I guess that would be the "Bone Stock Mini Club"

Not that there's anything wrong with that

 

^^ But what if we aren't bone stock? What if we had money at one point... but now are broke. So our MINIs are rather oddly modded.

 

Front rims = 18in
Rear rims = 17in

??

 

Count me in for the "I am gonna mod one day..."
Club !

 

great idea! poor grad student/indentured servant/professor here.

no money for mods for me, at this point...

 

look for the real cheap mods that are out there. You can make your car a lot better for little or no money...

HAI intake ~$35
One Ball Exhaust <$100
Metal caliper bushings $120. $60 if you only do the front wheels.
Reworked SC inlet duct. $0, just time.
Have a Cooper, get SS+ suspension bits from tuner shops and those that have upgraded for almost nothing.

I'm sure there are more....

Also, save you pennies, and watch the marketplace and eBay like a hawk! My rule of thumb (which I've pretty much stuck to) is 50% of retail for a used mod.

Doing this, you can make little $ go long ways..... Modding can be an afordable addiction, and the satisfaction you get from doing it is much better when you save your $...

Matt

 

I think I'm almost getting #1, but I don't have enough coffee in me yet... so is that saying that for a regular MC going to the tuner shop and asking for the MCS suspension bits from MCSs that have been upgraded?... or am I way off...

As for #2, how do you know you're getting a quality product from eBay? What are some of the "tricks of the trade", if you will, that you use when purchasing aftermarket parts from there?

 

I would join, but my credit card won't let me.

 

I have a HAI coming this week....so does that count? That is the only mod I will have for a while..... Thanks Dr Obnxs!

And your far from stock my friend lol!
-Cody

 

I've gotten plug wires for free from a local shop. (I lost a spark plug once, and it trashed a plug wire). Whole exhaust systems are thrown out when people upgrade (so you can do a one-ball and still have the stocker around, if that's you're bag). I sold a stock rear bar from my S for $10. But really, call around if you have a Cooper, upgrading to the S SS+ suspension is a very inexpensive proposition if there's a shop near by.... I'd bet most of the parts end up in the dumpster....

as far as eBay goes, no special tricks. Don't buy from people with crappy ratings! I've gotten a SC, a head, a rear sway bar (or two) and other bits from eBay, and I've been very happy with all but one, and that one wasn't a rip off, just more worn than I would have liked. I've found the Marketplace here to be much less of a risk....

Matt

 

I'm in the can't-decide-if-I-want-to-spend-my-money-on-mods club. I could spend money on mods (not a lot of money, but some), but I can't convince myself to pull the trigger or find reasons not to.

I could spend $400 on Konig Rewinds, but wouldn't I rather spend $1200 on Panasports and have the real thing? But even Panasports aren't going to enhance the performance of the car, so are they really worth $1200?

I could get springs, but I don't drive my car that hard so their primary function would be lowering my car to scrape whenever I go up or down a driveway.

I could get M7 grilles, but wouldn't I look like a poseur if I didn't do other things to make my car look racier?

I could get a 15% SC pulley, but do I really need my car to be any faster?

etc., etc. Every time someone posts something in one of the mod forums, I get the itch to do something to my car.

So my contribution to the support group is this: I think a good rule of thumb for mods is "If I didn't know mod X existed, would I want still want it?" If I didn't know about pulleys or sway bars or short shifters, etc. would I feel like they needed to be invented? The answer is almost always no. The MINI is a great car out of the box!

Based on that rule of thumb, a Whalen **** is the only thing on my list because I would like the shifter to be smoother.

 

I own a 2004 S. Is the pully the cheepest HP mod you can do and will you notice a difference in performance? If so, what pully?

I have owned my Mini for over 2 months a member here for about the same. I have read a lot of the threads and sometimes get more confused with the replys where some say yes and some say no. (reg gas vs premiam - mileage on oil changes - etc.)

Thanks

 

All of them will give you a very noticable bump in power. Look at the Marketplace, they come up every now and then.

Matt

 

Thats the norm. Just consider ...

Whatever I buy IS the best ...
NO, I bought this and IT is the best.

They are all opinions and opinions and a dollar gets you a cup of coffee

In regards to, for example, gas. I would do whatever your manual says. What would make anyone think they know better than the people who built your car?

 

hey chows4us, Where do you get coffee for a dollar? Thanks for the words of wisdom and I do buy the 93 octane fuel.
Dr Obnxs, thanks to you too for the info. I am going to buy the 15%

 

This is My Money Earning Idea :


It's about 8" High and 3" Detph.

What you do is that you put it in a place that everybody can see it, like in your Mini, or in you Livingroom, mine was in my kitchen because everybody has to eat!!!, and every time you get to your house from work you deposite your pocket money, and anybody who is willimg to cooperate should give a dollar or at least a few change.

I got $150.00 dollars out of it, in 3 months. I know its not much, but only in cents, its pretty good.

Mine says " Recolecta para Modificaciones del Mini Cooper S Por Favor Cooperar" in English that means "Fundraiser for Modifications of the Mini Cooper S please cooperate"

What do you think?? Funny stuff...

 

Count me in this grp. Last thing I did
to my cooper was a brake light diode mod, under 2 bucks, paid in change. Glad im not alone.