Sold m3 and bought a Mini Cooper S

[varg]

Supercharger oil change is a real pain in the ass from what I've heard. I hope it was done before you bought it for your sake.

[graveshaker]

Yup and it's not that bad.

[Cephas]

And this is why I chose the more reliable supercharged model over the turbo model. The turbo model has only a 5hp increase in power over the supercharged model. The newly designed turbo motors are notorious for issues. I am not surprised by anything that happened to your 2009 mini cooper. My $100 reduction pulley by far surpass the mere 5hp difference and the power is instantaneous. Some people hear "turbo" and "new model" and automatically assume better without taking any other circumstance into consideration. (I'm not saying this about you by the way)
The turbo model and supercharged models are entirely different vehicles, nothing is shared. The supercharged one is more raw and go-kart like, the turbo model is more refined and lost most of the kart like appeal. I drove both and the older model won hands down.

Dude, I love that color!

Dont get me wrong, the cars are a freaking blast to drive and I did very little research before buying mine. It was actually my wife's car (was a vert) that I ended up driving quite a bit after we had our first child and before we traded it in for a kid-toter Highlander.

It sounds like you are going in eyes wide open and that will make this a much better experience. They are amazing on the track as well.

Enjoy man!

[Stanley Rockafella]

you changed the wheel color!!!!

nice job!! :)

[graveshaker]

you changed the wheel color!!!!

nice job!! :)

And de-chrome'd the belt line, door handles, head light trim, gas cap and grill. Took the "appliance" look away from it.

Before



After

[jakeb]

nice changes!

[deutschman]

My GF and I had a super charged Mini S in red with white stripes and paint matched side skirts. LOVED that thing. Wish we still had it.

[mrsleeve]

Nice I love those era "S's" I have always have had a bit of a soft spot for those.... Seems like you have made a good trade especially in the DD department. That said I really like De-Chroming and the color choice for the wheels is spot on

[e30onBBSs]

This all day. Had a 2009 cooper s. What a shitshow. The warranty company paid out close to 8k in repairs over the 2 years i owned it.

Not to mention that when I replaced the pads I was shocked to find that the front right upper caliper bolt was literally non-existant. 25k miles on the car, brakes never touched and the bolt had backed out and went MIA. Pair that with the rear tail light bulbs that literally melted themselves into the housings...oh and the oil dipstick...WTF. Even the service techs at the dealer said they have a hard time getting an accurate oil reading.

What else, oh yes, timing chain guides failing on an intereference engine is sweet...oil return line for the turbo blowing out was a nice one too.

Sorry to shit on your thread OP. I liked mine when it wasn't getting warranty work done or a new $300 run flat put on (they call them run flats because they only run flat).

Seriously r3v stay away from the 2009. I drive my mom's "old" 2009 clubman s, she has a mazda now but everything was basically fine and then it started misfiring and I replaced the plugs and it was fine again. Then it kept intermittently throwing a knock sensor code about two thousand miles later. Then at 76K it really really shit the bed and would barely accelerate. I was driving to help my friend's grand parents move in and all of a sudden almost total power loss, had to shift at like 4K and there was apparently no boost. My mom brings the car to mini and they say it needs a new engine... All of the plugs were fouled and one was melted. I probably have a picture somewhere but literally melted no contacts, part of the threads were left. No one at mini had supposedly ever seen it. Anyways they quote her $2400 labor +5K for a new engine. She says fuck no I did every maintenance on time and it shits the bed at 76k for no reason? You are paying for the engine. They did the swap and its nice and fun (for now) but seriously stay away from the first few years of turbo. I'm extremely glad I don't have to pay to keep that thing on the road and would trade it for a nice supercharged s model in a heartbeat.

It sure is fun when it works though. Just enough straight line power to not be super bored and plenty enough power in the corners to have some serious fun.

[graveshaker]

My GF and I had a super charged Mini S in red with white stripes and paint matched side skirts. LOVED that thing. Wish we still had it.

I would love paint matched side skirts and flares. My future plan is to go in this direction with appearance and height. I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on headers, exhaust and tune to compliment the reduction pulley and CIA. I should be above 200 hp once done.

This car is owned by the owner of Detroit tuned, a well known mini specialist.

[Mushroom Stew]

I would love paint matched side skirts and flares. My future plan is to go in this direction with appearance and height. I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on headers, exhaust and tune to compliment the reduction pulley and CIA. I should be above 200 hp once done.

This car is owned by the owner of Detroit tuned, a well known mini specialist.

It is funny that you posted this one because I was just about to say that blacking out the white side mirrors and roof would make the car look much more aggressive. But to each their own of course!

[graveshaker]

Slowly coming along, blacked out the roof, mirrors and strips. The Ireland engineering exhaust should be ordered today. I'm going with an ebay header that's getting great reviews from the mini community. My horse power goal should be meet with the exhaust. It currently sits on Koni FSD struts that feel and handle very well, I'll be getting a beefier rear sway and strut brace in the spring to be ready for track season.

[rcsoundn1]

What did you use to black it all out? Only thing that gets me is that the stripes stop beore you see color again.

[graveshaker]

Plasti dip.

[R3Z3N]

what did you use to black it all out? Only thing that gets me is that the stripes stop beore you see color again.

+1