What have you done to your Mini today ?

[stevemcs]

amare32 said:

Thunder Grey Metallic. Agreed the red roof and mirrors contrasts well against the grey

Not a fan of the team dynamics with the big writing round the wheels....

I believe you can get them without the writing but they are a special order. They also clear the JCW brakes

[D3nso]

No spacers, they are a direct fit

[amare32]

D3nso said:

No spacers, they are a direct fit

Thanks mate

[rigga]

Always bugged me that there is no coolant gauge, and not just mini who do this either, so purchased a ultraguage that sits just to the right of the speedo, above where the key inserts, very programmable for any parameter you wish to view, should have fitted one years ago.
Also works as a code reader and delete tool

Edited by rigga on Wednesday 6th May 18:59

[markedwards]

I used back to black bumper spray, on my R56. Goodbye horrible faded plastic!

[Alfa Pete]

Spent a couple of hours pampering the Clubman.
Hand polished with Autoglym SRP then waxed with Jays ceramic wax .

[

Edited by Alfa Pete on Monday 11th May 20:18

Edited by Alfa Pete on Monday 11th May 20:19

[Shappers24]

Today I put my R53 up for sale...

It’s not all bad though as I got an R58 at the weekend!

[chrisch77]

This evening was day three of my first attempt at paint correction on my S, just the bonnet and bumpers left to do and I’m pretty happy with the result so far. Much easier with a DA polisher than previous cars I’ve done by hand! I’ve been using Meguairs ultimate three stage kit. Before I start on the bonnet I’ve the unenviable task of removing the old factory fitted stripes....

[itsnotarace]

Done some work to the car over the last couple of months

F56 style projector headlights with the half halo LED DRL (need to do lower DRL to match now)
Mostly dechromed with matte black now apart from beltline
Koni Special Active shocks with Eibach ProKit springs, new OEM top mounts
Powerflex bump stop and rear upper shock mounts
Brembo XTRA discs, Ferodo DS2500 pads, Motul RBF660, Goodridge lines
Racechip GTS with bluetooth module
NGK platinum plugs and new coil packs
Carly adapter
JCW side scuttles and LED repeaters
MSW 85 summer wheels 17x7.0 ET37 with some Bridgestone RE050s in 205/45 I had left over from my EP3 Civic Type R

Car sits much better since being lowered and the ET37 fills the arch, will be fitting 12mm spacers when the R112 winter wheels go back on

Next up will be Quaife LSD, clutch, anti roll bars and Poweflex front wishbone rear bushes, then will concentrate on the interior - would like a set of Recaro Sportsters and some Prosport oil and water temp gauges in an Alta gauge pod

Edited by itsnotarace on Tuesday 12th May 14:33

[rigga]

rigga said:

Always bugged me that there is no coolant gauge, and not just mini who do this either, so purchased a ultraguage that sits just to the right of the speedo, above where the key inserts, very programmable for any parameter you wish to view, should have fitted one years ago.
Also works as a code reader and delete tool

Edited by rigga on Wednesday 6th May 18:59

Now matches the dash illumination

[Deep Thought]

itsnotarace said:

Done some work to the car over the last couple of months

F56 style projector headlights with the half halo LED DRL (need to do lower DRL to match now)
Mostly dechromed with matte black now apart from beltline
Koni Special Active shocks with Eibach ProKit springs, new OEM top mounts
Powerflex bump stop and rear upper shock mounts
Brembo XTRA discs, Ferodo DS2500 pads, Motul RBF660, Goodridge lines
Racechip GTS with bluetooth module
NGK platinum plugs and new coil packs
Carly adapter
JCW side scuttles and LED repeaters
MSW 85 summer wheels 17x7.0 ET37 with some Bridgestone RE050s in 205/45 I had left over from my EP3 Civic Type R

Car sits much better since being lowered and the ET37 fills the arch, will be fitting 12mm spacers when the R112 winter wheels go back on

Next up will be Quaife LSD, clutch, anti roll bars and Poweflex front wishbone rear bushes, then will concentrate on the interior - would like a set of Recaro Sportsters and some Prosport oil and water temp gauges in an Alta gauge pod

Edited by itsnotarace on Tuesday 12th May 14:33

Looks stunning on those wheels.

Whats the brakes like now. My Cooper S was a bit of a horror to get slowed down from speed (RaceChip GTS , ITG Filter element + JCW Exhaust)

[stevemcs]

Started to look what I can replace the clubby with.

[itsnotarace]

Deep Thought said:

Looks stunning on those wheels.

Whats the brakes like now. My Cooper S was a bit of a horror to get slowed down from speed (RaceChip GTS , ITG Filter element + JCW Exhaust)

Thank you

Difficult to say as the brakes were done literally a couple of days before we went into lockdown so I've just had the time to bed them in and a bit of gentle road use, but not use them on a trackday yet. However I've run the DS2500 pads for around 12 years now on a variety of cars and always been happy with the performance. I'm still on the standard CooperS calipers so not expecting big increase in stopping power but certainly hoping for better fade resistance over the course of 20-25 minute sessions on track. I'm not expecting them to stand up to hours of heavy lapping without cooling in between, I'd need to be looking at a big brake kit with larger discs than the OEM size 294x22mm for that sort capability

Pedal feel with the braided lines does seem improved though so that's one area I'm pleased with already

[Deep Thought]

itsnotarace said:

Thank you

Difficult to say as the brakes were done literally a couple of days before we went into lockdown so I've just had the time to bed them in and a bit of gentle road use, but not use them on a trackday yet. However I've run the DS2500 pads for around 12 years now on a variety of cars and always been happy with the performance. I'm still on the standard CooperS calipers so not expecting big increase in stopping power but certainly hoping for better fade resistance over the course of 20-25 minute sessions on track. I'm not expecting them to stand up to hours of heavy lapping without cooling in between, I'd need to be looking at a big brake kit with larger discs than the OEM size 294x22mm for that sort capability

Pedal feel with the braided lines does seem improved though so that's one area I'm pleased with already

It would be good to get an update from you once you use them in anger. I had probably a similar power setup to you but was running the standard brakes. It became a cheek clenching experience scrubbing off speed, particularly where i live as theres really good A roads with short straights so you can really ramp up the speed but then need to get it scrubbed off again quickly.

