between yesterdays and todays rain was able to get this done:

5635475b.jpg?t=1332114099

replaced wipers with white
custom vinyl inserts in front and back of aero
re-fitted the "fog caps"

 

Thinking of removing the middle grill and applying vinyl behind it. Any one have photoshop and could make it happen for me?

 

Would you go black vinyl? I think making it black to match the surrounding grills would look nice. Another strip of white would be too much I think. Your car looks very nice with what you've done thus far!

 

That sounds real good actually:tup: Just need to pick some up next week. almost got enough cash saved up for meth kit and rmw tune next month i hope.

 

Vinylstyles.com has a pic in the R56 section where the bumper between the upper and lower grilles is blacked out, its a blue car. It may give you an idea what it would look like on your R53.... Good luck.

Mike

 

Finally installed the Tein S-Techs Springs, and brand new KYB strut mounts to replace cracked front ones... Wow, what a difference the combo made!



All shaking at speeds over 70mph and harsh feel of the braking is gone. I thought it was my control arm bushings, but looks like the cracked strut mount was causing 90% of the "loose suspension" feel!

 

Nice Drop...just subtle enough!!

 

Yeah, I love it. It should settle quite a bit more from others I've seen running these springs.

 

Well yesterday actually, but cracked my Wilwood front 12.19" rotors at the track. Multiple cracks all the way out to outside edge. Only 500 track miles, but I kill it at the track, and even have brake cooling ducts on the R53, getting sick of this, has happened before, considering going to StopTech 12.9" but then need to go to 17" wheels. Argggghh! Mods and racing are so much fun but also so frustrating!

 

thaaank you for not going red.

i like the wipers but the rear just looks too stark for me.

what color mini do you have/what color vinyl you thinking? i might be able to whip up a quick 'n dirty PS for you.

 

I believe that's his MINI in your post.

 

Sure is. Planning on black, Im gonna first plasti dip it this weekend and if results are up to par I will order some more vinyl.

As for the back, I am also gonna put the same stripes on the boot.

 

Got the WMW Diverter Valve bolted up. It took about 40 minutes from start to finish, and I did it without removing the entire coolant tank. Took it for a test drive, and everything's working great. Tonight is bath night for the Mini.

 

I am almost at 100,000K miles..

 

I hit 88888 this morning on the way to work....

C ya,
Dutch

 

I can't stand having that DSC light on when driving..why would you ever want it off?

 

Basically, because I prefer to be a little more in control of the car manually--without some computer chip gainsaying my throttle input....

The only time I leave it on is during inclement weather, like on the trip home from (almost) south of the border in the wild storm that rolled through AZ yesterday.

C ya,
Dutch

 

I had no idea that DSC does anything other than traction control? Are you saying it actually limits power at throttle as well?

 

I have ASC, DSC's little brother. It seems to like to back off the throttle when you achieve wheelspin, but it does it in a clunky, ham-fisted way that I don't like. If it *eased* off the throttle until the wheel(s) grabbed instead of *yanking* off the throttle, I'd leave it on....

I'd also like it if the cruise control worked as well as that in the Ford Escort ZX2 that preceded Nudnik. The user interface is *great* (I especially like the ability to cancel the cruise without losing your speed setting by hitting the power button once), but the accuracy of the actual "capture window" is poor. Its penchant for overshooting its target speed if you resume from too far below that target speed can potentially get you a speeding ticket in a strict town. It's nowhere near as good as the older, electro-vacuum-mechanical system on the cheaper car. It's almost as if it's trying to emulate 1970s cruise control! You'd think, with electronic throttle, it'd be capable of hitting the mark a little better than that, but then again, it can't calculate average gas mileage without being 10% off (at least it's *consistently* 10% off!)....

Those are my only gripes with this car. They're all software, and as such, they drive the programmer behind the wheel up the wall....

C ya,
Dutch

 

When it came time to replace the OEM tires on my R56 Hardtop, I was looking for good value along with improved handling. I ended up going three (3) tire sizes larger to 205/60-15 from Yokohama purchased through Tire Rack. I not only saved roughly $300 as compared to the original Conti tires but I believe the Cooper handles a bit better!

On the plus side, the new tires increases the ground clearance by about 3/8" which means I no longer scrub the front air dam on the driveway. On the down side, I lost about 2mpg but, the added rubber on the road makes the Mini turn in much nicer!

There is no interference in the wheel wells or on the suspension and i don't regret the improvement at all! The Mini dealer will not sell you this tire so it is better to look to an outside source!

Happy Motoring!

 

Howdo you like your Megans? i am waiting for mine to come in from Way. I also got the adjustable camber arms. how ease are the megans to adjust? Can you adjust them pon the car or do you have to take them off?. Also did you get the adjustable sway bar links?

 

Mine are still sitting here. Having them and the other stuff installed next week. I'll post pics after it's all done. I got mine from Way also along with h-sport rear camber links, torque arm mount insert, nm discharge pipe, and the Forge intercooler. But, to answer your question, you can
adjust them before install and easily afterwards by removing the wheels.
The quality is really nice. My Megans are an anodizied green on the camber plates (really nice looking). I was going to do the install but my
dealership is doing it all for around $500-$600. Probably worth it for me.
Way also called the mechanic (they used to work together) and gave him
some pointers on the install of all.
The picture of the white Mini with Megans is xstartxtodayx's. We ordered them around the same time and he just did his but has to do his rear camber links yet.
For the price of them and since I don't track my car they should do fine.
Oh, no I didn't get the adjustable sway bar links. I may have to end up getting them but Way didn't mention them when I discussed the other stuff so I was
just going off what he said I'd need.

 

replaced the leaky crank sensor oring, noisy tensioner, idler roller, and installed a DT tensioner stop.

 

As drsimmons said, I installed mine on Saturday. I did end up installing the rear lower control arms on Sunday evening (Megans as well), they were definitely needed and weren't too difficult to install just tricky since 1 bolt is both hidden and extremely tough to get to since there's no real direct access.
As for the Megan's, I was really impressed with their build quality and adjustability (I've had about 6 sets of coilovers in the past on my VW's and Audi so I've seen a handful from bad to really good, these are definitely on the higher end of the scale). I didn't adjust front camber, just moved the 4 bolts so they were all next to each other without a gap in the middle (creates more space when it needs to be adjusted), I did adjust the rears to 5 clicks past full soft and fronts 4 clicks past full soft, once they're worn in a bit I may stiffen them up some more but so far they're very comfortable (I've done a little over 200 miles so far on them). One thing I noticed about them was that they will go stupid low, I had to dial them all up a bit to get to where I'm at (24" rear ground to fender, 23.75" front).
The rear control arms are simple to adjust once installed, just a matter of jacking one side (or both) up and twisting with a big wrench. The coilovers themselves require the wheel to be removed and then spanner wrenches to be used, the front is a piece of cake and takes 2 seconds but the rears are a bit of a PITA since the lock rings are tougher to get to.

So for what I did to my Mini today... I did my usual 120+ mile round trip commute and then treated it to a quickie photo at the beach while my wife and daughter played in the sand:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xstartxtodayx/6852395154/http://www.flickr.com/photos/xstartxtodayx/6852395154/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/xstartxtodayx/, on Flickr

 

i finally put my Konig Feathers on..man am i loving them