Mini News MINI Sales Decrease Again in June 2016

Is it possible that it sucks and blows at the same time? :mad2:

I think the r56 has the best looks, it's still a small car....

And pre 07 interiors are even worse Dave o. I've also heard the brakes like to go into meltdown. The grill is lame too.

 

Baaaha! I probably was dropped but it gave me special powers.

You know the front end looks better don't lie. It only hurts a little because it's true..

I thought about an r53 but I couldn't get around that grill. And it's a Chrysler. (Fart)

 

Your r53 is prolly littered with r56 parts isn't it?? It must make you feel a little wierd that my car is inside yours right? I think it goes without saying who the man is between the two.

 

Don't you mean R53, those are known to have creaks and rattles? I have no creaks or rattles. I love the interor of the R56, the seats could use some improvement but overall good, including the HK stereo.

 

All those things you pointed out are things I have modded.
I replaced the grill with Aero grill.
OEM beach chair seats have been replaced with Mitsubishi EVO 9 Recaros. They are even better than 2nd and 3 gen JCW Recaros. :ihih:

I have no squeaks and rattles. I took care of all of that with Dynamat.
Stereo? Yup full JL Audio 900w system with Focal speakers little 10 inch W3v3 sub.

As for the motor, I will take a bulletproof Chrysler Neon 1.6 motor with RMW BVH, CAM, Header, and all the goodies with a Supercharger with a 15% pulley over any French built POS DI motor everyday.

That's what modding is all about. Take a good looking base car with a great motor and go crazy. :devil::lol:

 

I'm sure yours is good, since you've basically rebuilt it, but NO chrysler motor is bullet proof, MAYBE the 225 slant 6 and the 318 after they fixed the crossover passage issues but that's it. Neon engines were garbage (So are neons). There's a reason all the mopar guys at the drag strip had a chevy or a ford engine after they blew up their hemi's.

 

Huh?
My 10 year old 2005 had zero rattles with just shy of 100,000 miles....not average...but with the improved facelift dash, common, especially if a bunch of hacks had not taken the interior out to try to "mod" it....I had my car since new, and hadden't removed anything...
Many folks would use the wrong instructions for removing downtubes (refresh ones are different) and break the tabs ...etc..a good car can only hide the incompetence of last owners so long...
Heck...my sunroof didn't even rattle...kept it greased, and never forced it open... strange...take care of things, and they last...
What does make me wonder us if mini used salad bar trays for the plastic gen2 parts...honestly...the plastic at the base of the windshield is terrible...not tossing stones...lol...I drive a polluting be Jetta now...lol.

 

At MOTD I spent a couple nights chatting with fellow MINI folk and it was a 50/50 split half R53 and half R56 owners. The R53 owners all spoke of noisy interiors but they wouldn't trade them for the world because they love their cars, like all of us. My R56 has 0 rattles. If one does develop as she ages I'll do the Dave.0 fix with Dynomat, but so far so good :fingerscrossed:

 

Since doing my home made cowl intake I've handled this plastic you speak of and you sir are correct. BUT, I've already got a set of replacements sitting in my closet as well as the trim on the right and left edges of the windshield and a new cowl cover. All waiting for me to get some motivation and throw them all on. I'm thinking once Bitsy crosses the 100k mark I'll put on some new plastics.

 

The first Gen motor is bullet proof Vs every other MINI motor after it. including the F56 POS.

 

I do agree with you to a point. The later N18's are pretty bullet proof as well. I'd say as bullet proof as the later R53 engines.

 

Smart man...those bits get hard to find quick.... and get $$ fast when the supply runs low.
Both cars have their fans....neither is the best, but heck the trash talk is fun...
A hybrid of the two cars might be great....gen2 seats in a gen1 seats imo are a great mod as the foam on gen1 cars turn to dust....

 

Really....I just can't bring myself to pick one up...seen far too many in the shop I go too getting engine swaps...yeah...mostly n14 cars, but still...the fact the timing chain thing was never truely fixed, but just made less of a problem makes me hesitate everytime I see a decent gen2 for sale....so much so I have been considering a gen3....
Mostly to get a real BMW motor...get one old enough, they will have it fixed...a few too many "replacement" ones ... can't MINI ever get a new "award winning" motor right?!
Figure in the car, I don't see the back end or the nose!! Have 3-4 months...VW seems to be dragging their feet on the court ordered buyback...but I get a "do-over" after using a car basicly for free and getting an extra $3000 after 2 years....so can't complain.

 

The shop manager at MINI of Kennesaw, Eric Coverdale I believe his name is, has an N14 he has had his timing chain and tensioner redone once and he's now at 130k. BUT, he said as long as you're very good about maintenance like fluid flushes and oil changes you'll be ok. I have the N18 and I change my oil once it turns dark black, I don't really go by miles but it's usually around 3k. I get the brake fluid flushed and Coolant at recommended intervals. I've just turned 70k my only issue was the HPFP which was replaced under warranty (Bitsy is a special case). I got to drive an R53 and I will say that the SC is awesome and the car feels fantastic, but the torque and the feel of the R56 made me comfortable with my decision. I do like the dash of the R53 better and the the tail end of the car better, but I'm happy. I did purchase an extended warranty from Route 66 in case anything big does go wrong, but really something can go wrong with any car you can buy. Except for an 80's Honda. Talk about bullet proof But they're uglier than an F56 (sure that's debatable).

 

Talk about Honda's I had an old 81 Civic 4 speed and beat he snot out of it.
Dirt road hill climbs, Off road dirt runs, snow drifting, grass turfing, too many burnouts, and driving like a complete teenage moron and the car never broke down ever. At 220,000 miles I cleaned it for a week and traded it for a 91 civic and got $750.00. I only paid $500 for it. :ihih:

All it ever needed gas that's it and it was less that $1 a gallon.

 

Yup...Honda's of that era survived things they had no right to survive...had 2...
A 88 civic and an 89 CRX...beat them pretty hard and never had a major problem (the dealer did change two pistons and the cam lol, after they changed the cam adjuster, and installed it backwards, so the cam ran unoiled for 25,000 miles before it became apparent...lol...that was at 75,000 miles....sold it at 270k+ for $2500...sold it 6 years later as a 12 year old car...
The CRX was a used "ugly duckling " rental I bought from a friend who had it in his rental fleet till it got 150,000 miles and he was told the company limit was 75,000....lol...had a 5 speed if I rember right...he put a clutch in a a few months before I bought it(got it from his estate sale after he was killed in a plane crash in Wyoming )... but kept that till 2005...had it side by side with the MINI for about a month...made the mini look HUGE.:eek6:
Had 270ish k miles if I recall when I dropped it off at the junkyard...I Only paid $800 and drove it for 5 years, paid for tires and brakes.... junkyard guy put "repair" plates on it and drove it at least another year....lol. kept seeing it...