Hello everyone!

I'm just another newb that shows up with a new car and wants to write the internet about it but hopefully you can grin and bear it because I'm here on a mission to make some friends and have even more fun with a car that's already fun.

Here's the long story condensed. Work full time as an engineer, decided to go back to school, 08 Avalanche as a daily driver, commuting and parking at PSU stinks, wanted a small commuter/project car for fun, did a ton or research, decided I wanted a cooper s, about a month ago bought what I think so far is a well maintained bone stock 05 cooper s and have been super happy ever since!

I'm looking forward to making some friends in the Mini community and to get some guidance on how to go about building my mini. I think I've watched every one of Mod-Mini's videos on YouTube. What an awesome dude and if you're out there Mod-Mini YOURE AWESOME man and beers are on me!

Anyway, I'm very mechanical and find that music, wrenching, beer and wrenching is very therapeutic to me (must be performed in that order).

The car goes in next week for some window tint but other than that and the power steering recall mini of Portland did I haven't done a thing to the car. I have eyeballed some cold air intakes, supercharger pulley kits and exhaust systems out there but WOW are there a lot of options and opinions out there.

Right now I'm buying a bunch of tools like the belt tensioner tool, top side oil change thing, some gauges to check my AC and a couple more jack stands and maybe a new air gun. Because who doesn't love new tools? But I'd like to dig in and bolt up a couple new go fast parts and do some maintenance. I'm sure the SC needs a service and my AC is not working (hence the gauges).

Cheers everyone! Its great to be here and will abruptly put this novel to bed

Eric




Woohoo! It fits in my driveway!!!

 

Congrats on the R53 Eric! Based on your enthusiasm, I'm sure you'll end up loving the Cooper! They are definitely a blast to drive, and even more fun once the modding begins. Good luck!

 

Thanks sabjcw,
I'm really looking forward to digging into it. So far rallying it around town has been a blast compared to a 6000 pound chevy avalanche. LOL

 

Congrats and welcome. .

 

Welcome fellow PDXer! Spent part of the day changing out the wheels and tires on my car, my old bones are aching from the efforts, not as easy as it used to be. I think I'll leave future wrenching to the younger folks.

 

Hey Minnie

Tires are on my list of things I do not like. I ride dirt bikes too and spoon new ***** on at least once a month. I used to road race sport bikes and bought a No-Mar tire changer because I was change slicks so often too. I guess it would do car tires too but may I never know

 

Welcome to NAM, Eric and congratulations! What a clean R53. Be sure to also check out our tech articles while you work on your MINI. We have some great info and step by step guides to help you work on your new-to-you MINI. If you need any help with some good upgrades or parts please do not hesitate to let me know.

 

Thanks Pelican Man


I think I've watched and read enough step by step guides now that I could pull the engine for the first time with my eyes closed lol. There's some basic stuff I don't know much about yet like the AC. I've never worked on an AC before so diagnosing the exact problem is a learning experience for me.


Its funny how I could feel more confident rebuilding the head than fixing the AC


Thanks for the support and I'll definitely keep you in mind

 

Welcome! I think Mod-Mini is based around Portland or Seattle so you might run into him at an event sometime.

 

Hi RB-Mini,


He is based in my area. I watched him merge onto the 405 in his video about his personal Mini as well as several of his track days at the Ridge.


I need to look up some events in my area and get my mingle on

 

I just got my start modding as well. 15% SC pulley, belt and tensioner strap. Put in MDS coil and wires, colder plugs and cold air intake. Happy with the results so far.

Next three are rear sway bar, intercooler diverter and get rid of run flats.

 

Hey Griz!
The MDS coils were on my list of things to research some more. I've come across them Google'n performance parts but I'm not sure how they are performance. They just put out more spark? I get colder plugs and that makes sense but the coils...


I like to rate performance parts by seat of the pants and dyno charts. I had a supermoto I was building a few years ago and upgraded to a fancy lithium battery. It didn't do ANYTHING for performance of the engine but it did take 12 pounds off the bike and it was enough I could feel it.


