Brown barn doors - mini R55 clubman
Discussion
Long overdue update...
First up wheels. after loosing my locking wheel nut for a couple of weeks (it was on the floor in the spare bedroom of course!) I finally got my Oz superleggera on.
these are less than 15kg each which is about 7kg per wheel lighter than the OEM 17" with run flats!
they will get refurbished at some point as i would like them a little darker but the point was to improve the handling and ride. They are et38 I think compared to et48 of standard wheels so give a slightly wider stance.
And yes it does improve the ride! the previous change from run flats made a difference but it was subtly. this is a much bigger difference, the ride is more compliant and less crashy for sure, I'm not sure I can comment in improvement to handling as I'm not expert and it is a little hard to test on public roads this time of year. its definitely not worse though.
I dont think its day and night different like some people experience but I definitely like it!!
The eagle eyed ones amongst you will have noticed a few cosmetic difference too. Mostly dechroming. I wrapped the beltline (trim just under the windows) using a kit off the internet. There are loads of options on ebay but they are all basically the same thing. A roll of black vinyl tape and a razor blade.
Its a bit fiddly and took a few attempts to get right. The curved bits around the windscreen are particularly tricky, but with lots of use of a hairdryer and peserverance it is passable. Not perfect but good enough....
New black light surronds were sourced off eBay and just click in (at first i bought ones that go over the chrome ones but they then weren't flush with the bonnet and i didnt like it) and the washer jet covers were wrapped.
Door handles got clip on covers which look better than expect.
I also tried to fix a few chips on the bonnet. I bought a slightly different kit rather than the more expensive chipex kit (only to find out it is chipex anyway)
did my normal routine of slightly over filling and flatting back with 1500 grit wet and dry ( I must have done this with at least half decent results on 10 different cars) only to rub right through the paint in about 10 seconds. The lacquer must be very thin.
Bother.
I really dont want to get this resprayed right now. too much expense and bother.
Stripes it is then!!
Again another ebay purchase. The thin outside stripe was meant to go all the way down but I saw a version where it rounded off before the scoop and i really prefered it so I trimmed them a bit.
My first attempt was horrible! The vinyl is much thicker than the stuff I have being using to wrap odd bits and pieces and obviously you have to try not to stretch it.
It ended up with all sorts of bubbles and creases in it.
I contacted the ebay seller who admitted the creases were probably their fault and happened in packaging so they kindly sent me another set. I tried again with a bit more soap in my eater and git better results but not perfect. Happily the heat from the bonnet seems to have got rid of most bubbles eventually. Not sure how much i like it? I dont hate them but if i hadnt messed the paint up they wouldnt have gone on... thoughts?
Finally I had an MOT which the little brown clubbie passed. but it did pick up 2 things. 1 it smokes, a lot (more on that another time). 2 the high level brake light on the back didnt work. I thought that would be an MOT fail but apparently not. It was looking a bit manky and i had been toying with changing out the clear light for a red one anyway so what better excuse!!!
A quick call to BMW showed they were about £80 (about £20 cheaper than ebay again) and came into store after a couple of days.
8 or so torx screws and the whole rear spoiler trim comes off
The light is just clipped in so easy enough to change once i had cleaned out 11 years of crude that had accumulated in it.
I much prefer how it looks to the clear/white one. ties in better with the rear lights now and looks much more cohesive in my mind
wow, long update!!! few more pics....
First up wheels. after loosing my locking wheel nut for a couple of weeks (it was on the floor in the spare bedroom of course!) I finally got my Oz superleggera on.
these are less than 15kg each which is about 7kg per wheel lighter than the OEM 17" with run flats!
they will get refurbished at some point as i would like them a little darker but the point was to improve the handling and ride. They are et38 I think compared to et48 of standard wheels so give a slightly wider stance.
And yes it does improve the ride! the previous change from run flats made a difference but it was subtly. this is a much bigger difference, the ride is more compliant and less crashy for sure, I'm not sure I can comment in improvement to handling as I'm not expert and it is a little hard to test on public roads this time of year. its definitely not worse though.
I dont think its day and night different like some people experience but I definitely like it!!
The eagle eyed ones amongst you will have noticed a few cosmetic difference too. Mostly dechroming. I wrapped the beltline (trim just under the windows) using a kit off the internet. There are loads of options on ebay but they are all basically the same thing. A roll of black vinyl tape and a razor blade.
Its a bit fiddly and took a few attempts to get right. The curved bits around the windscreen are particularly tricky, but with lots of use of a hairdryer and peserverance it is passable. Not perfect but good enough....
