I am a recent new to me owner of a '14 R60 JCW. It was purchased out of a disaster, someone had hit me head on in my 16 challenger scat pack. The mini stood out because it is AWD, manual, moderately priced and great on gas. There was no equal, and I am not a fan of STI or EVO craze, for $10k more you get +100HP, bigger vehicle, and cheap interior. Not to mention scoobies sound like garbage. Evo interiors are the worst. Some of my past vehicles include:

Toyota Celica
Mitsubishi Station Esi-R (4 or 5 times)
Mitsubishi Galant VR4
Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4
Scion FR-S
Challenger Scat Pack
Beretta GTZ
and some others.

I currently own an 87 chevy 3+3, one ton. A long lasting project, moderately priced sheet metal is hard to come by for that guy.

I have done a few modifications already:
-NM Carbon Fiber intake
-M7 Pre-charge tube
-M7 Oil Catch Can
-M7 F/R Tow hooks (already rusting after 2 months)
-NM post charge tube
-black marker lights and light trim

when I first bought it I had to immediately:
-Changed the brakes & wear sensors
-Tires
-Remove roof rack bars (so annoying at hwy speeds)

The car was neglected. I have a lot of plans for the car, with more upgrades in the mail. I am chasing an engine misfire at the moment (probably a COP or SP), once that is done I will put in a water/meth, down-pipe, and stage 3 tune. I would like to hit 300hp at the wheels, a decent goal. I see no reason to sell or trade in the mini, so it will stay.

I was an aircraft mechanic in the USAF for 11 years on the F-22 Raptor. I was forced to retire after an injury, and now I am heading for a doctorate of management degree once my graduate program is completed.

Do these cars generally consume a lot of rear brakes? seems there is a large disproportion of usage.

 

Welcome. If you use the rear brakes alot with the emergency brake on due to being a manual and parked.

Congrats and post up some pics.

 

Little dirty, been raining for about a month up here. Ordered some CF handle covers. I tried the beltline kit to cover the chrome trim, but it did not take the bends well. May have the trim plasti-dipped or something simple.

I'm sorry I meant to explain, when approaching slow speed stops...the rear brakes are felt pulling and heard over the front brakes. I may put in a manual proportioning valve once I do a brake upgrade over the winter to get a decent 60/40 bias.

 

Welcome to NAM.

There is a MINI dealer close by?

 

Yeah in Anchorage, about an hour away. I at first was convinced it had that carbon buildup issue, but they informed me it is not an N18 issue. Once I upgrade COP and a colder plug, if it misfires still I will have them put on their scanner.

**not sure about that though, given we only have 90 octane here. Which is why I need water/meth stat on this turbo application

The upgraded COP's i found so far are $700. debating if it is worth it, or just slam some new OE ones in there with cold plugs

 

Welcome and Congrats

 

Hi and welcome to NAM! Congrats on your Mini.
It sounds like some issues need to be solved. I recomend you buy a bluetooth OBD2 scanner, as it will tell you most info you need to know about how your Mini is performing and what codes it may be throwing.
Some good Bluetooth devices at around $100:
Blue Driver
Carista
I think everyone should have one of these!

 

I read up on them when they started to hit the market, I had one my galaxy note 7...and that's all that needs to be said about that lol.

I may get another code scanner for my next phone, I do not do phone swaps all that well for some reason. The reminder definitely helps!