Discussion
I’m aware there’s been a fair bit of F56 traffic on the forum, but given I’m a year & a half into F56 Cooper S ownership, I wonder if there’s room for another mention.
I picked it up from a Ford dealer, as a trade-in with 32K on the clock & full BMW history, it’s a late 2016 MY with manual ’box and just one previous owner.
Came with:
Chilli (good)
Excitement Pack (?)
Upgraded Audio (average)
Nav (poor)
Sensors (avid)
Half faux-leather sports seats (excellent)
So far all I’ve done aesthetically is de-chrome the light surrounds & given it a few deep cleans. Mechanically, it was very sound, so just a couple of full fluids/filters services on my old metal ramps, plus a gearbox oil change for good measure (car now on 47K).
Internally, I’ve done nothing other than swapping out the factory gear knob, a nasty, bulky, cheap piece of tat that felt weird in the hand, for a nicely weighted carbon replacement.
Other than that, just a decent set of 205/45/17 Kumho Ecsta PS71s. I’m glad it came on 17” wheels, as the ride is hardly supple and quite under-damped on the stock set-up, so even though it crashes over, rather than rides poor surfaces, at least on the 17s with 45 profile tyres some of this harshness is rounded off.
While low-speed ride is choppy, the handling is properly front-end-darty with a rear that’ll either edge out or lift an inside wheel under hard cornering. It resists under-steer well, particularly on fresh tyres, although it really struggles to put its power down through 1st & 2nd gear. Despite the engine being stock (for now), the torque overcomes grip even in the dry, plus the electronic diff’ is OK, rather than great, as it’ll still try to fizz the inside front tyre on up-hill switch-backs.
The B48 engine is strong & gutsy making the car feel quicker that mid/late 6 secs to 62. It’s certainly more of a lugger, although it will happily rev-out – it does lack a bit of top-end excitement. This could be an un-fair analysis, as it did have big shoes to fill replacing my RS 182 Cup, that kicked-on at 5K revs right up to the red line. Also, some of the ‘Mini’ sound is piped in, although it isn’t too contrived & it adds a layer of character – albeit synthetic – to an otherwise fairly bland note.
Sports mode is effective in making the car feel tangibly more taught, throttle response is sharpened, so I use this mode most of the time. However, this mode also makes the steering artificially weighty in the pursuit of being ‘sporty’. Sadly, it just becomes stodgy & un-natural. I wish I could select ‘sport’ for the drive-train & leave the steering in ‘mid’, but it’s not an option.
As mentioned, the seats are as comfy as they are supportive, plus the driver’s seat will go nice and low. Long distances are a breeze, and the gearing is quite nicely short in the first 4, while 6th is plenty long enough for quiet motorway munching.
Future plans:
Although I like the metallic red, I would have preferred the roof to be black, so I might look into either having it wrapped or painted. I’m glad it’s on a late ’16 plate, as it means I’ve avoided the union jack rear lights, & I’ve got a bit more de-chroming to do.
I’m going to get the wheels powder-coated a deep anthracite grey, as while the silver is OK & they’re free of kerbing, I feel anthracite will really pop against the red & make the black plastic surrounds appear less obvious.
The brakes were brand new when I picked it up, but once the pads are done I’m looking to upgrade the fronts & swap the fluid for some racing-grade dot 5.
A full wheel alignment is on the cards, as I’d like to run a touch more negative camber with track days in mind.
Lastly, I’m thinking about getting some 16” steelies with all-season tyres, plus a set of suction roof bars, as I quite fancy taking it on a ski adventure to the Alps next year. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone with experience of suction roof bars, as there’s an irrational part of my tiny brain that’s trying to convince me not to trust them.
Anyway, thanks all. I’m just going to continue enjoying this car & reporting back as & when I start ticking off a few up-grades…
I picked it up from a Ford dealer, as a trade-in with 32K on the clock & full BMW history, it’s a late 2016 MY with manual ’box and just one previous owner.
Came with:
Chilli (good)
Excitement Pack (?)
Upgraded Audio (average)
Nav (poor)
Sensors (avid)
Half faux-leather sports seats (excellent)
So far all I’ve done aesthetically is de-chrome the light surrounds & given it a few deep cleans. Mechanically, it was very sound, so just a couple of full fluids/filters services on my old metal ramps, plus a gearbox oil change for good measure (car now on 47K).
Internally, I’ve done nothing other than swapping out the factory gear knob, a nasty, bulky, cheap piece of tat that felt weird in the hand, for a nicely weighted carbon replacement.
Other than that, just a decent set of 205/45/17 Kumho Ecsta PS71s. I’m glad it came on 17” wheels, as the ride is hardly supple and quite under-damped on the stock set-up, so even though it crashes over, rather than rides poor surfaces, at least on the 17s with 45 profile tyres some of this harshness is rounded off.
While low-speed ride is choppy, the handling is properly front-end-darty with a rear that’ll either edge out or lift an inside wheel under hard cornering. It resists under-steer well, particularly on fresh tyres, although it really struggles to put its power down through 1st & 2nd gear. Despite the engine being stock (for now), the torque overcomes grip even in the dry, plus the electronic diff’ is OK, rather than great, as it’ll still try to fizz the inside front tyre on up-hill switch-backs.
The B48 engine is strong & gutsy making the car feel quicker that mid/late 6 secs to 62. It’s certainly more of a lugger, although it will happily rev-out – it does lack a bit of top-end excitement. This could be an un-fair analysis, as it did have big shoes to fill replacing my RS 182 Cup, that kicked-on at 5K revs right up to the red line. Also, some of the ‘Mini’ sound is piped in, although it isn’t too contrived & it adds a layer of character – albeit synthetic – to an otherwise fairly bland note.
Sports mode is effective in making the car feel tangibly more taught, throttle response is sharpened, so I use this mode most of the time. However, this mode also makes the steering artificially weighty in the pursuit of being ‘sporty’. Sadly, it just becomes stodgy & un-natural. I wish I could select ‘sport’ for the drive-train & leave the steering in ‘mid’, but it’s not an option.
As mentioned, the seats are as comfy as they are supportive, plus the driver’s seat will go nice and low. Long distances are a breeze, and the gearing is quite nicely short in the first 4, while 6th is plenty long enough for quiet motorway munching.
Future plans:
Although I like the metallic red, I would have preferred the roof to be black, so I might look into either having it wrapped or painted. I’m glad it’s on a late ’16 plate, as it means I’ve avoided the union jack rear lights, & I’ve got a bit more de-chroming to do.
I’m going to get the wheels powder-coated a deep anthracite grey, as while the silver is OK & they’re free of kerbing, I feel anthracite will really pop against the red & make the black plastic surrounds appear less obvious.
The brakes were brand new when I picked it up, but once the pads are done I’m looking to upgrade the fronts & swap the fluid for some racing-grade dot 5.
A full wheel alignment is on the cards, as I’d like to run a touch more negative camber with track days in mind.
Lastly, I’m thinking about getting some 16” steelies with all-season tyres, plus a set of suction roof bars, as I quite fancy taking it on a ski adventure to the Alps next year. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone with experience of suction roof bars, as there’s an irrational part of my tiny brain that’s trying to convince me not to trust them.
Anyway, thanks all. I’m just going to continue enjoying this car & reporting back as & when I start ticking off a few up-grades…
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