximate cause" - that's lawyer language we're talking now As a soon to be lawyer, though, I'm probably a bit more risk averse, and I'm likely unduly worried about they types of tenuous claims of causation that a dealer might put forth to escape reimbursing.

[cmcveay]

Bill - yep, that appears to be a stock MC/S exhaust. If you'd like to improve the sound and probably gain some efficiency in the exhaust, there are shops around that will do some work with/for you but they aren't cheap. You could have the muffler changed out for a new one that flows better and sounds better. I am a fan of Magnaflow mufflers but others here on the forums have experience with other brands.

 

The VIP design exhaust that I had (now in RyanBlue's R56) used a Magnaflow muffler, stainless steel pipe and I had the 2nd cat removed for the install and the exhaust had the a resonator delete pipe installed. Basically, I ended up with a single cat and a muffler. Even with the single cat, the car will still pass smog and the exhaust won't stink like some do when the cats are removed. You may want to keep the resonator to ensure you maintain your nuptual bliss - the interior noise can get rather bothersome.

[ORazor]

Thanks for the confirmation Craig.

 

Does anyone in the club have a straight 2007 MCS JCW Package? I did drive one a couple weeks ago, but I was in such shock from the aftermarket suspension that I didn't really pay attention to the engine noise.

 

Adding the JCW package would make all my warranty issues disappear - I'd probably just like to see what the noise would be like.