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Tweedbean's Mini R56 Cooper S Build

9K views 27 replies 8 participants last post by  tweedbean 
#1 ·
Uh oh, I've done it again, this time an R56 hatch, something I have never modded before so look forward to seeing what I can do with this one. I had one briefly for 3 months before I found out my girlfriend(now wife) was pregnant and panic swapped it for a Qashqai, although that ended up with me getting the blue Clubby so atleast it had a happy ending. Its a little rough around the edges but I like a challenge and the previous owner was super honest about it all and did it at a great price for me. You dont see many mellow yellow ones about these days, well this one is yellow for now:



Spec:
2007 Mini Cooper S R56 with 70k on the clock in mellow yellow
Chilli pack
JCW body kit
Black headlining
Black interior controls
Yellow seat belts
Mini DRL's
R112 Mini wheels

Had all the usual bits replaced recently including the timing chain which was done only last week. \

Its currently say on BC coilovers but those are going back to the original owner once I pick what suspension I am fitting to mine. And for those that didnt watch the video above, I am going to cannibalise my R53 to make this something special, I know that will upset some people but meh

Going to be lots of updates on youtube as well as how to videos as you would expect.

Plenty of plans, just need to get my head around what you can do with an R56 hatch again as its been a while. It will need a full respray at some point but for now I am going to tidy the rough bits of paint up, enjoy yellow for the next year and go from there

Tweedbean’s R56 Project by James Baker, on Flickr

Tweedbean’s R56 Project by James Baker, on Flickr

Tweedbean’s R56 Project by James Baker, on Flickr
 
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#4 ·
Lots of progress happening.

Firstly I've started stripping the R53 for both parts im going to use on the R56 and those I have already sold:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Everytime I remove a piece from it, it provides me more comfort I've made the right decision. Off came the front yellowspeed brakes, these are going on the R56 as its a straight swap. I had some issues with the retain bolt on the passenger side disk which I ended up drilling that out:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Off comes most of the chrome, I have spare door handles and boot handle which will also be painted, I'm thinking the lot will go body colour:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

I had a nice find with upgraded Vibe speakers in the back, anything must be better than the stock ones. The passenger side rear wasnt working but that turned out to be a loose connection which I fixed, note screws missing in pic as I had just removed it to find the issue.

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Out comes the cage and front seats from the R53, these are both going into the R56:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

So to make way I remove the rear seats and started working on removing the fronts:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Both fronts fitted, I have temporarily fitted these with the seat belts so I can drive it safely to Millsys Autos who is doing the welding for the cage fittings, he is also going to fit my front brakes at the same time as fixing a dodgy wheel bearing. I will be running both harnesses and seat belts to give choice.

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
#7 ·
Thanks, have a few bits turn up this week for the exterior too :)

i really dont think that G-Wing will suit your R56 so you should sell it to me (for my 56)
Ha no chance, I need to get the new boot lid on so I can get that fitted.

Also my latest video just went live as my Leap scoop turned up and looks spot on, so many scoop manufactures dont show the underside as they are ugly, this is such a neat product from them, look at the pics below, fit is spot on and the underside is as neat as the top:



Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
#9 · (Edited)
Time for a quick update

I ended up painting all the trim myself(Plenty of videos here on how to remove and refit it all: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiHRzx1_4zHkE1Cp5qTkfIhenSmoAr0ff ), it didnt seem sensible paying someone to paint it now when the whole car will have a colour change in the next 12 months, effectively paying twice. So I end up painted these:
  • CC'd rear light rings, boot trim, petrol cap
  • Black Leap bonnet scoop/headlight rings/grill as cc'd paint didnt match the body work
  • I did paint a spare pair of door handles but I wasnt happy with the paint match to I have some black covers to go on until I get the car fully painted them will do them properly

I also added the F56 LCI badges as something different and to stick with the de-chromed theme:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

It also went to Millsys Autos back in May to get the following fitted off the R53:
  • Corbeau Clubsport seats
  • Safety devices cage
  • Schroth Profi II-FEE ASM harnesses
  • Yellowspeed 6pot 330mm front brakes and braided hoses
  • While there it also had a JCW catback exhaust fitted which has had the centre resonator removed as Jason had one in, much better than the stock S exhaust

I also blacked out the beltline and chucked on the Oz Leggendas, those combined with the yellowspeed brakes looks much better:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

The cage, Jason always does a neat job of fitting these around the interior panels:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Not my first choice seat but they cost me nothing as I already had them, will throw something else in there at some point but they will do for now and are better than the stock seats:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

I did keep the yellow seat belts and made those work with the buckets so I have the easier option if I'm popping to the shops etc in it over harnesses.

