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I managed to get my '03 MCS registered yesterday. It's good to drive legally! Then yesterday evening I took it for a vehicle safety inspection. I learned that the tires were installed backwards. It didn't even occur to me to check for direction of rotation. The selling dealer said that the tires were "brand new". And I didn't look. Great, something else to add to my list. It's funny how you think you've gotten a steal, only to learn that there's a lot to be done to an inexpensive car to get it back up to a decent standard.
Also, the inspector found that the brakes were "nearly gone". Now, I didn't see the condition of the brakes myself as I had my 2 1/2 yo son with me and couldn't get underneath the car while it was on the lift, but, if this was not just a sales ploy, what would you all recommend for a full brake service replacement front and rear? I'm leaning towards slotted and drilled as I've always wanted a set.
Yea, someone who installed them and remounted or maybe that dealer did not even see they were directional.
On the brakes , you could go with our ECS geomet rotor ( corrosion resistant and will not rust like the OEM brake rotors when you go down the road) slotted package, has all the install hardware and the brake pads sensors. Comes with Hawk pads for good bite. I had them on my R56 and did some track days, held up well. Great for dd and some track days. Get your production number from the door jam, in 3/2003+ MINI added the brake pad sensor warning system, before that they did not have them. Also the Performance ones are free ship in the kit. Some other options are linked if you like. You most likely don't have John Cooper Works brakes. ( those will have the front calipers Red, and the front rotor size is 294mmx22. ) Let me know if you need anything else.
Yea, someone who installed them and remounted or maybe that dealer did not even see they were directional.
On the brakes , you could go with our ECS geomet rotor ( corrosion resistant and will not rust like the OEM brake rotors when you go down the road) slotted package, has all the install hardware and the brake pads sensors. Comes with Hawk pads for good bite. I had them on my R56 and did some track days, held up well. Great for dd and some track days. Get your production number from the door jam, in 3/2003+ MINI added the brake pad sensor warning system, before that they did not have them. Also the Performance ones are free ship in the kit. Some other options are linked if you like. You most likely don't have John Cooper Works brakes. ( those will have the front calipers Red, and the front rotor size is 294mmx22. ) Let me know if you need anything else.
Yes ECS Tuning,
I'd always trusted your parts supply when I had my Mk3 GTIs and just put in an order that is shipping now for the maintenance: oil change, filters, wipers, etc.
I've always wanted a set of slotted and cross drilled rotors and am looking at the kit on ECS Tuning. I work on a bridge project that uses Geomet coating on the high strength bolts, I like the product and it stands up well.
My B pillar sticker says it was manufactured 10/02, so the kit that is suited for up to 03/03 should work well (?). Good to know that I don't have those silly brake pad wear sensors!! It's almost like having those little sensors on the car to tell the driver that there is someone next to them in the blind spots... Isn't that what the side view mirrors are for?!
Are there any promotional codes to help reduce the cost of this kit? Have to ask...
No, not a reason to fail safety inspection, in fact I have a nice squeaky clean inspection sticker on my windshield, good for a year.
The tires are directional, with the arrows going the wrong direction. Could account for the vibration at highway speeds, and may contribute to poor fuel mileage (not my right foot), uneven wear and possible cupping over time. Luckily I think only about a 1000 miles have been done on the new tires, 500 being from me since last Friday. An easy fix, just mildly time consuming, but a chance to inspect the condition of the wheels and brakes.
Thanks for the input.
Yes ECS Tuning,
I'd always trusted your parts supply when I had my Mk3 GTIs and just put in an order that is shipping now for the maintenance: oil change, filters, wipers, etc.
I've always wanted a set of slotted and cross drilled rotors and am looking at the kit on ECS Tuning. I work on a bridge project that uses Geomet coating on the high strength bolts, I like the product and it stands up well.
My B pillar sticker says it was manufactured 10/02, so the kit that is suited for up to 03/03 should work well (?). Good to know that I don't have those silly brake pad wear sensors!! It's almost like having those little sensors on the car to tell the driver that there is someone next to them in the blind spots... Isn't that what the side view mirrors are for?!
Are there any promotional codes to help reduce the cost of this kit? Have to ask...
Thanks
Thanks for the order, glad you came back to us for your MINI parts. Yea the cross drilled / slotted are listed in that link. Yea, early MINI dont have those brake pad sensors, so the early kit is what you need. No discounts on those free shipping performance kits at this time. You can always hit the clearance and sale button once you select your vehicle to see what we have ( top right corner of the site , near the search box). We don't do coupon codes at this time.
I have the geomets and they held up well to the ohio crazy salt. Also you dont see that ugly rust on the hat, or have that sticking issue, especially if you run ECS wheel spacers.
