My new Clubman S will be arriving in a few weeks and as much as I'd like do a bigger turbo and all the rest I think I'll try to leve it as stock as I can bare.

However, from reading this forum it seems like there are a few must do mods, including:

• Catch can (lots of blow back seems the norm)
• Hood scoop (seems the OEM melt and don't really route air, true?)
• Turbo heat shield

..anything else?

 

coilovers / spring swap. you don't want people mistaking it for a countryman.

 

Yeah, but it's primarily gong to be used by my wife, every day, winter and summer, in pot-hole strewn DC. I think with 16's the wheels gap doesn't look bad.

 

A new scoop isn't necessarily needed. I had one melt, so I took a dremel to the grille inside the scoop and opened up a few more holes. Now it vents properly and hasn't melted again.

The only other "must-do" mod I can think of is a shorter "stubby" antenna. The stock antenna makes it look like an RC car. I spent $20 at Alta on a 4 incher, and it looks 100% better.

 

We have a local MINI club in DC if you want to see some loaclly modded cars. First must do mod for me is tint, Tinted my car the first day I had.

 

You wanna let my wife drive your car? ..yeah, I didn't think so.

 

body color all the exterior chrome

 

Buy Koni FSD shocks immediately. It improves both the ride and the handling -- the stock shocks are crap!

Also, ditch the run-flats: very harsh ride.

 

Here's what I did - most were FREE:

1) Tint the windows - HUGE difference in passenger comfort on those hot Washington,DC days.

2) Completely removed the grille that's inside the front hood scoop. Underhood temps dropped by 10 degrees F. No need for turbo heat shield now, and it's totally FREE!

3) Replaced the stock headlamp bulbs (non-Xenon) with Sylvania Ultra SilverStars. Best damn $25 I ever spent. A NOTICEABLE improvement over the stock units. And were also decidedly better than the Philips Osrams. NOT as good as the Xenons, but as good as you can get for the money spent.

4) Did the front seat tilt mod. This took all of 10 minutes to do and gave me much beter under-thigh support. Loosen back retaining bolts. Remove front retaining bolts. Slip a large nut between the seat rail and the bolt hole. Re-install the the front bolts. Re-tighten the rear bolts. You're done!!

5) Bought/installed the FLeaBay center armrest. $89 instead of the $250 Mini wanted. Works a treat!!

6) Bought the "Light In Sight" stick-on frensel lens. Now I can be the 1st car in line at the light and easily see when it goes green.

7) Installed a 60 lb. pitbull in the back compartment (with seats folded down). Nobody, and I mean NOBODY has dared try to steal my Escort 8500 or my Garmin Nuvi GPS - even when the windows are wide-open.

8) Got a set of the (folding) windshield and sunroof reflective covers. This makes a HUGE difference in the in-car temps on a hot, sunny day. I think this was about $50 total.

9) Found a "moving company" blanket - in Laser Blue, of course, and use that to keep the dog from trashing the interior. My back seat have NEVER been raised since I owned the car - Maxi (the dog) gets full run of the Mini [smile]!!

10) Used the cargo net as a barrier between the front and rear compartments. Snaps right on to the backs of the front seats/headrests and keeps the dog in his place.

11) Did the FREE microphone swap. I'm not sure it helped, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time - nudge, nudge, wink, wink....

12) Bought an extra set of wheels/tires. There are SOOOO many take-offs on this site that I scooped up a set (with only 2k miles on them) for < $500. This is WAY cheaper than replacing a busted wheel and tire at the dealership.

13) Snatched the custom-cover from my son's Saab 9-3 and used it on the Clubbie. A surprisingly good fit, and the kid could never be bothered with using it anyway. If his sheepskin seatcovers would fit, I'd steal 'em in a hot second...[smile]

-RW-

 

rlw - im not sure if you know this or if you even care, but you can use your stock "privacy" shade between the top and bottom of the back seats. It helps prevent the back seatbelt bottoms from damaging the upper portion of the seats.


Im thinking about doing your #2 suggestion. why am I hesitant ? Is there any downside to doing this ?

 

+1 on the tinted windows. The sunroof clubbie is an oven on sunny days.

+1 on the front seat tilt mod. I used 6 1/2" SS washers on each side. (about 3/8 inch of lift). If you use washers, glue or tape them together first....

+1 on the windshield sunshade...my wife bought me the Mini one as a gift, but any sunshade will do....

+1 on the Light in Sight...it actually works just like it says.

Not a true mod to the car, but I bought extra long lug bolts (2) and ground the heads off round. I use them as "hangers" when I take a wheel off/on.

I replaced the front speakers (non-hifi system), probably do the rears soon.

Headlight bulb swap sounds like a winner, that may be my next mod!

 

Screw that. Bag it and BBS wheels... done.

 

All of the suggestions so far are generic for any MINI. What about mods specifically for a Clubman?

For example, the Hot Chocolate Clubman pictured above has a color coded rear halo. BTW, it belongs to Rally@StanceDesign.

 

The old school 3pc BBS wheel fad has just about run it's course, I think...

 

I'm after "must do" mods, not subjective stuff like wheel well gap and color coded body parts.

Stuff that patches real design flaws from the factory, like the blowback/catch can thing.

Thanks guys,

 

I encourage you to start a new thread with a more specific title in the General MINI Talk forum. It deserves a thread with a wider audience. A lot of people with that knowledge don't follow the Clubman forum and would get the wrong idea from the title of this thread.

 

Being that I don't know you or yer wife, and I assume a few others don't either, what you consider as "design flaws" is awfully vague to us.

IMO:

1. The added 180lbs is in the rear, and the Clubman truely misses out on the "MINI driving experience" with that. So in due time in mine, I'm going to strip as much weight as I can from there rear to equal up the 180lbs weight difference and see what happens.

2. Factory runflats are a joke.

3. Suspension DOES need a little more tweaking remedied by springs or for myself, coil-overs.

4. A "muffler" on the intake to me is a joke as well. I want to hear my car/turbo.

5. Don't forget obvious benefits to a better flowing exhaust and intake.

Several things I can list that I have/will change because "must do mods" for me to achieve the driving experience for ME. Your wife... well she may not even care why a muffler for the intake is there.

 

Nah.

 

+2

 

M7 pre-intercooler pipe.
Borla cat back exhaust.
22 mm forged rear sway bar.
Hood scoop heat shield.
Kumho Ecsta all seasons.

 

Getting a lot of good ideas. Thank you for starting this thread.

 

Have codemycar - code your car. There are so many things you can have him adjust.

From a simple tap to open/close the sunroof, to DRL's using your city lights instead of your expensive HIDs. Some things seem silly, but others - I really don't understand why they were coded this way from the factory.

 

Many items can be a benefit to your car.


First a rear sway bar and strut tower brace. Greatly improves handling and safety.


Oil catch cans and cold air kits are next

 

Lumbar support retrofit. About $180 in parts and 2 hours of DIY time.

 

Summer tires and a tire repair kit or AAA membership. All-season (more like no-season) runflats are absolutely car-ruining awful.