I recently took the MINI for a quick drive as the sun was peaking out in Seattle as she has been in hibernation since Sep. Then the hamsters in my head started turning for me to come to a realization that she is the vehicle that I / we have owned the longest and still love every min of it. We typically get new cars every 2 to 3 years. She sure had a lot of garage mates over the years. We bought her in March of 2005 w/ 9k miles from its original owners. She is now close to 60K miles and still putting smiles to our faces. I also realized that after all these I have not started a thread on this forum about our little family member.

This was my girlfriends' (now wife) dream car back in the day and they were super hard to get at the time. She wanted a Red on with white stripes and Dark Silver with white stripes was her second choice.

This particular car was custom ordered by its owners (most of them were at the time) and they decided to trade it in after couple of years. Back then this particular car was out of our budget but seeing how clean it was along with low miles and an intact factory warranty we took her home. We also loved the Lapis Blue interior and have not seen one in real life prior to this car. My girlfriend was so nervous she could not drive it home from the dealership :-)

1st couple of years of ownership, it was her daily driver but then starting around 2010, she became a garage queen and a fair weather weekend car. It is also super funny for me to see her in the background in many instances while I am taking pics of other cars. I will post some of them below.

She has also been one of the trouble free 2002 cars as we never had anything major go wrong with it. I have changed the oil religiously every 5k miles early on and now she gets annual service sometimes at as low as 300 miles.

Early on, she had many many recalls and driver side window motor went out but that is pretty much it. There was a coolant leak from thermostat housing and we eventually started getting hissing sound from brake master cylinder which got replaced. M7 strut reinforcements were installed right away and we ditched the 17" runflats to 16" go flats early on. Her suspension and other components are still in pretty good shape for the miles and besides its wheels, car is 100% stock. I use 100% ethanol free gas and only use OEM MINI parts for service. She gets details (including undercarriage) and servicing more than anything else these days.

I wanted to share some pics of her from the past as she is always photo bombing and wanted to thank the community for all the help over the years. Last 2 pics are the most recent ones. I constantly find myself wanting to take the mini out vs the 911TT that she is now garage mates with.

Let me know if you have any questions & etc what it is like to be with the same MINI for 16 years :-)

Next Day after purchase.... March 2005




Her new friend. Euro delivered E92 335i Dec 2006


She is getting used to having BMWs as her mates by now. 2011 E92 M3.....also Euro Delivered ......June 2011




Welcoming home a 2014 Audi SQ5 (we still own the Audi) April 2014

Welcoming a 2015 Subaru Legacy 3.6R Sep 2014



Her next mate was a 2016 BMW 535..... and she never got along with bikes! Summer 2017




More bikes!



Summer of 2017 she was introduced to a real Brit..... 1992 XJS Coupe (not sure how that relationship is going)



Sunny Summer Day in Seattle 2017


This happened right before above pic was taken :-)




Her latest crib and friends



Foam Baths are FUN!!!




Quick Winter drive to Lake Washington

 

I've been with mine for just over 17 years now. Original owner, picked it up from the dealer in August 2003.
Only options on top the the JCW tune are HK stereo, fog lights and cruise control.
Was a DD for the first 4-5 years and then became a garage queen. About 106K miles on it now. Currently under going minor repairs but is in excellent condition otherwise (I'll pat myself on the back for diligent maintenance).
Time flies when you're having fun I guess. I'm waiting for the day when I can register it with historic plates. It will look kinda weird/cool I think. I don't ever plan on selling this car.

 

I haven’t had mine for 16 months, let alone 16 years. So fantastic time see the Mini sticking with you through thick and thin. I wish I’d kept my first! Congrats and happy continued motoring.

 

I've had mine 16 1/2 years, 170K on it now.

 

Awesome to see we are not the only ones. Every time a thought crossed my mind about selling her, it just did not make sense.

A. At this point I know all of its history and how its been maintained with an open check book
B. IF I were to sell it, she is probably worth 5-6K which I would rather keep based on the smiles she continues to provide.
C. The idea if it going to some kid only to be modified and turned into something (who knows what) then trashed just not acceptable

 

I’m that Kid! 😂😊

 

Had mine since summer 2003 - photo above was from around 2004 maybe. Lovely, lovely car - will never willingly part ways with it. I wouldn't buy another new Mini, (nor a turbo one - I like the S/C too much!). They have deserted the ethos they created.

