I'm 18 and have been a Mini enthusiast for many years. Just recently, my friend that got me hooked offered me a great price on his '04 R53, knowing well that I wanted it badly and would take care of it. I took him up on it, and I'll have her within the month, just after I graduate. This car has been to the dealership for EVERY maintenance date it's ever had.

Matti
'04 BRG MCS
Sport, Premium, Cold Weather
Sport Suspension
White bonnet & boot stripes
115,000 miles
$6,500

I'm gonna guess that at that price, he WANTED me to have this car.

 

That sounds like quite a deal! Normal retail for that car would be around $9300. Go for it!

 

I'm taking it to get inspected tomorrow. I've got an Altima with an automatic right now and am looking forward to driving a 6 speed.

 

Welcome to NAM and congrats on your soon to be MINI. Great deal by the way.

 

That is a great deal, keep an eye on things though at that mileage, my car is at about the same and I've been replacing a lot.

 

Like what? Big things?

 

It depends on the car. I modded it a fair amount but am also pretty **** renentive about maintence so I like doing things before they fail.

My supercharger was going out last year, for the work that was done that was a $1,800 job. Unfortunately for me the rebuilt supercharger tht was installed was from a sketchy place called supercharger technologies, so needless to say it failed and I'm in the process of replacing it a year later.

General maintence isn't too bad though, but parts aren't cheap. Changing the brakes, filters, etc. add up. The MINI comes with BMW costs, not Mini costs on parts :-)

I'm in college so I understand the limited income, so just be smart about the car.

 

Whooo. I hope I have good luck with this car. I just took it to get inspected today and they said it looks great. All they found was that the serpentine belt was a little worse for wear and that somehow both break lights are out. Not sure if its the bulbs or a relay. He said the 3rd light works but not the main lights.

 

MINIs can be costly to fix, but good maintenance usually leads to less problems. The main thing to watch out for would be the supercharger. They usually need to be either rebuilt or replaced before 120k miles. I have heard of folks replacing the oil in the supercharger to keep it going, but I am no expert there. Haha. Check through the forums and check the things others have talked about.

Other than that, enjoy the heck out of it!

 

Matti has 115,000...

 

Just listen for rattling (worn out bearings) and power losses under boost (slipping belt on pulley). Other than that, you should be fine. Of course, all the R53 S owners slap on a smaller (15% reduction) pulley to get big power gains, which can lead to quicker wear on the supercharger. If yours in bone stock than you should be in good shape.

 

It does have the 15% pulley. I'll keep my ears open.

 

Just got to drive it for a bit. Sounds brilliant. The owner said that he had been having trouble with the brake lights for a long time and had never been able to keep them working for long periods of time. He found this: http://www.bmw-planet.com/lib/mini/B...L%20MODULE.pdf and said that he had had problems with other things that it controls in the passed. Evidently it is susceptible to moisture, and he had just washed the car the day before. Looks like that's the culprit.

 

It's the BC1. When I get the car, I'm going to investigate around the sunroof drain tube and see if I can see any water run down the a pillar on a soggy day.

 

Post some pics of the car when you get it.

 

Sorry the last one is kinda blurry.

 

Looks great, congratulations on the new MINI.

 

The current owner took the BC1 out today and said it was dry, and that the brake lights hadn't worked today. I really hope this is a quick fix and just a matter of keeping the think dry. I don't want to spend $800 to $1,000 just to replace it right out of the gate.

 

Dry does not mean it's not faulty. So I wouldn't rule it out. http://soopercooperinfo.com/lindaminiinfo.html

There is a link for some shops that service MINIs, make sure you bring it to a place you trust. It could simply be a fuse, loose wire, etc.

I would also use that issue in the price of the car...they are selling you a car with something that is wrong. Either they need to fix it before they sell it or they should bring down the price. Especially since they know there is something wrong at the time of sale.

I would suggest replacing the serpentine belt, especially with the pulley, that brings the life of the belt to around, 25K miles. The job isn't hard to do yourself but it requires a special tool, I'll PM you.

 

The break lights are now permanently dead, and were sure its the BC1. Is there a chip or something I can replace in the module or do I need to replace it and get it programmed?

 

Sorry for the delay, but the BCM has been replaced, and I finally have my Mini! Here are a few pics of what I've done since May 10 when I got her. The spark plug is obviously an old one. Forgot to get a pic of the new ones, but you guys know what they look like.

 

THE most important thing a young guy can do to his new car - big thumping stereo!

Hope to see you again at our next shop day!

 

I just discovered that there are two bulbs in the front bumper turn signal housing. There's the orange turn signal bulb, and then a smaller, clear one to the outside. What's it do? I've never seen it come on.