On those early years they did not have sensors , then in pretty much 2003 up all MINI have them, one in the front left one in the rear right. and on the BMW MINI side the sensor are not embedded in the pad so they can be ran alone or replaced.
We also have some awesome brake overhaul kits HERE that you should take a look at. We also have a great DIY that can help you tackle the job yourself. It's on our site just under the "tech info" tab at the top. It's quite interesting that the dealer didn't realize they put the tires on the wrong direction. I have 2 different sets of directional tires and swapping them on and off, I always have to make sure I'm putting the tires on the correct side. It's a pain sometimes.
Slotted and drilled rotors are an absolute waste of money in a street car. All they do is help with pad outgassing, which only occurs under repeated hard braking. They do not help cool anything as so many people will try to tell you. Save your money and just get a good set of OE from WMW, ECS or Zimmerman etc.
I use a combination of Centric rotors and Akebono pads on all 4 corners of my MINI. Very happy with how they perform on what is my daily driver (112 mile round trip to work every day).
Slotted and drilled rotors are an absolute waste of money in a street car. All they do is help with pad outgassing, which only occurs under repeated hard braking. They do not help cool anything as so many people will try to tell you. Save your money and just get a good set of OE from WMW, ECS or Zimmerman etc.
Thanks for the heads up, hadn't realized that and probably don't need to waste money on unnecessary things that are just too cool for school.
Thanks for the heads up, hadn't realized that and probably don't need to waste money on unnecessary things that are just too cool for school.
I should append my statements and mention that slotted/drilled rotors are generally not any worse than normal rotors either. Some people have had issues with cross drilled rotors cracking, so I would shy away from those unless it's going to be a dedicated track car. If you find a set of slotted rotors you like the look of (those ECS Geomet ones look mighty fine) and don't mind spending some extra cash, then go for it. Just don't expect a performance benefit. You also can't machine slotted/drilled rotors, but that's a dying practice anyway.
So, yesterday while at work I "rotated" my backwards mounted tires. Not an easy task in a parking lot with only the tool kit jack and a borrowed VW scissor jack. There's far too much movement in the mini tool kit jack to allow for both wheels to be removed at the same time. I ended having to scrounge around for a couple of 4x4 scraps (lucky I work on a construction site).
Removing the wheel bolts proved to be rather difficult, requiring my jumping on the lug wrench to break the bolts loose. They were obviously torqued down using an air gun at the shop that put them on backwards in the first place.
Here's my gripe and warning: If you (or your loved ones) use ANY tire shop for tire replacement/rotation/repair, INSIST that they tighten the wheel bolts in the same way that you would while on the side of the road changing a fat tire (even though we don't have a spare). I can't imagine my wife or mother, or father for that matter, jumping up and down on the lug wrench to break loose air gun torqued wheel bolts. On a previous car (VW Mk3 GTI) I had tires put on at a shop. They gunned the bolts, including the security bolts on all four wheels. A month later I had to do a brake job and could not remove the security bolts, shearing my key in the process. I took the car to a VW dealership and they sheared their key too!! They ended up drilling out all four security bolts and replacing them, just to get the damn wheels off! I took the bill to the original shop and they paid it. But, if I didn't have the ability to take the car to a shop, like replacing a flat tire on the side of the road in the snow, I'd have had to tow the car.
Just a word of warning.
In all the work I've ever done on my own cars I've NEVER had a wheel bolt or lug nut loosen from torquing with a tool kit lug wrench. NEVER.
If you allow a shop to gun on the bolts, try to at least loosen each bolt before you leave their parking lot, may save you some future headaches.
Anyway, with the tires all rotating in the designed direction the nasty highway speed vibration has gone away! Who would've thunk it!!
Yea, tire places like to hit the lug bolts with impacts at 150 psi all the time. I always take my breaker bar and 17mm and loosen then right after they install them, then tighten them back up to spec with the torque wrench in a pattern. If you have a flat how in the heck can you get them off with the tool kit bar ? I seen people jump on those thing to get the lug bolts off , yikes.
I received in the mail my first of two packages from ECS Tuning on Friday evening. A decent tune up kit: Air filter, oil filter and oil, cabin air filter, front and rear windshield wipers, power steering reservoir cap "O" ring, fuel filter and what I thought was the factory service manual but turned out to be the diagnostic manual from Bentley Publishers.
I got right to work, doing the easy thing first: the air filter. What a pain getting the lid open.
Then onto the cabin filter: another pain, figuring out how the cover came off, then getting the new activated carbon filter snaked into the box.
I tried the front wipers but it turned out that I mistakenly bought the ones for the later style wiper arms... no go. So it was onto the rear, no problem.
