Mini Cooper S R53 Supercharged Top 10 MUST Have Mods For Your W11 Engine 

I got my 2004 Mini Cooper S with 45k miles on it, it's in 11/10 condition. 2 previous owners, first owner shipped it everywhere he went, second owner was my cousin and he put a 15% pulley on it for me right before I bought it from him. I've been looking into cold intake filters and what not, car currently has 51k miles on it and i've been loving it.

I got a stock R53 s with pilot sport 4 s and it's the most fun car to drive, could never sell it, ridiculously fun to drive.

I think 15% pulley, colder plugs, stealth intake and a decent cat back.....perhaps R56 MCS front brakes are the sweetspot for a standard R53. On a facelift you're probably looking at late JCW power for probably no more than 1k spend which is excellent bang per buck. General consensus is 15% pulley with stock IC is just fine...any more you need a bigger (note I wont say better) IC. The interesting thing with the stock IC is whilst they struggle with the inlet heat generated on a pullied SC, they recover from heat soak more quickly because they are inherently smaller and less dense (the GP intercooler included) so updating the IC can have its downsides too. Also the more air you push in, the more fuel you need so you need to watch with the stock map that you dont start leaning it out particularly at higher rpms. The cars do run a little rich so they can deal with it to some extent but push too hard you'll detonate and blow the motor. Agreed a manifold is one of the better means of gaining power as the stock one is very restrictive, though the stock cat doesnt hurt power (the engine is designed to run with the back pressure) so a tomcat manifold (where the stock cat is grafted to the upgrade manifold) is a good way to go. If you keep the cat in place (rather than decat it as is the option with a tomcat) I dont think it needs a remap either, but probably benefits from one at that point

I have a Stage 2 Dinan Kit on my JCW MCS. Nice mods Sir.

I would put also a 40mm thick radiator just to keep the engine fresh and healthy

Great video excellent details and very accurate!

Just got myself a R53 like a month ago. Your video's helped me a lot buying one. I've put an milltek exhaust on it and damn does it sounds good🔥. I'm think of going to stage 2 .

Thank you. The amount of people that tried arguing saying that all coil packs are the same and makes no difference. I kept telling them the performance ones have higher spark rate and it was like talking to a brick wall so thank you for backing up my argument.

Stock coil pack is the best for tuning Stock coil + MSD cables + brisk spark plugs 1 step colder = more power baby

Mean as bruv passion 1👍

A good addition is having a metal coolant reservoir helps a lot with how hot the engine gets reduces the risk a bit

I have my first car. It’s a 04 manual Cooper s mc40. It’s in a little bit of rough shape but I’d love to get it fixed up

Literally buying mine in the next few months the timing of your r53 vids are perfect 👌 I’m a bmw apprentice but still like to watch the mods 👍nice videos mate

Great video bro.👍🏽

Pretty standard mods on this video post. I see tonnes of talk about IC and when it's required etc (sigh), but there are alternatives that I don't hear about - water-methanol injection. I've got lots of experience designing supercharger kits and I just picked up a lil' r53 write-off for fun... first thing I did is drop a 15% pulley, did my own complete access tuning, and dropped methanol injection. Yep, methanol injection. Sound complicated?, nope. Everybody uses this... but for some reason, mini cooper owners/modders don't seem to use this much. WAY more power, WAY lower IATs/EGTs, no need for IC (cools WAY better). Oh... forgot to mention.. cheaper! For those who don't want to spend much money, you can probably do a very safe 17% pulley install and install just a simple boost-switch operated water/methanol injection kit running 50:50... so that's just -35degC windshield washer fluid for those who don't know (I know people say you can run stock tune/injectors but I'm pretty sure they don't track em'). This will give extra fuel in boost only (methanol is ~130 octane fuel) and will add huge knock protection and cooling. Just my .02$. Cheers.

gotta bring in a rolls royce for the next project mate. Get the bmw company trifecta

Only mod I don’t agree with is that air filter, you can tell the sides don’t seal with the hood or they would be the sane height as the intercooler and seal along the back. You can modify the stock box to have a bigger opening which does draw in cold air and just switch out the piping to smooth the flow better.

hmm -- love the vid,, but I do think this car needs a water injection system. its the only thing missing.. you already have a res - u deleted rear wiper, so tank already there :) I looking at doing the same to mine, already got the intercooler with injector sockets welded on just before and after intercooler boots, just need more money now :(

Hey there like video have questions about intake hose whats the diameter of blue hose from throttle to air filter?!

Does anyone have a link to that performance ignition kit and the spark plugs???

I have a r53 2006 I think,after market stainless exhaust.ram air filter apart from that she is stock.if I put £1,000 in the engine what’s the best power for my buck?next is £2,000 on suspension and brakes???

where did you find that blue high power coil ignition pack?

What bhp and torque was this running with the larger intercooler, pod filter, and pulley with stage 1? May i ask.

