R50/53 4 years
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Coordinator :: Sin City MINI Club & AMVIV
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,587
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas
4 years
Happy birthday to Alice (my 03 MCS).
I ordered him 4th of July weekend in 2002 and he arrived 23rd of October, 2002. At pickup, he was a LY/B MCS with black bonnet stripes, OEM rally lights, the MFSW, v-spoke 16" wheels, cloth seats, dealership tinted windows and otherwise bone stock. No packages, no extra computing power, no leather, no sunroof, no nothing.
Today, after 4 years as my daily driver, he has had the rallys tinted yellow and covered with wire grilles. His front grilles, boot handle and bonnet scoop have been replaced with black ones. There are yellow stripes on the roof that line up with the black bonnet stripes. The mirror caps are yellow. The tail lights have been blacked out, and the rear fog lights light up with the brakes. The white side indicator lenses were swapped for the yellow ones off a Cooper. The wheels are anthracite Flik Wasps with custom Sin City MINI Club center caps. The antenna is yellow and topped with a rubber chicken. I have orange eyeballs installed behind the headlights. The plate says "MINIAC".
Inside the car, I have a custom Ian Cull auto-up circuit which operates my garage door. The gear shift was replaced with a B&M short shifter, topped with a CF **** (to avoid melting my hand in the Las Vegas summers). I installed a euro parcel shelf, which is where I mounted the AUX input so I can listen to MP3s on long trip. A glovebox organizer was a Christmas gift 2 months after the car arrived. There is a rubber chicken hanging from the mirror. The odometer reads about 38,800 miles.
To make him move faster, there is a 15% reduction supercharger pulley, a K&N Hot Air Intake, a 1-ball exhaust and the ECU has been Fireballed. I installed Denso IK22 plugs. The intercooler cover was replaced with a silver JCW one for about 3 visual horsepower. As a preventative measure, the M7 anti-mushrooming strut tower plates were installed.
Issues: At about 6 months old, Alice got a small door ding on the passenger door. It's still visible. There have been numerous small rock chips in the soft paint. There's something about my radio that it can't hold one of the radio stations here in town. The paint wore off the driver's side downtube and was replaced under warrantee. The battery died and was replaced under warrantee. At AMVIV3, a speaker blew over onto my car and broke the rear and rear drivers side windows, and put a big dent in the C-pillar. That was fixed by my insurance. The strut tower guides broke and were replaced (not under warrantee) and the mushrooming was beaten out with a mallet.
After 4 years, this car is one of the most fun I've ever owned (I grew up driving classic Minis). Owning this car has brought me many new friends and a kind of internet fame, through my involvement with both AMVIV and the Sin City MINI Club. It seems like whenever a MINI owner is heading to Vegas now, they email me to ask if the club is doing anything while they're here, or where they should go or whatever. I love that!
This weekend, I extended my warrantee for an extra 4 years, so you guys are stuck with me at LEAST that long.
Agro.
I ordered him 4th of July weekend in 2002 and he arrived 23rd of October, 2002. At pickup, he was a LY/B MCS with black bonnet stripes, OEM rally lights, the MFSW, v-spoke 16" wheels, cloth seats, dealership tinted windows and otherwise bone stock. No packages, no extra computing power, no leather, no sunroof, no nothing.
Today, after 4 years as my daily driver, he has had the rallys tinted yellow and covered with wire grilles. His front grilles, boot handle and bonnet scoop have been replaced with black ones. There are yellow stripes on the roof that line up with the black bonnet stripes. The mirror caps are yellow. The tail lights have been blacked out, and the rear fog lights light up with the brakes. The white side indicator lenses were swapped for the yellow ones off a Cooper. The wheels are anthracite Flik Wasps with custom Sin City MINI Club center caps. The antenna is yellow and topped with a rubber chicken. I have orange eyeballs installed behind the headlights. The plate says "MINIAC".
