Hello all!

Happy to be back on the Mini train. Just picked up a 2019 Hardtop S. Had to look and look to find a manual car that wasn't $5K overpriced. Hard part was finding a manual. Apparently they don't put manuals in sporty cars very often any longer. I ended up with a newer car then I really wanted and also a Certified Mini which is good and bad. Warranty is always nice, but it also means I have to keep my greasy fingers off it..... I will explain.

This is my second Mini. We unfortunately had to let our 04 go last year due to some family stuff. It was a forth car and was expendable when we needed to free up some cash. We really missed the car so I started a hunt for another one. The 04 was a 2 door S that had been pretty heavily modified and was north of 250 hp. So needless to say when I test drove the 2019 I was disappointed in the 189 hp. To the point I thought something was wrong with the car. After driving a couple other cars I realized that was just what they were. I bought my 04 already north of 200 hp so I didn't really have a stock power baseline.

So I was really looking for a car I could start building. Unfortunately I ended up with a car under warranty for 2 more years I have to leave alone. The dealer is telling me basically I can't touch the car or I will void my warranty. I have never dealt with a mini dealer before so can some share experiences with dealers and adding to their cars? I have decided to order the JCW tune kit and have the dealer install and flash the ECM. They gave me a good deal on the kit. I wish it added more than 15 hp. The positive is that it maintains the warranty.

I will say the car is night and day from the 04. Went from a very fast beer can to a very solid car that feels and drives like a BMW.

 

Welcome back!