Just out of curiosity, what's up with all those Mini superchargers that are all over e-bay? Are they of any use at all, or are they mounted in such a model-specific way that it would be too cumbersome to adapt them for use on another engine?

From what I saw on one I think they are just an eaton M45 aren't they? If so there was a discussion about the eaton on here a couple of weeks ago I think in regards to fitting one on a zetec.
Regards
Matt

IIRC BMW changed them all on a recall and gave the old one to the customer, hence loads on ebay.

They arnt a proper eaton super charger,.

What was the reason they got recalled? Any serious problems?

I'm not looking for anything 'raceable' anyways, basically just a fun side-project.. these superchargers got my attention because they're selling for such little money.. (usually around 50 quid)

I understood it to be a power upgrade option ? I may be wrong I cant see BMW giving the customer a faulty recalled part ?

Hmm the usual reason for sale posted on the auctions is due to upgrade to a better Works supercharger. This could of course be a load of porky pies.

most are due to people upgrading to the john cooper works kit - which is a different supercharger and different cylinder heads - hence why many people selling a suprcharger will also be selling the heads

if you can get hold of one I don't think they'd be too dificult to fit one to any car, you can buy any bits you need from BMW like hoses and gaskets and mod them to fit your car - the bits aren't actually that expensive, if you look up the part numbers from a site like this: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/

and ring up a BMW dealer they will be able to price them and order them for you

The M45 is supposed to be good for engines upto 3ltrs IIRC

Monkeybasher has one on his

Im lead to believe that they aren't actualy M45 units but were custom designed by Eaton for the BINI.

Well they aren't really an M45 of course because of the custom casing with the water pump drive bits integrated. They are near enough the same capacity as an off the shelf M45 though.

I've considered using one several times and have had 5 or so in my mits over the years. Never bothered to fit one though as I always disliked the bulky packaging.

If you're serious about an SC then look for the M62 based blowers off Mercs. They always come up on ebay regularly. More CFM capacity but easier to mount and 50/50 it'll have a clutch on it too.