18’s are generally considered a step too far on the Mini, they just make the ride unpleasant. It’s already pretty hard! I’m either going to stick with the classic Mini S spokes (as they are the OG) or go with some R112’s from the R56 JCW cars. Pics below of the ones I mean. I appreciate its not original and I wanted to create a sleeper original spec, but we will see. I’ve got one slightly bent wheel which I could replace then get the 4 on it tarted up, that’s the cheapest option probably. oh and not running run flats, absolutely no chance! I run them on the family 2 series as I don’t like the idea of my missus being stranded with a flat, but for me on the mini, no chance
Those R112's are super nice and as they're not splits, the refurb is approx £25 a wheel compared to R98s at £120 each! I wanted a set of either and the 4 x R98's turned up at a good price first. Used prices of these wheels vary massively. Keep a good eye on eBay and FB marketplace if you want a good deal. Unless the tyres were special or brand new I'd be wanting to pay max £500 for a set with good rubber and ideally closer to £400, -they are around. I agree with you re 18's, the ride is too rough especially in pothole Britain.
there is a black set of those for sale at the mo but I want silver on a black car for contrast. Wheels will probably be the last thing I do in honesty although I’m tempted to pick up some 16’s to put some slim winter tyres on so I can get my 17’s refurbed
It’s running….. I’m knackered! So relieved, the engines as smooth as silk! We did have one slight scare, after warming the car up it suddenly just stopped! My mate (the mechanic) looked at me and said “crank position sensor or cam sensor as it stopped when the car was revving” luckily I had a crank sensor from the MV loan engine so swapped them and it fired straight up! And was perfect afterwards. I’m still shocked! It’s been a lot of work to get this far! the exhaust is gash though, it’s got to go, it’s really boomy and drones even at idle, so will sort that at some point before the MOT
I ditched the crappy eBay intercooler as soon as I realised it doesn’t actually fit and leaks boost, will run the stock one for now.
I didn’t get over there to work on it this weekend gone, but I’ll do a few jobs on Saturday morning hopefully. on the agenda for this week are more little service jobs like fuel filter, cleaning up the engine bay and fitting the radiator on there etc, maybe even getting the bumper back on. I’ve got a load of ‘little’ jobs to do over the next month, with the big spend being next month when I’m going to try to get a new rear subframe, and new brake lines and new rear springs. the month after, front bushes and brake service parts… I need to make a decision though whether to try and get it bought back to Swindon, as my dad says I can put it in his double garage to work on. This might be my next ‘update’
Bit of a frustrating morning yesterday! Only got the morning as we went to see Wicked in Bristol, but yeah… so… I did some little tidy jobs on the car, like put some seats in it for now, and I put the airbag module back in, so I could try to work through clearing some faults. I then did some tidy up on the engine bay and went to start it and had a weird issue where the temp gauge showed red and basically I had 3 engine faults that just kept coming back. It would spin over but not start. I fitted the new crank sensor I bought as it was a job I wanted to do anyway, still nothing and weirdly a crank sensor fault in the autodiag. eventually we decided to re-seat the ECU plugs, with a liberal spray of contact cleaner and boom, fired straight up ♂️ so then came the next issue…. The used Alternator I bought seems to have failed, the car wasn’t charging, so looks like I need a new Alternator. I am annoyed with myself, I spent £80 on this one, a new one is £150, I should have just got a brand new one… the worst part is because the battery was under 12v the power steering doesn’t work either, well, I’m hoping that’s the reason! My mind is playing tricks that maybe the power steering pump is goosed as well. I need to put a fresh good alternator on though and test one thing at a time.
Tomorrow is another day with these babies sounds like you got somewhere even if you didn't like the result
yeah. I guess with this one I’m just frustrated with myself because I thought I should just get a new alternator for reliability and piece of mind, I should have done. So just a bit annoyed at myself
I hear you and can understand. I have done things like that in the past Lesson learnt you won't do it again Now forward and get this baby running
Today was ‘solder new button on’ day! A little job but so much easier than having to touch a bit of wire on the circuit to unlock it! for now I’ve got a key body with the circuit board in, and then the original Valeo key with the immobiliser in it separate. When it’s running I’ll get a brand new key from BMW and keep this as spare. facelift keys were a bit more complicated as they charge in the ignition etc.
Not sure where to begin….. Here’s a pic… I changed the Alternator, and went to start the car and had the same thing as last week, weird issues and wouldn’t start, looking around the engine bay I noticed an earth lead not fully tightened, immediately the car fire up no problems….. so… was my alternator faulty or was it the loose earth, anyway… car started and charged fine. as you can see though, what’s in the intercooler shouldn’t be there. when I serviced the supercharger I checked all the screws for delaminating as the early chargers did that, they were perfect. So in 3 starts, they have started breaking up and pushing through into the intercooler. so now supercharger has to come off, and I have to find another…. Not to mention the expense. I did drive the car briefly to check gears, clutch and steering and all was good, but I actually don’t car now, feeling so fed up. I get that it’s a project but the thing that’s annoying me is it’s all the good parts that I didn’t think I needed to spend time on or checked over that are causing me issues
Bugger! But getting it all done now means you will know that it will be reliable in the future. Nothing worse than a big boys toy that keeps breaking down.
