Most liked posts in thread: The "MAGIC BUS" :: 2008 MINI MCS

Introducing the Motoring Magic shop car! “The Magic Bus”!
It is an 08 MCS with a fresh new from MINI N14 ENGINE, Sachs dual mass flywheel and Valeo clutch. I swapped the grey color line and door arm rests to Rooster Red, as I am a “RED IS THE RIGHT COLOR” guy at heart! This poor thing sat, unused, in front of the shop for a year between the previous owner trying to decide what to do and me eventually getting up the cash to buy it, then the cash to fix it.
As with all my cars, since they are daily driven and represent my impression of the best parts we sell and install the Magic Bus features:

NM Engineering
Lowering Springs and rear sway bar
KONI FSD shock system
Upper tie bar and wheels
Cold Air intake, air charge and discharge pipes
Titan heat shield
Drilled and slotted rotors
Lower shift box cover

Craven Speed
Shifter
Platypus license plate mount

Redline Goods
Shift and E brake boots

Interior bits from Outmotoring
British flag graphic door pulls & center stack trim
GPS mount from Craven speed
Red stitched steering wheel from 2012 JCW Roadster


Graphics from Eyedentity Graphics in Camarillo, Ca. and Stuck on Minis

 

Look for a base run dyno number as well as some engine improvements with back up dyno pulls in the future. Our experience has shown the replacement engines from MINI have been superior in every way to the original engines in 07-10 N14 equipped cars. I will keep updates coming on oil useage, or not as well as performance increases. Like my R53, I will use this car as a test bed for products I recomend for installation at Motoring Magic.

 

WOW-Garage of the day! Cool and thanks

I just posted an update in the engine thread for this car outlining performance and driving results of 16k of motoring since we put him back on the road! As an aside, most here know I own an R53 in Chili red, my first MINI and the car that led to Motoring Magic and the complete MINI lifestyle I live now as well as this White R56. Like so many of you, I suffered the poor engine reliability issues and sympathized with my customers who own 07-10 MCS vehicles with the N14 engines. While they are certainly a profit center for us, I hate the way MINI treated the purchasers of these cars and thier wierdly slow response to the issues.
After driving this car 16000 plus miles (with the new upgraded engine from MINI), I have made the following conclusions and adjustments to my driving life. If I am doing a local canyon run or a track day, My R53, Calvin comes out from under the cover with his soft tires and NM 17x7.5 wheels, coilovers and low stance. Any other time, my R56 is more comfortable with its lounge leather seats, softer clutch, nice shift action and overall more civil driving characteristics.
It is not my intention to fan the R53vsR56 flames, but from someone who has motored over 100k in an R53 and just completed 5800 miles in 14 days in an R56, the second gen car is more civil to live with. This one is faster, too.