So since all this I put my house on the market and sold within a couple of weeks so I have a house move pending in the coming months hence the lack of updates as I couldnt work on the car while hosting house viewings. Once I am in the new house, work will begin again, so I'm just enjoying it at the moment as it is. I have a big double garage at the new house so looking forward to being able to work on it indoors as I have loads of parts building up to go on it.

See below my latest upload to youtube:

 
#10 ·
Next set of mods for the R56 are on. I used the G-Wing from the R53 and I bought a new GP2 diffuser from Orranje. I think they compliment each other really well. Just finalising the “how to” step by step videos for both which I will post tomorrow but here’s the update video:

 
#11 ·
This weekend I decided to take the car along to Mini's and Milkshakes, an event hosted by Edwards of Stafford, it was a really good turn out and a great morning/afternoon. It was great to get out and go for a decent drive in this, I think I am a little harsh on the paint work of this car, yes there are some rough spots on it but seeing some other examples of cars on display it made me feel better about it, although I still think it needs a respray so thats not off the table. I have to say this is the first time in a while the R56 got a proper clean inside/out and it does scrub up well. I also used this as an excuse to fix a few little issues and refit all the interior dash trim etc which has never been in the car since I owned it due to time or the lack of it.

24sevenphotography tooks some epic photos of the R56:

Photos by 24sevenphotography by James Baker, on Flickr

Photos by 24sevenphotography by James Baker, on Flickr

Photos by 24sevenphotography by James Baker, on Flickr

Photos by 24sevenphotography by James Baker, on Flickr

Photos by 24sevenphotography by James Baker, on Flickr

I also fitted the newministuff channel swap which basically reverses the audio so front goes to rear and rear goes to the front speakers. The R56 has a filter that removes the bass from the rear speakers which is weird as they are much better at bass than the fronts. This switch really improves the quality of the stock sound system and can be done for free if you can bother to switch wires around instead of fitting the off the shelf solution that does it for you. Here is a little video of how to fit it:

 
#17 · (Edited)
This week I upgraded the dial faces to black and yellow coloured ones that look even smarter as I also have white LED's installed. It's actually not a hard process to swap them but on the R56 is very easy to break the motors when removing the the needles. You cant just fit new gauges from another R56 if you do break them as they have to be specific ones and also possibly coding so it is very much a DIY job but with caution and you accept the risk you could damage the motors.

I got mine the Chameleon LED's on facebook and their quality is always spot on.

Ive done a quick install video too:



Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
#18 ·
Its been a couple of months since I've updated this, work on the car has stopped as I planned to be in my new house by now however the house move is taking longer than expected so I decided to get moving again.

Firstly I decided to go for black headlights as the stock chrome really stood out. Luckily rather than having to joey mod them, a friend gave me a pair of genuine OEM black headlight insides that were removed from a pair of broken headlights, so all I need to do was split my headlights and swap them in for the stock ones. If you want to joey mod yours, I recorded a "how to" video on splitting the lights to get to the parts to paint:



Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Before and After:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Currently wrapping the washer jet covers black so ignore they are missing in this picture:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

I've loved driving this car a lot lately, a very different car to the BRZ.
 
#20 ·
Deciding on new suspension

One thing I have need to sort for a while is the suspension, its currently on BC coilovers however this was only supposed to be temporary as the previous owner didnt have the chance to remove them before I bought the car so I promised to remove them for them and send them back. I wanted to fit my own suspension and wasnt sure what to go for. I was waiting until the house move to do this inside however with the dragging on, I did want to mess the previous owner around so I need to make up my mind on what suspension to go for.

This isnt a track car, its nots a show car, in my head if you have to label it as something its a fast road car. Therefore I'm never going to spends £££ on custom track orientated suspension as im not setting track times. I have now had many Mini's on many types of suspension, at some point I've owned mini's on: Meister R's, BC's, Eibach lowering springs with stock suspension(many years ago), KW V'1, KW Clubsports and Tein Flex Z's on the BRZ. One area that has intrigued me but gets flack in the UK specifically is air suspension, you speak to many people in the UK and they already have an opinion even if they have never driven a car with it. Many people in the UK say its awful and for show cars only, however when you cross the pond to the USA there is a very different opinion and is more positive. For me I love you have full control on height at the touch of a button for getting over speed bumper and car park ramps, you have the ability to adjust firmness just like a set of coilovers and many people mentioned the weight but I am really not going to notice the weight difference in a road car. So I'm struggling to see the negatives right now.

