I chose the handle “Samwise” because that is the name my wife gave her Mini shortly after buying it new in 2004. She thought it was appropriate because the “Lord of The Ring’s” character “Samwise Gamgee” proved himself to be a very stalwart, loyal and dependable Hobbit. As the maintenance contract on Samwise is no longer in force and the cost of Dealer Service is so high I get nosebleed thinking about it, I’m now tasked with servicing her car as I do with all of my own cars (old school stuff, pre Black Box Technology). In keeping with the Lord of The Ring’s characters, that would make me Aragorn Strider, the protector. All funny business aside, I’m not new to automobile maintenance but I am new to modern Mini’s and Black Box Technology. I have yet to acquire a shop manual for Samwise but needed to get started on serious maintenance issues. I started surfing the web for information and stumbled into North American Motoring. I followed the procedure outlined in the forum for changing Samwise oil and filter and was so impressed that I decided to join the forum. I’m just about to start on the 60,000-mile service and I’m contemplating the purchase of a Shop Manual CD from Bentley, is that the one to have? Hopefully I won’t have to run a gauntlet of Orks and climb MT. Doom to acquire a proper manual. I look forward to many exchanges in this forum. Sincerely,Strider, Protector of “Samwise”

 

Here is 2 options, I think you already know of 1 of them, but this has the ISBN #'s so you could check at a book store they should be able to order it for you.

1. ^ Martynn Randall. (2005). MINI Owners Workshop Manual July 2001 to 2005 (Y to 05 reg) Petrol. Sparkford: Haynes. ISBN 1 84425 273 6.
2. ^ MINI Cooper Service Manual: MINI Cooper, MINI Cooper S, 2002, 2003, 2004. Cambridge, MA: BentleyPublishers.com. 2004. ISBN 0-8376-1068-0.

 

The ISBN #'s are not links they are just for reference.

 

Gepperso, Thank you very much for the info. Looks like I won't have to trek through Mordor and climb Mt. Doom after all; great news.

 

Yes you should be ready for all repairrs once you have your manuals in hand, good luck with the wrench twisting.

 

Here is another link to a page that has ALOT of links for the maintenance of MINI's.
Hope this helps check them all out, there really informative.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/coupe-talk-2002-2006/182969-your-ultimate-r53-newbie-diy-and-performance-guide.html