Mini F56 GP3 - yes the weird one with arch spats!
Discussion
Next up was the arch spats.
They are an unusual design and made of recycled carbon fibre. I wasn’t sure at first but weirdly I now love them (in person). From afar they make the stance of the GP look like a wide bodied challenge car. This is the reason why you need to fill the arches out more.
One of the design flaws of these slats is that they have vented sections that love to collect small stones which have been flicked up by the rubber. They tend to sit between the spat and the bodywork. This is less of a practical issue because Mini installed PPF to stop any scratches or paint damage. The PITA is removing said stones. Blast with a pressure washer whilst pulling the arch slightly usually did the trick, and some GP owners even used an improvised tool to pull them out.
Being the resourceful chap I am I decided to get to work and try a ‘fix’.
I pulled the rear spats off. They are held with a combination of BMW red and grey trim clips. I ordered some replacements incase I broke some (I did).
I then bought some dense neoprene foam that was self adhesive. I filled in the gaps with the foam which acts as a barrier to stop debris getting in.
Worked a treat.
They are an unusual design and made of recycled carbon fibre. I wasn’t sure at first but weirdly I now love them (in person). From afar they make the stance of the GP look like a wide bodied challenge car. This is the reason why you need to fill the arches out more.
One of the design flaws of these slats is that they have vented sections that love to collect small stones which have been flicked up by the rubber. They tend to sit between the spat and the bodywork. This is less of a practical issue because Mini installed PPF to stop any scratches or paint damage. The PITA is removing said stones. Blast with a pressure washer whilst pulling the arch slightly usually did the trick, and some GP owners even used an improvised tool to pull them out.
Being the resourceful chap I am I decided to get to work and try a ‘fix’.
I pulled the rear spats off. They are held with a combination of BMW red and grey trim clips. I ordered some replacements incase I broke some (I did).
I then bought some dense neoprene foam that was self adhesive. I filled in the gaps with the foam which acts as a barrier to stop debris getting in.
Worked a treat.
So at this stage in ownership I had only used the GP for the odd weekend morning blast through pretty winters conditions which were wet and cold (and even icy).
So even though I was in an ok position to understand the dynamics, I hadn’t rung its neck, so to speak….
Fast forward and we had a dry spell. It was still cold (sub double digits on a thermometer), but it was dry!
It was great to finally be able to use full throttle in lower gears for once. What a thing. I’d argue it would be one of the fastest things out there in a similar class (or even higher!) on B Roads. Yes it’s firm but you soon learn to manage that.
One thing to note, you forget how terrifying lift off oversteer is at higher speeds. Due to the very firm and tight damping/spring rates and questionable road surface (maybe tyres too), the GP leapt into one of the biggest angle drifts I’ve done in a FWD car and that included track! It was a fast off camber downhill turn and it decided to let go very quickly. Luckily a few jabs of opposite lock and full throttle down and it graciously corrected itself and ploughed on. Sure heart rate was 180+bpm! That why GT3/4 and R8s are so much easier to drive hard in my opinion, power oversteer is a lot easier and predictable to control.
This is why I bought this little monster…. So much fun and the exact qualities I want from a fast car. They should be a challenge to tame and this can only make you a better driver.
I’m sure the Hankook S1 Ventus EVO tyres are superb in the warm dry conditions, or maybe for a bit of track work, but they won’t work for me. I like a tyre that can manage most conditions, e.g the MPS4S etc ….
So tyres are now on the ‘list’
I also gave the GP a little detail but I post separately on what I have been doing in that area.
So even though I was in an ok position to understand the dynamics, I hadn’t rung its neck, so to speak….
Fast forward and we had a dry spell. It was still cold (sub double digits on a thermometer), but it was dry!
It was great to finally be able to use full throttle in lower gears for once. What a thing. I’d argue it would be one of the fastest things out there in a similar class (or even higher!) on B Roads. Yes it’s firm but you soon learn to manage that.
One thing to note, you forget how terrifying lift off oversteer is at higher speeds. Due to the very firm and tight damping/spring rates and questionable road surface (maybe tyres too), the GP leapt into one of the biggest angle drifts I’ve done in a FWD car and that included track! It was a fast off camber downhill turn and it decided to let go very quickly. Luckily a few jabs of opposite lock and full throttle down and it graciously corrected itself and ploughed on. Sure heart rate was 180+bpm! That why GT3/4 and R8s are so much easier to drive hard in my opinion, power oversteer is a lot easier and predictable to control.