New black light surronds were sourced off eBay and just click in (at first i bought ones that go over the chrome ones but they then weren't flush with the bonnet and i didnt like it) and the washer jet covers were wrapped.
Door handles got clip on covers which look better than expect.
I also tried to fix a few chips on the bonnet. I bought a slightly different kit rather than the more expensive chipex kit (only to find out it is chipex anyway)
did my normal routine of slightly over filling and flatting back with 1500 grit wet and dry ( I must have done this with at least half decent results on 10 different cars) only to rub right through the paint in about 10 seconds. The lacquer must be very thin.
Bother.
I really dont want to get this resprayed right now. too much expense and bother.
Stripes it is then!!
Again another ebay purchase. The thin outside stripe was meant to go all the way down but I saw a version where it rounded off before the scoop and i really prefered it so I trimmed them a bit.
My first attempt was horrible! The vinyl is much thicker than the stuff I have being using to wrap odd bits and pieces and obviously you have to try not to stretch it.
It ended up with all sorts of bubbles and creases in it.
I contacted the ebay seller who admitted the creases were probably their fault and happened in packaging so they kindly sent me another set. I tried again with a bit more soap in my eater and git better results but not perfect. Happily the heat from the bonnet seems to have got rid of most bubbles eventually. Not sure how much i like it? I dont hate them but if i hadnt messed the paint up they wouldnt have gone on... thoughts?
Finally I had an MOT which the little brown clubbie passed. but it did pick up 2 things. 1 it smokes, a lot (more on that another time). 2 the high level brake light on the back didnt work. I thought that would be an MOT fail but apparently not. It was looking a bit manky and i had been toying with changing out the clear light for a red one anyway so what better excuse!!!
A quick call to BMW showed they were about £80 (about £20 cheaper than ebay again) and came into store after a couple of days.
8 or so torx screws and the whole rear spoiler trim comes off
The light is just clipped in so easy enough to change once i had cleaned out 11 years of crude that had accumulated in it.
I much prefer how it looks to the clear/white one. ties in better with the rear lights now and looks much more cohesive in my mind
wow, long update!!! few more pics....
I’m not a big fan of stripes however in this case I th8nk they actually make it look better.
Mine had clear brake light (as standard) do you have the part number of the red version? Not sure if it’ll fit mine, probably but mine is model year 2013 so I don’t know if everything (fittings etc) is the same.
Mine had clear brake light (as standard) do you have the part number of the red version? Not sure if it’ll fit mine, probably but mine is model year 2013 so I don’t know if everything (fittings etc) is the same.
CoolHands said:
I’m not a big fan of stripes however in this case I th8nk they actually make it look better.
Mine had clear brake light (as standard) do you have the part number of the red version? Not sure if it’ll fit mine, probably but mine is model year 2013 so I don’t know if everything (fittings etc) is the same.
Cheers cool hand. Like I say I think I like the stripes... Maybe. Mine had clear brake light (as standard) do you have the part number of the red version? Not sure if it’ll fit mine, probably but mine is model year 2013 so I don’t know if everything (fittings etc) is the same.
This was from the box for the stop light, does that help?
MightyBadger said:
drgoatboy said:
The shape and look of your car is much better than the porky relation.
.ajprice said:
Yep. I still don't get the back end of the newer Clubman, high horizontal lights on the barn doors, but the brake lights are in the bumper, and the 7 letter CLUB | MAN split lettering across the doors. R55 is a lot nicer, and I like the brown too .
My OH has a 6 month old Cooper S. I was very happy when I realised that it has the brake lights in the main cluster (Union Jack lights). The ones in the bumper only come on if the back doors are opened because “rules”. .It is like a reverse TARDIS: massive outside but small inside. I thought about removing the Clubman letters but can’t be arsed.
Jader1973 said:
ajprice said:
Yep. I still don't get the back end of the newer Clubman, high horizontal lights on the barn doors, but the brake lights are in the bumper, and the 7 letter CLUB | MAN split lettering across the doors. R55 is a lot nicer, and I like the brown too .
My OH has a 6 month old Cooper S. I was very happy when I realised that it has the brake lights in the main cluster (Union Jack lights). The ones in the bumper only come on if the back doors are opened because “rules”. .Brakes off
Brakes on
Anyway, it's all off topic from the thread. Nice updates with the wheels and chrome blackout, and I like the stripes
.2 years in with our R55 and its the most addictive little car we've ever had. I love it to bits. Ours is a standard Cooper mated to an auto box but despite it being a hateful combo, never serminging to be in the right gear, the rest of the car makes up for it (and it suits my wife's "sedate" driving style perfectly). Definitely a step up in build quality over my R53 and the last of the good looking Minis...
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