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Greetings! New R53 owner from the (805) Central Cali Coast
1st GearNew members: make an initial post and introduce yourself as you shift from Neutral to First Gear. Current members: meet some of the new members.
Greetings! New R53 owner from the (805) Central Cali Coast
Hi All!
Picked up a 2005 R53 with just under 160K on it this summer for a sweet deal, and I'm hooked. I just needed a commuter pod with some pep, and boy did I find one. Love this little go kart. Here's what she looked like when I picked her up....
At about 163K the clutch went out, so I had to get a clutch job $$OUCH$$, but glad I did. She's like a whole new ride and the clutch doesn't sound like Chewbacca anymore. New water pump, new thermostat, ts housing while the car was apart.
A few weeks later and wifey got into a slight fender bender with a kids bike. Kid was ok, bike and passenger side headlight / front skirt was not ok. Headlight clear cover cracked, just enough so water got in and fried everything. After some research I found OEM xenon HID headlight replacement was $850???? Wow. Ordered some aftermarket Spyder headlights with xenon package for about $350 for both (Pro-Tuning Lab) Did some very labor intensive plasti-dipping of all the chrome trim, and my murdered out R53 beast is starting to come together. Here's what she looks like now...
Sweet looking lights! Brings a whole new more aggressive feel to the little R53. Nice job on the plasti-dip too. I'm debating on doing that with my R56s.
Sweet looking lights! Brings a whole new more aggressive feel to the little R53. Nice job on the plasti-dip too. I'm debating on doing that with my R56s.
Thanks! My wife wasn't thrilled about the plasti dipped trim, until I told her, & the cool thing about plasti dip is that you can just spend some time and peel it off, let the chrome underneath shine. I can fully restore the car to it's stock Ho-Hum glory in an afternoon. Make it look just like the first picture. (Minus the headlights of course)
Hi and welcome to nam,
The 05 and 06 S models are the most dependable engine years.
I have a 05 R53 and a 06 R53 JCW. The wheels on my 05 are the same as yours. Mine is very fast and handles to match.
I just purchased a 06 R53 JCW, which will now become my daily driver. Itsme Waynes 05 S
This is my 06 JCW
They both have Chrono package.
I hope you can attend the Mini Mania event on June 24th in Nevada City, Calif.
Last edited by ItsmeWayne; Jan 19, 2017 at 08:20 PM.
Yeah I love those wheels because I rarely ever see them on any other Mini's and they look kind of like the JCW wheels. That 06 JCW you just bought is super clean looking, very nice. What my mini wants to be some day. Yeah I'm not too far from that event in Nevada city, maybe I'll plan a trip with my wife.
What is the "chrono package"?
I had those webspokes on my R56, they are a two piece and have a nice clear coated polished lip. The clear can sometimes flake / chip if they get dinged, but people repaint them. I like the design.
[QUOTE=murdeR53;4273704]Yeah I love those wheels because I rarely ever see them on any other Mini's and they look kind of like the JCW wheels. That 06 JCW you just bought is super clean looking, very nice. What my mini wants to be some day. Yeah I'm not too far from that event in Nevada city, maybe I'll plan a trip with my wife.
What is the "chrono package"?[
Nice bunch of R53s, all of them pictured on this thread. Murdered, Blue and BRG.
Webspokes wheel in a dark-ish gray or titanium color on murdeR53 would be awesome. Just an idea.
yeah the Plasti-Dipped rims are kind of a quick and cheap option at this point. I want to paint them like a gun metal dark color, or a metallic gloss black to match the car. Flat black rims look a little cheap, there needs to be some contrast between rim and tire. even if it's just a pinstripe.
I had those webspokes on my R56, they are a two piece and have a nice clear coated polished lip. The clear can sometimes flake / chip if they get dinged, but people repaint them. I like the design.
Love that 2 piece design. Who would you go to to paint rims? Like a combination tire / body shop? Mines a daily driver, so I'd need it done with some haste.
Love that 2 piece design. Who would you go to to paint rims? Like a combination tire / body shop? Mines a daily driver, so I'd need it done with some haste.
Google "painting Mini Cooper Wheels" and you should get some good info. Probably could be done over a long weekend. Would take some organization, prep work, and a good primer to get the paint to stick and turn out looking like a pro did it.
You could also do the prep work, and then have a body shop spray them. Would have to coordinate with them to find out what kind of prep and primer would be best to use with their paint. Or just have a paint shop do the whole thing.
I may try painting my rims later this Spring or early Summer when we warm up enough to do that kind of thing. My wheels came with some minor curb rash in small spots along the outer edges of a couple of them. Paint would clean that up.
Yeah I'm not too far from that event in Nevada city, maybe I'll plan a trip with my wife. 
