Mini and MBP

Mini and Macs

Modding and repairing Mini’s and Macs.
The Mini in this case is not a Mac Mini, but a 2005 BMW Mini Cooper S. The Mac is a 2012 MBP retina.
So what do they have in common? Me.
My daughter Q and her partner K, decided to take a round the country road trip from NYC and see us here on the Ranch, San Diego, CA.
K is a video editor for a college media dept. (PP, say what??) and my daughter is a graduate student.
When they arrived, I noticed noise coming from their car, the aforementioned Mini Cooper S. “S” is for “Supercharged” and therefore has a supercharger.
I have lots of experience being able to repair anything mechanical, been doing it all my life.
The last time I worked on a Mini, was late 60’s on a classic 64 Austin Mini Cooper S.
I narrowed down the noise to timing chain, supercharger or water pump. Didn’t really think it was Timing chain, and didn’t realize I got 2 out of 3 right. The water pump is driven off the supercharger.
The gear box between the supercharger and the water pump had gone dry (no oil) and the gears were grinding into dust. This is a common problem for this model car.




BMW nor the supercharger manufacturer (Eaton) make replacement gears.
BMW wanted $6,600.00USD to replace the supercharger, and $13,000 to fix other issues with the car.,
Q&K really didn’t want to spend that kind of $$ and they were hoping not to have to buy another car for a couple of years while living in NYC as my daughter gets her Master’s and teaching credential from Columbia Univ.
So we decided to repair the car while they were here ourselves.
Initially, we thought we would simply buy a rebuilt supercharger ($900 - $1,600) and install it, or I would rebuild the gear box for the water pump PTO (~$500.00) As we researched the problems with the supercharger/water pump design, both K and I decided modifying the Mini and installing an after market Electric Water Pump (EWP), specifically a Davies Craig EWP80 as the way to go. This removes the gear box problems and increases the horsepower of the Mini and makes it more “peppy”. As if it is not already.

Only problem, I had to come up with a design and fabricate mounts for the EWP. The Mini has very little room where you can place the pump. I chose to mount it in the same space where the old pump went, but I had to move the new pump over to fit.
Just to work on this car, you have to remove the entire front end.



Given the lack of space in a Mini, designing the parts required Alien, 3D geometry to mesh 4 different planes of interaction. All welding should be done while standing on head.
First attempt missed by 1/8th inch.(3mm). Too close to the new end plate we made for the supercharger after removing the gear box and mechanical water pump. Second attempt, not happy with welding and still too close, but it did fit, but rubbed.

At this point, Q&K borrowed our car and visited Yellowstone, Zion National Park, lots of other places and some friends along the way. My daughter had to fly back to NYC from San Francisco for a dance tour on the East Coast. K then drove our car back to the Ranch to swap cars.

In the mean time, as they say, 3rd time a charm. My third attempt to fabricate the parts needed worked.



Mounted the EWP, was able to use the original radiator hoses, wired it up, put the car back together



K has just now arrived back in NY. Ran great!

We also did lots of other repairs… replaced both front drive axles, replaced O-rings & seals fixing oil leaks, replaced filters, flushed the coolant in the engine and a few other things BMW wanted 13 grand for. Our total costs somewhere between $500 - $600 USD.

Well what does this have to do with a MBPr?
The day after K left to go back home, I was enjoying a glass of wine and managed to spill it all over the Mac keyboard. Oh S#**!
Immediately flipped the MBP upside down and held down the power button to shut it down.
Kept it upside down and wine poured out of keyboard. Kept it that way for a couple of days to let it dry out.
I have taken apart and repaired or modded many Macs over the years, but I hadn’t yet taken my MBPr apart. It just went off extended warranty 6/7 months ago. I didn’t have the penta lobe (P5) screwdriver to disassemble the case, so I ordered a new kit from iFixit.
Took the computer apart, and compared to the Mini, the Mini has vast amounts of spare room that the MBP lacks.



This computer is crammed with components. I tore the unit apart to
the keyboard, cleaned it all up with rubbing alcohol, (funny how I was removing alcohol with alcohol) got rid of dust bunnies, (really will clean this unit yearly); then put it all back together.
I actually think this computer isn’t that hard to work on, call me crazy.

Magic moment, hit the power button…



Yep, works fine.
Most of the wine didn’t get past the back light panel behind the keyboard. Very little made it into the Logic board and rear panel. No fried circuits. Not even sticky keys.

Guess I don’t get a new computer this year after all.

I do have some screws and pieces left over if anyone needs them

Happy Editing everyone, watch those wine glasses, Greg