# New 2014 Mini Cooper - Volcanic Orange



## Serkie (Dec 8, 2007)

Hey Peeps, thought I'd share some pictures of the wife's new motor following its first clean.

Its only done 50 miles but that includes the school run and as you'll see the kids have made themselves at home already.

Car is a 2014 Mini Cooper 1.5 Petrol in volcanic orange. Didn't go mad with the options but its still spec'd up to a nice level with the chilli pack, 16" victory wheels, heated seats, rear parking sensors, JCW steering wheel and the visual boost radio upgrade. Car was ordered not long after launch back in March so its taken 8 weeks to arrive so not too bad.

Anyway onto todays clean, plan was to give it a good clean, inspect the paintwork and put some protection down until I have more time to hit it with the Flex.

Car was a bit mucky, nothing major just road spray and some dirt and grime on the outside.


















To be fair the dealer prep wasn't bad, few areas of polish residue on rubbers and down panel gaps but other than that is was ok.



















Inside a combination of the school run a few wet days this week has resulted in a lot of muck ending up on the mats front and back.




























The dressing on the plastic trim had also started to run off in the rain.










Wheels were first dealt with by using a selection of Wheel Woolies and Vikan brushes, a weak mix of AS Smart Wheels and some AF Citrus Power on the tyres.



















Not sure what dressing the dealer used on the tyres but it wasn't coming off even after the AF Citrus Power. Not too much of an issue as it was fairly matt and not too glossy. Also seems to bead well too whatever it is.










All the plastic trim was then sprayed with AF Citrus Power and gently scrubbed with a soft brush and rinsed off.










Car was then given a prewash using the Super Spray with some AS Duet as shampoo. Car was not dirty enough to warrant getting out the pressure washer.



















Whilst the shampoo dwelled I went round with a detailing brush and saw to all panel gaps and rubbers.


















Car was then rinsed and 2 bucket washed with Zaino Z7 and a Dooka mit (rinse bucket not shown).










After the 2BW and rinse I gave the bodywork a spray down with Iron-X. Left to dwell and do its stuff for 5 minutes. Not too bad.




























Car was rinsed off and given a 2nd hit of Iron X, this time left to dwell for 10 minutes. Not too bad this time.










Iron-X rinsed off and another 2BW followed by a final opened ended hose rinse. Car dried with Sonus towels.

With light fading I packed up and moved the car into the garage for inspection under an LED flood light.










Roof under the unforgiving LED light gave me an idea of what needs doing at some point.


















Paintwork not too bad, light swirls, nothing to get excited about though.










Decided to go with AF Tough Prep + Tough Coat for the short term. I like AF Tough Coat because its quick, not fussy, gives very good results and lasts well enough. Tough Prep was applied to all paintwork and glass.



















I then dressed the tyres with Prima Nero and applied AF Revive to all black trim.










AF Tough Coat was then applied using a Sonus microfibre applicator and removed using Poorboys super plush buffing towels.










It was getting very dark now and the lighting in my garage isn't great so I called it a night but before shutting up took some pictures of the cabin at night. It's a lovely place to be the quality is much improved over the last generation Mini.










Ambient LED lighting which you can change the colour of whenever you get bored. We like purple!


















LED ring can be used either in a event type mode or assigned to single functions e.g. can be sync'd and used as a rev counter. We have it in event mode here so user inputs effect it behavior, for example if you turn the temperature in the cabin down the ring glows blue and red with the colour changing to blue as you decrease the temperature. Bit gimmicky but still rather cool. Some nice fun touches include 'Maximum Go Kart Feel' when put in Sports mode.










On that note the car was left for the night.










Car was rolled out of the garage next day and I attacked the carpets and mats with the vacuum.



















Next I dusted the dashboard with the minky and soft haired brush.



















Much better!



























Car was then given a final wipe down and were done.






















































































































Thanks for reading!


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## s29nta (Mar 9, 2013)

great stuff, luv the colour combo. good write up and pics too:thumb:


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

Great work there Serkie. Nice colour that.
The interior is def nicer than the previous Mini. We've just sold our 59 plate Cooper, quirky little cars in truth.


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## Paul04 (Jul 26, 2013)

Great work! What's the new engine like? I used to have a 2010 cooper and got rid January


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## ALLR_155528 (May 20, 2014)

Absolutely amazing


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Great job:thumb:


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

Stunning colour there fella, the Orange really suits the Mini, great job also, mind you the rubber gloves look like they were made for someone else


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## pee (Apr 6, 2009)

Really like the interior on the latest minis there a massive improvement on the previous one


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## Jack (May 14, 2007)

Nice work and great finish. I seen a mini in this colour during the week its a very nice colour


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## Jord (Apr 3, 2012)

Nice work, can't beat that new car feel. 

Envious of that garage space too!


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## UtzChips (May 8, 2014)

I feel in love with that car when I saw the commercial for the 1st time. A relative of mine has a 2010. 
I'm jealous - as that is the color I would get if I had 50k to throw at a new car.:car:


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## ibiza55 (Feb 22, 2008)

Lovely jubbly, especially like the seat material chequered.


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## O`Neil (Aug 13, 2007)

Lovely motor, love the orange colour :thumb:


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Great colour combo. Suits the Mini really well.

What the hell is that 'minky?', looks a useful tool for the interior.


