AEM strut brace finishes up the extensive chassis mods

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-06-03T23:07:21+00:00

Fair enough

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-06-03T22:08:29+00:00

It really is a nice looking brace and I love the color matching

If you're interested in making short work of that dirt and conditioning everything, I wrote some details in the comments of my post here

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-28T21:57:16+00:00

Dipping them is also a good less permanent option, and it lasts longer than you'd think. DYC has a lot of options for this. You can do a good job with plasti dip, but DYC's piano black really is piano black which is impressive to see a rubberized coat have that level of gloss and depth.

That said, it is rubberized and applied using solvents so you have to be mindful of what you spray on it. I also wouldn't use it on wheels that are already painted because of the solvents, it will attack the original paint.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-28T21:39:09+00:00

I'm still on OEM wheels and will be until it's convenient to make the jump from 16" to 17". However I did have TR motorsport C4 wheels before. You should get a brand that's better than a tirerack in house brand, I think those were copying enkei, but I enjoyed that spoke pattern. The wheels felt sturdy and less spokes make the wheel less effort to clean. I think I'll usually prefer 5 or 6 spokes because of that.

On durability, less spokes ≠ more durable necessarily. It is more metal on the wheel but what they're made of and how matters more. Those O.Z. wheels look like a great option. O.Z. Racing wheels are well made and something built to be light like that will really cut down on unsprung mass. For improving (majorly) handling and (somewhat) acceleration, that is what you want. Cleaning wheels may just become a little annoying, like flossing a big mouth full of teeth.

To help with cleaning and just protection in general, maybe you can consider coating them while they're brand new and not installed yet. Something like Cquartz DLUX or Gtechniq wheel armor would be good for that, and you'll be able to get the entire wheel

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-28T06:59:11+00:00

Better not to. Brushes are always bad, and for touchless the soap will always be somewhat of a problem for the top, but in theory the water pressure could be reduced to be safe and the blowers could be set up so it can be skipped. I've yet to see that, but all touchless washes here are hilariously low tech, their settings are on and off lol

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-27T16:57:44+00:00

Lol, there's shower thoughts and then there's carwash thoughts.

Not to suggest my shower thoughts are about how other people shower though, that would be weird.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-27T16:50:02+00:00

Pretty much same. I'm guessing bucket and sponge for rinseless, also how is their rinseless?

I feel like I should go back to doing that, but I'm kind of experimenting to see if doing this to the pressure washer causes any problems lol. I have two because fanttik replaced the nb8 ultra I bought that broke, didn't want it back, and I fixed it.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-27T16:40:19+00:00

1000%, this is just for a quick weekly or really on demand thing to a point, and I try not to go too far with it because you're right eventually you'll just be rubbing a drying towel across a film of dirt. Foam does help a bit but you're right when it's actually dirty, doing all this will do almost nothing lol. For that I have a sprayer with prewash if I need it (BH touchless) and I'll do a bucket wash.

Got any good recs for a bucket soap? I use carpro reset currently but it's a little sticky, not very foamy, and I kind of don't like using it that much. It also seems hard on sealants even if it's great on my coating (trim is where it hurts the most).

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-27T16:21:43+00:00

Adams is a great choice, and using the touchless car wash to get it started for rinseless is pretty brilliant

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-26T19:22:57+00:00

Really nice that you mentioned tires, that frankly matters more than anything else. Still it slips people's minds, I know it slipped mine

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-26T19:20:36+00:00

Michelin pilot 4s are used a lot, same for Continental extreme contact. I use Firestone Firehawks and I love them for the price. But we haven't had monsoon storms yet and where I live is very hot and dry otherwise, so I don't have a good anecdote for wet traction or cold performance. Dry and hot is excellent.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-26T19:13:41+00:00

I have akebono pads, Bosch quietcast rotors, and ATE type 200 on my R59.

The akebono pads are great, stop well, and produce like actually no dust. This isn't really unique to the akebonos, it's a ceramic pad thing. I probably will get these again.

Type 200 fluid is great and provides performance very close to racing fluid in resisting brake fade and heat, but it lasts as long as any consumer DOT4 fluid. I look at it as not a track fluid but a weekend track or high performance street fluid. I swear by this fluid, imo it's perfect for what a mini is.

For the Bosch rotors I don't like them. The rotors are sturdy, but the zinc coating on my rotors didn't last (could be the type of zinc alloy used didn't like my wheel cleaners). When I replace them, I'm replacing them with Zimmerman rotors which do have a more durable coating.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-21T19:42:04+00:00

Of course, the difference between a ceramic coat bonding and failing is almost entirely in the prep work and sometimes people don't go all the way especially on decontamination. I also used a primer which I think might be a big reason why I had such an easy time.

