Hi everyone, brand new here and haven't even placed my order yet... still working on the youification but hopefully will order within the next week ! Was curious as to whether anyone has had any graphics and tinting done other than P&W dealer. If so, could you recommend anyone?

 

We have 2 club members you can send a PM to, MINI2GO (John) has his windows tinted, and TrackToy (Graham) has custom graphics on his car.

My name is Steve, and I am the PittStop MINI Club, President, welcome to the community, tell us a little about yourself, and what you are planning to order when you pull the trigger.

Steve

 

Graham is the englishman who works at P&W, so he's easy to spot...

Come up to the Starlite Car Cruise tonight in Wexford (route 19 just north of Billco VW at Northway), a few of us will be there. And / Or... come to the Beaver Run motorsports complex this weekend, we've got a tent we're sharing with BMW, I'm sure you'll see Graham there, at least on Sunday.

Oh - I'm Leon, the Club Vice Presideent. Welcome aboard!

 

Thanks for the welcom Steve and Leon,
I'm not sure I can make it this weekend to the events but I appreciate the "heads up".
I know exactly who Graham is. He's not my MA but I met him on my second trip to the show room. I'm not looking to do anything crazy with regard to graphics. I was just hoping to get the sport stripe but I want it on the roof in the color of the car (going with the black roof) and I also will have a sunroof. I wanted the stripes extended all the way down to the bottom of the front/back bumpers. I haven't even talked to my MA about it. You can't do it on the configurator though. I just thought I'd reach out to some local club members to see what others have done.
I've learned alot through this forum and when I found the local club, thought I'd say HEY! to the local mini locals.

 

MINI does not specifically have an option for stripes like you describe, not sure of any club members who have done it, but MINI2GO (john) has custom Orange stripes on his bonnet and boot (PW S) not exactly sure who did his stripes, but I am sure he will pipe up soon.

Make sure you watch our club website, http://www.PittStopMINI.org/, as we always have something fun going on. Your first 6 months membership will be paid for by MINI of Pittsburgh when you buy your MINI.

Steve

 

Here I am! I ordered my custom stripes from Cooper Flags. They were very helpful in creating a custom orange for me. I had them installed by the same graphics installer that the dealership uses (Mike).

I had my tint done by Toby of Solar Control. Great guy. Tell him that the MINI Club referred you. Toby also does paint protection film now. He started that after I had mine done.

For the paint protection I used Bruce from The Driver's Edge. Not to take anything away from Toby, but Bruce is one of the best. Here's another endorsement of him.

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks for all of your help! So the installer for the dealership was willing to install graphics you purchased yourself through Cooper flags? If that is correct, then I'm good because there wasn't any installers listed on Cooper flags website. They look like they have a great selection and work with customizing so I think that should be a good fit. Hopefully it won't be too expensive to install.

Do you feel the paint protection is worthwhile? My husband has a BMW 3 series and the front end is covered with stone chips. I'm hoping to avoid that and thought this might work.

Thanks for all of your help!

 

Yep. You got it. Mike even came to my workplace for the install.

Without question, it is some of the best money I have spent. I did not get it on my 2002 MINI and it was a pock-marked, stone-chip disaster. I actually had the front end repainted at about 40k miles. But, at 28K + miles, my 2005 still looks great. Unfortunately, a few wayward stones still managed to find unprotected spots, so there are a few chips.

The only other issue is keeping it clean. You have to keep the edges clean (free of wax build-up, clay, and dirt) in for best appeal. I find that the clay is the hardest to keep from collecting in the edges. Also, lastly, I've found that some bugs and or road tar may stain the film if not clean quickly.

Also, if you decide to do the clear bra, get it on before the stripes. The adhesive for the clear bra is stronger than that on the stripes. Should you ever decide to change or remove the (cheaper) stripes, you can keep the clear bra unaffected.

 

Ditto John's comments on the clear bra - Mine's astro black, and the darker color really shows the stone chips. The mini front end is curved just right so the stones have maximum impact, too. I've seen john's car and the clear is the way to go. On lighter colors the clear bra is slightly more visible than on the darker ones; in either case it's not obnoxious at all.

 

I just oredered my mini and already I'm second guessing my order. Anyone out there have any thoughts about the JCW tuning system?

I ordered a MCS Cabrio and I left all the tuning components to aftermarket parts. Any suggestions for where to start with making my Cabrio last longer and run and handle better. Anyone care to list out recommended mods in order of preference? I wanted to order a few things right away to get them installed when the BABY gets here in June.

 

I'm assuming you ordered the new R56 cabrio (turbocharged, new model), not the previous gen (supercharged) model? IN that case, the factory JCW edition isn't available yet, and your patience may have as much to do with your choice!

Either way, you can get increased performance with the JCW kit - and likely equal that in the aftermarket for less $. Both have their place. There's a good discussion of this here, and another is linked within that thread.

Basically, you do get a lot with the JCW kit, but you pay a lot as well. If that is exactly what you want, perfect! If you'd rather something slightly different (say, you value handling over power), then you're buying stuff you don't need - or will modify anyway.

Nice thing about the Mini aftermarket - most of the available "stuff" works well together. You can (to a point) mix and match one manufacturer's cold air intake with another's exhaust to get the sound you want, without compromising the integrity of the car or the performance gains.

The notable areas of exception are brakes and suspension - in each case you need to get something designed to work together (all 4 brakes from one manufacturer, or a matched set of suspension pieces for all 4 corners).

I'm an R53 (2006 Cooper S) guy, and my knowledge of the turbo minis (2007+ S, 2010+ convertible) is more general than specific around each mod. I've extensively driven the R56 Cooper, S, and JCW and can report that they perform "as advertised". I don't know that the performance gain of the JCW is completely worth the $ unless you want all the badging and exclusivity that goes with that model (which is really cool, and important to some). I believe that JCW levels of performance are available relatively easily in the aftermarket - but with some drawbacks (have to install, make sure they match, and be careful of warranty issues).

One other minor "expense" thing to consider: You have a 36000 mile maintenance / wear item warranty. That does NOT cover, for example, aftermarket brake pads & rotors, only your stock ones.

Either way, you'll have fun!

 

That would be the R57!

 

Ya got me - as usual R56, R57, whatever it takes... you know, the one on the NEW chassis, rather than the old rattletrap that we both drive!

 

I'm sure I'll have my R57 cabrio rattling in no time! Looking forward to rattling with you ASAP. I hoping my BRG cabrio will be delivered in time to attend the PUB event in Ohio.