[big jim]

Just bought this off eBay to keep the mileage and fuel costs down on the Cooper S and Touareg when travelling to work or the caravan

paid £1200 for it, 2007 Cooper diesel, 152k miles, £30 tax

going to keep this one standard..........

although an aero kit, G wing, remap, black alloys, coilovers etc would look nice (Joking!!)

 

[Maccmike]

Hehehe you do make me chuckle.
Looks clean, painted callipers so someones cherished it.
You will 100% not leave it standard 😂

 

[big jim]

already bought a cooper S spoiler for it!

this is part of the ebay description....

story is were selling this on behalf of a customer/friend of ours who has bought a new car
we've had it through our workshop and have serviced it including changing the gearbox oil.
we replaced the driver side suspension leg and both rear legs, drop links and anti roll bar bushes

car drives fantastic

bodywork is really clean has a few minor scratches and stone chips to be expected for a car its age

interior is in good shape driver seat is showing the usual wear on the bolsters but everything works as is should

its a clean little car and been well looked after not a single thing wrong with it. the owner really cared for the car

v5 present

.......lots of work done already

if its a dog at least ive got some rear trailing arms and spare brakes for the R53

 

[CarsOrBikes]

you won't be able to resist swapping the fuel cap and you know it.....

brakes are smaller than the ones you have....

 

[big jim]

Never thought about the fuel cap!

been looking at TDI tuning’s tuning box, like a bluefin type thing, there is one used on eBay that they can reprogram that will give it an extra 30bhp, takes it to 140bhp with 40 ‘more torques’ I’m going to see how it runs for a bit and might look at fitting one of those to it for a bit more go

of course I’ve looked at things to swap the stereo out for a double din, they do a proper kit for this one

until I get it then I’m not going to start spending in case it’s rubbish (apart from the spoiler I’ve already got as it came up really cheap compared to others!)

it will be having a trip over to your house Sean so you can run your diagnostics on it for me

 

[pipsyp]

Like that matey nice one, Cooper S rear bumper and centre exit a nice touch too 👍

I had a mate a few years ago with a R56 Cooper D, went in it one or twice quite a rapid little thing from what I remember...a PSA diesel ultimately (I think) as well so should be pretty solid 👍👍

 

[big jim]

Just sent a pic of new car to a guy in work who’s into his minis and he replied with, “I used it have one of those” and “when I sold it I took all the modded bits off and they are gathering dust in the garage, xenon hall lights, Union Jack rear lights, strut brace if you want them cheap”

oh dear, this may be a dear do

 

[big jim]

Phoned up Adrien flux earlier to get it insured as an extra car on the multi car policy I have for the Cooper S and Touareg and they spoke to the underwriters who said due to the value and the fact it’s NOT modified they wouldn’t insure it!

I go them to quote me with a TDI tuning chip fitted and they willthat, so I’ve been forced into modifying the car, ok it didn’t take much arm twisting and it was something I thought about but insurance would be an issue, didn’t think it would be the other way round though!

collecting it this afternoon from Birmingham, going to head down on the train and have a walk to the garage from the station to get my steps in For the day then head straight to work from there (it’s only 3 mile from there)

 

[Maccmike]

😂 😂 That might wash with your wife.. 😂

But yes that is crazy.

Enjoy the journey.

 

[Dave^]

So.... how much have you saved so far.....? 🤣

 

[NigelStap]

Buy another half dozen cars Jim and you'll be making a profit!

 

[CarsOrBikes]

So.... how much have you saved so far.....? 🤣

it's only costing him £400 really, he's paying the rest in vouchers😂

 

[big jim]

Joking apart I sold a load of model railway stuff at night that I’ve had in my display cabinets what made me £800 on eBay so yes the car has only cost me £400 out of my pocket!

as for the tax, discovered it’s not £30 a year but £20, result, I ended up driving it back from Birmingham to home (and I’ll drive my hire car back later to work) and it got this much average MPG.....it even came with 3/4 of a tank of fuel showing 320 mile range left!


So initial impressions, a different car to the R53, quiet and comfy but still fairly nippy too, be interesting to see how it goes with the chip on

It’s very tidy, been well looked after that’s for sure, one of the rear window belt line trims is loose but there is a brand new one on the back seat to fit


Only bodywork issue I can see is this little ding on the boot


As for the Cooper rear bumper, it appears that to fit that the previous owner had an exhaust made to fit, a bit of a pea shooter with a Halfords trim on the end! Not loud though, it may be something I look at swapping for a standard SD exhaust one day if one comes up cheap


It’s had new suspension struts and drop links on the rear as well as ARB bushes




they have also done a front suspension arm so I think it will need the tracking done as the wheel isn’t straight (the pic is actually a bit further across than when it’s moving)


Engine wise, seems tidy enough, only one black cloud when I initially booted it after it had no doubt been sat round for a while but nothing when I did it again on the motorway


The garage said they have only done basic servicing on it but seem to think it may have had a new turbo not too long ago too


As for the car itself, it’s got a lot of toys to be fair, I was going to do a head unit swap but I’ve discovered it’s got DAB and aux in (wherever that’s located) and it looks to have a factory hands free but I’ll need to see how that is set up

Auto lights, heated front screen, aircon, auto wipers too


The seats need a bit of a clean on the white leather bits but other than that, really pleased with it

definite work to do:
air con regas
Tracking
Tuning chip fitting

things I’m probably going to change/add:
Exhaust for a proper factory one
Headlights (if my workmate gives me a good price for his xenons)
Taillights (if I like the look of them)
Side scuttle and indicators (again from workmate)
Front Grille centre bars for a black type
Spoiler for Cooper s type (on its way already)

maybe de chrome the beltline but keep chrome around the headlights and grille and rear boot handle

im Actually tempted to go back to work in it later rather than take the hire car I have

 

[Maccmike]

I think youve done well there

 

[Fro-dizzle]

It's in the projects section, no chance it's staying standard!

Done well there Jim

 

[big jim]

And so it begins, going full on tightwad on this car!

a trawl of Amazon marketplace netted me a k&n replacement filter for some bizarre American car is never heard of but the dimensions were pretty much ok for the mini give or take a few MM

it’s not quite long enough by about 3mm each end when placed in the bottom of the airbox

however once married up with the top it is absolutely perfect, no way any dirt can get up the side of the filter to the clean side

And all for a princely £6 for the filter!

Defiantly having the other bits off my work mate too, angel eye headlights, Union Jack tail lights, clear repeaters, pedal boost chip and an authentic JCW strut brace, all for less than the cost of the rear lights of I were to buy them new on eBay!

noticed a few clips are broken on the front grille surround so I may have to get one of those too (or an aero grille!)

 

[Maccmike]

Im the kind of guy who would fall into a bag of tits and come out sucking my thumb!
You my friend are the complete opposite! 😂 😂

 

[KeithyCoop]

Im the kind of guy who would fall into a bag of tits and come out sucking my thumb!
You my friend are the complete opposite! 😂 😂

The funniest thing I've seen for some time

 

[pipsyp]

Looking good Jimbo!!🤜🤛👍

 

[Fro-dizzle]

Im the kind of guy who would fall into a bag of tits and come out sucking my thumb!
You my friend are the complete opposite! 😂 😂

Flipping hilarious! 😂