7 replies to this topic

[New-To-Mini]

I'm new to the Mini Forum so firstly 'Hello Mini Fans'.

Ok so this is my second car, I switched out from a Vauxhall Corsa which was turning into money pit. Saved up for months and now I have a Mini Cooper 1.6 53reg standard silver hatchback hardtop. Amazing car. Its rapid, stylish and just all round fun to drive.

Before anything I suppose I have to state: I'm on run flats Good Year Excellence 195/55R16 87H's as this will become clear soon as to why I mention it.
The reason for the post is I looked at the calipers/brake discs/brake pads etc. The Calipers are all rusted over and on a silver car it stands out, they just look a state. If I am changing the calipers I might as well switch out the brake discs + pads as they look like they've never been changed since coming off the production line. This is all to improve the performance of the car, at the same time improve the level of safety. To be honest I do not know much about cars, and much is over stating, however i've read a few forums and a product reviews, this is the list I have created for my mini.

List collected through Euro Car Parts (trade price):
Pagid Calipers x4: £71 per PN: 133120011 - 133120041

Pagid Brake Discs (Rear)x2 £17.50 for both PN: 104120028

Pagid Brake Pads (Rear)x2 £20 for both PN: 101120028
(What colour pads are the best for fast road use? (Not Track))

SFK Wheel Hub (Rear)x2 PN: 629120040
(Will these even fit my alloys/calipers/brake discs)

My mini shakes when hitting pot holes are there are a lot on the way to and from work (60miles round trip), this would happen with any car though. Well maybe not a tank, but that neither here nor there. If i put in Sachs coil springs into the rear would this help at all?


Please help, as I want to put a bit of money (around 500) into the Mini to make it look new and increase the performance and life expectancy of the car + myself?
Can anyone help define whether these parts are suitable for the car, are they worth it, are there any better products on the market?

Much appreciated for taking the time to read this.

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[jaydee]

My mini shakes when hitting pot holes are there are a lot on the way to and from work (60miles round trip), this would happen with any car though. Well maybe not a tank, but that neither here nor there. If i put in Sachs coil springs into the rear would this help at all?

Hello and welcome to the forum

Please define 'shaking', the mini has a very harh and bumpy ride compared to a vauxhall, especially with the tyres you have, we need a more 'in depth' description to understand if your car has a problem or not.
Sachs coils wont help at all i dont know who suggested you that....

I'd reccomend cleaning your caliper with a good old wire brush instead of replacing them just for the look.
You can alway clean them with a wire drill bit and paint them to a colour of your choice.

[Gulfclubby]

This board is dedicated to the classic mini primarily. You may have better luck asking questions on a forum related to the BINI on a dedicated new Mini forum.

[Ipod]

This is where a lot over bini owners are recomended to look.

http://www.mini2.com/

Hope ya get it sorted..sounds like binis are money pits like minis lol

[New-To-Mini]

I will look to the BINI forums. Thanks for your help though.

In reply to

My mini shakes when hitting pot holes are there are a lot on the way to and from work (60miles round trip), this would happen with any car though. Well maybe not a tank, but that neither here nor there. If i put in Sachs coil springs into the rear would this help at all?

Hello and welcome to the forum

Please define 'shaking', the mini has a very harh and bumpy ride compared to a vauxhall, especially with the tyres you have, we need a more 'in depth' description to understand if your car has a problem or not.
Sachs coils wont help at all i dont know who suggested you that....

I'd reccomend cleaning your caliper with a good old wire brush instead of replacing them just for the look.
You can alway clean them with a wire drill bit and paint them to a colour of your choice.

The Sachs coils were recommended via ECP.
In regards to the shakes the car has when going over a pot hole, they are minor, I just wanted to make the car's suspension sturdier so there is little to no shakes even if I hit a giraffe for example...

[MRA]

Don't have that many giraffe's around my home town, but pot holes I can sympathise with, this shake is when you are cornering and the car loses traction / grip momentarily ? if so then stiffening the suspension will make it worse.

So what if we are predominantly a classic mini forum, if we can help then we will

[jaydee]

I'm afraid the only cure is switching to non runflat tyres and possibily fitting the 15" wheel with higher tyre wall.
The bini suffers pot holes more than the classic mini...

[Alex_B]

Yeah my mum owns a '11 cooper s with runflats, its a pretty harsh ride, stiffening them up with coilovers wouldnt be an upgrade for potholes, as said its the runflats that are pretty rubbish with potholes, and on the earlier mini expect them to fail quite regularly as my brothers ex used to own a similar vintage mini to yours and swapped to normal tyres after she got bored of the runflats needing changing regularly so a standard tyre on something like 15" wheels would soften up the ride