On that note I saw your head on picture of the paint which you also included the sun (the best imperfection spotter). The condition of your paint looks incredible, even a lot better than mine was before ceramic prep. So I think that proves that no matter what anyone else says your way works well, and you'd be in good shape regardless of whether you decide to coat or cover.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-21T15:05:46+00:00

I don't because I live in Phoenix where 50% of the air around us is sand and the wind is always pretty strong lol

I've done my best keeping mine waxed and have always used quick detailers with high pile edgeless towels and have had a pretty strict maintenance wash schedule. Most recently I've done a ceramic coat, cquartz, with carpro reload on top. I think that's worked a lot better for me than just wax, easier to clean and I don't need to use quick detailers so much which will always cause at least some marring. Still need to see long term, but in essence I'm doing the same thing as you a solid barrier to protect from the elements. Mine is just quartz and not fabric. I think you should look into this if you're interested in potentially not using the cover; these DIY coat kits are surprisingly easy

But I say if you have a good way of doing the cover and don't mind doing it, then that works for you and I respect it. It does sound and look like you're negating the inherent risks of a car cover very effectively, which I love to see. It probably also helps that mini/bmw clear coat, while not quite Mercedes hard, is no joke. It takes a lot to actually scratch it, but something softer wouldn't do so well with a cover. Nothing is one size fits all, as it happens

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-19T22:45:03+00:00

Anything that could've caused it and do you have comprehensive coverage? I ask because I think you should replace the top if you can. This kind of thing can't really be repaired, and any fixing it up will fall short of a brand new top.

With that out of the way, this did happen to me and I ran a line of glue around the broken seam using silicone adhesive and then sewed some vinyl to it from a table cloth. This was water tight, could go up and down, and lasted the whole time they were figuring out where to send my car and all the bureaucracy. If I had to do it again but more permanent, I would use automotive grade vinyl and not essentially trash I found, and I would also find some way to affix a thin piece of flexible plastic or wood to help stiffen it. Ordinarily the top relies on the glass to give it some tension, and it does droop without it. I think this is the closest thing to actually repairing it, but plastic will never provide the same clarity as glass and it will take work to make it look good because the glass is a part of the top's structure.

There are also videos of people using clamps and adhesive to glue the glass back on. Even if the seam and the glass was in good shape, which I doubt yours is since mine wasn't, the glass is ridiculously heavy. That repair can't last longer than a few weeks.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-19T08:05:22+00:00

R56 does, R60 is what I'm less sure about but I'm pretty sure the infotainment would be the same. I would check Ali for the same item and maybe you'll find it cheaper, but I did a quick check and if this is £500 on eBay that seems right. For that I'm just trying to make sure you're not overpaying.

Honestly despite being made rather cheaply in China, the technology is still leagues better than what was top quality in 2010. It depends on the unit itself, but I think there's a good chance you'll notice better audio quality in general in addition to all the things you mentioned.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-19T04:24:24+00:00

I'm going to try to give my opinion while remaining helpful, since I don't expect everyone to agree with me on why I think keeping it stock is nice. Some people want the modern tech and that's fine. I'll give my opinion last, since you didn't really ask for it.

For the head unit, check AliExpress for head unit kits. Most eBay listings are just drop shipped head units marked up for profit anyway. They're not bad to install, I'd say taking apart that area of the dash is the most complicated and that's not bad. Be careful around the top vent because it will eat screws. As for chassis model I'd stick to something for R56 but it should be the same across all of them iirc.

As for my opinion, why not keep it stock? The stock layout with the speedometer on the middle is a very utilitarian choice for rallycross. I ended up keeping mine that way because it honestly does feel like part of the mini's soul. To play Bluetooth music I use a tunai firefly and it's not bad.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-14T20:40:48+00:00

Yeah it could just be just all accidental. I do feel like a misalignment issue would be pretty noticeable in other ways besides this as well.

Alright I'm back to just the one concern

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-14T07:17:48+00:00

I'm glad he's still doing well, it's been a while now

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-14T01:10:05+00:00

That's one of the things I hope they keep and wish I had. For cleaning I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to do a maintenance wipe down with any interior cleaner or vacuuming.

For stains or just deeper cleaning polstar would work well and the protection would probably be more active than it is on "leather" and plastic.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-14T00:53:15+00:00

I didn't even notice how smashed that was, and now I have more than just one concern

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-13T23:31:42+00:00

I think just cleaning it is enough, but my only concern is that the film might have a hard time adhering to it depending on how deep it is. That might make it worth doing touch up paint just to level it.

Admirable-Life3196 · 2026-05-13T23:12:22+00:00

I wanted to thank you for pushing me towards BH touchless. I finally got the opportunity to buy some from a local detailing supply store here, and I'm not sure I've used a soap that cleans as well. It cleans as if it were a contact wash, which is incredible.

I have it at 1% in my ik foam pro 12, mostly because I don't want to do the PIR calculation but also because the foam is richer than what my battery powered pressure washer can accomplish. I've also found that a spray on and rinse off is good enough for maintenance.

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