Just wondering if this is an R53 rear bumper. I'm not familiar with this style, what style is it ? I actually really really like it and if it is an R53 rear I wanna buy it and fit it on..


https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-MINI-COOPER-HATCHBACK-S-REAR-BUMPER-COVER-ASSEMBLY-ELECTRIC-BLUE-R53/283368651214?hash=item41fa1679ce:g:yVUAAOSwRGhcWzO c:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!53154!US!-1

 

I see it's an aftermarket so I don't want it..

 

It is from a CarZone bodykit.

Although NLA,
MiniMania still has a listing with a price of $2,895:

https://new.minimania.com/part/NMX20...Cooper-S-02-06




Note that the arches are flared a bit too, so the rear bumper alone wouldn't line up with a stock body without much modification, if at all.

There was a time period when the aftermarket absolutely blew up for these cars and many different companies made many different things.

There were quite a few bodykits and most look a bit weird to my eye,
but people apparently bought them.

 

Yeah, no...

 

Wow is that expensive . But I have to admit , I like the look of it . It looks like a widebody kit.

 

Indeed.

Devil's advocate:
but we must remember that back then the cars market value was still pretty decent, so it may have made more sense. Right now we are experiencing the rock bottom of the value curve so the early cars are quite cheap. Cult classic status achieved, values will rebound at some point and there are already indicators that it's on the upswing given some certain auction results.

The bumper in the ebay link was made in 2004 as the sticker says.

This thread from 2005 is talking about a Zeemax kit which sold for $4,000 I think?
Lots of interest and many replies:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-body-kit.html

Sadly the op's pix are gone,
but here's what a Zeemax kit looks like:


One of the oddest bodykits I've seen is this one,
looks Audiesque:

 

You don't see these bodykits much anymore, but they were actually installed...

...I have some free time today and was browsing the archives further and found the Audi-looking kit fitted to an R52 at a parking garage in West Hollywood,
if anything else, it's interesting to see:



:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-body-r53.html
:

I often wonder what happened to these highly modded cars from the past, some people put tons of money into them.

Possibly I think I'll search the archives for cool examples and try to find pictures that are still up and make a thread,
R53 heroes from the past type of thing.

 

I looooove kitted cars . On my Thunderbirds I built I always out a different brand on or atleast sc style which is a nice factory bodykit on that model .
i would really like a nice better intake and vented hood for this R53 and actually eBay's widebody kit is ooooook but not nice enough to pay for it new as the Cooper's look nice stock. I just like to have a stand out car and always have ..call me ricer idk lol..
I even REALLY like the gp styled spoiler that eBay has for 250$$ ONLY but as of now I wanna do more go fast parts for now..if I come across something cheap and unique I might pick it up.
I even been keeping an eye out for rear cowl vents and when it's nicer out I might just try and fab something up as I modified my intake to get more air from there and would like to use that air intake better.

 

 

I hear ya & can diggit.

I admit I like the looks of a good bodykit and I even like the extreme stanced cars, but I tend to be somewhat conservative and wouldn't do those kinds of mods myself.

You're right about the go-fast bits, that's the really fun stuff I dream of too,
like sequential gearboxes!

 

LOL

 

This bumper looks like that mask . Just needs the red light

 

Was just browsing and came across this Zeemax fitted R53 so thought I'd add it here just for bodykit reference in case anyone is ever looking.

In the UK it seems that raffles are quite popular and they got numerous ones that do cars,
here's a Zeemax that you could pay around $10 to get a raffle ticket.

https://ukminis.co.uk/blog/competiti...mini-cooper-s/
.




I think that I would have bought a few tickets!

 

That has a crazy amount of work done to it.

 

lol have you seen mine ?
though wow that front end is pretty sweet.. some local guy text me pics of his trunk he completely smoothed out n flattened where the license plate went .idk how I felt about it but it was a clean look for sure.

 

Not in a while, post up a pic.

Its weird all the one off MINIs are in Socal or near west hollywood. But every time i am out in las vegas or the west coast i never see them. Most of them are stock with no mods :(

 

here's a video, don't mind the weak wot pull..lol I short shifted it by like 500rpm n wasnt in the best power range either. I've got a few parts from ecs now and you guys rock !

 

Just came across another old bodykit and thought to put it here for reference --- this was the Minotaur by Contemporary Autocraft, one of the most over-the-top kits I've seen due to the Bugatti-style side treatment + "power bulge" scoop...

...and like many of the others, totally forgotten today for the most part, but man was it wild back in those days when MINI was red hot and everybody wanted a slice of the pie!

One very good reason that you may not have ever seen this thing is because it was expensive as hell LOL like stupid crazy $$$



I always wonder where these kitted cars may be today?

Still around or crushed dead?

I also wonder what they'd look like today after years of use and wear,
like here's a Zeemax that was featured in EuroTuner magazine (found via digital version on Motor Trend) which is freshly installed and even from the smallish pics you can see the ill fitment so I'd reckon such stuff might not age very well?

 

I ABSOLUTELY loooooove that gold n black cooper.. I'm still stuck in the 90s so widebody / bell bottom body kits are what i like...

 

Not sure which kit this is,
but it's pretty cool.

I think my fave is the Shirokai just because I've always loved box flares.

 

Those box flares remind me a lot of the SCCA GTL class classic minis.

 

Some of these bod mods remind me of something I might have fabricated during my young adult years...

 

königseder XXL

 

That is a beautiful MINI. The contours are amazing, looks very high-quality, and rare. A true gem. I would go as far as to say that MINI would come home with me over a '23 Nissan Skyline GT-R were I to pick one.

 

So I've been stuck on these lately..I really REALLY want them. I've actually put my aero bumpers up forsale to attempt and buy these...I LOVE the r56 jcw look and if I could get that look on my r53 , man , that'd put my Grey mini to shame in terms of looks imo.. that rear diffuser setup built into the bumper looks 10x better than my Leap diffuser..