R56 Mini Cooper S
Discussion
Recently picked this up replacing our BMW 120i as we wanted something that was more fun. It's 99% of the time my wife's daily driver that i have access to for the occasional hoon
It's a 2010 LCI Mini Cooper S with the supposedly more reliable N18 engine, when looking she had to have heated lounge leather and not a silver or black car
This one came up under budget in NW London from a home based car dealer who had 2 in stock with this one being the better of the two on condition, history and specification
it's a really high spec with the omissions of Pano roof and HK Sound and doesn't have any JCW parts but we will slowly update this as we go (maybe not the pano roof)
home and after its first snowfoam and wash
exhaust tips needed some work and still need polishing
i always fit pressed metal plates to our cars as i think they look really smart, the areas behind the plates were cleaned before fitting
Before
After
We then noticed that the start stop wasnt working and after testing the battery it was just over 12v so obviosuly dead.
it was the original battery so we removed that and replaced via Tayna batteries and registered with my Carly App
Stop start is now working again
I like to go around the car and replace things that are a bit crusty so the fuel cap was replaced with a Febi item as the seal was cracking and the strap was gone
Before (Non OEM)
After (OEM manufacturer)
got some new car mats, new wipers and made sure all the liquids were topped up
It's a 2010 LCI Mini Cooper S with the supposedly more reliable N18 engine, when looking she had to have heated lounge leather and not a silver or black car
This one came up under budget in NW London from a home based car dealer who had 2 in stock with this one being the better of the two on condition, history and specification
it's a really high spec with the omissions of Pano roof and HK Sound and doesn't have any JCW parts but we will slowly update this as we go (maybe not the pano roof)
home and after its first snowfoam and wash
exhaust tips needed some work and still need polishing
i always fit pressed metal plates to our cars as i think they look really smart, the areas behind the plates were cleaned before fitting
Before
After
We then noticed that the start stop wasnt working and after testing the battery it was just over 12v so obviosuly dead.
it was the original battery so we removed that and replaced via Tayna batteries and registered with my Carly App
Stop start is now working again
I like to go around the car and replace things that are a bit crusty so the fuel cap was replaced with a Febi item as the seal was cracking and the strap was gone
Before (Non OEM)
After (OEM manufacturer)
got some new car mats, new wipers and made sure all the liquids were topped up
Edited by 5harp3y on Monday 30th March 16:46
DevonLad said:
Very nice and very similar to my old one. Great fun cars, had mine for 2 years and it was totally reliable. Only sold it when my grandson arrived and it became a pita trying to get a baby seat in and out.
Enjoy it.
been wondering what ours would look like with just the JCW sideskirts as have seen a pair for sale for cheap Enjoy it.
5harp3y said:
DevonLad said:
been wondering what ours would look like with just the JCW sideskirts as have seen a pair for sale for cheap 
DevonLad said:
That it a picture of it when I first got it, I ended up replacing the front and rear chrome light rings for gloss black, I also bought gloss black belt line tape in put that on, fiddly job but it looked good.
Agree and I've done exactly the same on my F56 Cooper S(front/rear lights and I had to take the front bumper off to do the front grill). I was a bit nervous about doing the beltline but once I'd done a couple of bits I got the hang of it. It does look good when its done for sure. 
cerb4.5lee said:
DevonLad said:
That it a picture of it when I first got it, I ended up replacing the front and rear chrome light rings for gloss black, I also bought gloss black belt line tape in put that on, fiddly job but it looked good.
Agree and I've done exactly the same on my F56 Cooper S(front/rear lights and I had to take the front bumper off to do the front grill). I was a bit nervous about doing the beltline but once I'd done a couple of bits I got the hang of it. It does look good when its done for sure. Before.
After.
Sorry for the thread hijack OP, might gives you an idea of what the belt line tape does for the looks should you decide to de-chrome it.
5harp3y said:
Love the look of that but we won't be de-chroming ours as I really like the chrome against the paint
That's fair enough, I de-chromed mine and my son is doing the same simply because we are not fans of chrome trim. If you like it then definitely keep it, you will save yourself a fair bit of cash as the black trim replacements seem very expensive these days. 
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/jsGb2g0l.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/IGm3z85O" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/IGm3z85O.jpg)
DevonLad said:
5harp3y said:
Love the look of that but we won't be de-chroming ours as I really like the chrome against the paint
That's fair enough, I de-chromed mine and my son is doing the same simply because we are not fans of chrome trim. If you like it then definitely keep it, you will save yourself a fair bit of cash as the black trim replacements seem very expensive these days. Agree regards the pricing of the bits and mine has been done almost 2 years now, but I was looking the other day and the price of some of the bits has gone up a fair bit for certain.
Looking good OP. 
Mrs Tidy bought a new Mini One in 2003 as a significant birthday present for herself.
So she got invited to the R56 launch event, and sure enough had ordered a new Cooper before we left.
She chose red with black roof and bonnet stripes, full leather, Bi-Xenons, Harmon Kardon, and enough other options to add 50% to the base price.
So it became her 2006 Xmas present to herself when she picked it up on 23 December 2006!
Although we didn't last as long, she still has the car on just over 50K miles - but it did need a new battery last month.
I used to love finding an excuse to drive it, so a Cooper S must be so much fun!
Mrs Tidy bought a new Mini One in 2003 as a significant birthday present for herself.
So she got invited to the R56 launch event, and sure enough had ordered a new Cooper before we left.
She chose red with black roof and bonnet stripes, full leather, Bi-Xenons, Harmon Kardon, and enough other options to add 50% to the base price.
So it became her 2006 Xmas present to herself when she picked it up on 23 December 2006!
Although we didn't last as long, she still has the car on just over 50K miles - but it did need a new battery last month.
I used to love finding an excuse to drive it, so a Cooper S must be so much fun!
after replacing the battery i noticed that the pollen filter was disgusting (the vent for it is behind the battery)
spot the new one
the fog lights on R56's are notorious for corroding and steaming up, ours were really bad with the silver coating flaking off and constant error messages for blow bulbs even though they were fine
bulb replacement can be done through the access hatches in the wheel arch but to replace the whole unit the front bumper needs to come off
its actually relatively simple once you find all the plastic push pins and a few screws
mint second hand items put in after cleaning all the surfaces and treating the o rings to help them seal with some gummi pflege
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Einszett-Gummi-Pflege-Rub...
also replaced the side light / DRL with blue osram blue vision bulbs to better match the Xenon headlamps as the originals are warm white and don't match
https://www.amazon.co.uk/INTENSE-halogen-position-...
also replaced the side repeaters with chrome bulbs as i don't like the tango lights (headlights will follow suit)
before
after
spot the new one
the fog lights on R56's are notorious for corroding and steaming up, ours were really bad with the silver coating flaking off and constant error messages for blow bulbs even though they were fine
bulb replacement can be done through the access hatches in the wheel arch but to replace the whole unit the front bumper needs to come off
its actually relatively simple once you find all the plastic push pins and a few screws
mint second hand items put in after cleaning all the surfaces and treating the o rings to help them seal with some gummi pflege
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Einszett-Gummi-Pflege-Rub...
also replaced the side light / DRL with blue osram blue vision bulbs to better match the Xenon headlamps as the originals are warm white and don't match
https://www.amazon.co.uk/INTENSE-halogen-position-...
also replaced the side repeaters with chrome bulbs as i don't like the tango lights (headlights will follow suit)
before
after
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