MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring - Just purchased our first Mini

LilBadM · #1 11-06-2009, 09:16 AM

We just finalized the purchase of our first Mini! It was very difficult to find the right car with everything you want with No sunroof in excell cond. I have followed the 'new' Mini before they came ot market in the late 90's. We have always planned on getting one, but things never came together, another car always came along. My wife & I have been long time BMW enthusiasts, we just sold our 06' Dinan M5 and are replacing it with a Mini S. A big change, huh?! Atleast there are still two other M's in the garage for the Mini to hang with. I have raced the M5 in the Cannonball One Lap of America for the past 3 yrs & it is almost out of warranty, and to own the M5 without warranty is not an option. We won the class in the One Lap last year, so we achieved the very best possible with the M5. It is probably the most incredible street car available today, we might miss it quite a lot, although plans are set to get a newer one in the near future...

One of the Mini locals in Central Florida, Ian with Maitland Imports in Orlando, Fl, has one of the most incredible Cooper S race cars out there. Ian's Mini race car was running similar lap times to the M5 around a road course. Now, THAT is impressive!! So, we will be building this Mini S to most likely compete in the Cannonball One Lap of America Rally in 2010 & run along side with the Maitland Imports race car.

Here are the details on the car:
2006 S w/ Dinan Signature pkg
Pepper White/Black NO sunroof
27k miles
Sport pkg
LSD
HK
Multifunction wheel
Anthracite headliner
Seven Trim

I will have pictures soon!

Jonathan

jckonrad · #2 11-06-2009, 09:24 AM

Congratulations! I'm envious, I need another MINI for track use.

**BlimeyCabrio** · #3 11-06-2009, 09:28 AM

Congrats and welcome!

Very familiar with Ian's car.... you have a few things to do to get your Dinan MCS in that same league. But that's the fun part!

Flynscot1772 · #4 11-06-2009, 02:05 PM

Good choice, Now the fun begins.

blonda · #5 11-06-2009, 08:23 PM

Cool another Dinan Mini

Is your's a Stage I or Stage II Sig Package? We have Stage I plus the the Stage 4 software and throttle body. We bought it that way this last spring with about 27K miles also. I think the previous owner had to stop there because the Stage 5 software wasn't available yet. We got a quote for $1800 just to go to Stage 5 with the pulley/fuel management system--to take advantage of the full HP gains, but it's little too much for us to spend right now...but someday

and the suspension would be nice too! It's pretty damn fun as it is though. The dealer reflashed our software a few mos. back and driving it for a few days before we had the software put back in we could really tell the difference in responsiveness. Gas mileage was at least 3-4 MPG better w/o it though

I HAD to have a sunroof for the Mini. I traded at 350Z Roadster for the Mini so had to compromise somewhere...

C H I C K L E T · #6 11-07-2009, 05:49 AM

Welcome to NAM!

Congrats on your new MINI!

psb · #7 11-07-2009, 09:38 AM

your car sounds awesome, mine is a very close match! No sun roof and even the color and the Dinan package though mine is only stage one.

Have fun with it!

Syco R53 · #8 11-08-2009, 06:38 PM

Congrats Jonathan!

The Dinan MINI S is a very fun and capable car. I've previously owned an e36 1997 BMW M3 Sedan, and then an e39 2001 BMW M5.

No sunroof and LSD is great too, exactly what I wanted with my Stage 2, which I found after much searching last summer.

Looking forward to seeing some pictures of your new Dinan Mini S!

Syco R53 · #9 11-08-2009, 06:55 PM

This is a picture of my beloved 2001 M5. It was dyno'ing 395.5 to the rear wheel when I sold it. Like your M5, they can eventually be expensive to maintain outside factory warranty.

LilBadM · #10 11-09-2009, 09:38 AM

Thank you everybody for the warm welcome! We look forward to picking up our Mini in South Carolina this Friday! We do plan on taking some back country mountain roads on the way back. It worked out perfectly, because we had planned on visiting a friend that recently moved to Colombia, SC this weekend & the Mini is close by, so everything worked out.

Ian at Maitland imports is a good friend & we plan on building the S in the very near future. Jan will be doing to the tuning program & consulting on the car. OS Giken diff/clutch flywheel to put the power down on the track, it should be fun & fast when we're done! 220 whp & spin it to 8k rpm is the tenative goal.

Syco, your M5 looks menacing. Are those BBS LM's? The car looks great. Here is a picture of our Dinan sponsored M5 on the Cannonball One Lap of America. 2009 Luxury Class winner & 7th place overall. Check out the One Lap here, it is the most fun I have ever had with my pants on

http://onelapofamerica.com/home.shtml She is sadly going to be leaving this week...

Testing at Sebring...

Oah, btw. We had no idea if the Dinan Mini was just a Stage 1 or possibly a 2. I just contacted my East Coast contact at Dinan (Scott Leandres, he's a GREAT guy to work with) and we determined that the Mini has Dinan Stage 5 software & the only thing missing is the performance cam! Now, if it has the Dinan Stage 3 suspension that will be a huge bonus, won't know untill we get up there to see it in person on friday! The dealer that was selling the car had no idea what they had, other than the window sticker (which was laminated by the previous owner!!).