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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
Keeler... I think the advisor I bought my MINI from is still there, but is a manager now... Andrea something. I never had bad service from them - I CANNOT say the same thing about the dealership in Hartford.
Another project done. My wide's 05 had an el-cheapo plastic shift **** on it, but the center medallion was in great shape. I bough her a nice new leather covered one for hers, and I asked for her old one. Disassembled it and got the medallion. It was constructed a lot differently from the older ones. It was mostly epoxy and plastic compared to my original which is a solid ball of aluminum and steel covered in leather. Anyhow, took about an hour to carefully dismantle her old one. Old and new medallions... nice thing is that the medallion is nice and smooth plastic on top, not that sticky gooey vinyl.
Got a quote of $40 for re-chroming my original, so I will be disassembling, recovering, and restitching (in blue, of course!). Stay tuned for that in my build thread. 4 week turnaround for the part though.
EDIT: Woops, and finally got arounf to ordering M7 strut tower defenders. My towers are still perfectly flat and want to keep them that way!
Went and looked at another R53 last night. A literal barn find that's been sitting since it got wrecked in 2006. It's a mess and I not worth trying to salvage, especially after sitting in a barn with the windows down (under a cover) for 15 years, but could be a good parts car. Bent frame horn, mangled subframe, mount bosses broken off the trans case, etc.
@scotty r56s, are you lowered more in front than in the rear? What track were these shots taken at? Nice color combo
Thanks. The front is a little lower than the rear but not as bad as the photos make it look, the car is pitching forward a little under braking. I still need to get it corner balanced and sort out the cross weights and ride height. Those were shot at Roebling Road Raceway in Savannah, GA.
Keeler was mentioned above as a dealer option. I bought my first MINI there in 2008 and had a good experience. It quickly went downhill after that. I wanted a new 2012 and the would not order, or search for my choices at dealers or at port. They said take it or leave it - so I chose to leave it. My son bought a 2012 base MINI there and it was quickly apparent that something was wrong with the car after delivery. We approached them and they would not divulge anything as to the cars history and why there was the cars huge problem. My son traded the car in months later for a JCW Coupe from Fred Beans near Philadelphia. I live equidistant to Keeler, MINI of Rochester, Towne MINI in Buffalo, MINI of Allentown, Mini Of Ramsey, Morristown MINI, and a little stretch but MINI of Edison as well. I have done business with Rochester, Towne, Ramsey, and Edison and they have all treated us well. I will no longer do business with Keeler when other better options are available from my home in Central New York. Andrea was a sales person there in 2008, then was promoted to manager and then moved to another Keeler brand.
@minicoop, I bought my first MINI there as well, back in May, '02. It was 'just a Justa', and Keeler hadn't finished what was to become the MINI showroom. The salesman I dealt was with BMW, and I even remember his name! (Just don't ask me what I had for dinner last night. ) I knew more about the car than he did, and he was totally fine with that. I did a test drive with him, and after I took the first corner, I turned to him and said "This car just sold itself!" Placed the order that day with a boatload of add-ons. Becoming a track rat was the last thing on my mind; I had a better chance of becoming the Pope than running at the track! Fast forward 19 years: sold the Justa a few years back, and acquired an 02 R53 (one of the first to be ordered in the country, according to the owner, who worked at a MINI dealership in CT) with only 23k miles on it and set up nicely for the track. Have run too many track days to count at Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Monticello (before it went private) and Palmer. When I realized that I could fit a Classic Mini on the same side of the garage as the R53, I bought an '87 Japanese spec Mini from a guy near DC. When I'm cruising the twisties around 70, it feels like I'm doing 120. The opposite is true for the R53 on the track. The closest the Classic gets to track time is the occasional Parade Lap, as it is basically a sardine can with thinner metal than the sardines have around them!
Unfortunately, Keeler has gone down the same path as corporate MINI, IMHO...
Ceramic, windscreen & vanity plate for R59 JCW Roadster
Picked up the 2015 JCW Roadster from Gorilla Shine in Lexington, Ky. They had it for 3 days doing a paint correction and ceramic application. Although $$ I selected the top tier ceramic, having decided the bugs in Ky have been overeating this spring.......how else to explain why they can't get out of the way of the Roadster after ceramic application, sitting by one of the many hand laid stone fences here in the US horse capital! Paint corrected, ceramic applied and new wind restricter with my two angels to watch over my shoulder.
car and are leaving splats the size of a quarter and larger! The guys at Gorilla Shine did an absolutely fabulous job and I couldn't be more pleased. The only issue is that the car is so shiny I couldn't get a photo easily as it reflects like a mirror.
Also got the 2nd windscreen in. The first came and looked great except the graphics were blocked by the roll bars. They did it over with just my dogs who passed away and no text to make sure it was not blocked this time. The supposed "light" is junk but really like the rest of it.
Also got the approval from the state for the vanity plate LUVK9 (love canines.....gah I hope folks get it). I ordered the spray/neuter your pet plates. I may have the strangest Mini plate around. I had thought of a bunch of really good Mini related ones but went with my best buds! It will take awhile for it to actually get processed, I just got the first approval.
Now to put the the black out tape back on the beltline trim. My first go looked so bad that I decided to redo it after purchasing special tools, hot air gun and application fluid. Sure hope this time I can get it right without wrinkles or bubbles.
Just finished waxing the RAV4, and boom wife comes out and takes off in it. Got to snag some pics before she slays the bugs. And of course one of the money shot angles like the clubby
let down by ecs today :( they listed the silver mini roof box as in stock and since it's been discontinued I was excited that maybe they had one left over in the warehouse, didn't even mind the 200$ freight charge
turns out they were just ordering it from mini and emailed me to tell me it's no longer available...well yeah i could have told you that and if i wanted a black one i could save a bunch of money on shipping and pick it up at my dealership
) I knew more about the car than he did, and he was totally fine with that. I did a test drive with him, and after I took the first corner, I turned to him and said "This car just sold itself!" Placed the order that day with a boatload of add-ons. Becoming a track rat was the last thing on my mind; I had a better chance of becoming the Pope than running at the track! Fast forward 19 years: sold the Justa a few years back, and acquired an 02 R53 (one of the first to be ordered in the country, according to the owner, who worked at a MINI dealership in CT) with only 23k miles on it and set up nicely for the track. Have run too many track days to count at Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Monticello (before it went private) and Palmer. When I realized that I could fit a Classic Mini on the same side of the garage as the R53, I bought an '87 Japanese spec Mini from a guy near DC. When I'm cruising the twisties around 70, it feels like I'm doing 120. The opposite is true for the R53 on the track. The closest the Classic gets to track time is the occasional Parade Lap, as it is basically a sardine can with thinner metal than the sardines have around them! 
