Well, I just wanted to say hello to everyone- I am a proud new owner of a fun 2003 Mini Cooper- in a rare red velvet color. OK, so my girlfriend started to get me into minis but then I realized I could actually put it on my list if I got a used one. I have been thinking about a new car for years.
Well, let me start by saying that I have been of low means for many years- I have driven and loved (and cared for) a '74 Super Beetle for over 12 years. Believe it or not this is the only care I have ever owned. So, going for a new car would mean selling my old bug and that was tough... because my bug is in great shape.
So, I started to look into minis and I found a great one- with low miles and some good extras. I'll put pictures up but as luck would have it, my girlfriend loves red velvet cake over anything else.. and she calls the Mini a "red velvet cupcake"- I'm cool with that- I think it's just fun and for me it is a huge step in my life- I can't believe I own such a cool newer car. I now have two of the coolest small cars ever made.
Anyway- I am researching a few things on there - so if anyone can help me- I want to reduce some noise that I'm getting from the dash- seems kind of loose on top.
Also, I want to move the stereo that I had just installed on my bug into the Mini- it's a JVC KD-HDR50 - I am a bit overwhelmed with thinking of how to do this upgrade- I know the woofer box will take too much room out back (MY bug somehow has more space )- oh, another huge question is- can I keep the volume controls on the steering wheel working if I upgrade the head unit? and is there an amp already installed in my car? I just want better sound.
Ok.. I'll post more i'm sure and I'll respond to others- I am glad to have found this site.. I am already enjoying my MOTORING! More than anything, my girlfriend and I were always seeing couples riding in minis and now we are one too..
Omar

 

Welcome to the forum, hope you and the GF have a lot of fun in the MINI and good luck installing the HK, maybe one of the forum members will have some usefull advice on the best way to do it.

 

BensMini, thanks for the welcome... I do hope I can upgrade my stereo...
I'm sharing picture of the first day at the car wash. I did put some trim on my doors and back hatch - I think it looks great- i'll put up more pictures later.

 

that color is nice! i had never heard of red velvet, and it looks to be in great shape, nice find. Welcome to the forum!!
BTW did all the first gen Minis have that Euro plate shape on the bumper?? was this a Euro model??

 

Man I love Velvet Red. I probably would have gotten that color but to me a British car should be British Racing Green, nothing else. My '02 also has that "euro" plate cutout. I think the '02 and '03 Coopers did before the '04 restyle. The S model did not have this.

Val

 

That's a sweet color! Congrats on the new ride.

 

Wow, for some reason when you first said Red Velvet I just pictured Nightfire Red and thought, yeah that's pretty cool. But holy cow...I really like that color you got. I bet it looks even better in person. Nice score man.

 

Hi Omar.

I just found out the name of my color is "Velvet Red" and your recent thread (this one) came up in a search.

So hello! from another recent Mini fanatic with a Velvet Red R50.

When I was shopping, it was my #1 color choice. My wife and I love ours too!

Happy Motoring.

---brett

Here's a shot of mine:

 

I love velvet red. i have an 03 velvet red mini too. i bought mine new though. we've had it for 7 years and aren't planning on selling it any time soon. it's got 35k miles on it, not bad for a car that old. now that my parents have finally given me the car for my 16th birthday, i'm hoping to put white bonnet stripes on it aswell as the chrome driving lamps. it will look like a velvet red rally car:D. unfortunately i couldn't upload my pictures of it because they were too large and i really don't want to go through the trouble of manually resizing them. you can check out my car though at http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php...&ref=fbx_album