Today I took delivery of my long awaited F56. I drove it away with all of 4 miles on the clock and after driving it around all day I can safely say its the best MINI I have owned (this is my 4th!)



The spec is:

Cooper S
Thunder Grey
White Roof / Mirrors
18" Cone Spokes in White
Leather Cross Punch Carbon Black / Carbon Black

MINI Yours Off White Interior Pack
- Interior trim (off white)
- MINI Excitment Pack

Media Pack XL
- MINI Navigation System XL
- Enhanced Bluetooth with USB audio
- MINI Connected XL

Chilli Pack
- Multifunction controls for s'wheel
- Floor mats
- Passenger seat height adjustment
- Storage compartment pack
- MINI Driving modes
- Rain sensor with auto headlight activation
- Air conditioning, dual zone automatic
- Interior lights pack
- LED fog lights

Sport Suspension
JCW Steering Wheel
Electric Folding Mirrors
JCW Roof Spoiler
Panoramic Electric Glass Sunroof
Darkened Rear Glass
Front Centre Armrest
Anthracite Headlining
Cruise Control with Brake Function
LED Headlights with Cornering function
Harman Kardon Hi-Fi

I will update the thread as and when updates happen and also once I have had more time behind the wheel. My favourite bit at the moment is the ridiculously addictive turbo chatter when you have your foot planted (even better in sport mode!) The exhaust is popping nicely too - but I'm hoping it will get a little louder once things have been ran in.

I've completed the first mod - colour coded front and rear lamp surrounds (I just couldn't resist so had the tools out this evening)





I've spent the day driving it, and the pics so far are pony - but here are a few (very quick) pics I snapped of it this evening.

IMG_5266 by jamesnathanjolly, on Flickr

IMG_5262 by jamesnathanjolly, on Flickr

IMG_5263 by jamesnathanjolly, on Flickr

IMG_5268 by jamesnathanjolly, on Flickr

IMG_5270 by jamesnathanjolly, on Flickr

IMG_5272 by jamesnathanjolly, on Flickr

IMG_5278 by jamesnathanjolly, on Flickr

IMG_5273 by jamesnathanjolly, on Flickr

 

Congratulations!! Great looking car! You have some beautiful countryside to let that MINI run free!!

 

Looks great. Would you mind adding a couple of interior pics?

 

WOW that looks ace one of the best colour combos I've seen, the white works really well with the TG. Love the JOLLY JIM plate too. I was thinking of getting a fun plate for my black F56 as I found GL05 BLK at a reasonable price. I am with yah on the turbo & exhaust noise, I've nearly done 450 miles in mine ALL IN SPORT MODE :-)

 

Looks awesome man! Wish they had the white wheels here in the US configuration. White with the TG looks great! Even though I'm biased as mine is the same Enjoy your sweet ride!

 

Nice looking Mini. We don't have that wheel option in US. One thing I wish I had was LEDs. Not that BiXenon is bad, but with those I'd be tempted to pull over, get out and look at 'em! The tread pattern looks a lot like my Dunlap SP Sport 01 summer tires. If that's what you have you'll love them.

 

I'm about as much a fan of Thunder Grey (too close to the tarmac) as you probably are of Blazing Red BUT the white highlights spruce the car up nicely in my opinion - well done! Will be reading your project thread

 

Thanks for all the positive comments folks

Will get some better shots over the next few days and do a little write up of how I'm getting on with the car!

 

Looks awesome.

 

I am all about that color-coded trim, especially on the tail lights. Well done.

How difficult was it to swap out? Does the trim just snap in/out or do you need proper tools?

-Matt

 

I'm not a fan of the wheels, but love the color scheme. The F56S is really starting to grow on me in darker colors.

 

+1

 

A member of MT has done me a huge favour shopping the following onto the car:

Speedlines
CC'd large grille surround
CC'd horizontal grille strip
CC'd bumper bar (where the plate sits)

I think this looks amazing

 

Regarding the swapping of the trims…..

