Hi folks,

Sittin here at work and thinkin Mini thoughts, so I thought it'd be a good time to jot 'em down. Picked up "MINI 5" from the dealership last night. Man, that front tower brace really makes a difference. The front end feels MUCH more solid than on the stock car. ...not that the stock MCS is a bowl of jello, but it definitely reduces the body flex. The BMP (? I think it's BMP) intake they have on the car really lets you hear the supercharger, and it seems that either the intake or the intake + headers gives an improved throttle response. Seat of the pants dyno tells me that it feels a little quicker than our stock MCS, but that's hard to tell without actual numbers and whatnot.

So - after driving this car, Allison informed me that we need to get the tower brace for our car as well. Hehehe... any time my significant other tells me we *need* to modify our car is a good time! Which one do you folks reccomend? I know that there are a few out there, but I can't recall which one seems to be the best so far. For the rear anti-roll bar, I think the Mini Madness one was the way to go.

I'm really excited for the Brit car show tomorrow. Can't wait to see all the cool cars...and the MINI people again!

-Andy

 

Latka-
I think you were having a "MINI moment"- a dream- that your significant other told you that you "NEED" to modify your MCS to make the front end stiffer. That just does not happen around my house. In fact most of the time I have to steathly hide all the spare parts that come in via UPS and hide all the used stock parts that are rapidly piling up in my garage. You know it is "difficult" to hide a 44 pound 6 foot exhaust system without attracting attention.

Lets assume for a brief moment that you are indeed awake (not that you doze off on the job alot-OK maybe a little), and that what you say is really true. Then- we need more women like Allison, right away. Does she have any sisters?
Oops, I am already married. Oh Well- will have to throw a blanket over the exhaust next time I go to the garage.
(here's another good question- why is the MINI so small- so it leaves room in your garage to hide all the old stock parts after upgrading)
Now to proceed with the tower brace-strut bar discussion. I have added the famed BMP tower strut brace. Recently BMP had a 10% off sale on May 19 and I am a sucker for sales so I picked one up. Bryan has one and does Mini5 which raced around with Justin's help at the Spring Fling. I also lowered my MCS with H-sport springs and I read that with the lowered car the front strut brace would help to offer a bit more rigidity to lessen flex. I have not been able to test this much in a safe way but I will trust that your opinion is valid. I did search high and low for a front tower brace and they are all about in the $240 range (price fixing I see). I talked to RandyBMC about the options and he sorta likes the BMP all aluminum brace for quality, looks, light weight (3.5 pounds for everything), strength, and it has a adjustment to preload the bar on installation. I installed it myself even though I have the madness intake- the large intake box and K&N cone filter. I had to cut and fold down a portion of the stainless steel frame to make it all fit but it is OK and I still have all my fingers- I think. I did notice that my oil filter and oil filler hole are now covered up a bit. And I did all this after replacing my leaky coolant bottle so I hope I will be OK. It won't be easy to change oil filter now- might have to take the bar off. The other brands of tower brace were less beefy looking-usually single aircraft aluminum bars in plain design-maybe they are lighter, maybe easier to install, no preloading available with any of them, some bars are steel and powder coated red or blue-so they are heavier and only a little cheaper.

The reason MINI 5 has the BMP intake is because of the BMP strut bar, Bryan has the same setup. The intake is supposed to be louder but the HP gains are more modest than BMP suggests (5 vs 12 claimed). The added power comes from the mania exhaust header with NO cat that was added. rough estimate is about 6 HP gain and louder too- with stock exhaust in this case.

I have ordered the London Stainless quicksilver exhaust- in the mail- and am thinking (dreaming ) about the London Stainless header with sport Cat ($1300-ouch). Supposed to add more HP up to about 9-12 and not be louder. Well designed and that would complete my exhaust system upgrade (for now). I did research the size of the header and it will fit under the same blanket as the one hiding the stock exhaust. I can just say it is some old plumbing I am saving.
This header works on a MC or MCS- so it has resale value.

As for the rest of my suspension- I have the madness rear anti roll bar set to firmest in the back and have the H-sport adjustable control camber arms. Everything is aligned up good but I do notice the ride to be a bit bouncy when the freeway is not as smooth as I would like. On smooth MINIlani roads it is fine. H1 leaves much to be desired.

New lighter wheels coming in maybe a month (darn backorder). Team dynamics pro race 1 17"x7 in white with Yokohama AVS ES 100 215/45-17 tires. most of my stuff I order through RandyBMC. I have the larger throttle on order still (another month off from production) and I am checking out the pulley upgrade and ECU. Is it pulley party time yet? Randy says he can do it in about one to two hours for cheap! Now that is worth voiding the warranty for.

