Im not trying to start a vendor bashing form here. I think that a lot of the vendors for our beloved R53's are awesome. Customer service, products and what have you. What i'm noticing now is that since the release of the R56 the development for the R53 has kinda been pushed aside. I mean don't get me wrong there is a lot of great products for our cars, but what about us that want more..any one else feel the same way that the R53 has been put on the back burner??

 

Such is the way of business.

 

Hello Tommy,

I can understand why you might think we are done making new products for the R53/52/50's but there are new ones.

RMW is coming out with new high performance stuff almost every month.

Craven and MINI Maddness are selling a new anti mushroom plate.

Way Motor Works, has that cool new dead pedal.

TSW is always upgrading and improving on the old design of products.

Alta just released that neat tension part to save the pulleys if the belt breaks.

M7 has that very cool kit to make you 6 speed run on paddles.

IE has a new designed STB.

V-Maxx gave us more coilovers.

FES is beta testing a cool shift light computer tool.

AXC and JSart gave you the new Wing Tip to help keep the boot clean and add some bling too.

Those are just a few that I know of in the last 60 days.

What MOD do you wish you had that you don't see on the market?

I'd sure like to know. The R53/52/50 is my biggest market and with new people buying used ones everyday it's a market that's getting bigger.

 

How about...

-Tubular steel rear trailing arms, similar to the control arms done by mini madness.
-Rear control arms that are made with grease fittings.
-4 piston brake calipers that are direct replacements for OEM calipers.
-Solid metal engine mounts.
-Front and rear center-line jack mounts


Just a few ideas I have, I'm sure everyone has thought of them before.

 

Well one of the things we need to keep in mind is parts that 100's or 1000's of people "need", not just a few, those few can get custom work done. Things like the tube steel arms is a limited market.

TSW new arms, along with a few others, have proven not to need grease fittings for any reason. I try to fit/devo parts that make MINI life easier and not making your do to list longer.

I'm not 100% sure, but getting 4 pistons in a bolt on R53/52/50 caliper would be very hard and hard cost big bucks. MINI Brakes are great, just need better pads for the type of driving/events it's used for, and maybe rotors.

Solid Metal Motor Mounts, really? TSW is working on a replace motor mount for the 1st Coopers that leak all the time. I hope by the end of the year to have them for sale to help all of us beat the beast and get better performance too.

Center Jack Mounts, again limited market, I'm sure it's something a local shop could fab up for you. I for one think the MINI jacks up well from the front jack points to allow both tires on each side to come off the ground for changing. I just don't see too many reasons to have the MINI jacked up in the front or rear center.

Great Idea's some in devo, some too limited, but keep them coming.

 

For the rear control arms those of us that have installed the R56 parts have all been very happy and the failures so many predicted have not shown up.

See the 1st issue of the NAM Alliance Magazine for an article.

For the Jack Mounts...just bite the bullet and get these... http://www.genesisparts.com/index.cf...action=product

 

Air jacks on the MINI would be SOOOOOOOO awesome.... total overkill..... but of course completely necessary.

 

...un

 

well i think that there are still a lot of people trying to make their cars as fast as they can get them...and i havent really seen any any one talking about boreing their cars or stuff like that...really there is no substitute for more liters

 

One word........RMW 2.0L

 

I realize there is little to no market for these ideas, but they are things I would want someday. I've thought about getting solid engine mounts machined and I need to ask a local welder about the center-line jack points.

 

Hah I've got a new Garmin Nuvi mount for 1st gen MINI's..it's not in production yet, but various people around NAM have been running the prototypes. I realize it's not a "performance mod" but it was something developed specifically for us 1st gen'ers. =)

Richard

 

Based on your list of mods in Sig 05 HB/W MCS, ALTA CAI, ALTA 15% Pulley, ALTA Sportone 2.5 Exhaust 18" Enkie GF-1's-BFGoodrich G-Force Sport 215/35/18

You are missing a few things that could get the power you have to the 18's better. IE urethane bushing and or TSW Engine Damper 3.0. You could also add a set of TSW Springs to help get the MINI down the road faster too.

Jan/RMW is working on a 2.0 for 1st Gen's but right now he's got R53's pulling 225 to 300 WHP with "just" his head, cam, header and ECU Tune. I think it's time to head West and see Jan at RMW.

 

Well, I'm not ready 4 major modifications; however, I DO have a rather immediate need--my dash was ruined by hanging scented trees on my air vents (see attached Mini Mess pic).

Outmotoring used to carry a dash cover kit (see pic) that's no longer available for some reason, but it fits my need (and purse) perfectly; please bring it back!!! Or, if some1 knows of another co. that carries it at a similar price, please let me know!

Thanks!

 

You could just remove it, then clean, sand and paint the part. If you are not inclined to do that, take it to a body shop and they could do it too. I would be concerned that whatever that brown stuff is could seep thru and ruin the dash cover too. Plus you could paint the dash to match your body color too.

 

nabeshin, call Steve at "Custom Mini Shop" his may be done already

 

I wonder if that mount is an engineered part...

 

ya you saw the list i have on the car not the list of things to do....just beacuse i dont have it on the car right this moment doesnt mean that i wasn't shopping around or planning on doing it soon.

my point of the thread was that i have seen a decrease of focus on the R53...the very car that got us all here..i mean i know jan is doing some really cool things but ill be the 1st to admit that i cant really keep up with everything...last time i looked that the RMW site i didnt see the 2.0L
and my 18's i dont think are really that much heavier then my 17' S-lites...i havent found any where that has a weight on the S-lites yet however..

 

Jan's website only has a small fraction of the stuff he actually has now...

 

? are you talking about the post I made? If yes, yes Steve is going to be or already is marketing this mount