Hello Everyone,
I have been a lurker on this forum since purchasing my R53 in 2015 and thought it was finally time to properly join the community. I bought my mum's 2003 R53 (original owner) while in grad school when she upgraded to a 2015 F56 JCW and have spent the last few years turning it from the car that took me to high school into my car. She fortunately took very good care of the car while it was hers (thankfully she didn't regularly drive it like she stole it nor did let me drive it) and I have since spoiled it rotten with both maintenance (fixes and preventative) and bolt-on modifications (both largely with thanks to this forum and Detroit Tuned). Even with 103k mi (I got it at 80k), it is now finally in the state that I want it to be in and I can't foresee a future without it; I can't help but look back at it every time I park it and grin like an idiot with the glorious supercharger whine.

So hello everyone and thank you for unknowingly (as I guest-lurked the forums) helping me build my dream car. I've waved since 2003 even when I was in lesser cars, which in retrospect probably confused quite a few people :P

While I have decided that my R53 is a 'she', I have shamefully never settled on a name even though I had done so for my previous cars. Here are a few older pictures of her (she presently needs an end of winter clean) but not much has changed on the outside, relative to the second picture, aside from a pair of Detroit Tuned stickers on the B-pillars, two bolt heads in the front of the hood scoop (the screw mounts broke when I had it repainted) and tips from a new exhaust

Here she is when I got her in 2015 next to my father's baby (1967 Citroen DS21).
Here she is in Michigan in 2016 with roof racks, darkened side markers, a Stubby antenna and where front license plates aren't required

 

Welcome to NAM, thanks for taking the time to get involved.

Nice looking car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Welcome, where abouts are you in MI? Im from the Durand area.

 

Thanks Whine not Walnuts
Cheers Scooter24, I was in Lansing when I got my MINI and now in Ann Arbor. How (bad) are the potholes in Durand? This past winter created minefields down here.

 

well I live on the outskirts so all the roads are country roads and are not that bad as soon as I hear towards flint or flushing or any "bigger city" they are just terrible. Cant wait to get done with nursing school and move somewhere warm with better roads!

 

Welcome
Congrats it looks like a good car.

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Hi and welcome to the NAN forum (finally)!
Nice looking MCS!

 

Welcome, thats a clean R53 and it should be coming from Cali. Should be clean and no rust.

 

Thanks WayMotorWorks, AnOldBiker, ItsmeWayne and ECSTuning.
It lived in IL for the first two years of its life and then a combo of SoCal and NorCal until 2015. As far as I can tell it is rust free (I've made sure to clean off salt during the winter whenever the temperatures are above freezing) and I have been slowly replacing the rubber and plastic components that got cooked in SoCal.

Are there any recommended permanent methods of restoring the lower black plastic trim pieces (e.g. wheel arches)? I know of (but have never used) 'Black WOW' and 'Mothers Black on Black' but I am wondering if there is anything that lasts longer that would be worth using.

 

Welcome.

I used Chemical Guys VRP and it holds up, but like everything over time once the heavy rain or salt hits it after a while it will need to be reapplied. I liked the VRP as it held up for a couple rainy days but then you have to touch it back up. I have used the shoe polish liquid and it holds up the longest... but it starts to peel off after a year and you will have a paint peal looing wheel arch. Best thing is to get them sanded and professionally painted black.

 

I use Back to Black, fine mist spray. It lasted me all last summer, but again, there is no real fix, unless you want to paint them. If you do, every nick and ding, will put you into a bad karma place! The spray is an instant touch up! which keeps away the Karma Killer!

 

Cheers ECSTuning and ItsmeWayne. I'll give them each a try; at minimum it is time for me to start amassing the different products to clean my car properly. Not going to lie, the aerosol aspect of the Back-to-Black is rather appealing.
I think I have enough painted surfaces to worry about with regards to rock hits, a stain seems like the better option.

 

Here is the good thing about the Back to Black fine mist spray: You can get it on the paint and just wipe it off and it is gone and will nt mess with the paint!
The stuff in the bottles does not work, like the can does!

 

Black WOW is awesome. You just a small bit and it goes a long way and last so long.

 

Thanks WayMotorWorks, ItsmeWayne and ECSTuning.
I tried the Chemical Guys VRP this weekend (it was the first to arrive) and it did a fantastic job on the trim overall with the exception of what seem to be stress marks. Those sections are still a bit white, and unfortunately now stand out a bit more (that said, the look of the rest of the plastic makes the overall change worth while). The temperatures dropped, but I was going to give it another coat to see if that was my problem.
Otherwise the Back-to-Black spray should be arriving soon so that I can give that a test (I like the idea of it being an easy touch up solution) and a buddy of mine has some Black WOW that he said I could try out. Worst case scenario I am now stocked up on plastics restorers.

If none of the restorers remove/mask the stress marks, is it worth using a dye-type product or do I risk making everything look splotchy?

 

Welcome. Apply the vrp in the sun light and when its warm, takes to the wheel arch better and also for the first time a second coat helps and also helps blend those white stress marks out.

The shoe stuff works, but it has to be free of dressing and super clean, but down the road it peels after a year or so.

 

Welcome.

Great looking car ... Red is the fastest color!

Motor On!

 

Thanks again ECSTuning, I'll give it a shot when Michigan decides to give us a few days of spring again (today is back to snowing).
Cheers JABowders, CR FTW. It is unfortunately a bit of a speeding ticket magnet (barren state highway, but not barren enough unfortunately), but then you get quotes like "I know your car is red but you can't go driving around like it's a firetruck." Thank you officer, I didn't realize that I wasn't driving a firetruck to an emergency. I've been meaning to put a vinyl ladder down one side of the car since.