MINI Cooper S heading for some work...

[iain_cam]

Hi,

I'm getting the wheels on my Cooper S refurbished soon, but I wondered if I should stop there....

I've thought about changing tyres - still have the dreaded runflats after two years of ownership! What should I put on?

Is the official MINI bodykit a good idea? Is it possible to retro-fit? Will it harm the resale value?

I think the car's powerful enough, so I wasn't really thinking about upgrading anything there - if there is something that will make a noticeable difference and is worthwhile, please do tell me.

What about changing wheel colour when they are getting refurbed? The car currently is Electric Blue with black roof (see my profile) and they would look cool on black wheels...or blue if I could get the wheel-arch plastic and sills painted body colour.....

Cheers!

[Raify]

Ditch the ruin-flats. They're just terrible.

IMHO, the best upgrade I made to my MINI (apart from power upgrades) was the JCW seats. They're just fantastic.

[Sharief]

How much are the JCW seats?

I looked on the site but can't see any prices.

[rich-uk]

Getting real tyres will make a huge difference. Pirelli PZeros are excellent or Goodyear F1's are supposed the be very good too.

Best upgrade ever.

[Raify]

Sharief said:

How much are the JCW seats? I looked on the site but can't see any prices.

Something just over £1,000 IIRC, but I've seen them go on Ebay for £700 ish (for the pair of course).

[iain_cam]

Raify said:

Ditch the ruin-flats. They're just terrible. IMHO, the best upgrade I made to my MINI (apart from power upgrades) was the JCW seats. They're just fantastic.

Upon the JCW seats, how much to they change rear leg room? (Occasionally I take passengers in the back.) The seats at the moment are half cloth and half leather - do the JCW seats come in the different trim options or is it just leather?

Thanks for the replies so far - looks like I may be changing the ruin-flats!

[trackdemon]

Ditto changing to P-Zero's, huge improvement to handling (I oft wonder how well it'd handle if it'd been designed to use 'proper' tyres in the first place). Mild 185bhp upgrade from BBR improves economy (!) and smooths the power delivery - especially low down.

[Raify]

iain_cam said:

Raify said: Ditch the ruin-flats. They're just terrible. IMHO, the best upgrade I made to my MINI (apart from power upgrades) was the JCW seats. They're just fantastic. Upon the JCW seats, how much to they change rear leg room? (Occasionally I take passengers in the back.) The seats at the moment are half cloth and half leather - do the JCW seats come in the different trim options or is it just leather? Thanks for the replies so far - looks like I may be changing the ruin-flats!

They don't change the actual rear leg room, but there's less room underneath for your rear passenger's feet. Also, because they don't 'tip-and-fold' at the same time (and don't fold much) they make getting in the back a bit of a pain. Perhaps not the most sensible thing if you're taking passengers often. Is there anywhere you can try them out before, to see if they suit? www.mini2.com might provide a MINI owner with JCW seats close by.

Trim options are (IIRC) half leather and full leather.