Anyone have any experience with the quality of this kit? It's damn pricey and want an idea before possibly ordering. Also have read that the rear bumper requires a specific exhaust to work with it.

 

I'm of no help, but when you say pricey, just how pricey is it compared to the MINI Aero Kit, ( bought my 1st Gen Kit from dealer in '07 for $1100 unpainted ) which is hard to come by now but you do see them come up on here for sell.. That pic of yours with the 1st Gen car, is not toooooo far off from the 2nd Gen Aero Kit... Granted I don't know what the rear bumper looks like...

 

The front bumper alone is $1195 lol https://www.ecstuning.com/b-garbino-...RoCjAQQAvD_BwE

 

I really like the rear diffuser design on that Garbino kit.

Sadly not much info out there regarding these things.

Perhaps now is a good time to explore all the options because most threads regarding R53 bodykits are pretty old.

The Prior Design kit looks good,
and it's more affordable as well.

https://www.priordesignnorthamerica....-cooper-s-r53/



Shipping costs may be $$$ though.
http://www.meduza.co.uk/prior-design...s-bodykit-r53/

I'll bounce around a bit on the googles this morning and look for currently available options --- I have a feeling though that most vendors for this sort of thing will be in the UK.

 

We have garbino and will be adding other kits soon like the one from prior design, hold tight guys.

Garbino fitment is really good and I have seen a couple of these in person. Yes its more but they are MINI people and know the models, they are enthusiast just like us, just from Japan.

 

Hello ECS,

I thought I read somewhere that the Garbino rear bumper requires their exhaust. Is that true?

 

I will check with them, last time I talked with them it was on certain Gen 2 MINI kits X types with a certain aftermarket exhaust because of the diffuser going around and under the exhaust.

We should have their exhaust systems soon also.

 

Good stuff!

Thanks.

Speaking of Japanese enthusiasts,
I was browsing around looking for Garbino kits that've been installed,
and came across this guy...

https://www.instagram.com/green_mini_r53/

...who also has the largest hood scoop that I've ever seen!

 

Welcome, yes those guys in Japan do many one-off kits. They are MINI crazy like us and we are glad to work with them and many others in the future.

They have MINI Japan Day which is pretty cool.

 

Man...I would love a scoop like that!! I'm surprised more aftermarket places haven't gotten into the larger scoops....anything to get more air through the IC would help.

I like the look of the M7 scoops....but they are close to $300....not worth the money.

 

True that --- wish we had more options than the LEAP/Omicron,
but I'll probably get one of those eventually because it's tried 'n tested and solves the problem...

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-leap-par...p-omicron-g1s/

The Atomspeed variant from the UK was slightly bigger I think, but difficult to get a hold of.

:

Back in my og Saab days, we had a small lunchbox sized i/c placed behind the left headlight...



...it was back in the days before a fmic option for those cars (unless you custom fabricated one) so I installed a simple water sprayer which activated at a preset boost level.
It was highly effective and you could even feel it seat-of-the-pants.

I'm iffy on doing the same with a topmount i/c though because it seems like the water could accumulate and cause rust or some other problem.

That said,
some models of the Scooby WRX STi came with a water sprayer from the factory:


...so they must be relatively safe if the manufacturer chose to offer it.
They had a button where you could activate it manually, or another button which set it to automatic:



I've also looked into spraying carbon dioxide,
but such kits are rather pricey:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dei-080108

.

 

Back in the day spraying water the IC on the R53 was a thing. I dont see it much anymore.

 

Cool.
Thanks for the info.

Great having you here as you've been around from the beginning days and offer a wonderful fount of knowledge and experience.

Very much appreciated!

Gonna search out some old threads on the topic. Was wondering if anyone ever did that and used the headlight washer tank?
I'm gonna convert from xenon to halogen and won't need that tank anymore anyway.

Chargecoolers (water-to-air) also seemed to be quite popular back in the day, but were a more expensive option.

I often wonder what happened to all these old performance parts that were once sold, laying around in a garage somewhere?

Some parts have seemingly stood the test of time and are still popular today, while others have lost favor and have been forgotten about.

From reading old magazines it seems there was a sort of aftermarket explosion for the R53 with many different options out there. Dunno when the peak was but it seemed booming. Given, there were some fly-by-night companies with shoddy products too though.

We're lucky that the R53 has a big enthusiast base and still has relatively strong aftermarket support.

 

yep, I was on the MINI Forums since 2004 and BMW before that.

I remember when the R53 was first new and people were like is it better than the New VW Beetle in magazines. lol

People though the hood scoop was fake and everyone asked what the MINI was and what is the gas mileage. Then who is it made by and it must be expensive?

Modded R53 was a hot thing ( kind of still is) and finding dealer optioned R53 JCW over 35K was normal. I saw an 52K JCW R52 at my dealer in 2006 and it cost more than most BMWs they had on lot/ lol

Those were the days...

 

I wouldn't think it would really do much. Now spraying it with C02, or some other compressed gas (super cold) would probably do wonders. I've seen some drag racers that spray their intercoolers with a nitrous plate....just to get it super cold, super fast.

 

Seen that and C02. Seen it all since 2004. I remember when the eyes stickers under your hood on the wheel arches were huge.

 

Any word back yet on the rear bumper and a Milltek exhaust?

 

Working with them, they are in Japan. So they take a day to get back, i should know soon.

 

Any word yet on the rear?

 

Sorry for the delay, I contacted them and they were checking into it. I just reached out to them again to see for an update. We are waiting to hear back on carrying their exhaust systems also in the future.

 

Checking back with you on the Garbino rear bumper and what exhaust can be used with it. Also is there a US license plate mount for the front bumper?

 

Officially, Garbino is just going to tell you to buy their exhaust. Otherwise, have a local shop fab up something custom for you.

Use the tow hook receptacle to mount a plate.

 

So my current Milltek exhaust won't fit because of the dual tips correct?

 

Did they design the exhaust outlet sized only for their oval tip?



Too bad there aren't many pix out there regarding the Garbino kit.

Apparently they offer 2 different exhausts, here's a couple of good underbody shots.

oval tip:



twin tip:

 

Just got an update from Garbino, sorry for the delay.

" For Garbino R53 Cooper S Type X Rear " bumper. It is designed to adopt stock location Exhaust set up and Milltek.

If you want that Garbino single tip exhaust will we be adding it shorty. The dual tip garbino exhaust is discontinued.