I have a 2008 Mini Cooper “S” with 160K miles. The wastegate has failed on the car and it will no longer pass California SMOG tests. The car is in excellent condition except for the turbo. Since it needs to be replaced I’m considering upgrading to the OEM JCW turbo. I’m also planning to install an aFe MACHForce XP cat-back exhaust system. Have you had any issues installing the JCW unit onto a standard Mini Cooper “S”? Is there an issue with the number of miles on the car? Do I need to get a tune when changing the turbo? I recently had the timing chain replaced so that is good to go. Any advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
There should be no issues fitting an OEMJCW turbo on the Cooper S. However with 160k miles, we would strongly recommend having the catalytic converters refurbished or replaced. The cats probably have a lot of buildup from the miles, which translate to more-than-normal backpressure. Any excess backpressure will shorten the life of any new turbo.
An ECU tune is not 'required', but would help to maximize the power output from the slightly larger turbo. The factory software will adapt to the new turbo so there will not be any issues running properly, it just won't be 'optimized'.
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