Looks great! Now are you going to do the speaker grills?

 

Interior and exterior door handles as well as the speaker trim are on the list but not sure I'm ready to tackle that next.

 

Just paint the interior chrome... I tried and tried to make the wrap work so that I could peel it if the next owner wanted the chrome... but I gave up. The three main dash pieces (where I put the carbon fiber look) are OK except the two vent cups on each end. They are a monster stretch. Having the chrome gone is soooo much better.

 

Exterior door handles are almost as tough as the gas cap. I searched dozens of videos of door handles, and none of them were as complex as ours. It took a LOT of cold stretching.

Just looked at your dash panels--great job with the CF pattern! Really impressed how you carried the lines through the seams. Looks amazing.

 

I cheated on the vent cups. I never could get them stretched that far. Really can't figure out how you did it with a pattern. 😲

 

Good from far... Far from good. The vent cups have some major curves in the CF pattern and are pulling back a little.... I did get pretty picky about the pattern angle of the carbon fiber.

 

So I found the package on flebay. It was a vinyl wrap for interior parts. It was like 70$ but you get 20$ for submitting 6x good photos . Imo it was a good buy and really made the interior nicer
I would have done my wheel but I'm doing an aftermarket wheel soon so I didnt bother.

 

Do you have more info on those carbon scuttles below the wipers?

 

Next Project: Spec D Tail Lights.
The swap over is pretty straight forward. 10mm nut on the back of the light and then wedge your fingers in to pinch the clips.
My biggest worry on this is hyper flashing... so I bought some extra large resistors just incase these flash.... but so far so good. The resistor that comes with them doesn't seem to get to hot but I still screwed it to the sheet metal so it wasn't flopping around.
Here's some more info on the hyperflashing
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-blinking.html





These are the smoked Spec D Tail LED lights...plugs right into the wiring harness and the resistor is wired in.....but the reverse light is a normal tungsten bulb.



Here's the back of the OEM tail light... you can see the two clips.




Attached the resistor to the screw that hold the amp in place. No drilling.


One old, one new.
I'll try and post some night pictures. So far I'm pretty stoked on these.

 

Next Project: Air plate diverter (or whatever you call it)
Benefit is probably minor but it's a good DIY.

 

I'm lining up some winter projects.
Resonated or Non-resonated Milltek cat-back exhaust?
Based on my research, Milltek is the sweet spot for cost, performance, sound, and fit.

Pros for Non-resonated: Lighter and less back pressure.
Cons: Louder.
Anything else I should consider?
I'm leaning towards the resonated. I'm not sure I'm quite ready for the Mini to go that loud, but how loud is it?

 

I agonized over this decision.

I ended up buying the non resonated. I am a 55 year old who grew up with muscle cars. I generally like a deep, relatively quiet idle and part - throttle sound, that roars when you punch it.

But I don't want highway drone, or even noticeable volume at cruising speed.

My advice: search hard to find someone near you with the setup you are considering, and see if they will give you a ride. The YouTube videos didn't help me at all. I couldn't find any way to listen in real life, so my strategy ended up being:

Buy the non - resonated, because it's cheaper. If I hate it, I can always try to find someone on the forum with a resonated section that wants louder, and swap mid pipes. Worst case, I have to buy a new resonated mid pipe.

Final review: It's perfect 90% of the time. My only complaint is when running 30-45 on city streets, it can be a little "buzzy" if I'm in a lower gear at higher rpms. I generally tend to keep it in the gear that has me closer to 3k, rather than a higher gear at lower rpms. That can be a bit much, but that's probably more attributable to other mods that have increased NVH over stock. Normally resolved by up shifting. It's not so bad I want to buy a new mid pipe.

Bottom line-you're not gonna KNOW until you get it installed. Take your best guess, and work from there.


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Highly recommend ordering some new exhaust hangers for the rear inside (see pics on my thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ates.html#post 4551257).

There's a good chance yours are torn, and you're not going to get the new exhaust adjusted properly with torn hangers.

 

Consider pacesetter , imo by looking at all the available exhausts i don't see any that would flow better other than this single muffler pipe one I seen..its priced well too and imo SOUNDS GREAT ! not just because its mine but I think the pacesetter is best sounding exhaust BUUUUT if you have catless headers like I do it is abit loud but a good loud and its just fine under 3k rpm soundwise so when your cruising its not annoying..I come from owning v8 muscle so thats the sound I like , deep and throaty not canny or tinny like most sound on these cars..the pacesetter is throaty

https://www.autoanything.com/exhausts-mufflers/77A2451A4259012.aspx?kc=GOOGADW&DZID=PLA_g_1776971 484_74555110692_10190-2451-3038702_m&utm_source=g&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign =1776971484&utm_content=74555110692&utm_product=10 190-2451-3038702&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnb79BRDgARIsAOVbhRqDZo7wmTnA xqGPqGJB3-m8kf4txK8l6-kd4j7H2Qne6JXojk_-UCoaAh97EALw_wcB

 

Good tips from Husky44

I went from a JCW catback to a Gravity Performance exhaust and I love it. It sounds way more mature, but has some mild drone on the highway (not too obtrusive). it's very hard to judge from movies, as sound is very subjective. Hope my review might assist you in your search!

 

My 2 cents...
Get the resonated Milltek. I have a friend with it on his Gen 1 JCW and it has a great sound. He has had it on the car for as long as I can remember; a number years now. I put an Invidia exhaust on my first Gen 2 S and came to very much dislike it. Up to 60 mph, it had a great sound. Above 60 on the highway, it would drone and the drone would get worse going up hill. The drone wasn’t particularly loud, just really annoying Because of that, I left the exhaust stock on my current Gen 2 S. I have talked with people who have the same drone issue with the Borla exhaust.

 

Thanks everyone one for the input. Very consistent with what I've researched. All things considered, I'm still leaning towards the resonated version.
I'm going to crawl under the car and check the hangers before I order... thanks Husky44

Doesn't Way Motor Works or ECS have a big Black Friday sale?

 

I bought a resonated version for my 2004 MCS. Wasn't loud enough. Bought the straight pipe and swapped the resonator out. A bit louder but by no means too loud.

 

Yep, and it's on now! WMW has 20% off plus free shipping, which IIRC is even better than what I got. I watched these two websites for almost a year, and I am pretty sure this is the best price you'll see.

 

You're correct the Milltek is already on sale and won't get any cheaper as they out did themselves this year as the Millteks haven't been this cheap since like 2007. We also have FREE Shipping on them.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/milltek/

 

Kapooow! Christmas came early.

 

Looks familiar! Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas!

 

I'm loving this thread. How do you like the R56 Calipers on track? I've got some in the mail on their way to me. I'm hoping they can help with the minor brake fade I've experienced at track days.

 

I know your question was aimed at the OP, but I will add my experience - You should find them to be a really good improvement over the Gen 1 brakes. However, if you are experiencing brake fade on the track, that can also be due to the pads you are using, if they are something other than a full race pad. The MINI brakes will tend to run hot, hotter than what the OEM or “street/track” pads are made for. A really good option with those brakes are the Carbotech XP10 race pads.