Hey there everyone! New member here, registered back in July but noticed I've yet to make a welcome post introducing myself.
I come from a car enthusiast background dating back since I was a child wrenching on my fathers 1991 BMW 850i. My passion began with the BMW brand and since been a die hard lover of it. My first car was an e36 1997 328is with a 5-speed in Montreal blue metallic with beige interior. Second car was a world rally blue 2002 Subaru wrx. Couldn't grab my heart around the wrx so got rid of it. Third car ended up being an e90 2006 330i with a 6-speed in alpine white with beige interior. Loved that car a ton but after 6 years of ownership I ended up having a rocky patch life wise and couldn't keep up with maintenance while simultaneously dealing with other stuff. Ended up scrapping it to a junkyard and then my path for a next car began. I looked and looked around for a few months trying to gauge I could see myself in. It came down to two cars towards the end of things. 1st choice was an e60 535i with an auto or 2nd choice being a 2009 R56 Mini Cooper S with a 6-speed. Drove the e60 first and instantly couldn't bear to be driving with the auto and was too big for my liking. As soon as I got to test driving the mini I immediately fell in love. Had all the characteristics I enjoyed of how bmw's drove with even more exhilarating driving pleasure. It felt like an absolute go-kart of a car. I ended up with the r56 and never looked back.
I purchased it from a mini mechanic shop in the Coachella valley area having a lemon title. Car came with all the paperwork on what was replaced. It was in great condition mechanically and for the year of ownership has been great to me. On a side note I also had a slammed and stretched 2006 Honda Ruckus for 2 years during my e90 ownership.

Listed here are the mods I've installed myself so far:

- EBC Yellow stuff front brake pads
- 2.5 inch catless downpipe
- Wagner clone intercooler
- upgraded silicone hot & cold side piping
- forge clone bov adapter plate for stock dv
- alta dv spring upgrade
- iPad mounted over tachometer running Dash Command
Just received godspeed mono-ss coilovers and about to install them during Christmas time coming up.
Next mods I'm looking to do next will be an aem intake, then remove the stock exhaust and install a 2.5 inch cherry bomb glass pack with dual tips and do a secondary cat delete as well as a resonator delete, next i'll contact Mario kart for an rpm power stage 2 tune. After all that I'd like to get the sneed4speed roll bar with harnesses and whatever choice of bucket seats I decide to get at that time. Looking to set up the mini for touge driving and occasional track days.

 

Welcome, nice collection.

 

I got around to installing the godspeed mono-ss coilovers myself on Christmas Day. The ride has been great. I have the dampening set to fully stiff all around and the only complaint I have for them is I noticed the rod where the dampening ***** on the rear attach to create a rubbing noise on slight bumps occasionally from shock travel because they're threaded all the way down through the strut mounts. Aside from that everything has been phenomenal for what I paid for. I have the height set at the lowest setting which is what just so happened to come like out of the box. After a few weeks I also haven't noticed any further lowering since they have settled so for anyone looking to purchase these same set of coilovers, you don't need to watch out for further drop from settling. They'll stay the same height once broken in.

 

Next mod ill get done will be the rpm stage 2 tune. I already got in contact with Mario kart for a price quote so that'll be my next venture on mods. Definitely looking forward for that next.

 

Welcome neighbor to the south! I live in Temecula. Nice looking ride!

 

Greetings to you as well. I commute through there quite often at least once a month when visiting family up in the Coachella valley area! We shall cruise one of these days. I rarely spot modded minis in our area. Need to see some more!

 

Hey neighbor! I am also in the Temecula Valley, but I grew up down in SD. Car looks great!

 

Just recently got a custom 2.5 inch catback made all the way to a cherry bomb glass pack and dual tips out in the rear. I also got an rpm power stage 2 tune done by Mario Kart with the some coding as well. Running it right now with 4 gallons of e85 each fill up. I'll take a video for a sound clip so you guys can see.

 

Hey I'm in SD too! Just got my first Mini to work on with my son.

Here's a picture of the Mini beside my other project (excuse the messy garage):

 

Your son is going to absolutely love the mini! What are the specs on your e31? My father had two 850i's in the past. I'd love to snag a manual 850csi for myself sometime in the future.

 

Heres a sound clip of the exhaust setup. I'll work on getting another one made while driving with load. The pops bangs and flames really come alive!

 

The E31 is 1997 850CI with about 109k on it. It was my daily driver for a few years until the kids got too big to fit in the back seat, then my wife used it as a daily driver. Its a great car, she tells me that cyclists have banged on the window at stoplights yelling how much they love the car. I wish it had a manual, but those are really rare and you'll pay a huge premium. It's much more practical to find a fixer and do a manual conversion. I've thought about it, but we're going to sell it soon.

I'm looking for a really good Mini mechanic in SD to do a thorough health check on the drivetrain before we start the upgrades. Let me know if you have a good recommendation.