Inside the car, I have a custom Ian Cull auto-up circuit which operates my garage door. The gear shift was replaced with a B&M short shifter, topped with a CF **** (to avoid melting my hand in the Las Vegas summers). I installed a euro parcel shelf, which is where I mounted the AUX input so I can listen to MP3s on long trip. A glovebox organizer was a Christmas gift 2 months after the car arrived. There is a rubber chicken hanging from the mirror. The odometer reads about 38,800 miles.
To make him move faster, there is a 15% reduction supercharger pulley, a K&N Hot Air Intake, a 1-ball exhaust and the ECU has been Fireballed. I installed Denso IK22 plugs. The intercooler cover was replaced with a silver JCW one for about 3 visual horsepower. As a preventative measure, the M7 anti-mushrooming strut tower plates were installed.
Issues: At about 6 months old, Alice got a small door ding on the passenger door. It's still visible. There have been numerous small rock chips in the soft paint. There's something about my radio that it can't hold one of the radio stations here in town. The paint wore off the driver's side downtube and was replaced under warrantee. The battery died and was replaced under warrantee. At AMVIV3, a speaker blew over onto my car and broke the rear and rear drivers side windows, and put a big dent in the C-pillar. That was fixed by my insurance. The strut tower guides broke and were replaced (not under warrantee) and the mushrooming was beaten out with a mallet.
After 4 years, this car is one of the most fun I've ever owned (I grew up driving classic Minis). Owning this car has brought me many new friends and a kind of internet fame, through my involvement with both AMVIV and the Sin City MINI Club. It seems like whenever a MINI owner is heading to Vegas now, they email me to ask if the club is doing anything while they're here, or where they should go or whatever. I love that!
This weekend, I extended my warrantee for an extra 4 years, so you guys are stuck with me at LEAST that long.
Agro.
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2003
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Sand Dollar Collector
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Moved from Leesburg, VA to Oceanside, CA Nov. 2003
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Coordinator :: Sin City MINI Club & AMVIV
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,587
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas
Gromit, I drive it pretty much every day, and take it on road trips. It's not MY fault that I only have a 3 mile commute!
I was at Desert MINI on Saturday and asked about the extended warrantee. As long as your factory hasn't expired yet, you can extend it. Basically, the extended warrantee is an aftermarket company that BMW/MINI works with. By going through these guys, you take the car to the dealership as if it was still factory covered except that there's a $100 per visit deductible.
They have various terms and milage limits to choose from. For me, adding 2 years or up to a total of 75k miles was about $1900. I went with adding 4 years and a total of 75k for right about $2100. Increasing the miles is more expensive than adding years until you get to the 5th additional year. With 38k after 4 years, 75k in 8 years should be just about right.
Donovan at Desert MINI sent me to the finance manager who set me up with the warrantee.
I was at Desert MINI on Saturday and asked about the extended warrantee. As long as your factory hasn't expired yet, you can extend it. Basically, the extended warrantee is an aftermarket company that BMW/MINI works with. By going through these guys, you take the car to the dealership as if it was still factory covered except that there's a $100 per visit deductible.
They have various terms and milage limits to choose from. For me, adding 2 years or up to a total of 75k miles was about $1900. I went with adding 4 years and a total of 75k for right about $2100. Increasing the miles is more expensive than adding years until you get to the 5th additional year. With 38k after 4 years, 75k in 8 years should be just about right.
Donovan at Desert MINI sent me to the finance manager who set me up with the warrantee.
Thread Starter
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Coordinator :: Sin City MINI Club & AMVIV
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,587
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas
Thanks for all the good wishes guys. Alice appreciates it too. We're taking the long way home tonight (AMVIV planning meeting).
Thread Starter
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Coordinator :: Sin City MINI Club & AMVIV
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,587
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas
Nah. Via North Las Vegas. Pick up the wife in NLV and drop her in Summerlin. Get to the dealership for the meeting. Pick her up in Summerlin. Pick up her car near home, then home and collapse. 
7th Gear Gal
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 36,087
Likes: 3
From: Weeblegabber West (aka WLA)
Happy birthday to Alice, Agro! Many thanks for your wonderful contributions to the MINI community. AMVIV is a fabulous tradition that you have helped to establish, and I sure appreciate that. Many more happy years of motoring to you and Alice! 
