Hey from Germany
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From: Frankfurt, Germany
Hey from Germany
Hey everyone. I've been following NAM for quite a while and thought it was about time to register. 
I've been a Mini fan since I was a little kid and I had always dreamed of owning my own.
So while I was and still am studying full-time and working on the side, I was saving up money for a long time and at the end of last year I decided it was time to buy my Mini.
Found this little guy only half an hour away from where I live, a 2007 R56 Mini One with only 56.000km (37.749 miles) for an amazing price. Test-drove it and then bought it the next day with an extended warranty.
Now of course I love the Cooper and Cooper S models, which you guys also have in the US. But since gas prices are pretty steep in Germany, not to mention insurance on the car, the Mini One just seemed the right option for me. Plus mine is the One with the 98HP engine, not the weak 75hp one.
This is him on the day I picked him up, December 21st 2012. (Yes my Mini is a he and I picked him up on the day people thought the world was going to end
)
Pretty basic R56 in Pure Silver and with winter tyres (required by law over here) on 15" Rotator Spokes.
While Pure Silver was not my initial choice of colour, I fell in love with it when I saw the car in person. Plus as a bonus, most Mini drivers choose a flashier colour, so mine is pretty rare on a R56 over here. At least in my area it is.
One of the first things I did was install the anniversary grill badge, just love the way it looks. Was a bit harder than expected since I had to drill holes into the grill, but it did not take that long and I just love the result.
Another thing I did on the same day was to replace the door panels. My Mini had the very basic door panels with the plain black (not the piano black) ellipses and a busted speaker cover in the driver door. Seems the previous owner had the door close on him once when he was getting out, hence smashing the speaker cover with his foot.
After finding out that replacing that cover at BMW costs an arm and a leg, I actually found two door panels on ebay, practically good as new, for only 40 Euros.
The only thing I did not notice is that these panels did not have the cutouts for the door-lights at the bottom. So with a bit of help from my dad we managed to cut these out and the install was pretty easy. And I am definitely happy with the results.
I also bought and installed a new gear-**** since the chrome on the one I bought it with was all scratched. Got the official beige leather one for a good price.
Next on the list of upgrades were Silver Laurel side-scuttles and replacing the matte-black boot handle for the chrome one. (I actually like chrome on my Mini and don't want to black out everything.)
The latest addition was a set of summer tires with my favourite rims, Crown Spokes. Love these so much that I am really thinking about getting a set of 17" rims for winter as well, just makes the car look so much better.
I still want to add some brown viper stripes on the bonnet, as its a colour I just love and not something that I have ever seen on a silver Mini.
And in the future a three-spoke steering wheel and a pair of tail-lights with the white indicators would not be bad.
I've been a Mini fan since I was a little kid and I had always dreamed of owning my own.
So while I was and still am studying full-time and working on the side, I was saving up money for a long time and at the end of last year I decided it was time to buy my Mini.
Found this little guy only half an hour away from where I live, a 2007 R56 Mini One with only 56.000km (37.749 miles) for an amazing price. Test-drove it and then bought it the next day with an extended warranty.
Now of course I love the Cooper and Cooper S models, which you guys also have in the US. But since gas prices are pretty steep in Germany, not to mention insurance on the car, the Mini One just seemed the right option for me. Plus mine is the One with the 98HP engine, not the weak 75hp one.
This is him on the day I picked him up, December 21st 2012. (Yes my Mini is a he and I picked him up on the day people thought the world was going to end
)Pretty basic R56 in Pure Silver and with winter tyres (required by law over here) on 15" Rotator Spokes.
While Pure Silver was not my initial choice of colour, I fell in love with it when I saw the car in person. Plus as a bonus, most Mini drivers choose a flashier colour, so mine is pretty rare on a R56 over here. At least in my area it is.
One of the first things I did was install the anniversary grill badge, just love the way it looks. Was a bit harder than expected since I had to drill holes into the grill, but it did not take that long and I just love the result.
Another thing I did on the same day was to replace the door panels. My Mini had the very basic door panels with the plain black (not the piano black) ellipses and a busted speaker cover in the driver door. Seems the previous owner had the door close on him once when he was getting out, hence smashing the speaker cover with his foot.
After finding out that replacing that cover at BMW costs an arm and a leg, I actually found two door panels on ebay, practically good as new, for only 40 Euros.
The only thing I did not notice is that these panels did not have the cutouts for the door-lights at the bottom. So with a bit of help from my dad we managed to cut these out and the install was pretty easy. And I am definitely happy with the results.
I also bought and installed a new gear-**** since the chrome on the one I bought it with was all scratched. Got the official beige leather one for a good price.
Next on the list of upgrades were Silver Laurel side-scuttles and replacing the matte-black boot handle for the chrome one. (I actually like chrome on my Mini and don't want to black out everything.
) The latest addition was a set of summer tires with my favourite rims, Crown Spokes. Love these so much that I am really thinking about getting a set of 17" rims for winter as well, just makes the car look so much better.
I still want to add some brown viper stripes on the bonnet, as its a colour I just love and not something that I have ever seen on a silver Mini.
And in the future a three-spoke steering wheel and a pair of tail-lights with the white indicators would not be bad.
Last edited by Buttons; May 1, 2013 at 12:25 PM.
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