Oh another thing- If you want low rpm power go with the pulley with or without the ECU, if you want more mid range to high rpm power then go with the header and sport cat upgrade. I figure the two will compliment each other. Then with all these performance mods- the Quicksilver will be the limiting factor- is doesn't allow enough flow through of exhaust (too much backpressure for all mods to do what they are capable of). That might still be OK because the QS is very nice and light- If I like the sound and the performance is good enough I might keep it- the world is not perfect.
By changing to a less restrictive exhaust like the Borla Sport or maybe UUC then the loudness and droning factors could be a worse daily problem than not enought outright power on the highend. So I don't get to 145 mph- that's OK

 

>>
>>New lighter wheels coming in maybe a month (darn backorder). Team dynamics pro race 1 17"x7 in white with Yokohama AVS ES 100 215/45-17 tires. most of my stuff I order through RandyBMC. I have the larger throttle on order still (another month off from production) and I am checking out the pulley upgrade and ECU. Is it pulley party time yet? Randy says he can do it in about one to two hours for cheap! Now that is worth voiding the warranty for.
>>
I hope you're changing your brake pads at the same time. I would just go nuts having white wheels and those dusty brake pads.

 

The brake pads come with the brake upgrade stage 1
power slot rotors x 4
Ferodo DS 2500 brake shoes front and rear
Motul RBF 600 brake fluid
Set of 4 stainless steel brake linings
Paint the calipers Red x 4

I clean my wheels daily so it really isn't that bad but it would be nice not to have as much dust.

 

Andy,

Hey it's me, Dirk M. from Cali. You are definitely lucky to have someone who understands your hobbies and passion for the MINI/Mini! Like 'minihune' I usually have to mask my automotive spending from the boss (my wife), however, compared to the cost of goodies for the E46 M3 I just sold, things for the MINI Cooper S are more resonable so my wife has been keeping a blind eye and allowing me to get some upgrades for my new toy before our Hawaii move.

I just ordered the BMP strut bar you mentioned (I also got the matching intake). My decision was based purely on looks because the other bars were too plain. I should have light rims (SSR or OZ) and tires (Toyo or Bridge) by the time we put the car on the boat for Hawaii. I also am planning to install the Eibach Pro Kit. I changed my highbeams to a whiter beam with higher wattage to better match the Xenons and also got rid of the eggyolk front turnsignal by installing Phillips Silvervisions (these are two things I also did for the M3).

Really excited to see the enthusiasm for MINIs/Minis there. Hopefully you folks will allow me to join in on future events/rides when I get planted there soon (looks like July/August - we'll know better after this house hunting trip on the 15th).

My wife and I saw the I.J. tonight (daughter had a sleepover birthday party so we got a long missed movie date) and I finally got to see what everyone was pumped about. Nice! How about that first red Mini - that was the bomb!

Hey, you guys have fun at the Brit Car event tomorrow!

 

Aloha and welcome to MCO Dirk M.
We would be most glad to have you join us in Hawaii later this summer. In late July about the 25th or so is the Aloha 500 at Hawaii Raceway park- a full day event at the track out there. If you make it over before then and can sign up early then you can participate. Not sure if you car will be here and ready to go. Check your dates. If not then there will be other chances to drive on the track here.
At the after the IJ waikiki rally there were some 60 MINIs and about 7 to 9 of them were very heavily modified. People spent alot of $$$ upgrading wheels and such. Hope to see them out on the track someday. Hopefully we can encourage them.
I do my mods mostly for fun-no racing, just driving school for now. The cost is not too cheap but certainly doesn't have to be too bad or at least not as bad as any M3.
We are planning to do a fair amount of social activities out this way on a regular basis and are forming a Mini club of Hawaii group soon. We could use your help and input. The group out here is very nice and very enthusiastic. We tend to get upset when we see new MINIs and the drivers "DON'T BOTHER" to wave back at us. ComeON- where is their "aloha spirit"????

 

minihune,

Thanks for the 'welcome'. :smile: As I have been saying to Latka (Andy), via e-mail, please count me in on future events I would love to get involved. Andy has been updating me on the Mini Club of Hawaii.

I have also been lucky enough to have communications with Charlie Schuster of BMW CCHawaii - I originally contacted him regarding information about the local BMWCCA (I am a member of the Los Angeles Chapter) and his thoughts about me shipping my 2001 M3 (I subsequently decided it was too much for the roads, or lack of, in Hawaii). I spent a lot of time in Japan and always have been fascinated by Minis and thought this was my excuse to finally get one (probably one of the best decisions as this car was definitely made for Hawaii!).

I have seen the other threads relating to spotting other MINIs and have to agree about some driver's uptightness ('cmon at least smile!). Driving my M3 was another experience.....it always seemed eye-contact meant "I want to race you" or at least people would take it that way. The car was awesome but in a way the MINI is more my style, for sure.

