Ross' R56 FJCW
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:25 am
At Ferg's suggestion, I've started this thread to catalogue some of the slight modifications I've made / I'm making to my Mini.
Having been down the homebrew turbo charging route with an old MX5, I've realised I don't have the time & patience to cobble some random parts together and attempt to make them work in an OEM fashion.
Therefore the intention with the Mini is to stick to genuine BMW / Mini parts, as they're guaranteed to fit, and won't require constant fettling.
Also, not too interested in performance mods at the moment - The obvious route is to fit a bigger intercooler / remap for 250-260bhp, but the lack of super unleaded in ROI would put me off doing this, and the performance at present is fine for road use. (Plus the car's still under extended BMW warranty).
Below's a bit of a cut & paste from my newbie intro, but I'll try and keep it up to date as time passes.
My FJCW, as bought in May:
Enjoying it so far - It's pretty well spec'd from new, with full heated leather, visibility pack (auto lights / wipers / heated front screen & washers), full bluetooth, auto climate, and multifunction steering wheel with cruise etc...
...despite all this, the big kid in me wanted daylight running lights, and BMW / MINI helpfully launched a dealer retrofit kit at the end of April.
DRL's
Side lights
Fogs
Was happy with my lot, till I spotted a very rare secondhand set of the dealer option JCW Recaros come up for sale - Beauty of these are that they retain the heating elements, and have the side airbags as per OEM.... Will be fitting them, along with a rear diffuser from the R56 GP2, next month.
Future plans are to powdercoat the wheels in gloss black next month - The silver wheels are a nightmare to keep clean, and the previous owner has kerbed a couple of them, so they could do with a refurb.
Have a couple of slight additions to the interior - I fitted an iPhone 4 cradle in the armrest last month, but have still to fit the facelifted steering wheel controls.
Being a Sept 2009, my car has the old style silver controls:
I bought the controls / cover from a facelifted 2010 car, which are finished in matt black, so I'll swap them over when I fit the GP2 diffuser.
Will have the car over in Scotland in August, where all my parts are lying in the garage of my folks place, so will update the thread after then.
Having been down the homebrew turbo charging route with an old MX5, I've realised I don't have the time & patience to cobble some random parts together and attempt to make them work in an OEM fashion.
Therefore the intention with the Mini is to stick to genuine BMW / Mini parts, as they're guaranteed to fit, and won't require constant fettling.
Also, not too interested in performance mods at the moment - The obvious route is to fit a bigger intercooler / remap for 250-260bhp, but the lack of super unleaded in ROI would put me off doing this, and the performance at present is fine for road use. (Plus the car's still under extended BMW warranty).
Below's a bit of a cut & paste from my newbie intro, but I'll try and keep it up to date as time passes.
My FJCW, as bought in May:
Enjoying it so far - It's pretty well spec'd from new, with full heated leather, visibility pack (auto lights / wipers / heated front screen & washers), full bluetooth, auto climate, and multifunction steering wheel with cruise etc...
...despite all this, the big kid in me wanted daylight running lights, and BMW / MINI helpfully launched a dealer retrofit kit at the end of April.
DRL's
Side lights
Fogs
Was happy with my lot, till I spotted a very rare secondhand set of the dealer option JCW Recaros come up for sale - Beauty of these are that they retain the heating elements, and have the side airbags as per OEM.... Will be fitting them, along with a rear diffuser from the R56 GP2, next month.
Future plans are to powdercoat the wheels in gloss black next month - The silver wheels are a nightmare to keep clean, and the previous owner has kerbed a couple of them, so they could do with a refurb.
Have a couple of slight additions to the interior - I fitted an iPhone 4 cradle in the armrest last month, but have still to fit the facelifted steering wheel controls.
Being a Sept 2009, my car has the old style silver controls:
I bought the controls / cover from a facelifted 2010 car, which are finished in matt black, so I'll swap them over when I fit the GP2 diffuser.
Will have the car over in Scotland in August, where all my parts are lying in the garage of my folks place, so will update the thread after then.