Picked him up Saturday - still deciding on a name but it's definitely a guy. ALTA cold air intake, boost tubes upgrade and intercooler air diverter are going on tomorrow. Can't wait for the end of February (end of winter) to get the all season 16's off and put on some black 18's! Gonna be even more gorgeous then it already is. See my signature for specs.

 

Congrats! PW/B looks so stately, hahaha. Definitely my #2 choice had I not gotten LiB/W.

 

Good looking car!
Get the rear swaybar as soon as possible. I can't believe how neutral handling is. Even with the 16" all season tires, the understeering has been eliminated.

 

...and my other "mini":

 

Nice couple of MINI's. You should be very proud of both. Love the picture.

 

Thanks! It wasn't an original pick of mine (bought it off the lot) but now that I have it, I LOVE it.

Thank you - I'll definitely look into upgrading the sway bar when I get my H&R springs installed.

 

Not sure how to load the pictures but you can see mine here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MESE:IT&ih=012

 

My MCS is worth only half as much as yours.

 

Msteadman,

Great config, very similar to what I'm waiting for. Your signature says 18" black wheels, any pics w/ the wheels on yet? What are you looking at?

 

Thank you very much! Sorry about the confusion - the 18" wheels are listed under mods yet to go and also I said in my original post that I can't put them on until around the end of February given the amount of snow we get here in PA. The stock wheels have actually grown on me quite a lot though - I HATED them at first. Also the ride is very smooth, noticeably more so then my first MINI which had the 17" crown spokes.

As far as aftermarket wheels I'm debating between going the all black route or black with a chrome lip - leaning more towards the latter. If I go all black I'm going to get the JCW double spoke wheel ( http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...catalogid=5277 ). While if I go black and chrome it'll either be the Konig PRIVAT (http://www.altaminiperformance.com/p...ig-NETZ-WHEEL) OR Sportmax 941 (http://edgeracing.com/2007/Mini/Cooper_S/wheel/4968/). I prefer the formers as they're a lot lighter and oh so sexy, but price may be an issue... Hopefully I'll have all my other mods done by then though, in which case it should be less of a problem.
Are you looking to upgrade the wheels on your MINI as well??? And which ones is it going to arrive with?

 

Well, I actually have the same 16" ordered that you do, but here in SoCal, there's no need for winter shoes so those are up for sale.

Planning to go 18", but I'm really torn between the JCW double spoke with the polished edge or the OZ Ultraleggra. I'm a bit torn:

JCW Double Spoke

Pro's:

Factory wheel
Polished edge (not sure I want all black, already have one car in the stable this way)
Run flats will allow 50 miles of travel
Will have the JCW Aero and tuning package, so completes the JCW look.

Con's:

More Expensive, although Morristown is more reasonable
Run Flats - will they be too stiff?
Weight, think they are heavier than OZ.

OZ

Pro's:

Less Expensive
Lighter weight / better ride (maybe?)

Con's:

Aftermarket equals risk they don't fit 100% like the factory
No spare, no tire goo will work, so flat = TowTruck.

Really trying to decide. I did see your black JCW wheels on a chili red MCS JCW at the OC auto show and they look very nice......

Decisions, Decisions

 

Ohhh okay, gotcha. Yea if I'd custom ordered mine I'd most likely have gotten the 17" web-spokes and just stuck with those. But these 16" S-winders have GOT to go. I actually wasn't aware that the JCW double spokes are available with a polished edge; NICE - link please? I'm also not sure I wanna go for an all black look, which other then weight (which isn't THAT big of a deal for me since I don't plan on tracking the car), is my main reservation about the JCW wheel. My other worry, similar to yours, is that 18" run-flats will be on absolute killer on ride quality. I find the 17" run-flats stiff enough so I bet 18's are brutal. Although I do appreciate the added peace of mind a run-flat tire gives. I wouldn't worry too much about your aftermarket wheel not fitting. As long as you buy from a reputable seller, they guarantee fit once you plug in your car information.
Decision indeed... Well at least I have another 4 months to ponder it.

 

Have you guys spent some time in the Tires, Wheels, and Brakes forum? You can learn a lot about wheels there, rather than highjacking a thread that is supposed to be about photos.

 

Msteadman,

Just go to the front page of the mini web site. The red JCW has the machined edge wheel:

http://www.miniusa.com/#/MINIUSA.COM-m

 

In case many of you don't watch the Interior/Exterior Mods forum, I thought I'd post a teaser photo here for a rear seat delete cabinet I built.



For more photos, including in-process shots, go to this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co....php?p=1815172

 

Picked up my car Thursday

 

 

^ Nice to see another M@sshole, and another CR at that! Too bad the R and the C aren't switched on your plates (then you'd have CR right in the middle of your plates!)

 

CR? Huh?

 

I like the customized "beijing" license plate.

 

CR = Chili Red

 

Ah, I got it. CR! By the way, Chili red07, your car is a gem! Go SOX!

Thanks LuxoDave, wish I could get a real plate that says just that.

 

You probably can, just not here.

 

Picked up my MINI this morning at Motor City MINI (ordered 8/27, received 10/20) - left the dealership around 12:30. Arrived home about 100 miles and 2 hours later . (I took a few detours... love the look of the Hyper kit, and the feel of the sport suspension. Definitely worth the wait!

The experience was great, all options are present and accounted for, and my MINI passed my checklist with flying colors! It looks even better than I thought it would! The oak interior with the cream line white looks so rich, it's unbelievable!

It is one sweet ride! Here's some pics:

 

I have - it's that forum which assisted me in narrowing down my options. Just couldn't help answering a fellow NAMers questions. But agreed, ezpeasy you can find a plethora of information there. There's actually a thread dedicated to 18" wheels and another strictly for black wheels.