This is why I bought this little monster…. So much fun and the exact qualities I want from a fast car. They should be a challenge to tame and this can only make you a better driver.
I’m sure the Hankook S1 Ventus EVO tyres are superb in the warm dry conditions, or maybe for a bit of track work, but they won’t work for me. I like a tyre that can manage most conditions, e.g the MPS4S etc ….
So tyres are now on the ‘list’
I also gave the GP a little detail but I post separately on what I have been doing in that area.
It was a nice Sunday afternoon here in Wales, I’ve just done a morning of MTBing so thought a nice spirited drive in the GP would be a great way to end the weekend.
I wish I hadn’t bothered…….
I took a route through Snowdonia, then about 10 miles away from home I decided to take a different way back on a road I hadn’t been on for a long time, but I knew it was fun.
I came around a bend and I was faced with some pretty large potholes to the left of the road, naturally I veered to the right (there was no oncoming traffic, the road was dead), but then experienced a loud BANG, bounced the GP in the air slightly then it pulled me hard to the right.
I manged to control it however instantly I knew something was wrong. There was a lay-by meters away so I pulled into the right slowly letting it roll to a stop.
The dash flashed up “air loss” call emergency services (or something like that). I stepped out and found the front tyre completely flat with a large slice on the sidewall. Sh!t.
Whilst on the phone to wifey I then walked to the rear and discovered that the rear tyre had been slashed too!
I booked a recovery from BMW Assist and decided to find out what had caused it. As you can see the tarmac around the cat eye had worn away causing the metal to protrude, then guessing a mixture of low profile tyres and stiff suspension meant that it cut through the tyres (yes both of them!).
The recovery chap came within a max of 20 mins. What a gent! He was told by BMW the GP had to go to BMW, no doubt so they could fleece me for £££ to replace the tyres. So I managed to persuade him to drop it off home.
So whilst it was sat at home feeling sorry for itself, I got set to work deciding on my next steps.
A - need to check if rims had been damaged (hopefully not as they come as a set and are £3k.
B - opportunity to replace the Hankooks for something much better for my use case.
C - do I remove the wheels and put them into storage and buy something more to my taste, preserving the OEM wheels until / if I move the GP on.
Until next post. Extremely low profile tyres 😂
I wish I hadn’t bothered…….
I took a route through Snowdonia, then about 10 miles away from home I decided to take a different way back on a road I hadn’t been on for a long time, but I knew it was fun.
I came around a bend and I was faced with some pretty large potholes to the left of the road, naturally I veered to the right (there was no oncoming traffic, the road was dead), but then experienced a loud BANG, bounced the GP in the air slightly then it pulled me hard to the right.
I manged to control it however instantly I knew something was wrong. There was a lay-by meters away so I pulled into the right slowly letting it roll to a stop.
The dash flashed up “air loss” call emergency services (or something like that). I stepped out and found the front tyre completely flat with a large slice on the sidewall. Sh!t.
Whilst on the phone to wifey I then walked to the rear and discovered that the rear tyre had been slashed too!
I booked a recovery from BMW Assist and decided to find out what had caused it. As you can see the tarmac around the cat eye had worn away causing the metal to protrude, then guessing a mixture of low profile tyres and stiff suspension meant that it cut through the tyres (yes both of them!).
The recovery chap came within a max of 20 mins. What a gent! He was told by BMW the GP had to go to BMW, no doubt so they could fleece me for £££ to replace the tyres. So I managed to persuade him to drop it off home.
So whilst it was sat at home feeling sorry for itself, I got set to work deciding on my next steps.
A - need to check if rims had been damaged (hopefully not as they come as a set and are £3k.
B - opportunity to replace the Hankooks for something much better for my use case.
C - do I remove the wheels and put them into storage and buy something more to my taste, preserving the OEM wheels until / if I move the GP on.
Until next post. Extremely low profile tyres 😂
What a nightmare OP. Can you contact the council and seek them to cover some of the costs? It might spur them into action on repairing it. As bad as it is in a car, god forbid a biker hit that cats-eye for any reason!
Lovely car btw. I adore my GP1, and will get it out to play now soon since spring has arrived, but the GP3 seems a whole different level of animal
Lovely car btw. I adore my GP1, and will get it out to play now soon since spring has arrived, but the GP3 seems a whole different level of animal
I sort of bought one of these just before lockdown in that it was all ready to pick up and then Covid hit so I decided to cancel the order.
