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08 R56 turbo upgrade advice

8K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  MamboRM 
#1 ·
Hello all. I’ve got an 08 Cooper S 6 speed that needs a new turbo. It’s been seeping oil for a long time. My throttle body recently failed and upon pulling the intake I found oil all the way up to the intake. Needless to say the carbon build up on the valves is extensive. So, I’m going to replace the throttle body, walnut blast the valves, clean the intercooler, replace the turbo and probably the catalytic convertor as well. My question is will a 40 or 42 mm turbo bolt up to the factory components? Would a JCW turbo drop right in? Any recommendations? I hate how the factory turbo goes flat around 3,500 rpm. I have no interest in racing or modifying the heck out of this car. It was my daily driver and I travel 140 miles a day just to work and back. Most of that is with cruise control set to 70 mph going down the freeway. But I’d like to be able to drop down into 4th and wind her out to pass occasionally with a little more boost on the top end. Thanks for any input in advance.
 
#2 ·
the turbo is a kkk type so has ecu controlled divertor valve to regulate pressure and a standard cooper s with around 180 bhp when everything is happy ie cat works right, timing chain is not stretched and 02 sensors do their job correctly there is no flat spot around 3500 revs,, the up-graded jcw turbo is plug and play,, but will not make any difference if there are other problems with the engine,,, cooper s with its factory chain on 60k will prob be very close to needing doing on a car that has had 9k oil changes and driven gentle,,
standard refurb turbo and remap they go so well 200bhp mini but sorts out any flay areas only on a engine that is all happy,
 
#3 ·
Thank you Mike!
You bring up a very good point about the timing chain. I replaced the tensioner probably 40k miles ago and the guides etc were in good shape so I didn't go any further. With both sides of the motor off it would be a good time to replace the chain assembly now. Outside of the dealership, where is a reputable source to buy all these parts in the US?
 
#4 ·
its not the guides that wear i have never seen any worn that far that it makes any difference to the timing,, its the chains all of them stretch wear very very narrow and very long really,, proper dumbass design when they had enough room in there to have twice the thickness and would of cured it made it in to a better engine all round, turbo engines stretch faster than 1.6 non turbo cars 1.4 wears around same as turbo engines from past experience and mileages,, 24k is the lowest i have seen and 110k was longest but had been running retarded for a lot of miles and had done its damage,, just because at 60k it still sounds ok and sort feels like it goes ok dont mean there is not a lot of wear going on,, 60k is very safe end on a car that is loved on a car run low on oil its earlier and causes all kinds of issues,,
 
#5 ·
K'Nardley (my mini) has been very well taken care of with religious oil changes every 6 weeks or 5k miles. I'm currently at 170k miles on the original turbo and chain. Like I said the vast majority of those miles are cruising at 70mph non-stop. What's the most miles you've seen on one of these r56's? What else should I consider replacing at this point?
 
#6 ·
so yours has done 170.000 miles on same factory chain never seen one do that ever first for me
 
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