Pics of my new to me 04 MCS

[Insomniator]

So its been ~6 months and the car now has 54k on it. I got the main cooling fan replaced under warranty last month (saved $900... whew). Also had to get 4 discs and pads replaced and the power steering lines done for $750 (local mechanic, dealer wanted ~$1400). A motor mount was replaced yesterday for $105. So needless to say it is not the cheapest car to own... and mine was in very good shape for its age!

The car now has an M7 Upper strut brace, DDMworks CAI and 15% pulley. The pulley was installed by Helix Motorsports in Philly yesterday-- awesome place, beautiful garage and a nice quiet little waiting room with a xbox in it. He found the broken motor mount and only charged me for the part to replace, also no charge to install spark plugs I brought in (small but hey they coulda charged a half hour work).

Still managing 28mpg on the highway and the pulley makes it feel like a different car at 4k rpm :awe:

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I know, lots of mini haters on these boards but I figure a few might be interested!

Its an 04 with 40k I bought for 11k. Has maintenance records from the dealer and a good warranty good until 60k which saved me $1200 immediately after purchase to get the car back to perfect running shape. Planned mods (if I ever bother with them...) are the usual for these cars-- Exhaust - CAI - SC Pully-- which should make the car even more fun to drive

Pics taken with my dads's Leica M8 which I have no idea how to use.

 

[cbrsurfr]

Looks great! Really clean for an 8 year old car.

 

[ScoobMaster]

Congrats. I always like to see manual transmission cars - we need more of them!

 

[vi edit]

Wow, that's an insanely well kept car with crazy low miles for the age. Awesome find!

 

[unokitty]

Min with a manual trans!

Should be great fun to drive.

Congratulations!

Uno

 

[HybridSquirrel]

I almost bought an 04 JCW! Grats on the new wheels.

 

[Harrod]

I've always liked those. I have heard that the maintenance on those is really expensive though. Can anyone verify this?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Nice! I think that is the color combo I would get if I were buying a MC. I have ridden on a track with a nearly-stock first-gen MCS like that (the only mod was a supercharger pulley) and was passing more powerful cars left and right.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

I've always liked those. I have heard that the maintenance on those is really expensive though. Can anyone verify this?

from what I hear, the early ones have some minor electrical gremlins, but if you do all important maintenance items they are fine.

 

[bbs lm-r]

Nice, it looks really clean. My neighbor has one, and it always looks like a fun ride when I see him go off in it, although his has the UK flag on the roof.

Is that the tach in the center? I don't think they made it quite big enough

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Nice, it looks really clean. My neighbor has one, and it always looks like a fun ride when I see him go off in it, although his has the UK flag on the roof.

Is that the tach in the center? I don't think they made it quite big enough

It's the Speedo.

 

[Childs]

I've almost bought this car like 10 times. Usually came down to the color. I wanted black or dark blue, but manual Ss around here where always red, green, or aqua blue, etc. I would come across a silver one, and last second decide to wait a few days for a black or blue one to show up. I still might get one as a daily driver.

But congrats! How do you like it so far?

 

[ussfletcher]

Meh, I worked for BMW as an intern for a while, I'd never buy one of their cars.

But if its your style, then congrats!

 

[Insomniator]

I suppose my only complaint is that its getting 25MPG on premium fuel... so it actually costs MORE than my older, bigger 95 camry.

Other than that, amazing car! We will see how maintenance goes, this one was has been taken care of well by the dealer but I know Mini's are not cheap to fix and have a number of problem areas. The warranty helps a lot here!

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Meh, I worked for BMW as an intern for a while, I'd never buy one of their cars.

But if its your style, then congrats!

Wtf can you give some validation to this statement?

 

[chin311]

Nice clean find. I had an 09 MCS convertible as a rental and even tho it was auto with the paddles it was still a blast to drive.

 

[slugg]

The center mounted, extremely ugly speedometer kills the entire car for me. But it's a sweet car, congrats!

 

[Black2na]

congrats i love the Mini's great little cars!

 

[Insomniator]

updated op

 

[iamwiz82]

After owning MINIs I have a hard time driving any other car on a daily basis because those other vehicles suck the lifeforce out of me.