2005 R53 Mini Cooper S

[Lauren_E]

@Laureeno101 who's mapping the car out of interest?

Murray Motorsport in Hilltown. They have mapped my previous R53, as well as @Wild Thing 's cars and all have been flawless

 

[Jonny]

Love this! It must be a cracking B road drive.

 

[Boydie]

Great looking mini!

 

[Neil_M]

Murray Motorsport in Hilltown. They have mapped my previous R53, as well as @Wild Thing 's cars and all have been flawless

Cheers good to know it can be done locally.

 

[Lauren_E]

Got the car back last Thursday after the final map. Absolutely love it, smooth power delivery and surprisingly very economical compared to what I was getting.
By absolute chance, managed to get my hands on a set of heated Mini GP1 Recaros in decent condition. Fully steam cleaned on Saturday then fitted.

Also got a genuine R53 JCW Shift Light, so will look at fitting that this weekend sometime.

And last but not least, a lower OMP strut bar and finally an anthracite headlining with all associated parts. Will need slight modification as I need to fit the ultrasonic alarm module to the lining as this one didn't have it. Shouldn't be too hard as there are a couple of spare headlinings here that i can take a template of

 

[Neil_M]

Love the shift-lights, always tempted to get them myself.

Seats are class too.

 

[Dave..]

The seats look great.

 

[Herbert Austin]

Great additions to your MINI

Congrats on finding them, it is getting much harder to track down genuine interesting parts now

 

[Chris Mac]

Those seats are fantastic Lauren, what are the originally from?

 

[Lauren_E]

Those seats are fantastic Lauren, what are the originally from?

Originally from a R53 Mini GP

 

[Wayne D]

Love the shifter lights, if you ever come across another, please let me know.
Seats look in excellent condition.

 

[Lauren_E]

Love the shifter lights, if you ever come across another, please let me know.
Seats look in excellent condition.

Yes will do. Only ever seen one other R53 shift light for sale but the price was eye watering. Seats are in fairly good condition for the age of them

 

[Wayne D]

Yes will do. Only ever seen one other R53 shift light for sale but the price was eye watering. Seats are in fairly good condition for the age of them

Yeah it may have been the same ones I once seen, think it was over £300 iirc. Scary stuff.

 

[_Stu_]

Yes will do. Only ever seen one other R53 shift light for sale but the price was eye watering. Seats are in fairly good condition for the age of them

I’m hopefully leaving mine up to a place in ballymena to get some repairable done to a bolster on mine. Will let you know how it turns out and the cost. They are so so comfy and supportive.

Really missing my R53. Been in storage from October and can’t wait for better weather to bring it back on the road again.

 

[Lauren_E]

I’m hopefully leaving mine up to a place in ballymena to get some repairable done to a bolster on mine. Will let you know how it turns out and the cost. They are so so comfy and supportive.

Really missing my R53. Been in storage from October and can’t wait for better weather to bring it back on the road again.

Honestly Stu I couldn’t get over how comfy they were. Much, much better than stock and great for a daily driver. Yes let me know how you get on with the bolster repair please

 

[Lauren_E]

Out with the old and in with the new...

Shift light also programmed and fitted

Next on the agenda is to fit the lower strut brace but the ramp was in use this weekend so that will have to wait. Also want to send my steering wheel over to Royal Steering Wheels to get a retrim in the Spring. The Aero front bumper and side skirts are still sitting in the spare room so will get them sprayed hopefully at the start of April

 

[Wild Thing]

One hell of a car now, fully loaded. No doubt you will find more goodies

 

[simy]

Very jealous of the goodie finding skills. Must be one of the most sorted R53s about.

 

[Lauren_E]

Honestly hadn't intended on getting any goodies as this was only meant to be a cheap run around. But then they pop up for sale or arrive in something I have bought to break so I tell myself "Why not?"

 

[Lauren_E]

So a bit of an update. Sent the car away for a tidy up as there was bits and pieces I wasn't happy with since I got the car. One of them being the front end was badly stone chipped and the bonnet had lacquer peel in places. Also the bootlid was rusting in the usual places above the handle. Off it went to the BodyStop in Portadown as well as the JCW front bumper and side skirts I had been storing from last year to replace the standard bits.
I got the car back last week but only got round to fitting the JCW bits yesterday. I kept the standard rear Cooper S bumper as originally intended with the GP inserts as IMO it looks better than JCW one. Brand new grills and side sill entry strips were fitted to freshen the car up. Also all parking dings were pulled while it was away

Also managed to get a set of genuine Mini red stitch gaiters to match the GP Recaros

Last but not least fitted a genuine Mini Tyre compressor kit in the rear boot compartment

 

[Chris Mac]

Fantastic!

 

[Herbert Austin]

Looks absolutely superb

 

[Wild Thing]

White cooper s stripes will finish it off perfectly!

 

[Wayne D]

Good work, car is looking great.

 

[Lauren_E]

Took a run up to the Castlewellan show yesterday with the R&F Mini Owners, so needed to give the car a good once over since it hadn't really been touched since painting. A quick once over with the DA to get rid of some light surface swirls then a couple of coats of Valentine's Road & Track wax finished off with @Big Pimp hybrid over the top and wheels finished with ultra slick

@Wild Thing car also given a coat of hybrid before we left yesterday

Didn't actually manage to get any photos at the show yesterday except when we set up the barbecue.

Had a new windscreen fitted last week as well as it was something on the to do list due to the stone chips so will coat it with the Hydra Clean I bought yesterday (although hoping I don't have to test it for another few weeks )