Therefore rather than believing just what I read online, I want to try it for myself and generate my own opinion. Ive decided to go for bags on the R56, I have picked up a used 3P Air Lift Performance kit, rather than going to the expense of a new set, if I dont like it I can sell it on for what I paid. When I got it back home, I tested everything to make sure it all worked, which it did. I decided to send the manifold(the brains of the setup) to OnlyChargedDubs to get them to fully service it and replace a couple of leaky cartridges so it was like new. Its then been sat there ready to go on the R56. Below is a video I made with me considering my options and ultimately going for the air suspension. I am very swiftly going to now fit the bag kit and will let everyone know what I really think ones its up and running.

 
#21 ·
Air suspension is on and I love it so far. Lovely the flexibility of raising at the click of a button:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Here's a video covering hints and tips if you decide to go air and want to know how easy it is to install:



The boot install is very basic, screwed to a board just to get it working for now. Once we get some warmer weather next year I will tear it all out and mount it all under the cage.
 
#22 ·
So its been nearly 4 months since I fitted the air suspension and so far I am loving it. Very few negatives in my mind, all of which are detailed in the video below. Handling wise, so far no difference to any entry level coilovers I've owned in the past, especially on the road.



We are finally in our new house, good to see both cars back together as the BRZ has been in storage since Jan while we bridged the gap between selling our house and moving into our new one:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

As the new garden is huge I had to invest in a lawn tractor, which clearly had to match the R56:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

The R56 is getting plenty of use now, piling on the miles, cant be accused of not using my cars anymore. And they aren't always clean because if this:

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
#24 ·
So last week I took the car down to Wayside Performance to get a baseline bhp number, they are only 25mins away from me so nice to know I have a rolling road close. I chose them as they are non biased as they don't do any Mini tuning etc. I wanted to see how healthy that N14 is before I start modding it. The car engine wise is totally stock minus the JCW catback exhaust and the R56 is around 15 years old. Brand new the early ones come with 172bhp so interested to see how much power its lost.

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

So after 4 pulls, the top run came out at 160.6 bhp with around 190 ft-lb of torque, which are pretty decent numbers, less than 1 bhp loss per year. I should easily get back to stock power or even above if I get fresh plugs, oil/filter change, fuel filter and a decoke. I will change all the that stuff myself then get it booked into Millsys Auto's for the deck.

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Here's a video covering my experience and plans:



I have then have lots of performance parts to then start bolting on including:
  • Okada Plasma Coils
  • Airtec Intercooler
  • AEM Intake
  • Scorpion Decat

Then back to the rolling road to see what gain I see before a remap
 
#27 ·
Ha feel like the house move has taken over the last 10 months now, currently away in Tenerife to get a break then can get back and enjoy the new house and getting working on the R56.

As for the new GT86 I'm not sold on it being enough of a difference for me to change, I think it's expensive new compared to what's else you can get in that price range but will be a second hand bargain in the future.


Do you know if the overboost function was active during your dyno run? It's dependent on how fast you press the accelerator and is supposed to be an overtaking function. It adds 0.15 bar of boost pressure for 12 seconds. I noticed when I had my car on the dyno that it added about 10bhp depending on how quickly you pressed the accelerator.

It makes no difference if you have it in sport mode or not, that just changes the ramp rate of the throttle input. The overboost function is separate to that.

I thought it was worth a mention as your car is nearly exactly 10bhp under the stock figures so stamping on the throttle may release the extra ponies...

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
Not sure to be honest, they do floor it on dyno pulls anyway so maybe. Either way I've ordered fuel filter/oil filter/spark plugs, just need to order oil and a crush washer then will do a full service of it anyway as I've not done one since owning it. Make sure everything is fresh.
 
#26 ·
Do you know if the overboost function was active during your dyno run? It's dependent on how fast you press the accelerator and is supposed to be an overtaking function. It adds 0.15 bar of boost pressure for 12 seconds. I noticed when I had my car on the dyno that it added about 10bhp depending on how quickly you pressed the accelerator.

It makes no difference if you have it in sport mode or not, that just changes the ramp rate of the throttle input. The overboost function is separate to that.

I thought it was worth a mention as your car is nearly exactly 10bhp under the stock figures so stamping on the throttle may release the extra ponies...

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
 
#28 ·
I was looking for a mount for my Airlift Performance controller and found a magnetic phone mount from project Airfix that utilises the C.D. player slot and it works a treat. I may rotate the display around so I don’t catch the cable when I’m messing with the stereo. I’ve uploaded a quick install video on my YouTube channel, show you a bit more detail of how it works
 
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