Check this out--

I received the parts yesterday for the MINI Mobility System shown in the 2004 Cooper S owner's manual. I was curious when I saw it described in the manual, so I ordered the parts from Classic.

Before you make any comments, I have already been assured by my girlfriend that I am a huge dork. I know I could have bought a cheaper compressor and bottle of slime, but I like the idea of keeping everything OEM. The slime was $12 and the compressor was $65. Not bad for the assurance of a quick patch considering I don't have runflats or a spare.

Enjoy...

 

Some more...

 

Looks good, but I'm also the "dork" that ordered the MINI-branded oil bottle bags for the boots of our two MINIs. (Complete with folding paper funnels and latex gloves)

 

Didnt your car come with this stuff to begin with???

 

Last group...

 

Nope, I bought mine used in Sept, and it didn't have the compressor or slime.

 

Hmm, they should have left that in the car.

Pretty lame to rip it off for the next owner to deal with.

 

Which stuff? The mobility kit or the oil bags? Neither of my 2006 'S's came with either the mobility kit (not surprising, since I have runflats) or the oil bag, although the dealer probably would have given me the oil bags, had I asked.

 

I was under the impression that the MINI didn't come equipped with the compressor and/or slime. Even so, what are you going to do?

 

Hmm. I was thinking they all came with the mobility kit but many its the MC. Yeah with RFs, you get nothing but I think I had a jack.

Yep, my old mine is slipping, MC gets the kit. If you got RFs, there is no point.

What you going to do? NADA ... just an observation on the previous owner. If you switches to non-RFs. Good idea to buy the kit. I would have too. The crap they sell at auto stores is not as good.

 

Good to know that I didn't get screwed out of the kit when I bought my MINI -- it did have the jack and tool kit with it.

My next dork purchase is going to be the warning triangles and mounting brackets, and the emergency kit.

 

Thats not dork, Good idea but the emergency kit might be pretty primitive. You probably could get a better one making it yourself.

A fire extinquisher is a good idea to. I alway have one in every car.

 

The MINI Mobility kit, though referenced in the MINI manual, is not included with US or Canadian cars. It is only included in European models. Something to do with not being approved by the the US or Canadian DOT as a substitute for a spare tire. That's one of the main reasons the MINI is available with runflats - had to be if there was no spare in the S (when the initial design moved the battery to the boot for better weight distribution), for the US market.

 

Typical, right?

 

I thought the the change to run-flats on the 'S' came much later in the design process, and that's why the stock suspension isn't really optimized for them.

And as for the run-flats being required in the first place, I think this has been brought up before, and several examples were given of cars sold in the US with neither run-flats nor spare tires. (Of course, I guess the rules could have changed at some point, prompting the last-minute change to run-flats on the 'S'.)

 

Your right, it was late in the design process, after some test-track time showed the need for some weight adjustment in the S, hence the battery move. What I meant to say was the initial design was changed. And right again, that's why the suspension wasn't designed with the much heavier runflat rims and stiff sidewall tires in mind.

Not sure on the DOT regs on having or not having a spare or runflats, but the S cannot be ordered in the US or Canada with regular non runflat tires, while it can be ordered that way in Europe - so must be something against the rules there somewhere.

 

same as the Continental 'comfort kit' sold by Tire Rack?

 

Thats an excellent kit. Alex always recommends them. I bought one and still have it

 

That's a better price than I expected. The ContiComfortKit from TireRack costs $79. Does the Mobility Kit compressor box have a compartment to store the slime?

 

I should probably get one. I've got a Cooper spare I bring along for road trips, but $79 is good insurance against everything else.

 

I also recently got the ContiComfortKit - nice

No USA MINI I've owned came with the MINI mobility kit - I think it might be available with some European MINIs, but not here.

I agree, Chows, that if someone switches an MCS to non-runflats then sells their car, they should do something - either switch it back to runflats (what I did with GBMINI#2) or supply some sort of kit, or spare tire, or something.

My local dealership has taken a non-runflat MINI in trade, then had to replace the tires when the new buyer had a flat and was told they should have had runflats.

 

The Slime version.....
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...number=SSPDQ06

 

Looking more closely at the pictures, it appears that the slime needs to be stowed separately, which I find to be a major detraction.

So this for $79:


Or this for only $19.98. Unfortunately I'd have to look at it every time I open the boot (no storage compartments in the cabrio).

 

Unfortunately none of that stuff would have helped with my last flat. Ran over a knife and the tire was immediately destroyed. Fortunately I have an MC, thus the spare was used until I could get a new tire the next day.

 

"You get what you pay for"

Anon.