I think this is the right forum to post this in.. Anyway, today I purchased a 2004 Mini Cooper S with 93,000 miles on it. I'll post some pictures on it whenever I actually get it in my possession. I'm already thinking of mods for it haha, the first things I want to do to it is to fix the slightly mushroomed strut tower and then put craven defenders on the top and madness reinforcement plates on the bottom. Then probably koni yellows for the struts and I haven't decided on what type of lowering spring to use. I don't want too crazy of a drop. But anyway, I'll try to answer any questions you guys have about it and I'll definitely have some of my own.

 

Good luck. Welcome aboard.

 

Congrats on the new car....
You can bash tye strutower with a 2x4 and hammer back into shape, then do the springs/struts/dedenders...the undertower ones will raise the car a bit...if you are lowing the car, koni sports are a good option as are tsw springs from waymotorworks.com
Congrats on the new car again, and have a blast!! Welcome to the mini hobby...er..addiction!!

 

haha thanks guys, I'm actually considering the Ireland Engineering Camber plates instead, form>function haha. and the car will definitely be lowered, thanks for the suggestion!

 

After reading the description on the Ireland engineering website about their camber plates, they said that lower springs would make the camber more, does anyone know how much more or a website that might have this info? And I have no idea what springs I want, any suggestions their would be helpful

edit, nevermind on the camber plates, I did some research and it looks like I'm going to go with an adjustable camber plate, I don't know what brand yet though

 

You will likely want adjustable endlinks for the rear to fix the camber there...or you will go through tires quickly.....
Lowering springs are mostly for looks....and other adjustments must be made to matain handling, ride quality, and tire wear.

 

Yeah i know the springs are mostly for looks, and I was thinking about the rear already. I want them to match up. Well, on July 5th I picked up my new car! Obviously a 2004 mini cooper s, it has 93k miles. I'll post some pictures of it on here probably tomorrow after I get it all cleaned up.

 

I've been looking at rims for the car, and I am completely lost on the measurements and the recommended tire size measurements. I measured the rims on my car thinking since it's a circle I can just measure the circumference, but I got about 18'' which I assume means I'm not measuring the right places.

 

Congratulations!

 

18" circumference makes for one really small rim! In this link there is lots of really good info regarding wheels and tires. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...and-brakes-36/

The best thread in that forums is the "show off your wheels" and "show off your wheels 2.0" lots of pictures and lots of info about tire and rim size.

Kind of depends on what you're looking for. Do you want your wheels to stick out or be flush woth the body? Do you want your wheel wells completely filled up or have some space left over? Etc... Most people seem to be running on 17x7s or around that size. Some of the 18s looks too big in my opinion unless it's pulled off right.

 

pi x D = C
18" = pi x D
D= 18/3.14 = 5.7
So the rim is 5.7" Diameter

 

not the circumference but the diameter, lol my bad. I ordered some craven speed tower defenders and a stubby antenna which should be here in a couple of days. I got the oil changed and the next thing I am going to do is change the fuel filter. Also sometimes when I turn off the mini a really loud fan comes on. I turn it on and off until the fan turns off with the car like its supposed to. It sounds like its coming from the radiator area? I don't know but any help on what it could be will be appreciated. This has happened twice. Other than that no problems.

 

The fan is normal and should shut off after a few minutes.

When will we get to see some pictures?!

 

Tomorrow there will be a few pictures of the new mini

 

here are the pictures guys, not the best because I was rushing but oh well. I've decided to not lower it because there's hardly any gap right now. I do however want to replace the shocks still. Should i get new OE springs at the same time as the shocks?

 

Springs should be good for life....for all intents and purposes...

 

Nice! We have the same color except i have a silver roof. Makes me miss the sunroof on my old r50. Not sure if you like the look but i highly suggest blacking out all the chrome looks outstanding on the dark silver!

 

Coolio another 2004! Best year to mod and make insane! My advice is Mod Mod Mod as best u can!!!!!

I went the excotic route modding. For suspension I recommend Billstein. I think I have pics on my gallery from like 4 or 5 yrs ago.

I just repainted my NEEZ black so I have to post new pics I guess.

 

The fan will run after you turn off the MINI. There is nothing wrong. Before I installed the aerogel after driving hard the cooling fan would kick on for 5 or 10 mins after shut down. No big deal. With the aerogel installed the fan no longer kicks on.

 

Yeah I do plan on doing a lot of mods to this mini over time. I plan on having it for the next four years (through college) so that will give me plenty of time to work on it.

 

And what is aerogel?

 

Sometimes when I startup the mini and go out of first gear there is a weird like squeak? Other than that no problems, I'll be changing the fuel filter tomorrow in preparation for my road trip down to Orlando. Should I go coilover or strut/spring? The cost should be about the same but does one have advantages over the other? Eventually I will get some camber plates and rear control arms.

 

Coil-overs would be my suggestion.

Reasons:
1. the good sets have dampening and spring rates that are tested and well matched
2. the adjustable spring perches give you control of the ride height
3. the adjustability also permits corner weighting

But plenty of folks have good things to say about both options...

Cheers,

Charlie

 

So I just changed the fuel filter and now my car won't start. I don't think the big think o ring is in the right place but I'm not sure where it goes? Any input would be appreciated

 

Fuel filter is a huge pain the first time you do, the problem was the over-sized vaico (i think) rings. I ordered a OE filter kit just to be safe and start over, got my neighbor to help me and we changed it in about ten minutes, the hardest part was getting the plastic pieces of the can to go back together firmly. After that I ordered my cabin air filter, pulled out the old one then popped in the new one, the old one wasn't too gross. Other than that the MINI is running fine, right now I'm just trying to think of what to do next to it. I'm debating installing coilovers and slamming it or putting new tires/rims on it first. Opinions appreciated