Since this would be my g/f's car, I think keep it stock except the lighting mods, which i'll take care of. LOL.

Gotta get them folding mirrors, advance climate control, Moonroof, and she only drives Auto. Man, I love those little cars.

 

I'll buy it if I can get it down to $15K. I'll see if I can sell my beater first. I can't have too many cars all at once.

Looks-wise, I'll powdercoat the wheels matte black, try to DECHROME everything I can, remoce that ugly M badge. It already has the $2000 aero kit from factory!!!
Performance, maybe get a flash. Definitely a different intake, a BOV, and a better exhaust.
Cant forget the LEDs and HIDs for the car. haha.

I was test driving a bone stock one with Amy the other day. It was yellow with pano roof, 6 spd, NO heated seats . Found some twisties around the area and drove it. I was driving 80mph and I didnt even realize it. It's nice and quick enough and handles excellent. I could've pushed it more but not sure how much grip and it's the first time I've driven the car.

I'll probably go this weekend with Amy again and check out the car. Then seriously talk with the guy. Last time I spoke to him, it doesn't seem he really cared on whether selling the car or not.

 

I think this sized car would be more appropriate in NY, at least with my limited time there.

BTW Gong Hai Fat Choy John!

 

I think if you make all the chrome trim black and maybe vinyl the roof, it would look really good!

Friend of mine has a Mini S and it looks pretty tight all blacked out

BTW, have you thought of maybe picking up a E46 ZHP? Those are pretty tight cars too!

 

How about these wheels John

 

YUUUCK

 

these cars are amazing...i recently sold mine for my e60...mine was modded like hell... with the right touches, these cars can look incredible...(the r56's do have too much chrome and compared to the r53's they require much more work to get things lookin right but its possible)...couple pics of mine for ideas...

 

OMg, the car looks awesome! How much HP were u running? what boost? damn. I hope when I get the mini I can slowly hook it up and hope my g/f doesn't notice. LOL

 

I was running at a little higher than stock boost levels, ~17 psi during overboost, ~15psi under normal conditions...never got dyno'd but had every possible bolt on mod installed. All my power upgrades were done wayyy before any tuning options were available for this car (ecu is a biatch work with). Never got it fully dyno-tuned because I planned on selling the car. However, as of right now, there is a couple companies that have tuning options (live tunes) for this car bringing the car to (with the appropriate mods: intercooler/intake/bov/exhaust) to 225whp+...obviously there is much more to be done in terms of performance to reach the 300whp mark on street driven minis achieved with the r53 models (s/c)

on the plus side, you will not NEED all that hp to overtake anybody at the track/twisties/canyons...suspension mods were more my thing on this car as its really not a straight line performer. if you're in socal, i have a close friend that is, hands down, the best mini tuner/mechanic in the U.S. (bold statement yes). For anyone who buys these cars in socal, feel safe to know you've got a shop that'll take care of you wayyy beyond the warranty.

 

CAR LOOKS SICK!! That's EXACTLY what I wanted. But not to burst ur bubble, I HATE that wing. I ended up getting an Audi Allroad. The Allroad is much bigger and has A LOT more power when modded.

The handling is definitely crazy with the Mini S! But the torque steer on these things are enormous and when u have serious HP, u need an LSD.

The MCS sits kinda low as it is and definitely not good for plowing through the NYC streets. I already have a low car (E60). That's why I ended up choosing the Allroad. It has the power, the height when I need it, and the space!