I guess I am a local boy in a way. My father is from (born and raised) in Hawaii (3sei); therefore, we have family (Aunties, Uncles, cousins, etc.). In his early years, my father, was in the Air Force so we travelled around a lot and I was actually born on an AF base in Japan. A few of my early years were spent in Hawaii at my Grandfolks place (with my Mom), however, this was while my Dad served in Viet Nam. I was also living at my Auntie/Uncle's place in Pearl City for a few months in '81, while debating to go to UH, however, having just graduated from Yokota HS in Japan, I was dying to get to a BIG piece of land and consequently did my undergraduate and graduate schools in California (been here since, currently live in Anaheim Hills). Since we have family there, we have been going 'back' to Hawaii at least two times per year. My Dad retired a few years back and they moved back to Hawaii from Japan. They bought a new place in Ocean Pointe (Ewa Beach). To take advantage of the built-in babysitting of my folks, we are planning to move near them and will look for homes in the Kapolei area (we are making a house hunting trip from June 15 to the 24th).

I too mod for fun (or 'cause I like it). Your line of thinking re. MCS is pretty much in line with mine so we think a lot in that sense.

Hey this is getting long....sorry this was off topic so maybe I should send 'minihune' a private message or e-mail.

You folks have fun today!

Dirk

 

Dirk,

Welcome aboard! CCH would be glad to have you transfer to the Hawaii Chapter. We at CCH welcome all MINIs and MINI of Hawaii will give you your CCA discount.

As for modding your MCS here, you don't have to deal with CARB and that stuff as we have no emissions testing. I believe there may even be one MCS running without emission controls here. The only problem is the lack of tuners and we usually get raped on shipping for our parts.

Bryan

 

Bryan,

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, I will definitely move my BMWCCA membership to Hawaii. I heard from Charlie Schuster that you were the Pres. and you were a fellow BMW and MINI fan. :smile:

I didn't know about "no emissions"! WOW!

Dirk

 

Yep, I'm running 18s. I got ASA JS5s w/ 215/35 Parada Spec 2s from a friend who sold his Cooper.

NO emissions testing whatsoever. That's why my euro 635 gets away with no cat.

 

Those wheels look pretty good, although maybe a bit heavy for me. How are the P.S.2s on wet grip?

Still can't get over no emissions.......don't know which news was my highpoint of the day- no emissions in HI, or J.P.M. winning one for BMW in Monaco. Either way it's a good excuse to have two beers to break my diet.

 

PS2s are pretty good in the wet! Better than the Ecsta 712s on my 750il.

 

Ahh, but the PS2s are rather noisy in general and maybe don't wear so great.
If grip in the wet is important check out the Yokohama AVS ES100. I'm getting these in 215/45-17. Parada spec 2 are second to these in the rain.
Other choices for gripy tires are Bridgestone S-03 Pole position ($185) or Toyo T1S ($152) both in 215/45-17 (not available in stock 205/45-17).
see http://www.edgeracing.com/ERTIRES3.asp

_________________
ALOHA

 

BeastM & minihune,

Do you guys carry a mobility type kit? With my M3 it came with this and I want to get a set-up similar to it (I think I've seen one from Mini-Mania, or I guess I can get the M3 one - although it was quite heavy). Or maybe you carry the MINI's space saver tire? Or do you chance it?

By the way, does HI have the equivalent of AAA (that's what we have in So. Cal.)?

I think I am going to stick with 17 inchers but will go with 215/40-17 instead of the stock 205/45-17 that the car came with. I think I have narrowed it down to SSR GT1 wheels with Bridgestone S-03 tires. I wanted the Toyo T1S but can't seem to find a place that carries the Toyos and SSR together (do you know of a mail order place that does?). I really want to reduce the unsprung weight and know the Toyos are lighter but I also have a thing about wet traction (had a huge hydroplane incident with stock Conti Sports on M3) so I want the S-03's grip.

Dirk

 

No mobility kit, just a can of fix-a-flat. However, I did see a kit with some green goop and a compressor for @ $20.

Yes, we have AAA in Hawaii. Don't forget that you also have the MINI roadside assistance line.

 

I didn't know AAA existed in Hawaii. Thanks for the info - I'll have to let my Dad know.

If MINI assistance is anything like the BMW one, I won't be counting on them. Luckily I never had to use it but from the many posts on Roadfly.org it doesn't seem very good (outrageous wait times ).

 

E komo mai, DaKine.

I haven't had to use Mini Roadside Assistance, but I imagine the service/wait times are much better than on the mainland (especially SoCal) because nearly everything is.

That said, I've kept my AAA membership (of some 43 years) because I have often used it over the years when riding in other people's cars. I find the Auto Club of Hawaii to be better than the one in SoCal, the contract truck drivers more knowlegeable and far less interested in pushing service and repairs at their own stations.