Was behind one on Saturday (you weren’t in Bristol were you?) and must admit I quite liked it. It had a very similar plate to yours and was an impressive site on the road.
Currently in the market for a fun weekend car as I let the GR Yaris go last year as I wasn’t using it. Have had a look around and for about £30k you can get a GP3 but at that price the one I saw had 60k miles.
Will see what is about and may end up in one of these.
Was behind one on Saturday (you weren’t in Bristol were you?) and must admit I quite liked it. It had a very similar plate to yours and was an impressive site on the road.
Currently in the market for a fun weekend car as I let the GR Yaris go last year as I wasn’t using it. Have had a look around and for about £30k you can get a GP3 but at that price the one I saw had 60k miles.
Will see what is about and may end up in one of these.
mikebradford said:
That's very unlucky.
However ive just had 2 separate flat tyres within a week both caused by screws.
Amazing how inconvenient getting new tyres is.
The potholes here in North Wales are getting worse and that's on our popular roads too, I hope they patch them soon.However ive just had 2 separate flat tyres within a week both caused by screws.
Amazing how inconvenient getting new tyres is.
Leins said:
What a nightmare OP. Can you contact the council and seek them to cover some of the costs? It might spur them into action on repairing it. As bad as it is in a car, god forbid a biker hit that cats-eye for any reason!
Lovely car btw. I adore my GP1, and will get it out to play now soon since spring has arrived, but the GP3 seems a whole different level of animal
Yes, reported to Denbigshire council, not hoping for a lot to be done though. The GP1 is awesome, true classic and should be a keeper for sure. Lovely car btw. I adore my GP1, and will get it out to play now soon since spring has arrived, but the GP3 seems a whole different level of animal
cornish said:
I sort of bought one of these just before lockdown in that it was all ready to pick up and then Covid hit so I decided to cancel the order.
Was behind one on Saturday (you weren’t in Bristol were you?) and must admit I quite liked it. It had a very similar plate to yours and was an impressive site on the road.
Currently in the market for a fun weekend car as I let the GR Yaris go last year as I wasn’t using it. Have had a look around and for about £30k you can get a GP3 but at that price the one I saw had 60k miles.
Will see what is about and may end up in one of these.
They do have a lot of road presence as they are much wider than the JCW so have a very interesting silhouette, just like an RS6 does (which you can’t capture on camera). Was behind one on Saturday (you weren’t in Bristol were you?) and must admit I quite liked it. It had a very similar plate to yours and was an impressive site on the road.
Currently in the market for a fun weekend car as I let the GR Yaris go last year as I wasn’t using it. Have had a look around and for about £30k you can get a GP3 but at that price the one I saw had 60k miles.
Will see what is about and may end up in one of these.
Quite a few cancelled orders for the same reason, bad timing for Mini.
I can highly recommend the GP if you are a drivers, driver. It won't be a planted AWD plough with all the electronic nannies to get you from A to B without breaking a sweat. It will make you earn your way (that's what I love!). Test drive one, but I guess you won't be able to push on in a test drive to experience its qualities.
Edited by christurbo on Sunday 17th March 21:31
Next update
So whilst the GP was out of action I decided to accelerate some TLC in the wheel arches.
The plan:-
1. Remove rust off the brake disc hats. Then painted with high temperature silver paint. Also remove rust off any metal work/bolts if I find any.
2. Apply Bilt Hamber Touchless foam to the arches and get most of the crud off
3. Apply Bilt Hamber Surfex HD to degrease and further remove stubborn grime
4. Apply Bilt Hamber AutoWheel to remove all remaining metallic debris
5. Lanoguard protection both the spray and also grease for bolts and areas that could be prone to rust
6. Ceramic coat the calipers and surfaces, like my newly painted brake disc hats, inc the exhaust tips. I use R-evolveX. This will make maintenance super easy going forward.
The brake discs looked a bit worse for wear but this was mostly from them standing around and having surface rust, so worth tidying up vs replacing at this point. There was less than 0.5mm wear on front and rear so much less than the 1.6mm tolerances set by BMW. Brake pads need sorting soon though.
The next day after the paint had dried I got to work on the cleaning. First stop Touchless, I agitated it with a brush as you can see it was cruddy from all the Welsh winter roads. Then Surfex HD and finally AutoWheel.
