Hola Everybody,
Just wanted to remind the usual people that the September Mini Meet will be tomorrow the 18th at 1300 or 1:00 o'clock for the civilian people at the Dunkin Dognuts at Tangers Shopping Outlet. Hopefully everybody will be able to attend and have some ideas of where to eat.

 

Hey Guys.

Some sad news. I ended up selling my MINI last month. I've enjoyed hanging out with everyone and I'm sure you will still see me around town and at car shows in my Lightning.

As for selling the car, I really enjoyed driving the MINI, but now that the factory warranty is coming to an end, I considered all the problems I've had with my car and I predict more problems in the future. (I planned to keep the MINI 10 years.) Overall I absolutely love the MINI driving dynamics and gas mileage, but my MINI has quality problems (maybe a 1st year of production issue).

My concerns are with the high dollar problems. I've already had the timing chain tensioner fail twice. Still I had occasional bad noises coming from the camshaft area. Confident in long term durability of the cylinder head area is very low (on my car). Then I have also had a very frequent annoyance with the transmission not going into 2nd or 3rd gears on the first try. It always would go in on the 2nd try, but again this does not inspire long-term confidence of the clutch/transmission without the coverage of a warranty.

So I inquired about the 3yr extended warranty and was shocked to find out it cost $3500. I'm not big on pre-paying for failures, but I was willing to pay up to $2000 but certainly not $3500. That's when I started looking to sell the MINI. So I reinstall all the factory parts: exhaust, speakers, amplifier, rear seat, and all the interior panels. The MINI was sold in a couple weeks for slightly less than the Edmunds.com suggested price, so I was happy with the deal.

Another part of the decision to sell was that and on my last road trip to the FL Keys, I could not fit everything I wanted to take (fishing poles, tackle box, bicycle, luggage), not to mention my sister had no room for the large suitcase, cooler, and food that she packed. (It was a 10 day trip between Orlando, Miami, Key West, and Marathon, so I can't blame her for packing a lot.)

Every now and then there are lemon cars. Mine was not a lemon, but I could easily see it being a money pit over the next 5 years, so I don't regret my decision and I am seriously eye-ing the debut of the Countryman. I just won't be buying another 1st production year car.

Happy Motoring.
Bobby

 

I was tracking the sticky thread and missed this one. Had too much going on yesterday anyway. Maybe I can make it next time. It's unfortunate to hear that our group has diminished even further from its already meager size. I wish there was a good way we could grow the group.

I hate to sound like a scavenger but I may be interested in any parts you might have that could fit my '09. Hope to see you around and maybe as an owner again in the future. That is, if I haven't gone back to a Subie by then.

 

For sale, I've got a factory JCW Car Exhaust (not the tuning kit exhaust) $300, K&N typhoon air intake system $200, Custom Sub Box with 10" Infinity subwoofer $100, and a pair of JL Audio 6x9 $100.

The exhaust is highly recommended. After putting the original exhaust back on, I realized how awesome the JCW exhaust was. The exhaust is in perfect condition. They are ~$425 new if you can find one.

The K&N is brand new / never installed. I became too concerned with the noises coming out of the camshaft area, so to not risk any warranty coverage (while on a road trip or something), I never installed it. I know I'll never get my $300 back out of it, but I would like to get $200.

The JL Audio Speakers were installed for about 2 years and sound great amplified or unamplified. I preferred them unamplified and just left the amp running my sub. I custom made a sub box to make the back end flat when the seats are folded. It is 3 years old, but works great. I've got about $150 into that, but I'd sell it for around $100.

Obviously if you are interested in multiple items, I'd make the deal better.

If you are interested in any of them, send me a PM for more information.

Bobby

 

PM'd you. I haven't rooted around in the engine bay much and I know this is a small and tight setup compared to my Subarus but the ID/OD sizes of the piping on that K&N setup looks pretty small. Is it really less restrictive than stock? I was thinking of going with the M7 Tuning AGS-R (ram air) intake but I don't see why I couldn't still use it with the K&N Setup.

 

The K&N supposedly gives 11hp gain. You can read more details on Mini Mania's website (installed photos, dyno chart).

http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/G2.../InvDetail.cfm

K&N, Ram Air, AGS, etc - Sounds like a good discussion to have over some lunch at a 3rd weekend (Sat/Sun?) group meeting?

 

GT MINI
Do you know if the exhaust will fit an 03 53s? If it will I interested.

 

It is COMPLETELY different.