 

Great story, and nice taste in cars

 

I follow your build thread and we totally think alike. I would have zero problem selling you any of my cars.

I love what you have been doing to your R53!

 

I LOVE the yellow Volvo 850 T5R!

We've owned our R53 since May 2003 and put over 158k miles on it since. Such a fun car!

 

Thank you. This is my 3rd T-5R and it took me over 10 years to find this example. It is completely original one owner car with 42K miles. Her and the MINI are the permanent members of the stable going forward for sure. It would of been awesome to have a yellow MINI as a garage mate though.

 

Quick Update: I was so happy with the body shop that did some work on one of my other cars, I decided to tackle a little project that I have been ignoring for years now, years! = The MINI!



See back in 2002, I did not believe in paint protection film (PPF) and naturally did not install one on the MINI when we got her and that was a big mistake on my part.



Her front end, bumper, trim pieces are really exposed to the elements and get pitted very easily and our car was no exception. Front looked like it was sand blasted and filled with chips. She looked great from a distance but as you get close, it was obvious and I had to do something about it.



The problem is, as we all know, these guys have bunch of trim pieces (grill, grill upper trim, grill lower trim, bumper trim, lower bumper trim, hood scoop, stripes, side arches & etc) which all had to be removed which I did. Then she went on her merry way to the body shop for a refinish. After paint was cured but before anything was installed, I had to protect the paint with the latest and the greatest paint protection film and then install everything back. I was dragging this project bec of body shop coordination, new parts (STILL waiting for some pieces) and taking her to my PPF guy while the car was still in pieces, then put everything back together on top of PPF so that no one can tell there is PPF on the car. -You do all of this if you suffer from serious OCD.



Of course, I ordered brand new trim pieces from washer jets to headlight surrounds to all undercarriage plastic pieces that were scrapped over time. Front of the MINI is brand new at this point.



All of that took a while and she is almost done after 3+ months of work. Here is some pics of the progress.......



You get the idea from this picture







Evertthing that will be replaced are removed and she is headed to body shop & I took measurements of the stripes for future reference











This was a sad scene as this spot is almost never empty







But her new replacement parts continued to arrive







A week later she was back & her 1st wash before installing everything back on











New turn signals going in








Up on jacks for rest of the install and undercarriage detail [img]data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7[/img]








Almost there











I am currently waiting on upper grill trim to show up as it has been a challenge to locate the correct part as it is NLA.

I am using that as an excuse to continue detailing madness :-)

 

NICE! Can't wait to do the same to mine - probably not this year now as I just spent way too much on seats, but need to do the hood and the front bumper. Will be doing the same thing - new trim bits after paint.

Looks great!

 

You've reminded me I need to give Egan a good detailing this year. I'm in the process of replacing the shocks/struts/springs (FINALLY!), and I'm looking forward to the much improved ride. 166k miles on the original springs and shocks is not the most pleasant thing.

Oh, and love your garage setup! Wish my ceiling was tall enough to install a lift, but never say never.

I notice you're running the Rota RBs. Those are the 16x7's, correct? What size tire you running with your Conti DWS?

 

Volvo 850 T5-R?

 

Thank You.

I recommend ordering all the parts before you start the project as some parts are NLA.

Finding the correct old style upper grill trim piece has been a true adventure.

Thank you.

Yes, wheels are Rota RBs and the tires are 205 / 50 / 16

Yes, indeed, the ultimate garage queen / museum piece.

 

Nice, also in original color and on Pegasus wheels

 

Thank you. It is in as delivered condition from new. The only thing that have been changed besides service items are the tires.

You guys have some great examples in the NL, good ones are pretty much unattainable / don't exist on this side of the pond.

 

But even in the Netherlands, they are becoming very scarce. They are pretty much unicorns on the open road haha

 

Original owner in Minnesota, USA maintains R50 through 16 winters!


Coldest outdoor temperature record holder:

No mods whatsoever, just stock Cooper with separate set of matching holies with Blizzaks for the snow!