I love that Mini. Especially the BRG with the brown seats/interior. I had similar color seats in my first Mini, a 2007 MCS that bought at that same dealership (it was "Sparkling Silver = beige). But I'm glad with what I got, I just cannot get into those big black plastic wheel arch things on the GP3. In fact one of the rarest and coolest Mini mods ever done is having the black wheel arches painted body color. Anyway congrats on the new Mini I'm sure it's great.

 

LOL thanks! It's funny, my MA asked me if it was possible for somebody to paint the front black strip (which I had mentioned wrapping Rebel Green), and also if it was possible to paint the black arches. I told him that they are paintable, but because of the textured plastic, there is probably a *lot* of prep that has to go into to that kind of job. I'm with you that for this trim level, I think those should be painted parts.

I think I could go for a set of GP3 style arches like Cutch Wotan, if #1 they were factory parts (not after-market), and #2 I would paint them Rebel green. I'd really like to replace my stock wheels with something with a little less offset, and those side flares would allow for a more flexible wheel choice.

So Wotan, how much for the factory carbon reinforced plastic i3/i8 scrap pieces shipped from Germany? Any other bodywork pieces required to go with them? I assume the front splitter at least, maybe rocker panels too?

 

Gorgeous JCW, Chamberlin1. So tempting to order a manual, Rebel Green JCW right now. My wife wants the extra room of the Clubman S, but at the same price as the JCW Hardtop, I think the kids can squeeze in haha.

Also, I'm worried they might switch the JCWs all to hybrids soon and ditch the manuals. I've owned several EVs, but they're not as fun as a manual MINI, IMO.

Anyway, congrats!

 

Those are oe parts ordered in April you can swap but not my business sorry.

 

I tent to make the GP3 look like that

 

 

[QUOTE=Chamberlin1;4562452]LOL thanks! It's funny, my MA asked me if it was possible for somebody to paint the front black strip (which I had mentioned wrapping Rebel Green), and also if it was possible to paint the black arches. I told him that they are paintable, but because of the textured plastic, there is probably a *lot* of prep that has to go into to that kind of job. I'm with you that for this trim level, I think those should be painted parts.QUOTE]
I have seen pix of painted wheel arches and it looks great, it's one of the rarest mods on a Mini almost nobody ever does it. As I recall somebody said it cost them about $1,000 way back when to get them sanded/prepped and painted.

 

I'd recommend the JCW Pro coilovers, as I find them outstanding. I compare them to Bilsteins, which I have consistently run on my past Minis. Take note of ride height however, and do not lower more than 10mm for best results.

Kind regards,

Charlie

 

And in addition, trust those brakes. I have never driven a better set.

The four piston Brembos never blue, never smoke, and stop every time - from Tail of the Dragon experience.

Get used to the rev hang, and the low-end torque. I drive mine with 2,500 rpm upshifts around town, and loaf at 30 mph in 4th. The car feels like a smallblock V8 when I squeeze the throttle. Be patient.

Remember you have the brakes as a limited slip solution - before I had the Quaife installed, and the only time, I blued the brakes on a damp Dragon run. It was preventing wheelspin on exit that did it, not slowing on corner entry.

But most of all - DAMN that thing is pretty!!

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Thanks Charlie... 10mm is the plan... And see post #66 above

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4560679

 

I would never change the back band, I rather think of some inside adapter to get them wider for 1o inch wheels.

 

@Chamberlin1 Congrats, beautiful car. I love that interior with the Rebel Green. Enjoy!

I'm enjoying watching this process as a long-time BMWCCA member and multi-BMW owner - who also has a thing for R53 Minis. My current is an '05 JCW.

None of BMW's current offerings particularly interest me (other than the M2) and I'm not a fan of that new front end, so I'm enjoying my classic BMWs and Minis for the time being. I haven't even attempted to go drive a new JCW -- I know better than to do that to myself!

 

Thank you for that! Sounds like we're in the same boat...other than I took the plunge to order a new JCW, after selling off my BMW collection. I've had more than my fair share of classic BMWs up until now, but I'm glad to have moved over to MINIs! I had that '06 JCW for only 5 weeks, but due to a sudden decision to sell our house, I had to let it go just a day before the new one arrived... Even with the '21 JCW in the garage, I'm dying to get another R53 though, and I'd pounce on that 70K blue Checkmate Aero that's nearby if I could...but no chance right now. The R53 is such a unique experience that I really want to have both the old and the new in the stable at some point. I'm an M2 fan too, but I just couldn't order one for a reasonable price and no custom paint without spending another $25K... The option to order a new custom made JCW is what really drew me into the dealer. You've been warned!

