Hey guys I have been reading on here for some time now. I am the shop foreman at MINI of Ft. Myers and I just got my 1st MINI. Its a 2004 electric blue R53 6 speed. She needs a little love, maybe a new engine but I have a long past with this car. About 5 years ago before we opened up MINI I worked with BMW of Ft. Myers. I performed a safety inspection on this very car, in fact I loved it, and it was the very first MINI I have ever driven. Now 5 years later I find her with a possibly damaged engine. Still havent fully diagnosed my issue yet but shes making some loud noises. Regardless its got a ton of nice mods and is in pretty good shape!! Worse case scenario i need a new engine which I would just rebuild myself. I picked her up for only $1500!! Either way I have a connection with this car, and I feel its my obligation to bring her back from the dead. Fitting to bring back from the dead I named her "Christine". So thats my story. i am sure everyone will see me on here quite often now. If anyone has any questions about their MINI, please feel free to ask. Always willing to help a fellow MOTORer!!!

 

Welcome! Make sure you post some pictures of your MINI.


For that price, a rebuilt engine wouldn't be a bad investment at all. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Sounds like you are in the right business for this challenge. Good luck and post pics of the progress.

 

Hurray! Another Electric Blue R53! Haha, I'd love to see a MINI version of Christine.

 

Thanks guys. i will be posting pics along the way. At the moment I am think of rebuilding the engine, going with a .020 over bore. Its going to be cheaper than a new engine and I will sqeeze a few extra ponies out in the end.