Installed NM rear sway bar. Not too difficult. The toughest part was removing the lower bolt on the right rear shock. Took several applications of penetrating oil and some time to let it work. Also, not sure how one gets a torque wrench on the end link nut. On my car, the brake dust shield is in the way -- not nearly enough clearance for a socket. Used a wrench and am sure that I got it plenty tight.

Nowhere to go so I've only done a test drive so far. Certainly corners flatter and less understeer. Will get a better feel for it tomorrow.

 

Wide fenders with matching front and rear lower lip/spoiler are finally installed. Waited about 6 months to get this all done. I'm pretty happy with how it all came out. Coating in Line-X for those wondering.

Next week I'll be working on my new tune from Prototype-R, and the summer will mainly be focused on some basic aesthetics to clean up the overall look of the car. Including making sure the wheels fill the wider fenders much better.

 

Ditched the runflats and switched to Michelin Primacy 4. Also had the wheel edges diamond cut and replaced the center badge with a JCW logo.

 

Just had some racing stipes put on!

 

Brought these into the garage. Waiting for assorted hardware to arrive before doing the installation.

 

Over the weekend, I Installed KW V2 coilovers and SPC adjustable lower control arms. Lowered about 1.5", nothing too drastic. Set the damping at 9 clicks from hardest per KW's recommendation.

Together with the NM rear sway bar I installed a few weeks ago, these totally transform the car. It feels incredibly planted and responsive and it looks great with the lower stance. I had high hopes and the result has exceeded them.

I'm still tinkering with the height, trying to get everything even. The left rear is stubbornly staying too high, which is confusing since I've adjusted it lower than the others trying to get it right. Am taking it for an alignment on Friday.

 

Been awhile, so I've done a lot! NM torque arm bushing, redesigned dv with Alta spring, cravenspeed phone Mount, mishimoto weighted delrin teardrop shift ****, led fog, drl, and license plate lights, and finally, black replacements for the clearance lights and side turn indicators. Next I have a set of scorpion silencers on the way, and I'll delete the resonator while installing that.



Ignore the bugs, just drove from Billings to Portland lol

 

Finally a couple of photos after the KW install. I love the new stance and the handling is amazing. It's like having a completely new car.




I installed SPC lower control arms with the coilover. I also installed all new hardware except for the rear strut support and rear end links. I bought new end links for the rear but it appears that installing them would require removing the brake rotors so I'll wait until it's time to replace the rotors.

 

hey. Where'd you get those if you dont mind my asking?

 

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-spyder-p...-yd-mco11-drl/

 

Went to the dealer for an oil change and tire rotate at 50,000 miles on the Odometer.

Oil change price was reasonable (just under $100), as was the tire rotate ($30). However, the service writer said, well you also need new spark plugs ($350!), brake flush ($300) and you should look into getting your serpentine belt changed ($300). I can't even see the serpentine belt from the topside of the engine its so packed in there.

Ummm, just the oil and tires.... Seriously $350 for spark plugs, I read on the forum that they are very pricey but c'mon, from what I have looked up they aren't that hard to change?. I had taken it over to my friends shop (who mostly does domestic cars) for an oil change after I bought it used, and after doing it he gave me the keys and said take it to the dealer next time, what a PITA for no reason other than German Engineering.

 

None of those items are difficult.

You can do an oil change in under an hour for $40. The filter is harder to get at than in many cars but not bad.

$350 for spark plugs is robbery. Even relatively expensive plugs are only about $60 for the set. Putting them in is about the easiest thing you can do on a MINI.

Brake flush isn't difficult. The fluid is about $20 (I use ATE Typ 200). I do mine in under an hour without rushing.

Serpentine belt is a PITA but doable. Hardest part is removing/replacing the wheel well liner. I did not enjoy that part of the job. Helps to have a special tool for relieving tension on the belt but some do it without. The tool and belt combined are about $60 and you can use the tool for as long as you own the car.

Excluding the tire rotation, the dealer wants $1050 to do maintenance you could do yourself on a Saturday afternoon for under $200. Personally, I enjoy doing it so that's an added bonus.

