Just wanted to pop in here, I'll likely just lurk for the most part but have found NAM to be an EXCELLENT resource for a MINI owner.

I picked up a very well cared for, low mileage (just under 50K miles), 2003 R53 earlier this week. Pure Silver, 6-Speed, 15% (I think) Alta pulley and CAI. The car is absolutely awesome. It came with a huge pile of maintenance records and some fresh Michelin Pilots.

I need to replace the coolant expansion tank, track down some suspension clunks in the rear, and fix a rew rattles but overall the car is like new.

Not many mods planned, will probably pick up a DT BPV eventually to help with the slight YoYo effect it has, but other than that I plan on just keeping it in tip top shape.



Glad to be here!

 

Nice ride, enjoy it!

 

Nice clean ride! Suspension clunks I would def go after but you may need to learn to live with the rattles, especially with the sunroof! Enjoy!

 

Yeah, I figure most of the rattles will stick around but a few I suspect are caused by broken or loose clips. Even if I can't fix any of them I can deal with it, I expected some rattles from this generation of MINI.

 

Nice lookin car! Mine too had a bunch of mx records and was one owner. Feel free to post as many pictures as you'd like

 

I hear ya, mine is a gen 2 and it has a few rattles as well. I believe that's to be expected. Enjoy your new ride, it looks nice!

 

Nice! The silver is a great color. You did well to get a R53 with less than 50 thousand miles. Enjoy the ride!

 

Tell me about it, I'm chuffed to bits. To be honest the MINI wasn't even on my list of cars when looking. Not that it isn't awesome, I LOVE the little scamps, they just weren't in my price range unless they'd been rode hard and put away wet.

I was on the hunt for a high mileage MkV GTI or well-kept MkIV, but the stars aligned and this little gem popped up on Craigslist and I jumped on it.

As James May would say, I am "fizzing fit to burst". The words to describe how excited I am haven't been invented yet!

/gushing