# 2003 Mini Cooper S



## Scoobr (Jan 9, 2008)

This is a 2003 Mini Cooper S, it had covered 61,000 miles and was in OK condition but certainly need a bit of love to get it looking good again.

A couple of befores, pretty grubby.





First up snow foam, I used the excellent Element Autocare PH Neutral Sub Zero snow foam, super amount of foam from this stuff!





Foam left to dwell and I attended to various areas with an Auto Finesse brush.











Door shuts cleaned with both Auto Finesse Citrus power and Meguiar's Super Degreaser









Wheels given a good clean with Auto Finesse Imperial, Iron Out and Revolution wheel soap.







Tyres scrubbed with Meguiar's APC and a Chemical Guys stiff brush



Wheels also treated to Auto Finesse Oblitarate, one or two large tar spots were left, so a cotton pad was put on top and left to soak









Engine given a quick clean with Auto Finesse Verso











Engine dried off with the Metro Sidekick Blaster



Washed with two bucket method using Element Autocare Cherry Supreme shampoo



Bodywork then treated to both Iron Out and Oblitarate



I



Rinsed, washed again and dried off with AF Aqua Deluxe drying towel



Looking a lot better already



Then inside for claying, Auto Finesse clay and Glide used, wasn't too bad after decontamination, only really the lower sills and rear that were still bad









Under the light, the paintwork looked pretty bad….







Some areas were worse than others, I used the trusty combo of Meguiar's 105 and 205 on the sides and rear of the car, using Chemical Guys Hexlogic orange and white pads, which worked really well





The bonnet and roof were not as bad so Sonax EX 04-06 on an orange Quantum hexlogic pad























After polishing the Mini i was given a quick rinse and a wipe down with CarPro Eraser



For LSP I went with Soft 99 Fusso Dark, used this on my own car during the winter and it looked great and was very durable, two coats applied



Looking good….



Buffed off with a Chemical Guys edgeless towel



The inside of the Mini definitely need a bit of attention, pretty grubby….







The owner even left me a pair of dirty underpants in the back :doublesho :lol:



A good vacuum and wipe down of all interior carpets with Auto Finesse Verso and Total, then dressed with Spritz.













Leather seats cleaned with Valet Pro leather soap, massaged in with hands and scrubbed with leather brush, as you can see from the colour of the microfibre, seats were filthy, as was the steering wheel.













The interior came up well, looking a lot fresher



















Interior glass with AF Crystal, outside glass polished with Vision







Glass then sealed with Power Maxed Rain Off



Plastics were in pretty poor shape



I used Wolf's Chemicals Nano Dressing on the smaller plastic around the roof and the window rubbers/trim





Came up beautifully, love this stuff, I like to apply it with a small cotton pad.





Large plastic areas around the wheel arches were dressed with Auto Finesse Revive





The difficult intricate areas on the grille and in front of windscreen dressed with Auto Finesse Dressle, sprayed on and left, then any excess product mopped up with a microfibre.





Tyres dressed with Auto Finesse Satin Tyre Creme

Exhausts cleaned with Chemical Guys Heavy Metal polish and some wire wool



Before



After



Door shuts polished with Auto Finesse Tripple



Engine dressed with Auto Finesse Dressle





Headlights polished with CarPro Ceri Glass







Some previous wax residue also removed from around the headlights





Wheels are to be refurbished, but given a once over with Chemical Guys V7



Final wipe down and top coat of Fireball Ultimate Coating Wax



Afters































Short video clip, paintwork repelling the water well using the combination of Fusso and Fireball Ultimate Coating Wax



Thanks for looking :thumb:


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## tricky tree (Apr 15, 2013)

Great work buddy...


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## Cuffy (Oct 7, 2015)

Love the color, superb work

Might have to try Wolf’s Chemicals Nano Dressing on my window rubbers


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## Ben1413 (Jul 1, 2009)

Amazing attention to detail, great work! 

Ben


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## RealR0cknr0lla (Jan 17, 2016)

wow what a great job you've done there - car looks fantastic a credit to you


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## [email protected] (Nov 3, 2011)

Cracking job that! You must do the Mrs mini!


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## JB052 (Mar 22, 2008)

Looks good. I trust you put the pants through the easing machine before returning them.


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## Scoobr (Jan 9, 2008)

JB052 said:


> Looks good. I trust you put the pants through the easing machine before returning them.


of course! :lol:


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## SBM (Jul 4, 2013)

Fantastic! :thumb::thumb::thumb:
Beautiful finish and love the blue on these cars :thumb:


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## mcflycossie (May 8, 2007)

Great turn around. I don't know why but I have always been tempted by one of these but I am 6ft 3 and not sure if I would fit in one comfortably enough.


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## Paul04 (Jul 26, 2013)

Nice! Love Hyper blue


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## steve_07 (Apr 10, 2015)

Fantastic work there. That mini has come up a treat credit to you


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

Great detail mate, car looks amazing now. Well done.


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

Fantastic job


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## BadgerJCW (Dec 20, 2013)

Top job bud!


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## Stu Mac (Aug 18, 2014)

Top job mate and great attention to detail. The mini looks fastest now


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic job:thumb:


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

Great job there, nice polishing work!

What's the finish like with ex 04-06 and and orange pad? Need any refining afters?

I've got a litre of the stuff to use and not sure whether to go in with a green or white hex as I've just got very minor wash marring

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## Scoobr (Jan 9, 2008)

Hereisphilly said:


> Great job there, nice polishing work!
> 
> What's the finish like with ex 04-06 and and orange pad? Need any refining afters?
> 
> ...