All of the above is to say, if you don't want to do the maintenance yourself, find a good independent European car specialist in your area and forget about the dealer's service department.

 

Put the scorpion axle back exhaust on, and drove it to an exhaust shop to have them cut out the resonator. Scorpion wanted about $850 for a non res midpipe with the silencer set. I paid $410 including shipping for just the silencers with no tips (seeing as the jcw tips look sick already) and $80 to have the shop cut out the resonator. It sounds so good now. There's significantly more drone in the cabin, but it's nowhere near intolerable. It's probably 5db louder outside at the rear of the car on acceleration, but definitely still a mature sound. No ricer rasp at all. The burbles are fantastic now though! I'll post a sound clip when I get some time. By far my favorite mod up until this point.

 

• Oil change with Liquid moly Special tech 5w-30 and the liquid moly cera-tec add-in. Car seems a bit ticky.. but could be nothing because I haven't driven it in a while and I am re-adjusting my ears to the car...

Was surprised that min wanted $22 for the filter, o-ring and crush washer.

• Changed all 4 swaybar endlinks and upgraded the rear swaybar bushings to powerflex purples. - definitely made most of my noises go away.

Still debating on cutting out the 2nd cat and resonator - both local exhaust shops here refuse to do it. (I even asked for just the resonator removed!)

 

I did my oil change yesterday and here's the rundown of the parts:
$22 - OEM mini oil filter, washer and gasket.
$6 - 27mm socket (couldn't find mine)
$42 - 5q Liquid moly special Tec LL 5w-30 (sometimes on sale for $30 at advanced auto)
$10 - Liquid Moly anti-friction additive.
Total oil change cost: $80 including fancy oil and additive/lost socket.
Could definitely do it much cheaper, but I prefer to get the oem filter (I forgot who makes them, but if you plan ahead you can same some dough there)

 

Did you ever figure out what that blank plug was. Same thing here with my daughters car. Has that same plug that’s not plugged in.

 

That's the coolant temp sensor that is no longer used once you put in the new thermostat housing on 2010 - 2012's
There is a new redesigned coolant pipe that gets rid of that metal elbow altogether, or just slap some black silicone around the o-ring on that sensor there and zip tie it back in place. That o-ring leaks a lot, and the zip tie just helps remind you/anyone not to remove it.

Edit: I believe this is the new, redesigned pipe: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/min...er-17129802110

 

You can do it without removing the rotors, you have to get the metal dust shield off with a 10mm wrench/small socket and push the rotor to the side.
It would be easier to do it with the rotors off mind you.. but I didn't have an E-torx socket yesterday when I did mine. maybe added on 10 min of work?

 

Its all done via ncs-expert, and no, not without the new 2013 modules and wiring for the mirrors which isn't worth it IMO (sorry, just saw this)

 

Thanks for the reply. One question: what do you mean by "push the rotor to the side"?

 

Its kinda hard to describe.. the rotor is trapped in due to the brake caliper housing. You can undo the Allen key and lift out the rotor as much as it will go. This does give you enough room to hit those 10mm bolts with a small 1/4" socket and the ones closest to the caliper bracket with a wrench.

You have to take that shield off to get to the endlink, but if you don't have an e-torx to remove the caliper bracket don't worry about it. Still doable.

 

So, just an update. Since my tools, parts and random (but necessary) nuts and bolts we’re stolen out of my car that was in a garage. I’ve enlisted the help of my local German Engine Shop (Bimmer Motors - https://www.bimmer-motors.com/ ). I’ve been using this shop and always send local German Cars that need help to them for almost anything.

almost there

 

Wrapped my scuttles and gas door with carbon fiber printed vinyl. The anthracite just looked so out of place on the chili red. Tried to do the mirror caps too, but they're too spherical. Gonna have to shell out the $180 for actual carbon fiber caps, or just pay a shop to wrap them for me. Either way, it turned out REAL nice!

 

What wheels are those? Did you use a heat gun for the scuttle wrapping?

 

The wheels are 18" touren tr60's in gunmetal grey, but I'm probably gonna paint them black. And I used my ladies hair dryer for lack of a better heat source lol