Sorry, if this sounds dumb, but I own a MINI Cooper, and they cannot be safely brought above 140bhp, before the tranny or something else major goes out. Is the 318ti the same, love the car, and am considering it as a buy, if it will accept a turbo, and boost, to 280bhp. Help for a newbie?

I do not know about the engine, but there are m3 powered TIs out there that can handle that kind of power. As BMW made the most of the E36 platform, many of the same parts are used all the across the board

Why the need for specifically 280 bhp?? You should do some research at 318ti.org! :-)

JMJ

Why the need for specifically 280 bhp?? You should do some research at 318ti.org! :-)

JMJ


Well not specifically that, but I want at least that, I wanna keep up with friends, mainly and STi.

I wanna keep up with friends, mainly and STi.
Gotcha... I sort of figured that you had a "purpose-related goal" in mind. :-)

You can confirm this quickly at 319ti.org, but the two most popular "go faster" routes are:
1) Downing Atlanta Supercharger.
2) 6-cylinder engine swap.

Which of those will best meet your needs is difficult to say. But, there are several people who've taken each of those routes and can help you decide.

I think there's also a turbo option, but it's not as popular so I haven't read much about it.

JMJ

Buy one, drop in the `96-`99 M3 engine and a Sunbelt cam package and your at ~312hp. Of course you need to get the trans/diff/exhaust, etc. but would be very fun!

Sorry, if this sounds dumb, but I own a MINI Cooper, and they cannot be safely brought above 140bhp, before the tranny or something else major goes out. Is the 318ti the same, love the car, and am considering it as a buy, if it will accept a turbo, and boost, to 280bhp. Help for a newbie?

Dang, those mini's aren't built too tough then....heck, a guy in south bend was making 275hp in his auto focus before the trans disentegrated
focus>mini then?

The ti is honestly a pretty tough little car, although I think for any larger amount of power you need at least the rear diff and a clutch.....honestly, I'd take a built n/a 4cyl over the stock engine with a dasc
Andrew

I thought the Works package on the Mini had more than 140bhp? Or is the Mini Cooper S a much stronger car to begin with?

I thought the Works package on the Mini had more than 140bhp? Or is the Mini Cooper S a much stronger car to begin with?A stock Cooper S is 163hp. But back to the M42/M44. Plenty of people are running a S/C.

I will be one of them come this spring

I will be one of them come this spring

Me too, hopefully

Me too, hopefully

The Mini S is a pretty nice little car. I haven't gotten to ride in Alaskablue's with it broken in yet, but it was barking the tires into 4th gear shifting at 4500rpms....and he ordered the lsd.....:buttrock
Andrew

Cooper has 115 bhp. MINI gave it weak internals specifically so you wouldnt buy it and boost it for less than the S model from the factory. Heres how the BHP runs down.

Cooper-115
cooper s-167
cooper s works-210
cooper s works gp-214 (only 400 in the us)

Selling the MC will leave me happy and debt free!! With about 9k for a 318ti. I will SC her first thing. My friend has an M3, and he just finished his SC installation, and knows how to do it.

Cooper engine is made by Chrysler (Euro) and no it can't take Boost very well, totaly different internals on the Cooper S.
M42 different story, far better engine and handles boost like a champ.
Although 280 would be a bit much for it IMO. 220 HP tops is as high as I would go with stock internals & wanting it to be reliable as well.

Cooper engine is made by Chrysler (Euro) and no it can't take Boost very well, totaly different internals on the Cooper S.
M42 different story, far better engine and handles boost like a champ.
Although 280 would be a bit much for it IMO. 220 HP tops is as high as I would go with stock internals & wanting it to be reliable as well.

You can safely do up the 4 cylinder M4x. the new mini's coming out are going to be Turbo and yeah, till now are not even made by BMW. But thats about to change. They changed a lot about the new Mini, so hopefully it will be a better car. Wouldnt buy one as of now, too many bugs and flaws.