 

Yep, I hear ya' for sure! I had an M2 on order awhile back, but then practicality / lack of driving / Covid sensibilities kicked in. The M2 is fantastic, and I got to really explore it's abilities at Thermal. But, it's a lot easier to play with an R53 and older BMWs with no worries, really no depreciation, and no guilt if it's not getting driven!

It would be really fun to have two of the best JCWs in your garage. The red R53 you found was very nice; glad it found a new local home. When I saw you lusting at the blue Checkmate again right after that....? Well, suffice to say I think you are going to need a support group! You're probably on your way to getting that BRG in Florida by now. I know how you hate green and tan, and it would be awful if they matched. Must...resist...urge.

 

......wait what, a BRG in FL??? oh no.... I thought I escaped the wrath of another 12 step program when that beautiful one in Canada got sold (I didn't see that one until it had already changed hands). But I definitely hear you on the guilt-free, 100% fun R53 world! I drove the M2 Comp at our local ///M Tour visit, nothing like a Thermal visit, but I got the 'picture'.

Please "don't" send a link to the BRG... damn, my R53 OEM factory rally lights just showed up too... I guess I will have to just keep them on the shelf for now! LOL

 

Omg...I found it. Yea I'm all over that one..I hate you. 😜

And I totally don't mind the perceived gaudiness of that tan, silver, black, chrome etc... I just don't give a flying hoot. That's my next MINI. Beautiful low mile example in my favorite color. Dammit, and it's even JCW (I'm good with just S too, but JCW is a big bonus). Now how do I get this car purchased and shipped here without my wife knowing! Danger Will Robinson.

 

And I only take a 5% commission for triggering you on this one. Oops, sorry not sorry.
I just wanted to test your will to see just how strong you can be when presented with virtually your perfect R53. You can do it! (be strong, that is...not buy it).

 

LOL - Since today is my birthday, I figured I'd mention it to my wife.... didn't go over well at all. But at least the screaming was kept to a minimum out of respect for my special day (BTW, she bought me all MINI related gifts this year!)

It's definitely the kind of MINI R53 I'm looking for (in the future!), but I will say, the ad text and photos aren't very convincing. Also, it has a less than one year seller, the car has a very dirty engine bay for 30K miles, and the fact it's 2300 miles away, all are helping to keep the marriage intact. What's with the 13K mile clutch too?

 

I agree, had the same concerns, especially clutch at 13K miles. Not presented well, terrible pics and for a PP owner why are all the pics at a MINI dealer?
It sure is a good thing we can shoot holes in this and keep you from calling trucking companies or trying to buy airfare during Thanksgiving week....

 

JCW Rebel Green & BRAID polished aluminium on 8x17

 

Just a 500 mile followup... please don't get the wrong impression here, I love my MINI... but I just got done with the 30 minute official post-sale 3rd party survey, and I didn't bother with any pleasantries, just negatives where asked. So I figured I'd continue my 'rant' over here too LOL

Rev hang is ruining my experience with this car. It's really atrocious. It's so frustrating that the car has perfect rev-matching for downshifts, but no way to easily over-ride the 'baked-in' rev-hang on the up shifts. I mean it's a literal eternity to wait if you like wind out the motor like it's supposed to be run. I also think it's ironic that you don't have the option to turn off rev-matching in Sport mode? You'd think that would be the mode where there was no rev-matching, as you want to heal-toe it yourself.

At what mileage does the over-run burbles on the exhaust start happening? Was it 1000 miles? 1200?

Speaking of mileage, has anyone bothered with a 1200 mile oil change like you'd do on a BMW ///M engine? I'm thinking about it myself...probably take it to the dealer so that it's recorded in the official records.

I just received an OBDII bluetooth module today, so I'm looking forward to doing some basic coding updates to the car with the BimmerCode. First thing I'm going to try and do is make the car start in Sport mode. This is a JCW, and I don't mind having the other two driving modes available (ECO and normal), but they are useless to me for 99% of my driving. I truly do NOT rag on my cars; I try avoid using the brakes to reduce brake dust (OMG the dust on these OEM pads!), I do smooth, long pulls vs. harsh jack-rabbit starts, and I avoid bad/bumpy roads as often as possible to reduce suspension wear. I also don't mash the car around corners, just nice high speed sweepers.

