I like the idea of the black surrounding the grill front. Any pics of the back? Did you color the chrome surrounding the tail-lights grey too? I was curious if it makes the lights look smaller.

 

Love the shifter, where can you get them?
I also like the colored bumper, I'm thinking of doing the same when I get mine at the end of August.

 

As some people will have seen on Facebook, my girlfriend & I are expecting a baby.

The MINI's days may be numbered I fear, but I can't afford to sell the car & loose thousands as I probably would if it went back to the dealers!

Very unsure what to do car wise, but more importantly I'm over the moon with the news about a baby!

 

Congrats! We're expecting too, hence my interest in an F55. Note that it's actually pretty easy to fit a kid's seat through the hatch, provided you guys have at least one (more) practical car. We have an X1, but it still just seems easier to do the F55 for us.

 

Have you checked the clearance on the rear wheels at all? I'm curious whether rear fitment is similar to the R56.

 

Congrats on the kiddo! You've got time (I assume) but honestly the F56 has the room for a car seat assuming your GF isn't 6'2

Honestly the first 6-9 months they don't weigh a ton and it'll be easy slinging the rear facing seat into the back and snapping it in. Plenty of room in the back for a convertible stroller/bag. DON"T buy one of those huge ones...you don't need it and they're a PITA.

 

Oh man I didn't notice that post. Congrats!!!

That's a tough call on the MINI. You'd definitely eat quite a bit, but not having a car payment each month goes a long long way. You can easily find an older car that is still fairly reliable that's lots of fun for less than $10k (easily).

 

Yeh, I put pics in the fitment thread!

 

The only thing thats currently appealing if I need to change is the Countryman - only 1.9% APR on them at the moment.

I like them when done right too

 

I think the links are broken :(

 

I'm pretty sure you could fit one of these in your current car...

 

So, I figured that with all the baby talk, and my initial concerns about keeping the car,that I should treat it to another mod.

So with that in mind, I just ordered the JCW Carbon Fibre bonnet scoop for it - pricey at £225, but I had one on my last S and I loved it.

Cant wait to see it against the thunder grey, I think it will look great!

 

Carbon bonnet scoop has arrived

 

I like that look! Very cool!

 

Thanks - very happy with it!

 

Out of curiosity, what does it look like behind/without that mouth guard piece?

 

Some more pictures, so you can see it on the car properly

I think this has done just the job in terms of breaking up the front end of the car with all the previous CC'ing that I have done.

 

Awful!

The scoop has mounting tabs built into it for the honeycomb grid section to clip into, so without the grid, you have the exposed tabs remaining.

Even if you dremel'd the tabs away, you wouldn't see straight though to the engine bay - the hood scoop just clips into a recess within the bonnet so you would just see solid metal!

 

Quick update.

I've booked the car in for a new car detail. Its being done by DBB Detailing, who are local to me. I've been doing some research and he seems to get the best rep round here in the North East.

I went over today to have a chat about what he could do for me and in his unit was a brand new M4 along with an Audi R8, Porsche 911 and Octavia VRS.

Its being done with the full range of Gtechniq products (exterior & interior) and I have also opted to have the front end of the car boosted with an additional application of the EXOv2 coating.

Cant wait to see the results!

 

Got the car back yesterday then it rained!!

The Gtechniq finish is amazing, after a 2 hour drive in torrential rain it still looked fantastic! The beading is awesome & the way it repels water is equally impressive.

Some pics:

 

Looks good R99. Any plans on color coding the brake ducts in the future?

 

KW Variant 1 Coilovers are been ordered on Friday (when I get back from my time at the MINI factory)

I have FINALLY got KW UK to understand that they are available to order! (they have actually been available since late last week, but it seems KW Germany forgot to tell KW UK.... which is a long and frustrating story!)

The lead time is 4-6 weeks as they are not currently stock piled yet, so it will be another month or so until I get them on the car! :(

 

No I don't think so - I will be going with the JCW bumpers at some point, so I don't see the point in spending anymore on the front end until then!

 

How do you think clearance will be with the 18x8 and et45 wheels with the 205s on the coilovers? I want a setup like that (possibly et40 or 45s with 5mm spacers. But I would like to run some 215s at least. I will be lowering on h&r springs and going coil overs when they are available in the states. I don't mind trimming the inside of the rear fenders either. It looks like the fronts have more clearance than the rears

 

I posted some pics in the fitment thread showing the clearances.

The rear is better than the front!

It will need 12mm maybe more spacers all round I'd imagine when the coilovers arrive!