I picked up my BRG 06 R53 last year. This was my first car that I've owned for myself in 3 years. Prior to that, I've been driving a demo car from work. Sure, we have a family car but I didn't drive that daily, my wife does. Anyway, I was searching for a BRG R53 with leather and 3 spoke wheel and cruise control. These are all trivial things but I commuted 80 miles a day at the time so those were some things I placed importance on.

I found my R53 at a local dealer and took it home. It had black leather, cruise, and pano-roof (which I would prefer to not have). The prior owner painted the headlight rings, but that was just starting to peel. He also joey modded the headlamps and painted the mirrors. I looked at the engine when I got home even closer. He installed a Way Motorworks 15% pulley, Dinan airbox, drilled and slotted rotors with new pads front and rear, stripes, JCW Challenge wheels, and the JCW grills. Within a couple weeks, the o-ring for the thermostat failed but the dealer I bought it from was kind enough to pay for the part from Mini and I installed it myself.

How I got it.




I immediately took it to the track for a HPDE with my brother in his 911 C4S and my Dad in his 03 Vette. It did quite well for mostly stock but certain things became evident. The car needed more front camber first and foremost and a little different spring rate in the rear wouldn't hurt either. Also, the control arm bushings were starting to wear on the passenger side. The car also needed real track wheels with R compound tires.



It was time for springs and poly control arm bushings. I had picked up some Powerflex bushings and Ireland Engineering was blowing out their last set of Vogtland springs for cheap. I had experience with them from my VW/Audi days so I picked them up. It's still not quite low enough up front and I would like a degree of negative camber so I am going to modify the strut bearing / spring hat to be 1" shorter and get some camber plates.





In the meantime, I chose to spray the headlight rings, hood scoop, scuttles, gas door, and rear hatch trim black. I chose to use plasti-dip to see how I would like the look before going to a permanent solution. In the end, I think I will leave the hood scoop plasti-dipped as I like the matte finish - reminds me of a muscle car, and I will paint the scuttles, gas door, and rear hatch trim all black. I am undecided as to whether i will paint the headlight rings black or green but will probably not leave them chrome. Regardless, the headlight rings will be replaced with new ones as they were scuffed to be painted body color by the prior owner.




I pulled off the stripes around the same time. I didn't like them so it was time to go. The paint was faded when the stripes were pulled and some of the clear peeled off when I was removing them. A good friend owns a body shop so off to the shop for some paint lovin.



The end result - glass baby



I also decided to do my mirrors in Chili Red. I may leave it, I may not. I'm undecided but the previous owner's refinish of them to body color was not looking so hot.



6 weeks ago, the seal for the PTO on the rear of the charger failed sucking supercharger oil in thru the charger and cooler coating my MAP sensor causing it to fail. I yarded off the charger and sent it to be rebuilt. It's taken quite some time but with a main highway closed and a train accident stopping shipping, there isn't much I could do. She's back today though so she should be going back together soon. While she was apart, I installed a new engine mount, M7 catch can, some factory exhaust tips for my soon to be "one-ball" exhaust, ordered the fuel filter, and short shifter. Because of the catch can, i also had the PCV line from the charger blocked off so it's no longer in need.

Blocked off PCV



New Alta 17% instead of the WMW 15%



M7 catch can



A little spice to the engine bay (I'm sure the Alta sticker and red paint are good for 15whp)



Alta Tensioner adjuster / stop instead of the janky pneumatic thingy with bushings that always fail



Factory tips I got for free. They look a lot better than the ugly stock tips and should work well with my future "one-ball" til I pony up for something better.



I start putting it back together tonight and will post the finished product.

Future mods are, in no particular order:
Water/Meth using a headlight washer reservoir as my tank.
Injectors
Tune
header/exhaust
white vinyl over the moonroof glass to make it look like no moonroof and also keep the summer heat down

Anyway, thanks for looking

 

Nice , looks like you have the sport dual tips.

