Thought you guys might like to see what I've moved onto.  Here's my new project it's a 6-speed manual 2011 MINI Cooper S Hardtop named Pip

Here's what he looked like when I first got him:






Then I got the whole thing wrapped.  I went matte white for the body and matte black for the roof.








Here are my sweet wheels I bought for a great deal!  They're 18" OEM MINI JCW R105's in matte black wrapped in 255/45R18 Yokohama S-Drives.


I also painted some interior dash bits and put in some super awesome shag white floor mats  The car already has RGB led lighting in the door pulls, door handles, B pillars pointing up, and center overhead console.  You can set them to cycle so it's like a rainbow disco in the car so that's what I do and I also added two 1' RGB LED strips to the footwells that change colors with the factory lighting.
RGB Mod Worklog:
http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/electrical/237192-rgb-ambient-mood-lighting-additions-mod.html






I did my projector retrofit magic on Pip earlier in the year, check out my work here:
http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/interior-exterior/230007-doing-a-perfect-projector-retrofit-on-11-r56.html

When I got my wrap, I took my taillights apart and painted them all up too:
http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/interior-exterior/234519-modified-the-insides-of-my-2011-taillights.html


Factory Options

-Cold weather package (Heated washer jets, heated and power-fold mirrors, heated seats)
-Premium package (panoramic dual pane sunroof, auto climate control, premium Harmon/Kardon 10speaker sound system, Sirius, HD Radio)
-Carbon Punch Leather seats
-MINI Connected infotainment system


Current Mods:

Exterior
-Body in a matte white vinyl wrap.
-Roof in a matte black vinyl wrap.
-JCW R105 18" wheels w/ S-Drives.
-Custom projector Headlamps.
-Custom painted rear tailamps.
-Full LED retrofit.
-LED fog lights.
-All chrome pastidip'd.
-All windows tinted.
-Rear wiper delete.

Interior
-ProSport gauges; oil pressure, boost.
-Matte white dash.
-White shag carpeting.
-Custom homelink retrofit.
-RGB LED mood lighting extension in footwells.

Drivetrain
-NM Tune
-NM Cold Air Intake
-NM Hot/Cold Boost Tubes
-NM Torque Arm Insert
-Forge FMIC
-Akrapovic Downpipe
-2nd Cat Delete

Wheels and Tires
-Matte black JCW R105 18" wheels.
-Yokohama 255/45R18 S-Drives.

Factory the car makes 187hp at the crankshaft.  I'm now putting down 238hp at the wheels.

Here's the noises he makes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwQBrLESjec

So I estimate that I've got about $8k in mods wrapped up in Pip so he's definitely pretty expensive but I love to buy him pretty things

My todo list is still quite expensive but it's dwindling down slowly:
-NM Alpha springs to lower 1.2"
-10mm wheel spacers
-NM 22mm rear sway bar
-BSH oil catch can
-NM turbo heatshield
-Howerton Engineering HFS-4 Water/Meth system
-Stoptech big brake kit painted in white with zinc plated, drilled rotors


So yep, that's what I've been up to.  I sold my 'tek to a guy in Riverside, CA for $7,400.  He seemed to be going to a good home, the guy had a few other cars, all in great condition and was single with no kids.  Before I sold him, I took him to get a $100 bath and full detail.  They made it look pretty much brand new and I almost didn't want to sell it after that.  Here's a link to the craigslist ad with some pics (notice the sweet honda in the background, lol).
https://post.craigslist.org/manage/2860447777

The one big thing I miss about my Aztek?  The super comfortable seat.  My MINI has some fairly uncomfortable seats that hurt my bottom after a few hours.

Thanks!  They're pretty rare in rural areas but in big cities, especially out here in California they're super abundant but most of them are the base Cooper model.  I have the Cooper S which has a 1.6L, twin scroll turbocharged, inline 4 cyl.  The cold air intake I installed lets you hear the BOV from the turbo releasing pressure.  I love pretty much everything about the car.  The interior is one of the best designed interiors I've ever seen on any car.  Everything is well thought-out, well placed, and if there is a way to make something more simple, they've done it.  Plus the retro cues are tons of fun.

When I'm really getting on it, the BOV is super loud and sounds amazing.  The car also has quite a bit of pop and burble in the exhaust.  Upon lifting off the throttle or downshifting, unburnt, excess fuel exits the cylinders and hits the hot exhaust manifold making it kinda explode.  That gives a little series of pops in the exhaust which are the coolest thing!

The wrap was about $2,000.  Not too bad of a price for the quality of their work and the amount of work it took to get done.

But yeah, I've wanted one of these since I was 14 and I scooped one up as soon as I had a little extra cash.  I knew it was time to move on from my Aztek and I never once went to any dealership other than MINI and never remotely considered another brand.  The only thing I don't like about it is that I can never not have one again!  I'll always have to have a MINI plus another car if I want something else; it really is just that fun!

I'm not sure that the Aztek does the same thing, I know mine never did.  Here's a slightly better representation of it.  If I wind first and second gear all the way out to 6k or 7k, it sounds like I have a machine gun attached to my exhaust lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1jUsligR-I

The tach is in front of the wheel.  I also have a boost gauge and oil pressure gauge installed now.

The center screen is the navigation/infotainment screen.  The speedometer goes in a circle around the outside of the nav screen.  It's really, really cool.  It's quite hard to read tho while driving so it also has a digital speed screen integrated into the tach.

Yep, sometimes an exhaust change can introduce a little P&B, it all depends on the engine and ECU I think.  I just had the rally factory exhaust so nothing special except the chrome tip.

The inside is definitely spacious for such a small car.  I'd even call the back seats useable, it really can fit 4 average size adults reasonably comfortably.

And thanks again for the compliments, it means a lot!  I've stuck a whole lot of money, time, energy, and thought into Pip so it's nice others appreciate it too.

CONGRATS!! He is a beauty - really lovin' the wrap job, and your lighting mods are as excellent as they were on your Tek. One very sweet ride - just too bad about the sore ass LOL!