I have decided to start one thread to ask questions about my MINI Cooper, to share experiences, updates and mods, as to not pollute the board with thread after thread. Feel free to chime in and share any opinions or experiences as well.


So.....
Last June I bought an MC40. I knew it needed a little work but had no idea how much of a project it would be. After purchasing it I realized it was very abused and not a happy car. The place I bought it from had little information and thought it was a JCW because of the dash. The car fax brought more mystery as to the back ground of the vehicle. I have been fixing I up and love the car. I rather enjoy the work and refuse to pay someone for work I can do. But man, some of the parts are expensive. Luckily I already have amassed a good set of tools and only need to add a few items to have every thing I need to work on the car. I have found the MINI fairly easy to work on so far.


When I got the car it was lowered with -2.5 inches lowering springs and wheel spacers. It looked awesome and was like a go cart on rails with a rocket strapped to it, what a blast, however, I found I could not live with the ride quality so I put it back to stock height. I still plan on lowering it again but the right way. It only had lowering springs and rear adjustable end links. There was a lot of wear on the steering and drive components. I plan on adding adjustable coil overs, front and rear strut towers, front end links and a camber kit. I might eventually upgrade the sway bars. I will be starting with new front end links (the OEM suck. Why would BMW put suck lousy parts in a race inspired car?)


Since it was lowered with just springs the drive shafts are both worn so those need replacing. I have coolant in the oil which I think it the oil cooler (other wise it is a bad head gasket. But if it is I am going to upgrade the head and cam), the timing chain tensioner needs replacing and there is a slow oil leak. The crankshaft sensor went out and has been replaces, I drove over a sidewalk going 50mph but got new rims and tires out of it (win?), I think one of the front end links is bent.


The good news is it is an MC40 with everything but the removable decals (I'm going to do some custom graphics anyway), all the issues are in my scope of practice, it runs pretty solid as long as I keep coolant in it, I love the car and so far it has been easy to work on.


Planned mods;
-15% pulley and belt
-Suspension upgrade listed above
-Exhaust (cherry bomb with resonator, header, maybe more)
-Aluminum/Black expansion tank
-MSD coil pack and wires
-JCW injectors
-WMW Cylinder Head and Cam
-Light weight crank pulley
-Decals (custom stripes on the hood, MINI racing stripes on the side)
-This list is to short



Mods I have;
-ATI intake (orange)
-20mm wheel spacers
This list is to short


-Gunner


-Gunner

 

When I had my car in the body shop getting new rims and tires I still had lowering springs on and the detailer loved the car lowered. He mentioned the wear on the drive shaft knuckles and boots. He said it could be fixed with a camber kit. I told him the coil overs usually come with a camber plate for adjusting the camber. He again said I should get a camber kit. I did some research and the only tool I can find to adjust front camber on the R53 is with the plates.


Does anyone know what he is talking about?

 

Very first thing you should do is sort out the coolant in your oil. It is turning your oil into something less that proper lubrication for your engine. Over time you will ruin your engine. Do it now not later. I'd recommend not driving your MINI until you fix it. Enjoy your MINI.

 

+1 to what ashchuckton said.

Adjusting the front camber on the Mini requires camber plates, not just eccentric bolts like on many other cars. Go visit the websites of the many vendors who support NAM and look at the options.

 

By all means sort out the Water/Oil issue First...

Suspension, when you modify suspensions, you have to check to see if the completed modification leaves the vehicle within the vehicles designed geometry or if you have exceeded the design envelope. If you are still with in the envelope you should be good to go, a good four wheel alignment can and will make the final adjustments that will prolong the life of your tires and axle shaft knuckles.

If the MOD has exceeded the geometric design envelope then additional modifications will need to be done to minimize the adverse affects. For example Camber Plates. Allow for the top of the Struts to be moved to off set the angular difference in wheel camber that is introduced when the vehicle is lowered changing the geometry. This allows for the Wheel to be reset to a more geometry correct angle, this also reduces the angle the axle knuckles are subjected to. Additional axle aspects include, the axle length is affected. as the suspension travels up and down the axles have movement in and out as well as up and down. the slight reduction of in/out travel can also effect the wear of the knuckles.

So.. bottom line, a quick swap of springs may lower the car stance and as long as the geometry is still within the designed limits, a four wheel alignment can fix most tire wear issues and minimize the chance of axle knuckle wear.

When the lowering is more aggressive, it is recommended that the complete suspension be rebuilt with custom suspension parts allowing for maximum adjustability to return the suspension to the corrected geometry. e.g., Adjustable control arms, adjustable concentric control arm bushings, upper strut camber plates, and the like.

Anyway, to do it right there is a lot more to it then cutting a coil off the spring.

...there I go on a rant about suspension... sorry.

Best of luck with it, no matter what you decide, I have always loved the way a MINI looks when it is sitting only three inches off the pavement.

Motor on!

 

JA - Thanks for the recap. I had figured all that out and that is why I returned the car to stock height, but it is good to have verification that I am doing the right thing. I actually just replaced an inner boot and the knuckle looked good, I might open up one of the outers to take a look. I do know my FR tie rod is bent. I am using that as an excuse to upgrade.


I have 2 questions hopefully someone can help with.


