I have a mildly modified Mini Cooper S. It's a 2002. I'm sick and have some time, so I did what a car person should never do and added up all the money I spend modding the car to see where I stand. Turns out, if I take out the tires I destroy, I've spend just over $4k on my car.... Here's the brakedown...



This is what it's made of.....


And here's what I've sold.....



What I'm left with on the car....

Suspension:
1) RDR front camber plates
2) H-Sport Springs
3) H-Sport Sport Rear Sway Bar
4) Nice 4-wheel alignment
5) H-Sport Lower Ajustable Rear Control Arms

Power
1) 15% pully.
2) MTH
3) Hot Air Intake
4) Vacuum Gain System
5) Kingborn Wires
6) Iridium Plugs
7) Reworked Bypass valve (free!)
8) One Ball Exhaust.
9) Alta TMIC

Brakes/Tires/Wheels
1) Outlaw B3 Big Brake Kit (big rotors) w/ EBC Red Stuff pads
2) EBC Greenstuff Rear Pads
3) Kozai 17x7 wheels
4) Goodyear F1 GS3G 215-40 ZR 17s

Other Suff
1) Braille Battery
2) Rear Fog Lights

I have some other items that haven't made it onto the car yet, so they aren't in this accounting. But this isn't too bad. I've had the car since Oct 2002, so about 32 months. This is about a $30 a week habit BEYOND the tires I wear out so quickly.

I haven't done a dyno run, so I don't know the power I'm putting out. But it's much more than it came with! Don't know how this compares to a Works car, the mods are pretty similar but I don't have it's head, and the ECU maps are different I'm sure... But I got the TMIC, and the suspension, and the brakes, and some wheels, all at less that JCW installed. And I've had my car to 55k miles too! So warrantee issues are long gone....

If I did it over again, I would have skipped the first StopTech BBK, saving $100 (sold at a bit of a loss). When I got it I just couldn't affort the wheels needed for clearance. So they just sat. Also, I would have done the suspension quickly. The wear on the tires is much more even now, and I think that I would have gotten more miles out of the first couple of sets of tires, that lost the outer edge pretty fast.

Anyway, so far so good!

Next is ported supercharger, and improved low cost exhaust.....

Matt

ps I know that the battery isn't a suspension item, but I got it for the weight loss, so I put it there!

 

yeh, it adds up pretty fast.

 

My suspension on my Mustang was $16k!!! Now that's serious Yikes territory! Think of what $16 k could do to a mini...

Matt

 

This isn't the kind of thread that I would expect to generate lots of posts... after all, what is the question? However, I think it will prove to be very useful to NAMmers over time.

Thanks, doc, for taking the time to compile and post this info. While it's up to each member to determine the ultimate "value" of mods, the "so-what-does-this-literally-add-up-to?" question is almost universal.
I know that I've done quite a few searches here looking for a breakdown exactly like the one you've provided!

So, to make it easier for folks to find your work later... total cost, breakdown, budget, estimate, investment, mod budget, spreadsheet, DIY, what did you spend, net cost, how much, average

 

Actually... that's less than I would have expected given all your mods

 

This is amusing to me, principally because I'm equally ****. I keep a spreadsheet on my desktop of mods that I've done, and mods that I intend to do. I even include the place where I bought or intend to buy the part.

 

I agree, I would've expected the total to be far higher than that. You've got A LOT more mods than I do and 4k is where I would guess I would be at (including labor).

Hey, you wanna do my taxes?:smile:

 

What a great post, thanks Doctor. One could cease smoking and thereby afford those yummy mods. Also, I like the "what you would do differently" part.

I agree with the poster who says you did well on "bang for the buck" ratio, too.

Tatt

 

have you been logging how much you've been spending in gas for the past few years....ya know that sick addictive pitstop you have to make weekly if not more often because the car is so fun to drive you only park it when you have to take a bathroom/food/sleep break

 

Acually, I did a lot of learning with my Mustang. That's probably a $75k car now. (Now that's OUCH!). so what I do is keep in mind what I want to get (got to know the goals) and when I see something that fits the plan at a discount, I jump! Usually works out, but the StopTech kit is an example of how sometimes it doesn't.

So the next mod will be a ported SC. I got one off eBay with 58 miles on it (05 from a works upgrade) for $345 shipped.. When it shows up, it's off to M7 for porting.... So the SC upgrade will be about a grand, but I'll have a used 02 SC to sell, lowering overall costs.

Here's an example.... The Outlaw BBK

Bought used for $430 (including shipping). Added pads ($60) and turned the rotors ($30). Sold the old Rotor (for $75), pads (for $20), Caliper Bushings (for $30) and SS Lines (for $25). This means that I've got a BBK for $370!!!!! That's $530 off new price, and much less than the other brake kits. The compramise is that I really wanted the Wilwood Race set (with 11.75 inch rotors), but for a $530 discount, I can live without!


I added up all the savings for the parts that are really on the car, and it's just shy of $1300. Or a 22% discount over new. Some of the savings is in choices as well...

One-Ball Exhaust $90, compared to $500-$700 for a S catback system
HAI $60, compared to more for the Cold Air Intakes.

Neither work as well, but they get a lot of the job done for LOTS LESS!

Anyway, it sure whas a learning experince for me, as I've been spending, uh, rather liberally! I though it would be higher....

BUT, if I do the SC ($750 after selling the old one), and a AGS Pro ($600), and some sort of advanced tuning ($????) it won't look as good a value. I can't see finding an AGS pro for $200 for quite a while... Bummer!

Matt

 

I don't log just for the Mini, but for all our cars (via Quicken). We live in CA, where gas is expensive, and drive A LOT! (I'm 62 miles round trip to work per day). So we do about $400 a month in gas....

Matt