Then, as logic would dictate, I did the oil change. Had to use a breaker bar on both the drain plug and the filter housing. Luckily I already had the 36 mm socket that I'd had from a VW Mk3 GTI. Why do shops feel the need to apply so much damn torque to these components?!!?
So with that all done I decided to jump into the fuel filter. I followed the tutorial here and all went like a breeze. What a nasty old filter that came out of there. I guess 166k miles will allow for the accumulation of a lot of crud.
All in all, no real issues, aside from fasteners that were far too tight. A job well done. One step closer to making this car mine, and the selling dealer claimed that everything was recently serviced... HA!!
Then, Saturday evening I received my second shipment from ECS Tuning in the mail. Rotors, Pads, Rotor Screws and Lug Bolts.
I went to work on the brakes on Sunday afternoon, starting with the drivers side rear. The first side you do on a new to you car is always the most difficult, figuring out the tools you need, how things come apart and go back together. Luckily nowadays the braking systems on anything of German descent is about the same. So my experience with my GTIs and my wife's Volvo had me pretty well prepared.
Removal of the caliper was straight forward. Removal of the rotor was anything but. The retaining screw was seized. It appeared that the rotors were the original to the car, 166k miles, driven in the NE. Corrosion galore! I had to drill out the bolts on both rears. After that it was easy as always. Retracting the piston into the bore would have been made simpler using the right tools. I've never used the right tool for this. I use a large "G" clamp to apply pressure to the piston then use a pair of channel locks to "screw" the piston back in... Works a treat!
While working on the rear passenger side I realized that the bearings were shot in the hub. So, at least that side will have to come apart again.
The question is, should I replace both rears or just the passenger side that is shot? I'm leaning towards just replacing the one that is shot due to the expense. Apparently it's a sealed unit, no more just changing the bearings, races and packing with grease!
The fronts dis-assembly went much like the rears, including the seized rotor screws. I attempted to drill the first one out (passenger side) but the drill bit I was using broke off in the pilot hole. Done. There's no drilling through a hardened nub of drill bit with another drill bit. So out came the 4" grinder with a grinding disc. After a couple minutes of grinding there was no more bolt head to hold the rotor on, and a big excavation in the hat of the rotor!
I dispensed with the drilling on the drivers side and just went with the grinding, made things come apart and go together much faster. The only issue is that I did not extract the stubs. Not an issue for everyday running of the car as the lug bolts hold both the wheel and the rotor on. Only problem will come when removing the wheels in the future as the rotor will wobble free. I will deal with all that another time.
So, everything went back together with no spare parts except that which went in the garbage can. A test drive yielded excellent results. Trying to run through the break in procedure just irritates drivers following you!!
Another fun brake job "done" with a savings of about $500!!
Thanks for the multiple orders. The main Bentley book is the Yellow one and the supplemental trouble guide is the gray one.
" Why do shops feel the need to apply so much damn torque to these components?!!? " Yea I have seen this on many times. At least it will be torqued right this time.
If you have the schwaben 36mm it's the same low profile for MINI.
" While working on the rear passenger side I realized that the bearings were shot in the hub. So, at least that side will have to come apart again.
The question is, should I replace both rears or just the passenger side that is shot? "
Do both at the same time. I did one only to have the other side go a week later, with the usual ruble noise. Hit the four bolts and the bolts exposed thread behind the hit and let set , the bolts can be pretty seized in there.
" I dispensed with the drilling on the drivers side and just went with the grinding, "
You can hot them with PB blaster and sometime tap them out, when i installed new ones applied anti-seize to the whole thread and neck. Never an issue again.
Swapping my rear trailing arms for the alloy ones, and I figured that I might replace both rear hubs (bearings) also, as preventive maintenance....
I'll likely go with the same wheel hub part number for my Sep 2002 build (33416756830), instead of the current one (33416786552)...
Since you have likely seen both can you comment on the differences? The newer one receives the M14 wheel bolts / lugs, while the older one is M12. Just curious if that is the only difference as realoem.com reflects that the newer one .2 Kg lighter, which seems to indicate other differences...
Going to do the R56 trailing arm swap also. Are new bolts needed when switching the hubs, or can you use the old bolts from the R53 hubs/arms? Just wondering if they're considered one time use.
Going to do the R56 trailing arm swap also. Are new bolts needed when switching the hubs, or can you use the old bolts from the R53 hubs/arms? Just wondering if they're considered one time use.
Doing GP arms, although very similar, a little different. If you haven't found it already, check these out:
02-04-2016, 04:48 AM
It's a pain sometimes.
The main Bentley book is the Yellow one and the supplemental trouble guide is the gray one. 