Quick dry with the beast
Finally nice and clean
Then some proper protection - Lanoguard. I used this on the Discovery last year and its amazing.
Finally the finishing touches with some R-evolveX, one of the toughest ceramic coatings out there for wheels and parts like calipers, etc.
This should keep the GP protected without it becoming a garage queen.
Next up the GP needs to get back on the road..... So wheels???
So whilst the GP was out of action I decided to accelerate some TLC in the wheel arches.
The plan:-
1. Remove rust off the brake disc hats. Then painted with high temperature silver paint. Also remove rust off any metal work/bolts if I find any.
2. Apply Bilt Hamber Touchless foam to the arches and get most of the crud off
3. Apply Bilt Hamber Surfex HD to degrease and further remove stubborn grime
4. Apply Bilt Hamber AutoWheel to remove all remaining metallic debris
5. Lanoguard protection both the spray and also grease for bolts and areas that could be prone to rust
6. Ceramic coat the calipers and surfaces, like my newly painted brake disc hats, inc the exhaust tips. I use R-evolveX. This will make maintenance super easy going forward.
The brake discs looked a bit worse for wear but this was mostly from them standing around and having surface rust, so worth tidying up vs replacing at this point. There was less than 0.5mm wear on front and rear so much less than the 1.6mm tolerances set by BMW. Brake pads need sorting soon though.
The next day after the paint had dried I got to work on the cleaning. First stop Touchless, I agitated it with a brush as you can see it was cruddy from all the Welsh winter roads. Then Surfex HD and finally AutoWheel.
Quick dry with the beast
Finally nice and clean
Then some proper protection - Lanoguard. I used this on the Discovery last year and its amazing.
Finally the finishing touches with some R-evolveX, one of the toughest ceramic coatings out there for wheels and parts like calipers, etc.
This should keep the GP protected without it becoming a garage queen.
Next up the GP needs to get back on the road..... So wheels???
Wish said:
I was looking for one last year. The same car is still for sale today on autotrader.
It’s got a roof decal (not my cuppa tea) can’t believe it’s still for sale, it’s become a sport now to see when it sells.
It looks in good condition with only 6,000 miles. Private sale.
It’s because of the shoddy reviews that most publications / sources mimicked. I think they are a true drivers car (forgetting the manual box) and a GP worth collecting for years to come. The sheep’s loss is our gain! It’s got a roof decal (not my cuppa tea) can’t believe it’s still for sale, it’s become a sport now to see when it sells.
It looks in good condition with only 6,000 miles. Private sale.
Ps… a lot of the handling characteristics are down to the rubber that Mini spec’d as OEM. But I’ll get onto that soon.
Update …..
So after the extensive arch clean, a fresh set of Protrack One lightweight alloy wheels arrived from Germany.
They are very short on stock so I had to compromise on the offset. But actually this worked out in my favour explained later.
Spec was 18x8 ET45 in Gloss Anthracite. Relatively lightweight at just under 8kgs which matches the OEM forged alloys.
I couldn’t wait to see what the looked like so offered them up to the GP.
I also had to order a set of TPMS, I was keeping the OEM wheels in storage so didn’t want the faff of swapping things over.
OEM BMW units are not cheap.
The GP sheds a lot of brake dust so I wanted the best rim protection and sealant out there to make maintenance easy once on. So I got hold of some Revolve X v2. Litterally armour for wheels and nothing can stick to it! You may remember I applied it to the calipers and exhaust.
I got to work applying and also fitting the TPMS remembering to torque them to 8nm.
The wheels were coated and left to set for 24hrs. Then I took them to my local Protyre to get some rubber fitted to them.
This was an opportunity to ditch the OEM Hankooks for something more capable in all weathers. Not just on flat, smooth and dry circuits!
I’ve always opted for Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S where I could for my cars in the past. However it seems times have moved on and there is a new leader in town. The Continental Contact Sport 7.
I read the reviews, watched the video review from Tyre Reviews and decided to pull the trigger and take a punt.
A common mod most GP owners do is increase the profile of the rubber for a more compliant ride and to provide a little extra protection against our awful roads. So I went up from a 35 profile to a 40 profile. This also fills the arch a little aesthetically.
This is where I encountered a problem. The spigot rings sent with the rims were an incorrect size for the hub. They sent a 66.1mm (suited to VAG) when I needed a 66.6mm. They just wouldn’t fit on. Massively disappointed.
