Howdy NJ motorers,

My MINI is being built as we speak and I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. The longer I wait, the more modifications or additions I find myself wanting. Right now my primary interest is immediately replacing the OEM brakes with ceramics (most likely Carbotech?) in order to reduce the dust on my white wheels.

My problem is I know as much about car maintenance and operation as I do about thermonuclear physics, so I can't install my own brake pads and even if I could, I don't have a space available to perform the work. To that end, I'm going to have to pay someone to do the brake pad install and any other items I may come up with over then life of my MINI. Does anyone have any suggestions? Though I'm located in Jersey City, I'm willing to drive a considerable distance if it means reliable quality and service so location is not of primary importance to me.

Thanks for your help!

 

Proceed with caution. Every part you replace will no longer be covered by your fine Mini warranty (and may even affect the warranty on related parts such as brake disks). If you're sure this is what you want, then go for it. Otherwise, a good waxing of the painted wheels might make the cleaning manageable for you.

 

I highly recommend Eric at Helix MINISport at 2424 Martha St. in Philadelphia, PA. When I sold MINIs out of Princetion, I send all my "mods" customers to Eric and they loved both him and the work he did. Their website is www.helix13.com and the phone # is

 

oops - the phone number is: 215-739-8800 or 877-HELIX13

Hope that helps you.

Deb Franks

 

I live in Jersey City too.

Warranty, Warranty, Warranty...that is the biggest MINI obstacle in Modifications. Some suggestions:

1. Exterior; I would not put the JCW Body Kit in Jersey City. A Tech at Morristown Mini said that a kid bought the JCW Body Kit from Jersey City and the cost for everything was around $3000.00. The kid had the kit for one day hit a big pothole and ripped his front bumper out.

I would look at doing what you want to do to the car from a vinyl graphics, new rims, antenna, grill badge holder, license plate frames, tow hook, blackened or chromed grill. Things that you can put back to stock if you trade it in or sell.

2. Interior; NAV, Satellite Radio, Radar Detector (V1) and anything else that you want to do.

3. Engine; Cold Air Intake. I was told that was basically the only mod that I could do without running into warranty issues to your drivetrain.

4. Save money for the JCW Tuning Kit Stage 1, because around $2500 and waiting approval to do the auto will take time. Some people with automatics have the stage 1 kit by chance.

For me: exterior first, interior second, warranty runs out (engine, suspension, brakes)

Lorin




2. Interior

 

inimini2007,

Maybe I'll run into you around town! Good to know there are other Jersey City folks on here.

Thanks for the advice, very good points on the warranty. My main concern is all the brake dust on my white tires, hence my desire to replace my brake pads, but we'll see how bad it really is once I get the car. I've no major upgrades or modifications in mind beyond that. Anyone know if I have a dealer do the work if it improves my warranty situation? Most other ideas I have are cosmetic (replacing antenna and internal lights) and can be easily reversed.

I definitely dont have the cash for the JCW and know so little about engines that even attempting to understand the benefits of any modifications is out of consideration. The pothole problem around this part of Jersey is also a real killer. For the most part, I'll be driving out to Cranford NJ and back 4-days a week. I will not be putting it on the track or straining it in any real sense. The S should have more than enough power for me.

 

Maybe a Drop In Filter like Alta or K&N to replace the paper air filter.

Around $50.00

 

German cars are bad with brake dust with OEM pads. Heck, why don't you get the pads and ask the dealership to swap pads as part of the predelivery inspection (pay them the additional labor to do so).

A cheap mod is putting smoked lamin-x onto the side markers/reflectors. www.lamin-x.com -- easy to do, reversible for the po-po or in 4 years inspection, and looks great.