Some dumb person drove in to the back last night while i was asleep. I have to have the whole back hatch replaced. I picked it up on thursday night and it doesn't even have 200 miles on it. I'M MAD.

 

Sorry to hear about it.

Hope you get things worked out ok.

 

sorry man ask for more money due to lost retail value

 

Ouch. I feel your pain. I just got mine back from the body shop. I braked while turning fast, lost the tail, hit a dirt bank and it tipped over onto the driver-side door. They had to replace the front bumper, intercooler, door, mirror, and windshield. The front, bonnet, driver-side, roof had to be painted. Only took two months and $11K+ to fix it.

 

Be happy you weren't in it when she was hit.
There's no good news to hit and run.

 

Yikes. Good luck with the repairs.

 

thanks everyone. i'm going through insurance to get it fixed. luckly the dealership where i bought it is jumping right on it. It just sucks. But other than that this is one of the best cars i have every driven.

 

Geez that sucks to hear.

I am sure the repairs will come out fine just make sure you look over your car completely before accepting it back.

 

Scares me how quick the tail can come out on these small wheelbase cars. Do you have DSC? I gave up HIDs for it, because my kids will be driving this car, too, and I'm terrified to think of them challenging themselves on curves (and my 81 year old mother is terrified of me doing the same.)

 

Wow, sorry to hear about that! Some people...

Is it really that easy to kick the tail??

 

I don't know about "easy" but that when it goes, it seems to go quickly. Here's the video that cost me $500 for DSC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWxWBB2Ornc

 

Okay, now that was fun.

 

DSC will help, but is more of a balancing act and knowing how and why it occurs... A stiff rear sway bar which seems to be the recommendation of many on these forums adds to the equation. If and when you lose the back end, you have to stay on the gas slightly to control weight shifts. Braking even slightly causes the nose to dive, even more so in a in FWD cars and when the nose dives, weight will shift onto the front wheels giving them more grip. The same is true when accelerating, weight is shifted onto the back tires increasing their grip. An oversteer is basically when the rear tires lose grip before the front, that is when the tail comes out. The reason for getting on the gas is to shift weight onto the rear tires and regain grip as soon as possible. But, you don't want to hit the gas too aggressively as it will result in a spin. Its a balance of shifting weight to the rear with out overpowering what grip the rear tires have. Don't pound the gas every time the tail starts to swing out.

 

I think I'll go with "Kids, drive the effing speed limit or you'll never see the inside of this car again."

 

That works... And in the long run insurance will be cheaper too..

 

So i have been working like crazy and what not. Work has been sending me everywhere recently so i haven't had a chance to drop of my mini at the dealer to have the back hatch replaced. I looks like crap.

But a friend suggested something, carbon fiber. He is looking to getting a mini as well and was looking around the web for after market parts. He came across a carbon fiber kit for the hood front fenders and rear hatch. Well this got me thinking. why not replace the hatch with a carbon fiber one. Does anyone know of a good company that has carbon fiber hoods, and hatches for the r56's?

 

Don't waste your time or ruin your car. Both my bodyshops have installed hundreds of carbon fiber hoods and I can count on less than 1 hand how many have been quality that equals a factory piece.

Carbon fiber is for race cars that have that "30 foot" look. We just installed (today) a $700 carbon fiber hood on a VW Golf and it looks/fits like crap but hey, you can't argue with a customer.

Stick with the factory parts, you'll be glad you did.

Mark

PS. I should differentiate between $500-700 pieces and a $1500-2000 piece. If you spend that kind of money, you may find something that fits better but I assure you even if it fits worth a damn, give it a summer in the heat and you'll see the imperfections in the carbon fiber.

Mark

 

Thanks mark, thats kinda what i was thinking but still wanted to ask. I also haven't seen any big carbon fiber parts on a mini cooper yet.

 

I have seen a carbon fiber complete hood assy. It looked great but I only saw a picture, didn't see it in person.

I'm sure there are many people that are happy with their CF products but from a bodyshop standpoint, I wouldn't put it on my personal car.

Good luck with the repair.

Mark

 

do you have DSC?