The fronts are very easy. You need to open the bonnet and use a flat head screw driver to loosen off the retaining clips. Gentle force is all thats required to unclip them. Its the same process as the rings on the R56.

The rears are more tricky. Use this guide and you won't go wrong:

http://www.totalmini.com/forum/117-2...tml#post109221

 

I agree, looks great! How low are you planning to go with the suspension?

 

Just enough to the tyre meets the arch - I don't want it too low this time round!

 

So I ordered the lower grille piece today from the dealer complete with the tow eye cover (part no's 3 & 4 on the diagram) - these will be going to the painters to be CC'd. I will be dropping off the black grille surround (part no 2 on diagram) off too that I've just had painted and this will be getting CC'd too! I'm collecting the parts on Wednesday and dropping them off at the body shop the same day.

There is currently a sight snagging point with the horizontal chrome slat / Cooper S grille though. Its on back order from Germany with no expected replenishment date, so God knows how long I will be waiting. Also the dealer is not sure if the part number 1 of the diagram (51 13 7 335 529) is correct as the diagram shows a slatted grille rather than the honeycomb / chrome slat grille from the Cooper S - but my gut feeling is that the diagram is incorrect and is just showing a 'generic' grille and in actual fact the part number will be correct.



Also, I thought I would upload a quick video of the turbo noise I've mentioned…. I've tried to make a video of the noise, however I can't get one of the engine under load as all I get is wind noise, so this is just revving the engine in neutral - with sport mode engaged (the engine was fully warmed up here, after a 40 min drive)

The car has a very loud and noticeable 'induction' noise / whine when using WOT as the turbo sucks in air. Followed by the dump of the air as heard in the video.

Very addictive sound, but its strange that others are not reporting hearing this noise & some are suggesting the noise I am describing is compressor surge???

 

OK, an update (of sorts)….

Firstly the interior shots that have been asked for

 

Secondly, I decided to try one of the wheels against the car to get a rough idea of how they would look - this was the result:



It just wasn't doing it for me, as I just couldn't visualise them properly - so out came the jack and I got one bolted up to the hub - here are the results of the test fitment:





















There doesn't seem to be much clearance on the F56 compared to the R56 - both on the outside and inside of the arch my wheels are 18x8 ET45 as this is VERY close to the strut tower! I would imagine that with coils, I will need a spacer to stop the wheels / tyres fouling the strut.

I am also surprised at how close these seem to sit to the outside of the wheel arch. I think the F56 owners are going to have less clearance for rims that R56 owners currently have!

I will no doubt be running some 205/40 18 Michelin Pilot Super Sports on these rims, which will give some stretch (although will be within Michelins recommended rim range - so I'm hoping it won't be too much!?)

Thoughts guys?

 

Wow. The interior looks unbelievable. I've ordered the same + JCW. Thanks for the pics.

 

thanks for the wheel fitment photos...makes me think my plan of 17x7.5 ET35 might be TOO aggressive!

 

I dropped the bumper parts off at the painters today, and I just need to collect the grille on Friday and drop that off too, so all been well should have things moving along nicely by this time next week.

The Michelin PSS's are also due here in the next day or so, so they will be getting mounted onto the Speedlines ASAP too.

KW seem to be dragging their heels with coilovers though! :(

 

Looks great!

 

Thanks mate

 

Small update...

I ordered a new short plate for the front bumper once the CC'ing is completed. I've gone for road legal letter size & the GB logo to keep the boys in blue happy. Its substantially smaller than stock though



I also collected the grille from the dealers after they ordered the incorrect part at first. Only came to £45 which I though was reasonable!



I then set about getting the chrome trim removed from the grille - will drop this off at the painter on Monday so I can get the colour coding completed for the front end!



Tyres should be here soon - but the wheels have been sitting in their boxes since I got them - only for me to discover yesterday that they only sent 19 wheel bolts instead of the required 20! The supplier is been excellent though & organising a replacement