Exhaust Pipe Tips Chrome Sport - Pair Part # 82120410150

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/82120410150/




Little bit more here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...beer-cans.html

 

Those are the one. Yeah, they came in the factory BMW parts box. Some dude bought them new, never used them, and sold them to my brother for $50 and my brother owed me so they came my way.

 

Great, looks good. In the thread link there is a person who painted the install black to change the look a little. Think it looks pretty cool.

 

I like it. And I like the way you own it. Cheers

 

Thanks for the kind words, both of you.

Reset the ECU today so the adaptations can be re-learned. Runs like a champ.
The finished product.

 

The SC painted horns looks great also.

 

Thanks!! I figured I would paint everything while apart. A little extra effort.

 

Welcome, did you paint the IC black also. Little blurry in the pic.

 

I did. I was on the fence about the possibility of trapping heat but I figured that there are plenty of intercoolers and radiators out there that are painted black so what the heck.

 

Put some M5 brake ducts in the front grill. Completely aesthetic and non-functional but so are 90% of the ones guys run on the E39 M5 so I figured why not.

 

The car is in good hands. You definitely made it better. I'd paint the duct rings matte black. They stand out too much. But, don't listen to me, my taste is more towards the OEM+ look.

 

I'm on the fence with doing them black. I just don't want the paint to get rock chipped. That and I did want them to stand out a little

 

This happened this weekend. This was a test run but I think I want to make it permanent.
On a side note, I need to get this thing lower in the front. Time to fabricate something up.

 

Black R112 MINI challenge cross spokes on the BRG looks great.

 

I agree. I was fortunate enough to buy the car with them. It's one of the best looking factory wheels. I was considering doing them in bronze/gold but I'm on the fence. The red roof is enough for right now.

ECS - it's too bad no one makes lowering spring hats like they do on all the MK1-MK3 VW cars because I am not low enough up front and I don't have the money for coilovers. If you ever run across anything, let me know.

 

Wrapped the dash in grey vinyl, the down tubes and steering wheel trim in black alcantara, and painted the bezels. Turned out ok. I am considering a brighter red for the bezels. Also deleted the phone buttons from the steering wheel since they are not usable anyway.

 

put some new shoes on last night. Slipstreams with 225/45/16 Dunlop Direzzas. Now I just gotta get the front down a little more.

 

Nice. I did my bezels, cup holder rings, shift boot ring & emergency brake handles in Chili Red, which I had the local auto paint supplier mix for me. Dash panels and speaker covers are painted in Rustoleum Hammered Black.

 

Did u remove the steering wheel trim, or do it with them attached?

 

I removed the 3 pieces of trim and did them off the wheel and then installed them. worked out really well.
The dash has since started peeling because of the adhesive I used. It can't handle the hot weather so I will be redoing it yet again.

 

Great car and a great read... the title says it all and I can relate. I regret none of it though. I too have a BRG R53 and was originally toying with the red accent idea also. Ended up doing a color matched Charcoal for my accents instead, I'm a chicken. Considering the originals often had red carpet and interior accents regardless of body color your choice is pretty nostalgic. Love the wheel and tire size you went with. I like the higher sidewalls on a wider 16" wheel, way better ride out of the car too and looks a little less tuner to me.
Looking forward to the updates!

 

Kevin,
Thanks for the kind words. I've always been a black with red accent fan since my GTI and Corrado days. I dig the 225/45 tires. I want this particular car to be a fun street driver since I now have access to a dedicated track car. This has changed how I see my future mod list. I don't see any need for a big brake kit now, nor a rear sway bar since I won't be on the track with this. I do need to come down another inch up front but I'm working on a solution for that and a very unorthodox one at that.

 

With you on this, even sold my latest race simulator to finish mine so this is my only performance driving at the moment.

 

I stripped the plasti-dip off the other day. I'm diggin the look but I'm also missing the Challenge Spokes.