1. In first or second gear I can rock the car by pressing the gas and letting off, I could make it quite violent of I wanted to. Is this normal for a MINI cooper S or does is sound like something is defective. I use to have a 1979 Mazda 626 that did the same thing (manual tranny as well)


If something is defective my thoughts are: an engine/transmission mount (they didn't look bad but not 100% sure on that), something defective in the transmission, something defective in the drive line.


2. After running the car on the freeway, when I am at a stop, car running or turned off, there is a thumping/clunking sound. It goes clunk......(wait 2 seconds...clunk....(wait 3 seconds)...clunk...(wait 5 seconds)....... Just for about 30 seconds or so and then it stops. Anyone have any in-site?




On another note, I replaced the oil cooler, definitely defective. I could see that there was oil on the coolant side and am sure there was coolant pushing though into the oil. I still have a another coolant leak and am still hoping it is not a warped or cracked head or a bad gasket. I am going to get a leak detector kit soon (the ultra violet fluid one). My trouble shooting process will be as such: UV leak test, compression test, compression leak-down test (my only issue with the last test is I have heard it can be un definitive or show incorrect results). And I am doing oil changes every 2 weeks to try and flush the coolant out. I am going to run some seafaom through it at some point. Unfortunately I don't know how to tell if replacing the oil cooler has stopped the coolant in the oil. If anyone has other ideas as to troubleshooting help I am all ears.

 

Question #2: Cat converter or exhaust cooling? Depends on the dynamics of the "clunk".

 

Good idea. I might copy it so I stop annoying folks.

Looks like a good start list. Best of luck, especially with the oil/coolant issue.

 

You'll want to get new engine mounts soon (or prepare for a broken header & cat ~ ask me how I know). I installed Vibratechnics passenger and lower mounts and am very happy with them. There is more NVH but liveable and adds to the experience. Not sure on what style your MC40 has, but there's plenty of documentation on the mounts here at NAM.

 

I have an MC40. It's an R53. I thought all the MC0s are R53s. Just some are JCW and some are not. Is this incorrect?

 

The other morning I found ou just how well behaved the Mini cooper is, in terms of obaying the driver. I was making a 3 lane change (I know, unsafe, but neccissary at time) and a car came flying past doign 30 MPH faster then I and the rest of traffic, very much speeding, not that i have much room to complain. I Jerked the wheel back and my car instantley swung back into the middle lane. had I been driving another car I think it would have been an accident. I am very happy with my MINI Cooper.

-Gunner

 

I agree with the comments about:
1. Motor mounts (I had a few that looked OK but where shot)
2. most likely CAT/exhaust cooling (mine does the same thing)

Motor on!

 

Update:
-Restored all the exterior trim so it is no longer faded.
-Removed the old crappy window tint on the FL and FR windows.
-Put white stripes on the hood.


The car looks much better now. Working on paint touch ups.

 

jamez was most likely referring to what type of motor mount you have. There was a design change in the motor mounts. So early R53 vehicles had a different mount style than the later R53's

 

Yes,
They changed the passenger mount design sometime in 2004 and I don't know where yours falls.

 

Oh, mine is the later 2004, pretty sure. It was made in May of 04 and I think that fall into the later bracket. I will make sure before I order anything. I will call MINI and they should be able to tell by the VIN, and then I will go order them from ECS.


Thanks, sorry about the confusion.

 

You can also use Real OEM to find your part numbers.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/

Just plug in your VIN number and it'll sort it out.

 

Does anyone know the size of the clamps for the inside passenger side CV boot clamps? And would there be an issue with replacing them with a standard adjustable hose clamp?

 

Updates....
Did Block leak down test and the car passed (unless the gasket is leaking intermittently).


I noticed lots of fluid coming out the back of the car and did the old taste test (ya, I'm old school sometimes) and it was only water. Somewhere the exhaust is creating condensation. If I remember that could be a sign of a cat going bad, or possibly just an older car. But for sure it was not coolant.


Still need to do a regular compression test, but since I never noticed power loss I have a feeling it will come back fine.


There are 3 possibilitiesI see the leak coming from, the thermostat housing, a hose, the radiator. I need to pull out the air cleaner and take a look at the housing. If that isn't it I may take it to a shop to locate the leak instead of just replacing expensive things. This leak sucks.


Does any one know if the old Orange Alta intakes clean the same way as the current ones (just rinse) or is it like the K&N where you clean and oil them?

 

Oh, and Clay bar works awesome. If your car is not supper shiny go use it.

 

After looking at it and feeling it is definitely an oiled filter.

 

I've read some of the detailing posts and see it mentioned a lot, is it a brand or a bar of modeling clay or what? I'm guessing just use it to buff the car?

For the filter if it's foam then probably oiled. If the new Alta is foam as it looks then I'd be surprised if they just recommend washing it, all other foam ones I've seen are oiled.

 

It is a clay bar (many brands, I bought "Mother's"), usually it comes with a spray and a towel. Basically it smooths down the imperfections. I waxed after and it looked much nicer. It will add a gleam to your car.


And it is an other Alta, I cleaned and oiled it and it seems to be working fine.

 

Interesting, thanks. Guess I need to open my eyes a bit more in the detailing sections.

 

Don't spend to much time there or you will spend all your time finding the perfect polish and wax, lol