2nd Gen R56 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Lowering springs and BOVs

Welcome to M\A but our crystal ball is broken. :lol: Could you please tell us about your car and what you are looking to do.

 

If coilovers are ultimately what you want, I'd suggest just saving up longer for those and getting something you're happy with. I know of a couple R56 guys in my area who put lowering springs on their stock shocks/struts and got a ride that was a little too..."bouncy"...so they ended up buying new shocks or coilovers anyway.

I followed the advice of a bunch of people on these forums and put Koni Yellows and Swift Spec-R springs on my Mini...gave someone a ride last week and he commented that my car "sucks the ground." I'm taking it as a compliment...hehe.

 

David Mc - the GFB DV+ won't work on the N14 engine, unfortunately.

FWIW, stick with the stock diverter valve - these engines perform better when you keep the air in the engine instead of venting it to the atmosphere.

 

Here are the coil overs you are looking for with SWIFT springs, custom adjustable dampers and adjustable camber plates included. $1750.00

BC Racing Coilovers with Swift Springs and Custom Revalve – Greene Performance

 

As other have said, and Dave clarified on; if you are wanting coil overs save up and go right to them, but the biggest thing is to spend the money, cheap coilovers are just that. It also depends on what exactly you want from the car, do you plan on tracking the car, DD, road warrior, is ride quality an issue, and so on.

As for BOVs, the Forge unit is the only valve we install on customer cars, there are eBay options, but the fact of quality per $$ spent comes into play again. If looks are truly what you are looking for I would recommend a cold air intake, such as DDM Works, or AEM, you will add a touch of class to the engine bay as well as getting audible boost recirc when letting off the throttle.

DDM Works Street Intake

DDM Works Race Intake

AEM Race Intake

Forge Blow Off Valve

 

NM Engineering

I have NM engineering springs with the stock dampers and it lowered my car 1.5 inches and rides better than the stock sport suspension. $250 installed here in So.Ca.

 

Have a look at these for a BOV replacement Go Fast Bits Blow Off Valve | MINI Cooper S Blow Off Valve | MINI N18 Blow off Valve | Diverter Valve MINI Cooper N18. Considering one of these for my daughters N18 Cooper S auto - the performance specs are impressive.

 

If you're looking to have a louder BOV, you could change your intake out. You'll hear it breathe properly. I've got an Alta intake, and you can hear every breath she takes pretty clearly.

Also I'm thinking of replacing the sway bar links in mine, the OEM ones look like pencils. Seems for stiffer handling that not having skinny bendy bits attached to the sway bar is a good way to start.

 

The OE sway links are prone to failure anyway - they'll start clunking after 40-50k.