I know it sounds like a silly question, but I bought what turned out to be a modded '04 S from a clueless dealer who thought it was all stock, and I'm trying to figure out what all has been done. I'm new to Minis, but I'm a long time VW and BMW guy. So far I've found cross drilled rotors, CAI, Magnaflow exhaust, and a strut brace. My car looks lower than the pics I've seen of stock cars, and I haven't found another Mini to park next to and compare. Can anybody tell by the pics? Any way for me to tell what springs I have if so? Thanks

 

 

it looks like it has been lowered, but im no expert. nice looking cooper tho!

 

Well, it looks like it might be a little lowered, but I can't be certain.

The big thing I noticed was the painted Aero kit and wheel arches. They were never available painted from the factory on the first-gen cars, so that's something that the previous owner probably paid about $1100-1500 for, above and beyond the cost of the Aero kit itself.

Sweet-looking car, regardless!

 

Hard to tell with the lighting but if it was, it was a mild drop. Check the springs, stock are black. Aftermarket are usually another color.

 

Well, that's something else I didn't know. I'll be glad when I finally figure out what the hell I own

 

It's a pretty desirable mod, by most accounts. (I currently have a new full set of trim pieces for my wife's Pepper White MINI waiting to be painted and installed).

Here's what the Aero kit looks like from the factory:




As you can see, most of the front bumper and the door sills are normally painted body-color on the Aero kit, but your car has had *all* of the front bumper and the wheel arches painted as well.

 

Hard to believe that a dealer thought the mini was stock... but does that mean you got it at "stock" pricing?!!! i sure hope so, because that's definitely a pretty package of "mods" (in this case, the word "mods" could be interchangable with the word "upgrades"). was it a mini/bmw dealer, or a used car guy?

i feel like the magnaflow should have been a dead giveaway for even the biggest newb. given the dealers cluelessness, the way in which the mods were installed might be more important than the mods itself. the painted wheel arches mostlikely give the appearance of a more significant drop... that said, it's not that low... but my first move would be to look under the car for a skid plate.

if no skid plate, then pop the most explicit rap cd you can find into your cars(potentially modded) sound system, find the nearest school-zone, start speeding, and let the speed bumps roll!!!!!!

seriously though... it appears lower in the back than in the front. that might be the weight of the body, in the first photo. not sure. on the other mods, check for clean work. if anything looks dodgy, or unprofessional, take it to an authorized mini/bmw/shop and have them check it out. go for their option that has as many numbers as possible and then "point inspection" after it.

okay, good luck

 

stick your head by your tire and look up at your springs

its easy to tell if you have stock springs, and honestly the painted arches and kit really make the car look even lower!

 

Wow welcome to your new addiction ....so how much did u get this babee for??


oh and yah it has been lowered and moded a bit

 

I had been shopping for a Mini for the last couple of months and found this one at a Nissan dealer. I knew the exhaust and CAI weren't stock, so I asked the salesman about any mods. He said "It's all factory as far as I know". It was a damn good price and low miles so I jumped on it. After some research I figured out what the exhaust was, and that the rotors weren't stock. This car has most of the mods I would have done anyway, I just don't get the pleasure of doing them myself, although finding what has been done is kind of like an easter egg hunt. Every thing seems to be quality parts and installed with care so I'm happy. Like I said before, not a car noob, just a Mini noob I'm also wondering about things like the supercharger pulley and engine software. Thanks for all the help and please feel free to educate me if I am wrong about something.

 

$16,500 with 23k miles

 

I would definitely check out the supercharger pulley. The stock one is plain black with a plastic cap in the center, while most of the aftermarket ones are either stainless steel or have some kind of logo/engraving on them (or both). A pulley is a pretty low-buck/high-return mod, so it would be in line with the other things the previous owner did to the car.

 

Hmm, the pulley is black and I can see 4 allen bolts. No logos that I can see.

 

If you've got allen bolts on the pulley - congratulations, it's an aftermarket reduction pulley! I don't know how to tell whether it's a 15%, 17% or 19% reduction pulley other than to take it off and measure it, but if you can read a part number off of the serpentine belt that drives the supercharger, that would give you a clue. If it's a stock belt, your pulley is almost certainly a 15% reduction (which is the most-commonly used size). If it's a longer-than-stock belt, it might still be a 15%, or it might be one of the other sizes.

 

Man am I getting happier with my purchase by the minute! Thanks for the help!!!

 

You're welcome - I'm excited too, and it's not even my car! Have you checked the springs yet? Like "belikeanthony" said, the stock springs are black, while many of the aftermarket ones are colored. The stock springs will also have small spots of colored paint on them to identify the spring rate.

Although I swear, if you find out your car has something like CROSS or Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, you should go buy a lottery ticket!

 

The suspension looks stock (black springs) but the fender/tire gap still looks smaller than some of the others I've seen. At least that's something I can look foward to doing myself. I'm doing an autocross at the end of the month and there are a few Mini guys there who can take a look at it. Hey, if you ever need help with motorcycles let me know and I can return the favor.

 

TSW springs are black.

 

Well, some of the aftermarket springs are black as well. I happen to have a stock set in front of me from a 2005 or 2006 'S', and the middle coil of each spring has two rectangular paint marks. One spring has a blue mark and a grey mark, and the other spring has two grey marks. (If you do find paint marks, they may be different, since the factory uses different spring rates depending on the options the car has. But if you do see two paint marks on the springs, they're probably stock).

 

He probably knew it was modded, but believe it or not mods often bring down the value of a car so he feigned ignorance.

Great car by the way!

 

I don't see any paint marks, and while I had my head under there I noticed my rear sway bar is blue. I'm guessing that's not factory?

 

I don't know, he told me it was peppermint white with a turbo motor

 

Yep - that's an aftermarket sway bar as well. The hits just keep on coming!

You may as well post a picture of the engine bay when it's daylight out - you might have an upgraded intercooler or some other goodies there besides the CAI and strut brace you've already found.

EDIT - Also, with the car on and the doors closed, lower one of your windows, wait a few seconds, and then give the window toggle switch a quick double-tap upward and see if your window goes all the way up automatically. The 2004 MINIs didn't have auto-up from the factory, but there's a pretty popular aftermarket circuit by Ian Cull that adds the capability, so the previous owner may have added it. If not, I'd seriously advise getting one, and there's a group buy for them going on now.

 

Also, when you think about it, check if the speaker grilles in the front doors have "Harman/Kardon" embossed on them. That would be a pleasant discovery as well.

In fact, if you didn't get a window sticker with the car, go to your local MINI dealer and ask them to run the VIN. They can tell you all of the options and packages the car shipped with. They can also tell you if the previous owner purchased an extended warranty or extended maintenance agreement through MINI.