But mainly all these things are better 'cause it's a small island with nice people.

 

SouthSeaSadie,

Thank you, and I bet you are correct regarding service there -vs- here. Good to know. :smile:

We actually have our home and auto insurance from AAA too so I am hoping we can transfer our membership (or we'll at least continue it).

I can not wait to get over there and meet you folks and go for a spin! I know this not the same scale as the LA Chapter of the BMWCCA, however, I can definitely feel the 'love' with you folks when compared to my local BMWCCA (although I haven't hooked-up with any of the MINI groups over here). From what I hear from BeastM and another BMWCCHawaii member, even the BMWCCA over there seems much friendlier.

BTW SSS, I really liked some of your logos that I saw in another posts. Very creative!

Dirk Minami (DaKineMINI)

 

Dirk,

That's why our instructors from NorCal like coming here! It is still a club event where everyone knows each other. Not an event where there are hundreds of individuals and a lottery must be drawn to see who gets a slot at the driving school.

Bryan

 

BeastM,

I heard you let non-members participate in your events too! Over here you have to become a member before even thinking about participating.

You guys at BMWCCHawaii sound like you run a FUN and first class operation!

Dirk

 

Beastmaster is very kind and allows all comers to the track events-
First come first serve to sign up- each event has an event fee of $13 or is covered by annual membership ($33)in BMWCCA. The group in the classes is mixed but there are more and more MINI drivers so we know each other and trade information.

I have no mobility kit. Just a cell phone and MINI roadside assistance.

I also have AAA Plus- which means I can tow up to 100 miles at no charge otherwise it is free for the first 5 miles which is good for Honolulu but I live 25 miles from town. I don't mind using up the runflats and switching to normal tires. I looked at the SSR comps and GT1 in 16" and 17" with either S03 or Goodyear F1 DS-G3 tires in 205/50-16 or 215/45-17.
Tirerack doesn't carry Toyos. No one I know of carries SSR and Toyos. Edge racing (an MCO sponsor) carries the Toyos so you could check their rims. No SSR.

By the way the tirerack has tried for a long long time to get in SSR CompR rims. 16x6.5 anthracite finish, no machined lip, no center caps, weight less than 11 pounds for the mini. Maybe $280 per rim??? Unknown due date- depends on SSR. Everyone has been waiting over 6 months now.

 

Actually, I'm not very kind. It is a club event, but we do charge non-CCA members a fee of $13.50 to become CCH members for the year. That way we do not endanger our non-profit status. It's a little complicated, but we cannot have more than xx% non-members participating at any event.

 

Beastmaster-

Yes you are kind. Don't be humble. You donate all your time and effort to put on those events. $13.50 is quite good for an event fee considering what we get out of it. Just check out the prices at other driving schools. We want to encourage more club participation. I think I remember that Beastmaster said we need at least 50% members to sign up so I- signed up for BMWCCA. If we don't support the group then we stand to loose the events. We really ought to be doing more not doing less.

 

Aloha, DaKineMINI!

Being a recent transplant (2.5 years) from Cali., IMO, Hawaii is so much better!
People are so much friendlier and drivers actually let you in when using turn signals If I were you, install all the "off-road" performance parts you can and ship it out

We BMW/MINI enthusiasts look forward to welcoming you to Paradise!

Aloha!

 

Kohu'ulaMINI,

I hear you and totally agree with you about friendlier drivers in Hawaii. Here in Southern California, you basically pray to make it to your destination alive on the freeway - too fast, too many 18 wheelers, too many giant SUVs with off-road tires, and much-too-much road rage!

I finally got my car registered yesterday and took it on the freeway (91) and boy was it a bit scary. One funny thing is, at one point I thought I was being chased down but it ended up being an older couple in a New Beetle Convertible giving me the thumbs-up. I get a kick out of dropping my daughter off at kindergarten - the kids are attracted to the car (my daughter definitely likes it better than the M3).

I just got the car last week but I have started buying goodies for my MCS. I will try to get as much here before we ship our cars and goods. I have ordered the BMP strut bar and intake, and already installed Phillips Silvervision bulbs for the indicators. I also ordered and will change the high beams (low are HID) to Hella Xenon Whites in 100W. I am currently debating on 17 or 18 wheels - will go with SSR GT1s though - tires will be Bridge S03, BFGood KDW or Pirreli PZeroNero. Debating on exhaust but would only do for weight savings rather than output (sound or hp). Will also get Eibach Pro Kit. Don't really need 200+ hp (if I wanted POWER I would have kept my 333+ hp M3) so I won't be getting too many hp parts.

Any "must have" things I should think about?

Thanks for the ALOHA and I too look forward to meeting you and the rest of the MINI (and BMW) gang soon.

Dirk