They were fine for everyday driving and even the odd spirited sprint, but consistent use saw them fade badly.

I didnt want to go down the route of the bigger brakes as it owuld have meant a wheel change too, so suddenly you could be talking £2,000 for a brake and wheel change.

I'd go back to an F56 very easily as a second car, but any time i look i keep thinking JCW which can be terribly pricey even on the used market. I amused myself for a little while last night on the configurator and for the level of finish i'd want a JCW was totting up at north of £33K.

[GaryF]

itsnotarace said:

Done some work to the car over the last couple of months

F56 style projector headlights with the half halo LED DRL (need to do lower DRL to match now)
Mostly dechromed with matte black now apart from beltline
Koni Special Active shocks with Eibach ProKit springs, new OEM top mounts
Powerflex bump stop and rear upper shock mounts
Brembo XTRA discs, Ferodo DS2500 pads, Motul RBF660, Goodridge lines
Racechip GTS with bluetooth module
NGK platinum plugs and new coil packs
Carly adapter
JCW side scuttles and LED repeaters
MSW 85 summer wheels 17x7.0 ET37 with some Bridgestone RE050s in 205/45 I had left over from my EP3 Civic Type R

Car sits much better since being lowered and the ET37 fills the arch, will be fitting 12mm spacers when the R112 winter wheels go back on

Next up will be Quaife LSD, clutch, anti roll bars and Poweflex front wishbone rear bushes, then will concentrate on the interior - would like a set of Recaro Sportsters and some Prosport oil and water temp gauges in an Alta gauge pod

Edited by itsnotarace on Tuesday 12th May 14:33

Great list of mods - tell me about Carly. I think I might like to get hold of that for some coding for sports seats / switch airbag light. Can you tell me what I need as far as cable and where to get the app/cable and if you know if it can reset airbag light (had to start car with one seat out). Thanks!

[itsnotarace]

Deep Thought said:

It would be good to get an update from you once you use them in anger. I had probably a similar power setup to you but was running the standard brakes. It became a cheek clenching experience scrubbing off speed, particularly where i live as theres really good A roads with short straights so you can really ramp up the speed but then need to get it scrubbed off again quickly.

They were fine for everyday driving and even the odd spirited sprint, but consistent use saw them fade badly.

I didnt want to go down the route of the bigger brakes as it owuld have meant a wheel change too, so suddenly you could be talking £2,000 for a brake and wheel change.

I'd go back to an F56 very easily as a second car, but any time i look i keep thinking JCW which can be terribly pricey even on the used market. I amused myself for a little while last night on the configurator and for the level of finish i'd want a JCW was totting up at north of £33K.

Sure, I'm hoping to book a Nurburgring trip as soon as the borders are open for non-essential travel so will let you know how I get on.

GaryF said:

Great list of mods - tell me about Carly. I think I might like to get hold of that for some coding for sports seats / switch airbag light. Can you tell me what I need as far as cable and where to get the app/cable and if you know if it can reset airbag light (had to start car with one seat out). Thanks!

Thanks Gary! So I use the official Carly bluetooth dongle which I purchased from Amazon and then paid for the app on my phone via the iTunes store, it's paid for itself a few times over now as I've used it to code stop/start to default as off, and also had to code my DRLs as the LED voltage was below the value the car was expecting, so hence threw a fault code on the dash. It also didn't like the xenon conversion in the projector headlights so threw another fault code for missing main and dipped beams. Again managed to code this out without having to book it with Mini

I haven't tried airbag functionality specifically but Carly can read and reset any ECU codes which will clear the dashboard light, I don't recall any coding for airbags off the top of my head but even if the fault came back after a while you can connect to the app and disable it within a few seconds

[itsnotarace]

Just had a look on Amazon and the adapter only seems to be available from a third party seller at nearly twice the price

Seems to be available from the official store for £74.95 plus the subscription on top which I bought both Mini and BMW to cover both my cars

https://app.mycarly.com/en/plan/?c=GB&b=bmw&am...

[Deep Thought]

stevemcs said:

Started to look what I can replace the clubby with.

Whats on the shortlist?

How did you find the Clubman? Was it a new model one or the older model?

[Deep Thought]

itsnotarace said:

Thanks Gary! So I use the official Carly bluetooth dongle which I purchased from Amazon and then paid for the app on my phone via the iTunes store, it's paid for itself a few times over now as I've used it to code stop/start to default as off, and also had to code my DRLs as the LED voltage was below the value the car was expecting, so hence threw a fault code on the dash. It also didn't like the xenon conversion in the projector headlights so threw another fault code for missing main and dipped beams. Again managed to code this out without having to book it with Mini

I haven't tried airbag functionality specifically but Carly can read and reset any ECU codes which will clear the dashboard light, I don't recall any coding for airbags off the top of my head but even if the fault came back after a while you can connect to the app and disable it within a few seconds

I used Bimmercode on mine and set it to start in Sport mode, rather than normal, and also set the interior noise to JCW so it matched the JCW exhaust.

I think i did another couple of things too, but cant remember.

Generally speaking theres a specific airbag ECU that standard code readers cant read. I think it needs a specific interface and / or capability.

[rigga]

Gave it a clean