Hi all. I'm a big guy who has been fascinated by little cars forever. I've owned a couple 1st gen Celicas, a Datsun 510, a half dozen air cooled VW's and an early Honda hatch. I'd been kicking around the idea of a fun car for the nice weather months for a while...not to mention something that was better on gas than my other cars (00 Silverado my DD, '05 X3 wife's DD).

Picked up this super clean '06 R53 a few days ago. I'm having an absolute blast with this thing. I love to tinker with my rides, and I can see this one will be no different.

 

Very nice, clean-looking MINI. Remember to wave at other MINI owners!

 

Congrats on your R53 and welcome to NAM! You made a great choice with the '06, the sweet spot of the first gen cars.

The R53s lend themselves to modding quite easily. Starting with a cold air intake & smaller supercharger pulley will provide more *ooomph* for a very reasonable price. The soundtrack of the SC whine + burble & pop from the exhaust will make you forget you even have a stereo

Be sure to check the First Gen forums for all sorts of valuable info on these gems. Drive 'er in good health, and Happy Motoring!

 

Having owned all those cars you listed and a few more like the VW Rabbit and Golfs, I appreciate the absolutely pegged fun-o-meter the Mini is on the road.

 

Welcome and congrats on the MINI.

Nice to see the OEM MINI R99 Double spokes on your R53.

 

The sport package and the R99s are one of the things that drew me to this this one. Loving the car so far.

 

Nice,

Looks very clean. The R99s do look nice on the R53, they even came in polished version.

Enjoy.

 

Welcome to the world of MINI and especially to the NAMily WingZombie!

That is an exceptional looking R53... very, very nice! Oh and thanks for sharing the love of your MINI by posting pics for all your brothers and sisters here on NAM, cause we all love pics... yes we do!

Glad to see such enthusiasm for your MINI and there is no better way to show that enthusiasm when your motoring than by keeping 'The Wave' alive... so when you're out and about don't forget to wave when you pass by us!

Keeping that in mind I'd like to invite you to share that MINI karma by joining The League of Extraordinary MINIacs!

You can join at the following:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/general-mini-talk/256292-want-to-join-the-league-of-extraordinary-miniacs-2.html

OR

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LXMINIacs/

C'mon take the oath, you know you want to!

May you and your MINI share many miles and smiles together!

Motor On!