Great videos about the R53 Mini. My brother retired in July and gave me his 02 Cooper S that he had since new. It's rapidly approaching 200,000 miles and was wondering what you would recommend I look at for its BIG service. It's running fairly well for it's age but has a slight misfire when cold which throws up a cylinder 1 misfire code some times. Some cooling/ heating issues I have yet to investigate. I've been working on my own cars for the last 36 years but always appreciate any advice on new cars from experienced people like yourself. Really looking forward to more videos on the R53 and the advice you can give. 👍👍👍😁😁

When you put on the bigger intercooler how did you fit it with the crankcase valve hose in the way?

Hi I was wondering if you could help I have got a mini cooper s r53 2004 when idle it runs just below 1000rpm then just goes above 1000rpm on its own happens consistently. It was fine before it went into the garage for the following cat back exhaust, new water pipes/flush, new thermostat,new oil and filter, oil pressure switch, rocker cover gasket. Since had it back we have had this problem when idling. Just thought would ask you as we follow you on RU-vid.

i bought a DDMWorks cold air intake and got the upragded filter do i need to tune the car for that , it’s for my 2002 r53

I have a mini cooper s r53 03, its got s realy low lumpy idle, i have replaced the throttle body, map sensor, o2 sensors, it bangs out the exhaust, pops realy loud. Struggles to idle, but revs up fine, am thinking bad injectors? Let me know what you think thank you. Regards Robbie

Aren't the pops n bangs due to it needing to be tuned/remapped to match up to the new mods?

Great vid

Nice work question doc.I just replaced the engine and transmission and water pump theromast radiator fan assembly and my axles rebuilt but now it Ewan hold its RPM any tips on what could be there problem now?

❤️

Can the bad alternator cause the power steering to be stiff

Quick question doing all these mods would the conrods need to be stronger for the engine to push more power?

Hi, I have an 06 Checkmate R53 with 133,000 miles. What would you recommend upgrading first? Cold Air Induction? Thanks and Happy Holidays!

Standard coolant expansion tank ? They split and most people change to an aluminium one

What yr was the r53 facelift?

I did a 15% pulley,wrapped long tube catless headers ,pacesetter exhaust ,full intake, larger intercooler and upgraded boots,jcw injectors ,fuel pump,light crank ,jcw 210 ecu flash and gauges o yes msd wires,coilpack and ngk colder plugs . I have a launch controller n pedal commander yet to install and as it sits it is a fucking lil monster and surprised every car it's ran against AND HOLLOW OUT THE WALL BEHIND THE INTAKE SO IT GET REAL COLD AIR FROM IN FRONT OF WINDSHEILD

Hey, I’m trying to do a conversion with a supercharged 07 engine into a 2010 base mini Cooper. I need to find the standalone harness and computer. Can you show me how to begin the process, and where to find these parts?

Mine melted the leads. Any solution for that?

where did you het that air filter?

I’m unsure weather to go with a 17% or 19% supercharger pulley upgrade. I’m going to do the intercooler aswell. Opinions?

Song name at the end please ?

Can you please let me know if the r53 is better than a r56? i'm doing a market research and ive decided to go for the mini cooper S but dont know which one to actually go for. Thank you.

would it be a bad idea to do these mods on my nearly 200k mile engine? it runs good and seems healthy

Sorry how much BHP at the rear wheels???? Have you converted it to RWD???

So what bolts do i need to get please if i upgrade the coil pack ?

Единственное, что r53 действительно необходимо это замена сайлент-блоков передних рычагов на цельные. От бмв м3 е46.

Can you just add the ram air filter and the car still runs happily? Just as the first mod, before you do more bits?

Hi, about to buy a 2003 mini which has been quite highly modified and I am really worried about what I am buying. Years ago I had a highly modified Subaru and ended up rubbing into a lot of problems with it and scared I am going to go down the same road. If I was to give you the mods which the mini has had done to it. Could you let me know if it sounds like it has be done right. I am really worried about buying it and could be putting a deposit down on as early as Sunday. Could you please answer this asap because it obvious you know what you are talking about. They are advertising it as 250bhp and I am not sure it is that even tho they are showing a dyno readout on it. Hopefully you reply.

"I don't need to go that cheap. But as you can see this was sent to me by mtc motorsport"

My r53 does 140+

Have you sold the car yet as I'm looking to buy one asap and if you and not so far away from me I may take a look? Cheers

I need a new motor😭😂😂 rod went thru block

@4.23 more hp and torque at the rear wheels 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

What's the estimated BHP with all these mods??

Fitted newman cams the other day it started up fine then when it got hot the cam snapped and scorred all my ported head When we got the cam out we found out that the newman cams had not been machined properly and were too big so it seized that he'd cost me fucking 450 quid

112 comment here

Why the mini r53 this mini never had a bmv engine until 2006 .. and was better than ever .. you are a bmw doctor talking about bmw engines please .. you won't say much at least not about the mini

Worst car in terms of maintenance after 100k miles