Just picked up an 02 Cooper S hardtop Thursday. It was a toss up between that and a Cobalt SS Supercharged. I wanted something 4 cylinder and boosted. Decided on something supercharged from there, and narrowed to those two. Ended up with the Mini! My family on my mom's side is British, so that helped me decide lol. Anyways, it's dark silver, and was already fitted with an Alta catback. This afternoon I replaced the serpentine belt, and installed an Alta tensioner stop. I'll get some pics up here in a few minutes.

 

 

Excellent choice! Nice looking Mini, and that black bumper is unique. Is it a manual/automatic? Very well kept and great color combination.

Tell us where you drive and more pictures are always appreciated. Welcome to the Mini forum.

 

I live in the bottom east coast corner of Va, US. I honestly haven't taken that many pics yet, I work Southern Swing shift, so 7 days straight. I haven't had a day off since I bought it. But have 4 days off starting Saturday so I should have more pic soon. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to mount my boost gauge. And it's a manual.

 

Survived rotating work shifts, days, swings, and mids the better part of 40 years... so totally understand. Get some rest time during those days off, and some time to drive the Mini!

Nice area to live in this time of year. Excellent warming weather coming up Saturday through Tuesday. Post when you can.

 

The factory stereo was already gone and had an old pioneer deck in its place. I chucked it for a new pioneer head unit. Digital media and radio only, I haven't bought a cd since line 2004 so I figured why waste the money. Was gonna post a pic but photobucket is down for maintenance. I bought one that I could change the color of the lights on, so it matches the color of the factory lighting almost dead on. Next on my list is a suspension overhaul and new motor mounts. I'm not sure if I wanna replace it all back to factory or coil overs or what. I'm just not sure what direction I wanna go with the suspension yet.

 

Plenty of valuable advice and info available on this forum to help make good mod choices, especially on suspension. Live with the Mini a couple of weeks, so you can get of good feel for what you may want to do to the suspension.

Really depends on your area roads. I've only been through that part of the coast one time sticking mostly to main roads, all smooth from what I remember. We wanted to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on the way north. Did make a quick stop for lunch at Virginia beach and a brief walk on part of the beach board walk.

Where I live, roads are not that great in places, especially after the Winter is done breaking them up, so some compromises have to be made to keep from shaking car to pieces. You probably won't have that problem.

Fewer people use discs for sure. I use my phone for music in the car mostly now. CD player not a necessity anymore. Pretty nice that background lighting can be matched up.

 

Yep, you made the right choice. I haven't driven the Cobalt, but the R53 is one of history's greatest S4it boxes! You'll love it.

 

Welcome to NAM! I sure do love that color on the R53's. Since a suspension overhaul is on your list, we have exactly what you'll need. Check out our suspension overhaul kits HERE. They contain everything you'll need while you're in there. Stage 1 will be OEM replacement parts and Stage 2 will give you Bilstein Touring Class shocks/struts, which are direct OEM replacements, but better. They will give you a slightly stiffer ride and increased handling potential all while retaining a smooth ride. They're a popular upgrade for those looking to retain their OE springs. Stage 3 gives you Bilstein Sports shocks and struts as well as H&R performance springs. Do keep in mind, any lowering you do wtih your MINI you'll want to invest in a set of adjustable control arms, like the Hotchkis arms HERE. They will help with tire wear by bringing the rear wheel camber back to OEM specification. For engine mounts, we have the stock ones HERE or you should go with Powerflex inserts HERE. As you can see they also make a wide range of other bushings for your MINI. Powerflex is a great alternative upgrade to your OE bushings. They will give you prolonged tire life, improved performance, better handling and they are more cost-effective. Anyways, let me know if you have any questions and hope this helps a little.

 

Welcome, looks like a replaced ( repainted) front bumper and upgraded grilles, as well as Depo projector headlights.

Could go coilovers to get the low look and better handling, I would do the Powerflex bushing also on the front end. One and done. Let me know if you need anything else.

The darksilver with the white roof is a classy combo. Looks very clean for a 2002 launch year.

 

Well suspension will be pretty soon because of most of it being worn out fairly bad. But the engine is in great shape, and so is the body and interior. Suspension is first on the list because I'm getting a bit more camber than I would like and it's wearing the inside of my tires. So that's gonna be dealt with as soon as I get paid. Whatever I do suspension wise I'm going to be keeping it stock ride height as it will be my daily. I daily drove an 86 Rx7 lowered with about 1 and a half maybe 2 inches of ground clearance for about 7 years, I've had enough of that lol. Then I'll do motor mounts, I've seen those inserts, that's what I plan to go with.

Once that's taken care of, I'll start the fun stuff, and do a pulley swap and go from there.

 

Rotary, nice! Have a good friend that just picked a '93 up from a couple that owned it since new. It's in such good condition. Fun as heck to drive too.

 

Never had a third gen but I've still got 3 second gen, and 4 first gen Rx's. My first car was that 86 Rx, I tore it down to bare body and built it back up. That was a non turbo, but as light as it was and all the little mods I did to it, it would hang with my buddy's 06 mustang GT in a straight line, he didn't have a prayer of keeping up on a back road. I'm working on an 88 Tenth Anniversary Rx7 right now, as well as a 94 Mustang GT, 67 Thunderbird, 91 Camaro Z28, and helping my dad with a 69 Mach 1.

I didn't have anything particularly fuel efficient but I didn't want a boring grocery getter either, that's why I was searching for a boosted 4 cylinder. The most fuel efficiency thing I did own is my 04 V6 Mustang. And I'm lucky if I average 20 in that.

 

Photobucket is back! You guys seem to be ultra observant. Tell me everything you can think of from these pics please! Super new to Mini's.

Anyways, new stereo and boost gauge, I wanna move the gauge up to the dash, haven't gotten a nice mount for that yet.

 

 

Looks good , I really like that Lapis Blue interior, rare find and in nice shape.

 

ACK!!! Someone slammed a cart or something into my driver door right under the door handle, left a decent dent and cracked the paint >:-(

 

Where did that happen? Frustrating that someone would do that to someones car!

 

No idea, I got home and noticed the new dent. No clue where it happened. I had been all over the place with my mom that day, she was looking for a new Keurig machine and I offered to pick her up and hang out for the day. We were all over Hampton Roads. As low as the door handle is and it didn't mess up the handle I'm sure it was a shopping cart.

 

 

Here's the dent. It's not like rediculous, but it's decent enough on a car I haven't even had a month that I'm pretty upset............

 

Had it happen more times than I care to recall. Feel bad for you, but learn to roll with it. Just think about all those people who don't have what you have. Usually puts things in perspective. Bought my last car used so I didn't have to stress over my first dent.

 

That's a heck of a dent. Would really upset me. At least it's fixable. Don't let the moisture get to the metal if that paint is cracked. Don't want rust to get a foothold.

 

I'm gonna be replacing the door speakers soon anyways, so I'm hoping to be able to push it out pretty easy when I have the panel off.

 

Yea, if you get a dent wizard ( or similar) place around your area they can push it out real good if it not too close to the seam. Charged me about 100 for a big dent.