A few days later the new brown spigot rings arrived!
The standard offset of the GP is ET39, which is fairly sunk into the massive arches. I wanted an ET35 to push them out a little. I had to settle on an ET45 as this was the only size manufactured at this time. This gave me more options to play with the final offset my using hub centric spacers.
Cut a long story short, I used multiple sizes and settled on 15mm front and 20mm rear. So effectively an offset of ET30 front (-9) and ET25 rear (-14). Perfect!
I took the GP out to drive and test there were no wobbles / vibration before coming back to base to re-torque the nuts.
I then took it out to test it dynamically around the famous welsh roads where I live near in North Wales.
OMG! Transformed….! NO torque steer at all. No tramlining. The ride is so compliant, it feels like I’ve fitted some really high end dampers. Front end grip is nice and direct and it is just so much more confidence inspiring allowing me to push on in places I couldn’t before.
I feel Mini missed the trick here with the GP specing the Hankooks. If they had spec’d a MPS4(S) or a Goodridge Contacts Sport 7 then the media reviews would be so different!
So after the extensive arch clean, a fresh set of Protrack One lightweight alloy wheels arrived from Germany.
They are very short on stock so I had to compromise on the offset. But actually this worked out in my favour explained later.
Spec was 18x8 ET45 in Gloss Anthracite. Relatively lightweight at just under 8kgs which matches the OEM forged alloys.
I couldn’t wait to see what the looked like so offered them up to the GP.
I also had to order a set of TPMS, I was keeping the OEM wheels in storage so didn’t want the faff of swapping things over.
OEM BMW units are not cheap.
The GP sheds a lot of brake dust so I wanted the best rim protection and sealant out there to make maintenance easy once on. So I got hold of some Revolve X v2. Litterally armour for wheels and nothing can stick to it! You may remember I applied it to the calipers and exhaust.
I got to work applying and also fitting the TPMS remembering to torque them to 8nm.
The wheels were coated and left to set for 24hrs. Then I took them to my local Protyre to get some rubber fitted to them.
This was an opportunity to ditch the OEM Hankooks for something more capable in all weathers. Not just on flat, smooth and dry circuits!
I’ve always opted for Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S where I could for my cars in the past. However it seems times have moved on and there is a new leader in town. The Continental Contact Sport 7.
I read the reviews, watched the video review from Tyre Reviews and decided to pull the trigger and take a punt.
A common mod most GP owners do is increase the profile of the rubber for a more compliant ride and to provide a little extra protection against our awful roads. So I went up from a 35 profile to a 40 profile. This also fills the arch a little aesthetically.
This is where I encountered a problem. The spigot rings sent with the rims were an incorrect size for the hub. They sent a 66.1mm (suited to VAG) when I needed a 66.6mm. They just wouldn’t fit on. Massively disappointed.
A few days later the new brown spigot rings arrived!
The standard offset of the GP is ET39, which is fairly sunk into the massive arches. I wanted an ET35 to push them out a little. I had to settle on an ET45 as this was the only size manufactured at this time. This gave me more options to play with the final offset my using hub centric spacers.
Cut a long story short, I used multiple sizes and settled on 15mm front and 20mm rear. So effectively an offset of ET30 front (-9) and ET25 rear (-14). Perfect!
I took the GP out to drive and test there were no wobbles / vibration before coming back to base to re-torque the nuts.
I then took it out to test it dynamically around the famous welsh roads where I live near in North Wales.
OMG! Transformed….! NO torque steer at all. No tramlining. The ride is so compliant, it feels like I’ve fitted some really high end dampers. Front end grip is nice and direct and it is just so much more confidence inspiring allowing me to push on in places I couldn’t before.
I feel Mini missed the trick here with the GP specing the Hankooks. If they had spec’d a MPS4(S) or a Goodridge Contacts Sport 7 then the media reviews would be so different!
Love it. Really interesting to read your impressions, as they don't always get great reviews, but it's clearly a car with charm. I have an F56 JCW and I love it a lot more than I thought I would coming from a BBR MX5, and I can relate to that feeling of getting out for the first time when it's dry, I feel like I've waited ages for that, and when you can actually get some grip, the car is a little hooligan in the lower gears. I'm actually finding I like the Mini the longer I've owned it which is unusual for a car. They've definitely got some character, and as you say, you need to actually drive it well to get the best out of it.
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