Thanks :thumb:

I really like it and find it finishes up very well, I would have thought the green would do the job well, but white might well be enough if it's only light marring...


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

Scoobr said:


> Thanks :thumb:
> 
> I really like it and find it finishes up very well, I would have thought the green would do the job well, but white might well be enough if it's only light marring...


Yeah I'm leaning towards a white 1st, I'm using a 21mm throw da so I'd have thought the extra cut from that should combat the softer pad

Nice to know the sonax can handle rougher stuff with an orange tho

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## SimTaylor (May 28, 2015)

mcflycossie said:


> Great turn around. I don't know why but I have always been tempted by one of these but I am 6ft 3 and not sure if I would fit in one comfortably enough.


I'm 6ft 4 and had my Mini for 2 weeks now it is comfortable, just never expect to have someone sat behind you.


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## SimTaylor (May 28, 2015)

That is one amazing job you have done there. Are you on the Minitorque forum?


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

Oh one more thing, how much of that element autocare snow foam did you use in your lance to get those results?

Seen on their website that if you want thick foam you use it neat in a lance! :doublesho:

My lance is a liter, so I'd quickly tear through that bottle!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

Hereisphilly said:


> Yeah I'm leaning towards a white 1st, I'm using a 21mm throw da so I'd have thought the extra cut from that should combat the softer pad
> 
> Nice to know the sonax can handle rougher stuff with an orange tho
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


The white will do the job:buffer: but you can finish it with a L/country HT red finishing pad:thumb: that's what I used once with EX 04-06 but that was medium to soft paint:thumb:


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

chongo said:


> The white will do the job:buffer: but you can finish it with a L/country HT red finishing pad:thumb: that's what I used once with EX 04-06 but that was medium to soft paint:thumb:


Cool, I've got black hexes so that should do the job if I need it

Yeah my paint is med leaning towards soft

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## Scoobr (Jan 9, 2008)

Hereisphilly said:


> Oh one more thing, how much of that element autocare snow foam did you use in your lance to get those results?
> 
> Seen on their website that if you want thick foam you use it neat in a lance! :doublesho:
> 
> ...


Only used about an inch or two at the bottom of the lance bottle, you can see how much of the bottle I'd used from the pic, one of the best foams i've used :thumb:


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

wow, a different car, great attention to detail by you!

How long does the Wolfs Nano Trim dressing last?


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## Scoobr (Jan 9, 2008)

ALANSHR said:


> wow, a different car, great attention to detail by you!
> 
> How long does the Wolfs Nano Trim dressing last?


Thanks :thumb:

I find it lasts very well, I use it on my own car and get 6 months plus, but it doesn't get heavy usage and is garaged at all times when not in use.


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## Mcpx (Mar 15, 2016)

What is it with Mini interiors? My wifes was in a similar state (apart from also being owend by someone with a real biscuit problem) when we went to look at it a few years ago but the dealer did say it had only just come in and his guys hadn't cleaned it yet. When she picked it up and brought it home a few days later it wasn't really any better and I took one look at it and said take it back and tell them to do it properly, but she laughed and said 'no, if they had cleaned it properly they would have found this' and when she pulled the seat forward instead of a manky old pair of boxers there was a brand new ipod, it was even colour coded to match the car and full of music! So we let them off, I cleaned it myself and the wife got a free ipod.

Plenty of bits on the mini are a real pita to do, but they do carefully me up nice when you put the effort in, this one looks really good now, nice job.


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## Scoobr (Jan 9, 2008)

Mcpx said:


> What is it with Mini interiors? My wifes was in a similar state (apart from also being owend by someone with a real biscuit problem) when we went to look at it a few years ago but the dealer did say it had only just come in and his guys hadn't cleaned it yet. When she picked it up and brought it home a few days later it wasn't really any better and I took one look at it and said take it back and tell them to do it properly, but she laughed and said 'no, if they had cleaned it properly they would have found this' and when she pulled the seat forward instead of a manky old pair of boxers there was a brand new ipod, it was even colour coded to match the car and full of music! So we let them off, I cleaned it myself and the wife got a free ipod.
> 
> Plenty of bits on the mini are a real pita to do, but they do carefully me up nice when you put the effort in, this one looks really good now, nice job.


Great story :lol:

Thanks for the comment :thumb:


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## PeterPatch1 (Jan 14, 2011)

Great work. Wish I had the talent to do work like this.


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## tomsuematthews (Apr 8, 2016)

Awesome job top class!


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## Sparkycasual (Feb 4, 2006)

Fantastic job and a great write-up.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading it, so thanks for posting.


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## gt001 (Aug 2, 2015)

Fantastic results - very inspiring 


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## chris.t (Jan 18, 2014)

Great turnaround, i like the cotton wool trick for the troublesome tar spots


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## Hufty (Apr 27, 2015)

Great work bud, well done.


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## GAVSY (Mar 19, 2013)

Fantastic job well done!

A great write up and pics too, I've only tried Tripple from the Auto Finesse guys but I may expand my collection after reading this.

Many thanks


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## fozzy (Oct 22, 2009)

Great write up on a great turnaround, thanks for posting


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## footfistart (Dec 2, 2013)

What an effort! You must feel pleased with your work. I'm inspired. Thank you.


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## Scoobr (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the kind comments, much appreciated :thumb:


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## donfresh (Feb 23, 2016)

Awesome work! I like the proper step-by-step pictures, really helpfull
One day i'll do the same with my car


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## kona786 (May 25, 2006)

what a superb write up and detail session!!


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