I'm all for coils mostly because I like shiny new red parts lol


How do you like the 15% pulley? Would you go 17% now that you did 15? Why did you decide to go 15? I'm curious because I'm thinking of going to 17%. I've read about the diminishing gains by going higher. At one point I was thinking 19% but I think that may be more trouble than good. The thought was maybe go 19, larger intercooler and 550cc injectors. Then it occurred to me 17% is easy for now and I can do the 2% crank pulley later if I want to some day...


I don't know, could I feel a difference between 15 and 17? maybe... maybe not... I have ZERO experience with it that's why I'm here


Eric

 

Welcome fellow Portlander!

Researching the pulley/intercooler interaction is a great way to recreate that thermodynamics homework experience! Tons of opinions out there.

 

Mmmmmm, Thermodynamics It's good to see some other people from Portland in here. Where abouts are you at? Able to do lunch? I'm in the Clackamas area and take a lunch most days Cartlandia, Ottos, sweet new Chick-fil-A! Open invite to anyone in the area

 

Congrats and watch that peak on the driveway, its a little high

 

Thanks! As long as I don't rally 2nd gear into the driveway she's got tons of room. Like literally quarters of inches to spare

 

Hillsboro myself, also engineering. We're lucky in Portland - Craven, Madness, and Alta are all right here when you need parts, and Pelican and RMW are CA neighbors. Haven't been to Cartlandia in ages, maybe sometime. We've also got PDX Mini and Oregon Mini to look into.

 

I knew Alta was in the area but didn't know about Craven and Madness, thanks for that info!

 

WELCOME TO NAM
We would like to welcome you to the Mini family! What are your plans for you new r53? Make sure to check out our web site Minipartsmass.com for all your discounted OEM parts needs. We’re here to help you. Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have on what you can do to make your mini more you!

https://www.minipartsmass.com/partlo...?siteid=215989

 

Yep, we are here too.




I hope you stop by sometime!

 

Hi and welcome ma$ter_E,
I am pretty new to Minis and love them so much, I have added three more! LOL
I am in the Southern area of Oregon, but get up that way from time to time.
Itsme Wayne

May Baby:

 

Hi Wayne!


Thank you for the warm welcome. Anytime anyone wants to meet up for lunch or beers after work shoot me a PM. Its more or less an instant way to get ahold of me with todays technology in my pocket.


Very nice looking mini and after owning mine for a while I could easily see how one could get addicted.


I got mine back the other day with freshly installed window tint. I splurged on the high end UV blocking stuff all around and the sun roofs. So far I really dig it but I've got to let it dry before I use my windows.







Fresh new window tint!

 

Welcome again! Tint looks good!

You mentioned in the OP you thought you might need to service the supercharger. Bear in mind that procedure is somewhat controversial. The oil in there is "lifetime" (if such a thing exists), and the gaskets down there are a pain to deal with from what I've heard. You may be better off skipping that and investing in a rebuilt or new unit down the road when you begin having problems. Some superchargers need to be replaced around 100k, but many others take much more time. I think our own xsmini is still on the OEM S/C at 360k+ miles.

As to your questions about which pulley to buy, you really can't go wrong with either. I know you are interested in the differences between them, but I would encourage you to spend less time worrying about it and just buy one! Both 15% and 17% reduction pulleys will be great additions (plus the corresponding belt and JCW plugs).

Exhausts are obviously a much more opinionated topic, but I wouldn't worry about one for now. Good options will be near if not above the $1k mark, and you shouldn't be expecting significant performance gains with even a good unit.

There are a number of decent CAI's out there, but the DDMWorks unit seems to be widely regarded as the "best". Great construction, fit, and of course, operation. Others may allow more intake noise into the cabin, but you won't go wrong with this unit. You can also get it in powdercoated black or aluminum.

Check out rear sway bars when you get the chance, another mod many people consider a must-have. A couple hundred bucks later (or less) and you'll have a nice, stiff MINI in the corners, otherwise known as "home turf" for our little cars.

Good luck!

 

Congrats and you need to re-grade your driveway before lowering
BTW...excellent color choice and looks like it's been well kept

 

Welcome! I'm in the Newberg area.