Picked this up on Friday... Kids love it in the back seat, top down ! The 3y old only wants to ride in the "vertible" ;-)



I owned a base Cooper back in 03 and swore next time I'd get an S - with more poke and better seats. So 10y later this is an 07 S with low miles (49K) for its age. Stick, because I wanted it to be fun, despite the fact I'll be commuting a bit with it in the hills of SFO !!

The convertible thing is a complete mistake, I'll admit it right away: We wanted to have a fun week end car, take the kids top down, but a) it's pretty windy back there b) the car has the structural rigidity of cooked spaghetti. On potholes and bumps it feels like it's gonna rattle itself to death. Yesterday.

Doesn't matter, what's done is done and it's still a fun beater to occasionally commute with and catch early melanoma.

Not as fun? Passenger airbag light came up while leaving the dealership (not mini). Of course an 07 is not part of the airbag extended warranty (makes no sense to me, apparently it's common as hell) ! I expected a heap of trouble and lots of fighting from all sides, but so far, the selling dealer (Ford) is picking up the tab on diagnosing the issue and will see what needs to be done "to make the car safe". Not sure they'll pick up the whole tab is it's an entire seat bottom replacement at Mini prices (sensor mat) but so far so good... I had already ordered a cable and was downloading how-to on NCS expert - covering all angles...

Other toys?

1968 912 - another 1.6L 4 cyl, but not supercharged or anything



and project: yet another 4 cyl !!!

 

Sounds like fun,

Get a ECS STP for the front and also get a wind deflector for the rear.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ht-mods-3.html




Wind Deflector :

Both versions comes with a little bag and can fold up to go in the boot with the bag.

Regulator Black Wind deflector :

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/54347164868/ES158823/



Checkered Version which has faint checkered pattern going across the upper portion that is mostly view-able from the back.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/54340390513/ES158508/



If it has runflats, the ride will be a bit rough. Non runflats are much smoother. Also, check the front LCAB for wear / cracks if the front feels a little loose.


Enjoy your MINI, top down motoring is the best. Nice projects.

 

Agreed you need both of those, but the strut tower defenders wont help the rigidity, and i know thhe 3 year old i small, but he still wont fit back there with the deflector installed.

Congrats on the R52!

 

Congrats that's a nice R52 Cabrio S. Like your other toys too. That isn't an SC is it?

If you want strut tower protection get the original Craven Strut tower defenders as they are the best for protection and have some nice stud extensions.

 

Thanks guys.. I'd never seen strut towers not connected by a bar before, I guess it's for that "mushrooming" issue only, not designed to prevent strut movements in relation to one another... Wondering if there is more chassis brace, that thing truly feels too flexible... yeah it's on non-run flats already, still horrible on bumpy roads - feels like the body is doing all the shock absorbing and the shocks are too stiff.

I've already ordered a few things from ECS, too bad I didn't know about those strut tower plates... Still awaiting word from the dealer on the airbag.

Wind deflector will not work for me, kids in back, and it's OK in front - I meant the concept of a 4 seater cab doesn't work for the back passengers, period. I hoped on a shorter car like the Mini it would be better but not really ;-)

>That isn't an SC is it?

Nope, 1968 912, the 4 cyl step-sister ;-)

 

There are some companies like M7 that make a strut tower bar/plate combo. If you go this route, let me know if you feel it makes a big difference. I'd love to get some of the flex out too.

 

I will probably buy one when I get the car back from the shop... I haven't had a chance to see what's under the hood yet, it popped the airbag light day#1 and I've only had it 2 days. Don't wanna buy blind...

I feel like the flex is not so much shock tower to shock tower (affecting geometry) but generic, front to back also.... Just "overall flex" from a car whose top was chopped off and chassis not reinforced enough (as opposed to a car designed as a cabrio from the get go like a Boxster)... I'm surprised by this because it's a pretty small car, I'd have thought it'd remain more rigid (sadly the test drives - a cooper and a cooper S - were on nice roads and I did not notice). I owned a boxster in the past and that was rock solid. Never thought the small mini would be this flexible ;-)

It's fine on smooth roads, pretty nasty on city streets, really bad on potholes or bumps... Feels like the body should be braced (a lot more) and suspension softened (also by a lot). All in all, I'll live, it's not my only car and it's a fun toy - I don't hate it or anything. I am just concerned it'll vibrate itself to a premature death if I keep driving it in the city.

 

This might be our ticket

http://www.waymotorworks.com/tsw-xbrace.html

 

Absolutely, that is more like it...