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## AustCy (Jun 9, 2010)

Good job. Nice car


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## N3llyboy (May 15, 2014)

Great job. I like that colour on a mini with the stripes. Boy there are a lot of lights on the console. Do you find them distracting?


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## rej150 (Apr 23, 2014)

neilos said:


> Great colour combo. Suits the Mini really well.
> 
> What the hell is that 'minky?', looks a useful tool for the interior.


I thought exactly the same!

Not usually a Mini fan but the car looks fantastic!


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## UtzChips (May 8, 2014)

N3llyboy said:


> Great job. I like that colour on a mini with the stripes. Boy there are a lot of lights on the console. Do you find them distracting?


I would assume that there is a control to dim the lights.
I can think of no other car I'd buy [if I had the money to throw at one], not a Camaro, Mustang, Audi, nuttin'.
Already have an SUV for long trips, so this would be the ticket for me.

I have DVR so I can fast forward thru commercials on television [I don't watch anything live], but I always watch the commercial for this orange Mini [along with Victoria Secrets commercials] when it comes on.


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

The new mini is a grower, the seats for me are the biggest improvement, I'd 
I've to be able to fit them in my mcs. I like the mini logo in the front lights too, the biggest dissapointment for me is the speedo, I liked it in the middle of the car. I'm not keen on how it sits now, I'd have kept the rev counter and put a large digital speedo in the centre.

Oh nice work it looks great but get some dlux on the arches, it's so much better than revive, that looks good for all of 5 minutes or until it rains. Oh and nice c63


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## O`Neil (Aug 13, 2007)

neilos said:


> What the hell is that 'minky?',


So, you`ve never had any minky before?


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

UtzChips said:


> I feel in love with that car when I saw the commercial for the 1st time. A relative of mine has a 2010.
> I'm jealous - as that is the color I would get if I had 50k to throw at a new car.:car:


50K for a mini :doublesho


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## Ant21 (Oct 12, 2013)

Looks great


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## Zetec-al (Feb 28, 2011)

Brilliant attention to detail! I like the colour too to be honest!!


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## Serkie (Dec 8, 2007)

Cheers for the comments.

We haven't lived with car long enough to decide if the LED ring is a distraction yet but yes you can disable it and dim it as need be.

I was a bit skeptical about the 1.5 3 cylinder engine but it's an absolute gem, smooth and doesn't sound like a 3 cylinder. Pulls strong and plenty fast enough up to around 80 mph.

I'm also surprised how much I enjoy driving it. Its good fun when pushed hard and I suspect the new Cooper S is great fun.


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## sprocketser (Aug 4, 2012)

Great job on the Mini as well as great write up also !


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## sprocketser (Aug 4, 2012)

You got a sports mode on it , does it make a big difference or just a little .


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## Coopertim (May 20, 2012)

Looks like a high spec inside, no xenons though? Also.... More of that c63


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## GNshaving (Feb 13, 2014)

Lovely!


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Looks fantastic, this is actually a Mini I would be tempted to buy.


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## ocdetailer (Apr 9, 2014)

Nice work, now she can have the new car experience all over again!


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## clubman (May 18, 2011)

Great job. Best colour for new Mini. Makes my R55 look dated inside.
What products you thinking of using on the black roof to correct the swirls? Need to get round to sorting mine out soon. The joys of gloss black paint!!!


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## Serkie (Dec 8, 2007)

clubman said:


> Great job. Best colour for new Mini. Makes my R55 look dated inside.
> What products you thinking of using on the black roof to correct the swirls? Need to get round to sorting mine out soon. The joys of gloss black paint!!!


Thanks!

I'll probably try the Megs microfibre system on the Flex first to correct. If that fails some Menz 85RD on a foam hex type pad should do it.


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## bazz (May 15, 2007)

great job fella and I also love the colour combo.


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Looks superb pal, great choice of motor! I'm trying to tempt my missus into a Cooper S, we've had an R53 Cooper for 6 years and I've configured a fully loaded Cooper S for her, but she's erring towards a 1-Series BM as she wants something a little bigger than the Mini.

The design has been a little controversial in the press but I think it looks spot on, that colour is ace too! Enjoy it!


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## reshamg (Mar 26, 2014)

I m total rookie in cleaning let alone detailing, your work say I m toddler haha


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## MINIMark (Aug 18, 2012)

Oh wow! In love with the new F56, and it's on my shopping list for my next change!

Volcanic Orange looking great after your work!


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## Brigham1806 (Apr 1, 2011)

Great work...  love the new mini's..


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## pinch (Oct 30, 2011)

Very nice.
Can't quite believe what the roof is like after just 50 miles though!


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## RICH2508 (Jan 14, 2007)

Would like to see how this colour looks in the metal, certainly striking in the pictures. BTW I would get the wife and kids sorted, making that much mess in just 50miles is terrible. My three would take a year to get it looking that bad!


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## Jammy J (May 5, 2012)

Hi, looks lovely. How are you getting on with it now? I bought one myself and it arrived in April some time. The best car I've owned so far.


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great work :thumb:


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Lovely work :thumb: there a brilliant drive, I emptied my first tank in 4 days!


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## AygoGUMMY (Nov 21, 2010)

Looks great. I went to have a look at the new 5-door model last week... I know it's an acquired taste but for someone who just can't cope with the impracticality of the 3-door model, it's a more appealing proposition, and I think the interior is fantastic.


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