Wouldnt buy one as of now, too many bugs and flaws.
Yea, wrong wheel drive :)

Yea, wrong wheel drive :)
That's what I thought until I had it on the track. :redspot

The new Cooper S reaches peak torque at 1600rpms!!! And stays peak torque till 7krpms. No turbo lag!! Dont believe me, then look it up. Its true.

And to the guy above who aid the MK1 MINI has too many flaws.... It was on the top 10 most reliable cars of 06. The only euro on the list.

The new Cooper S reaches peak torque at 1600rpms!!! And stays peak torque till 7krpms. No turbo lag!! Dont believe me, then look it up. Its true.

And to the guy above who aid the MK1 MINI has too many flaws.... It was on the top 10 most reliable cars of 06. The only euro on the list.

Anything boosted produces that TQ range provided it kicks in low enough.
My M44 preduces 2 PSI @ 2g's and around that TQ.
As for reliability in the Year 06, it's not even 07 yet let alone know if the engine will still last 10 yrs under boost.

Ok well i love Mini's. Im trying to convince my girlfriend to trade in the Lexus for one in fact. But as far as the engineering and reliability, who the hell knows yet? they havnt been out long enough for anyone to really know. And i dont know how much of a "euro" it is anyway. All im saying is, the recall list's that i've seen for them is retarded and a buddy of mine bought one and watched it being produced online, and within the first week he had it another recall came out and the fucker was back in the shop getting something else changed out and that was an 06. So i dunno.

Ti's are the shit!!

Sorry, if this sounds dumb, but I own a MINI Cooper, and they cannot be safely brought above 140bhp, before the tranny or something else major goes out. Is the 318ti the same, love the car, and am considering it as a buy, if it will accept a turbo, and boost, to 280bhp. Help for a newbie?


Hey flannelhippie. I am also on NAM. I have a 2006 S as well as a pretty highly modified 318ti set up for autocross/track only.

Power out of the 4 cylinder is pretty hard to achieve. The best bet is to swap in a 2.8 liter, 3.0, or a 3.2. If you are feeling really rebelious you can put and LS1 in as well.

They are definately fun cars to drive especially since they are RWD and light. Handling, however, in stock form doesn't seem to be as good as a mini. Test drive some if you want a good point of reference.

Ti's are the shit!!
Sagging headliner, broken window regulators, crappy hatch struts.
The recalls, 98 cats. Peeling tape. Transmissions popping out gear.
AC expansion tank failures.
The ti is no better or worse than any other BMW.
Oh, and loose door panels from fixing the windows so often. :)
I had a ball taking the MINI on the track. Would have had more if my instructor stopped reminding me it was my wife's car. ;)
I love my ti on the track too. They are both fun, just different.
Someone used to Lexus service is never going to be happy with BMW or MINI service.

Someone used to Lexus service is never going to be happy with BMW or MINI service.

:confused

Not really sure what you mean by this, as most newer (00'+) Lexus models have service requirements that are as exacting or more so than normal BMW Service I/II/III stuff... but you own a Mini, so you'd know more on that end. Insights?

:confused

Not really sure what you mean by this, as most newer (00'+) Lexus models have service requirements that are as exacting or more so than normal BMW Service I/II/III stuff... but you own a Mini, so you'd know more on that end. Insights?What I mean is that customer satisfaction is much higher with Lexus dealers than BMW. It's wasn't meant to mean Lexus was less prone to recalls.

Buy one, drop in the `96-`99 M3 engine and a Sunbelt cam package and your at ~312hp. Of course you need to get the trans/diff/exhaust, etc. but would be very fun!


The SuperSprint 323ti mid-section will work with the S50US, since it's been used with the EuroS50s I found, when I was looking for the easy exhaust for the future M50Ti. I've been told any restrictions of the mid-section is neg, and the ease is worth it compared to running a full twin cat exhaust I've been told.

again this is word of mouth from European owners.