3rd Gen Most liked posts in thread: My Thunder Grey F56 Cooper S - The Project Thread

Colour coding now completed.

Pretty sure I'm the first person to get this done. Looks awesome.

 

A member of MT has done me a huge favour shopping the following onto the car:

Speedlines
CC'd large grille surround
CC'd horizontal grille strip
CC'd bumper bar (where the plate sits)

I think this looks amazing

 

OK, update time!

Apologies for the delay with the pics, but I have been out all evening.

So, the wheels and tyres are now on the car. The tyres are perfect for the rims, very minimal stretch which is what I wanted.

Only got some crappy phone pics for now - but will get the car cleaned and dust of the DSLR tomorrow maybe


My observations so far…

1) the michelins are awesome
2) 18x8 ET45 is actually pretty aggressive on the F56 - bad news for those wanted mega low offset 5x112 wheels!
3) spacers will 100% be needed for coils as inner clearance on both the front and rear axle is minimal!
4) does anyone know who makes the lowest width 5x112 hub centric spacer available (66.5 CB)?

 

OK, an update (of sorts)….

Firstly the interior shots that have been asked for

 

Secondly, I decided to try one of the wheels against the car to get a rough idea of how they would look - this was the result:



It just wasn't doing it for me, as I just couldn't visualise them properly - so out came the jack and I got one bolted up to the hub - here are the results of the test fitment:





















There doesn't seem to be much clearance on the F56 compared to the R56 - both on the outside and inside of the arch my wheels are 18x8 ET45 as this is VERY close to the strut tower! I would imagine that with coils, I will need a spacer to stop the wheels / tyres fouling the strut.

I am also surprised at how close these seem to sit to the outside of the wheel arch. I think the F56 owners are going to have less clearance for rims that R56 owners currently have!

I will no doubt be running some 205/40 18 Michelin Pilot Super Sports on these rims, which will give some stretch (although will be within Michelins recommended rim range - so I'm hoping it won't be too much!?)

Thoughts guys?

 

I dropped the bumper parts off at the painters today, and I just need to collect the grille on Friday and drop that off too, so all been well should have things moving along nicely by this time next week.

The Michelin PSS's are also due here in the next day or so, so they will be getting mounted onto the Speedlines ASAP too.

KW seem to be dragging their heels with coilovers though!

 

Some more pictures, so you can see it on the car properly

I think this has done just the job in terms of breaking up the front end of the car with all the previous CC'ing that I have done.

 

Quick update.

I've booked the car in for a new car detail. Its being done by DBB Detailing, who are local to me. I've been doing some research and he seems to get the best rep round here in the North East.

I went over today to have a chat about what he could do for me and in his unit was a brand new M4 along with an Audi R8, Porsche 911 and Octavia VRS.

Its being done with the full range of Gtechniq products (exterior & interior) and I have also opted to have the front end of the car boosted with an additional application of the EXOv2 coating.

Cant wait to see the results!

 

Small update...

I ordered a new short plate for the front bumper once the CC'ing is completed. I've gone for road legal letter size & the GB logo to keep the boys in blue happy. Its substantially smaller than stock though



I also collected the grille from the dealers after they ordered the incorrect part at first. Only came to £45 which I though was reasonable!



I then set about getting the chrome trim removed from the grille - will drop this off at the painter on Monday so I can get the colour coding completed for the front end!



Tyres should be here soon - but the wheels have been sitting in their boxes since I got them - only for me to discover yesterday that they only sent 19 wheel bolts instead of the required 20! The supplier is been excellent though & organising a replacement

 

Kindly had a tweak done by a guy on MT to show the car with the CC'd bits fitted and the planned lows when coils are available….

 

Went out with the camera for a few quick pics in the sun (front plate is now back on since these pics)

My favourite pic of the CC'ing


Colour Coded Front End

Some More….


F56 MINI on Speedline Marmora


CC'd front


Colour Coded


F56 Colour Coded


IMG_5327

 

No - the Gov don't allocate smaller plates

Technically this plate is illegal as its not the correct size and also does not display the name and postcode of the manufacturer of the plate. It does however have the correct size and font, so the Police are VERY unlikely to even notice when passing.

I had no issues with my smaller plates on my last 2 cars, so fingers crossed!

 

Another quick update…. the car is currently subject to a warranty claim for some rather suspect looking paintwork on the front bumper

I had originally thought it was just a poorly polished prepped area and the issue would be resolved with a machine polish. To the dealerships credit, their warranty administrator has looked at the paint and he believes its actually a paint issue from the factory and therefore a machine polish will make no difference

Have a 10 day wait now for BMW to decide the next course of action - I have been told that most likely they will want to repaint the bumper.

I'm a little gutted about it to be honest, but I need the car to be right!

The only bonus is that the front bumper will be coming off, so if I can make my mind up about going with a black front end I can probably ask MINI to fit the bits at the same time

 

As some people will have seen on Facebook, my girlfriend & I are expecting a baby.

The MINI's days may be numbered I fear, but I can't afford to sell the car & loose thousands as I probably would if it went back to the dealers!

Very unsure what to do car wise, but more importantly I'm over the moon with the news about a baby!