That said, Sport mode is the only mode that this car should come with. These are not quick cars to begin with, and you'll get smoked off the line by just about every Starbucks drinking parent taking their 3 kids to school with their stomp 'n 'go SUVs; that is, unless you thrash your MINI through the gears at every stop light. Sport mode at least wakes the car up to a reasonable level to keep up with traffic, and aside from the rev-hang issue mentioned above, makes the throttle mapping and steering etc. just about perfect. In ECO mode I constantly have to look down to see if the E-brake handle is still engaged! Normal mode is fine I guess, but I'd prefer just to leave the car in Sport mode all the time. Not a huge fan of the piped in sound, so I will probably look into disabling that too (I saw some posts on that earlier).

I'll add more impressions later, focusing on more of the good stuff, but it's more fun to point out flaws first I suppose (tends to spark more dialogue).

 

I actually have a lot of comments about your concerns, but they are far more involved, but I wanted to correct a little misconception you posted above. You said "wind out the motor like it's supposed to be run," The B48 engine is very much not a revvy motors and really shouldn't be revved out, this motoringfun article's first dyno image shows how the torque drops off so quickly that you don't see extra power over 5500 rpm. These engines are really all about mid-range torque.

I guess I also don't get the rev hang comment either, shoving it in the next gear corrects the hang by rev-matching to that gear, it keeps it high because a miss-calculation on the high side works better, is smoother, and feels more aggressive. I personally suggest you give working with the car instead of against it a try, that thought process just makes you fight it more and I have seen a number people ruin their experience with the car.

 

Thanks for your comments, they are much appreciated, in that you're trying to make sure everyone gets the most out of their new MINI purchase-

But there are no misconceptions here, just misunderstandings. I should have made it clear that when I say 'winding out' I don't mean red-lining the little B48 on every gear. Remember, I'm still in break-in period after all! I used to be a Mazda rotor-head years ago, so I've had cars that need 'wringing out' when trying to make power. But I've also had V8's, V10's, V12's and lots of straight 6's turbo'd, supercharged and NA. Bottom line, what we all consider revving out is relative, and coming from an X4 M40i with the N55B30T0 that had plenty of down low motive force even with a high weight vehicle, to this B48 turbo 4 cylinder, of course I'm going to feel like I'm winding it out. But again, I don't mean bouncing it off the rev limiter here, just having to push it up into the higher rev range more than I'm used to.

With that, we come to the rev hang issue, and I'm not sure what the big mystery is here. As you know, the manufacturer has chosen to purposely program in a smooth (i.e. slow) RPM decline when up-shifting between gears for the purposes of cleaner emissions. This makes it feel like there is a semi-truck's flywheel attached to the motor. Sure you could jam it into the next higher forward gear and let out the clutch to bring the rev's instantly back down, but now you're essentially dumping the clutch on every upshift? That excess rotational energy has to go someplace leading to added wear on the clutch and driveline - "correcting the hang" as you called it. That is absolutely nonsensical to me. And to be clear, I'm not fighting the car per se, I'm able to drive it quite smoothly, assuming I wait the requiusite time for the RPMs to fall to the next gear's current rotational rate. What I am fighting, is the manufacturer's choice to ruin the manual transmission experience in favor of what might amount to a fraction of a percent difference in NOx exhaust gas emissions (and reduce pressure spikes in the crank case for less oil consumption). There's a reason that the aftermarket has provided rev hang solutions for Subaru, Hyundai, Honda and Volkswagen - everybody hates it! I do realize there are a ton of benefits to an electronically controlled throttle, such as rev-matching on downshifts, high accuracy cruise control, etc. But when I let off the gas with the clutch in, I want RPMs to drop as fast as they can, as if the throttle plate was immediately shut...regardless if I'm driving normally or spirited. I'm sure as hell not going to beat up my clutch, driveline and tires on every up-shift and pretend to ignore the rev-hang ("working with the car" as you noted). For now, I will continue to wait it out between upshifts, but it's not something I'm happy about. The CDV orifice doesn't help that situation either, although that's easily defeatable.

So when can we expect a mainstream tune/fix for the B48 rev hang issue? All my other complaints about the F56 MINI are trivial in comparison, really.

 

I am still confused because I simply don't have rev hang, the car rev matches on the upshift and downshift, so it brings the revs down before you let out the clutch, at least my car does.

 

The JCW exhaust is nice. I have it on my 2018, and I like it, but would rather that it could be open all the time. It is a port installation.