Hi, my name is Ronnie. I have never owned an actual car before and I am looking to buy a mini here in the next month or so. I have always owned trucks and am very into the offroad scene. I am looking to buy a Mini Cooper because of the simple fact that I love the style of them and they look like a blast to drive. Plus I am the type of person that loves to own and customize something that is not very common in my area. I am a member on quite a few forums and have found them quite helpful. I hope to get get the same out of this forum. Well I would appreciate any advice that can be given to me and look forward to swapping ideas and info with everyone.

Ronnie

 

They are the most fun legally allowed by the law. Having this much fun driving a car should be illegal. What year are you looking to buy? Turbo or Supercharged or Justa? Well good luck in your search and keep us posted.

 

Im most likely looking at something around an 05 or 06. Im very "ignorant" when it comes to this particular type of car but not vehicles in general. Any advice would be much appreciated. A little background, I work on all of my own vehicles and am decent when it comes to mods and fabrication. This car will basically be a commuter for work but I cant stand to own a vehicle that is stock. Im really stoked to buy one of these, Ive always wanted one.

 

Well now that we know the year you want. Do you want 1 that is supercharged which would be the Mini Cooper S a.k.a R53 or a regular Mini Cooper a.k.a. R50? Do you want a manual or automatic?

 

From what ive seen I definitely want the S and a manual transmission. Something about owning an automatic just doesn't sit well with me. Lol

 

Start here maybe this will help you out. 05 and 06 are good years as most of the issues were worked out. Find 1 with all the options you want and if you can with an LSD on it. http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

 

Awesome. Thank you for the advice.

 

No problem keep us posted on your find and good luck.

 

Hey Budman. Owning a MINI is a blast. You will definitely increase your commute fun factor going from a truck to a MINI. I have my favorite back roads, on and off ramps, etc that make my commute a blast!

I've had an '08 Hardtop and currently have an '11 Hardtop. Both sticks. The S is a blast but, honestly, you don't need an S to have fun on the road. Full disclosure...my next MINI will be an S but I have had tons o' fun with the base engine.

John
DrivingMyMINI
www.DrivingMyMINI.blogspot.com
@DrivingMyMINI
www.facebook.com/drivingmymini

 

Interesting you want to 'customise' it (whatever 'it' turns out to be). Only 1:170000000 MINIs are identical and that is with factory options. My Clubman has wrong (factory) wheels for the year and coloured turn signal (read 'indicators' where I come from) lenses not clear because I have factory Xenons. So add a couple of zeroes. Custom? Custom!

 

I'd recommend an '06 model R53. Not only are the most amount of bugs worked out by then, they also had slightly different gearing in the manual tranny box, which allowed for slightly faster acceleration. And the option to get one with a factory limited slip differential is also very nice. They also had arguably cooler, more modern-looking headlamps, compared with the '02s through '04's...

As far as modding, there's lots of fun to be had with modding, even if you don't have the cojones to open up the engine. Bolt-on bang for the buck mods are quite common.
1.) make it inhale better with at least a drop-in panel filter upgrade, or better yet, a cold-air intake. Many out there from K&N, Alta, Defenders of Speed, and many more
This mod will make the supercharger sound more pronounced; you'll hear more of the jet-engine-like whining, and sucking sounds

2.) Make it exhale better, with a cat-back exhaust. Many choices here, too, from Magnaflow, Borla, Milltek, etc. You could also do a header, too.

3.) THE BEST MOD is a smaller diameter supercharger pulley. Most conservative one is a 15% smaller than stock pulley, (and get a new belt and colder spark plugs while you're at it). You can also do a 17% or even 19% smaller, but with each step smaller, your chance to overrev the supercharger becomes more of a possibility. If you're going to live on a race track and be touching redline a lot, stay away from the 19% pulley.
Large horsepower gains here...

4.) get the car professionally tuned by RWM, Way Motor Works, and others, to tie all these mods in steps 1 through 3 together.

Anything after this requires larger injectors, too

5.) crack open the engine, and your wallet too... here's where it gets expensive...
Cam/head/meth injection/larger intercooler, blah blah blah

I stopped at step 4, and I'm LOVING my car. Don't see the need to go any further, (other than suspension mods like a rear sway bar, lowering springs perhaps. Coilovers and camber plates would be even better than just springs). I'm upgrading the brakes to the factory JCW kit this coming spring, which will be nice.

so many other things that I didn't even mention yet... Too little time right now.

Good luck

 

Good luck with your search.

 

This was done in 05 and 06.
Just your opinion? I like the 02-04 because everybody wants the more modern one as you say.

 

[ I just bought a 2009 mini cooper clubman. had the car a few days and love it anything i should know about the minis. driving mantanice etc.

 

yes, you're right; the revised gearing was in '05 and '06 models.

And yes, it is admittedly my own opinion that the Xenons in these later years of the R53 were better looking, (not sure if they projected light any better though, incidentally). These newer ones are sometimes referred to the "bullet" style headlamps. I see that they're not everyone's cup of Earl Grey, so-to-speak, but I personally think they're more modern and streamlined looking than my '04's more dated-looking Xenons...

 

Thanks for all the info! This is going to be mainly a commuter for me seeing as I already have a "project". I'm currently buliding an 02' Ford Ranger into a prerunner. This car will be for reliability and for when I bust up my "toy". Therefore I will most likely stay away from too many big performance mods and stick with mostly visual improvements. lol. Although I wouldn't count out a cold air intake and a nice sounding exhaust.

I do have a question though. How much is the ride affected with the addition of lowering springs for the rear. I've never been a fan of the whole "stinkbug" look no matter how slight it might be.

 

BudMan, I too have always driven trucks, but with gas prices in Hawaii. I was sold after the salesman at Mini showed me how the car handled. Let me tell you, it wasn't your typical test drive. 3 years later and still lovin the way it handles. 2009 Mellow Yellow JCW.