The one issue with those things, in my book, is that I cannot tell whether the factory did not do this int he first place because they are smarter than me or because they are just cheap. These things *could* transfer loads to other unforeseen areas and cause cracks, breaks, mismatches in suspension, I just dunno. But in principle, yes... I'm gonna research that now !

 

Yes that's our under chassis brace that is by far the best at reducing body flex the cabrio has since it has no top. Never had them cause more stress and cracks. It actually attaches to existing mouting bolts. If you look you will see the rear already has braces.
We also have a great strut brace with plates that isn't on the website yet.

 

Quick note here: Xbrace installed. The install sucked pretty bad but that is a function of my setup (can't use ramps - steep driveway, lift in the garage providing very little space to play and made the install a pain). The fitment was impeccable... I'm rubbing the poor brace on the crown of my driveway now, when people are in the car, but so are my other cars... Again, my problem (just ironic as the mini was the only car that did not rub, and now it does ;-)

The brace definitely stiffened up the car some. I can't provide numbers obviously but you can feel it immediately - just cresting out of my driveway, it felt stiffer. I won't say it turned the cabrio into a coupé but rigidity wise, it definitely turned the cabrio chassis from "cooked pasta" to "uncooked pasta" ;-) It's always gonna flex in a car not designed as a cabrio from the get-go (unlike a boxster, say), but it's definitely better with the brace! Less shaking, rattles, mostly the car feels more made of "one-piece" over bumps, less flexi-flyer. For the money I'd recommend that to fellow cab-owners.

 

Welcome to the MINIacs!

..."vertible"? Do you mean the top goes up?

Motor on!

 

Congrats on the cabrio. Having owned a couple of hardtops previously, I agree with you mostly on the body rigidity thing....the cabrio is definitely a different beast. IMO, the top-down fun more than makes up for the difference.

I just recently did a total redo on the suspension (struts, FCA bushings, rear swaybar). The car is transformed. I always felt that the extra weight in the rear made the car handle differently and that has been corrected to an extent. I haven't found that mine is quite as flex-y as you describe and doesn't have all the rattles, etc.....it's actually tighter than I expected....maybe yours is much higher mileage than mine is?

Glad to hear that the X brace stiffened things up. Maybe that should be my next mod. : )

Regarding the airbag light....I think the recall includes all gen 1 cabrios.....so up through '08. You might check to make sure.

Have fun!

 

Yea,

The airbag light for the passenger OCC is here, its was a recent announcement:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...er-recall.html

 

I love your other toys as well. That 912 looks great! Congrats.

 

I think they are all the same, but it's a function of expectations. My last Cabrio was a 987-boxster and that thing is a bank vault because it was engineered as a cab. The mini clearly is a coupé that was chopped as an afterthought. When I put my Xbrace and the ECS plates in, I noticed all sorts of diagonal reinforcements everywhere, under the car, even in the engine bay. It's all good, I'm not saying it's a bad car at all, it just falls into that category of cabs derived from coupés and is nto as stiff as I remember my 03 Cooper base. I do enjoy the heck out of it regardless, the supercharger whine, the wind in your hair, the awesome shifter, the handling is exceptional for a FWD car (the brakes feel so-so in modulation, but it could be a function of the tires, Michelin AS3 - not the grippiest, it'll get pilot sports next time)...

So yeah, the brace definitely took the car a notch up, somewhere between cab and coupé but can't tell you where exactly on that scale ;-0. Definite improvement for a cab, no question - I would not claim it improves handling as I don't track this little beast, but you feel the difference via the seat of your pants on the first bump or transition.

I put in ECS strut tower plates yesterday too - driver side was perfect, the passenger side tower had the tiniest binding upon tightening, maybe 1mm of mushrooming starting to appear (SFO car!) so that was nixed in the bud. Happy I read about it on the board before it became an issue! Pass seat issues were resolved for $1300 of the selling dealer money (I feel bad for them now that the recall was issued but I'm not getting in between the selling Ford dealer and Mini to get it paid, not my problem). Water pump replaced. A pillar covers coming from ECS shortly (RMA and all), rear cab top seal redone. The silly thing looks "brand new" - it's shocking to me it's an 8y old car... If it turns out halfway decent in reliability, this will have been my best buy in terms of fun /$ in a long time ! I might even consider an R53/JCW as an extra commuter car (my S4 is coming off warranty soon), the new Minis just look wrong to me - like someone blew hard into their tailpipe and overinflated them !

 

Awesome and thanks. We need some updated pics and some under hood shots.