Hello, I am the proud owner of a new (to me) 2002 mini cooper s with a whopping 76,000 miles on it, previously owned by a mechanic, and before that an older gentleman who had 5 cars and didn't really drive it much. I ended up trading my 2006 Mazdaspeed6 w 88k miles, and the last owner put 2 grand on his end for the trade. So with that being said, anyone have any suggestions for starting mods with 2 grand in hand? I'd like to reach 200whp eventually, but the stock 160ish is enough pep for now in this relatively light car, could go with handling first as, I do like to go AutoX-ing.

 

Welcome to the forum.........let's see it!

 

Welcome to NAM! Congratulations on the purchase of your R53. Ours is an '02 as well.

Those are some seriously low miles! If it doesn't have one already, the best bang for your buck is a rear sway bar and pulley upgrade. Shoot me a PM if you'd like to chat about some good brands and products to go with. Otherwise, enjoy and if you ever need anything I'm here to help.

 

Welcome, always good to see another lower mileage in good condition car pop up.
These old R53 cars are tried and true with mods. So for power a pulley, intake and exhaust are the first things to do that will be the best bang for the buck and still keep you under the $2k budget. We have several options and packages on our website that will make you drool.

 

 

Looks good, I'm a fan of chili red, myself!

 

Nice Chili Red buy! But your license plate says it's orange.

 

Lol, I live in Orange County, in Florida. Floridians aren't the brightest of Americans, so we keep our county names on our plates, just incase we forget where we live and where we came from.

 

I have family in Apopka and super famous Lutz, Fla. You need to start a movement to change your county name to Chili Red County!!

 

Congrats, looks like you have the rare factory flame spokes from the MINI checkmate edition.

 

Congrats on your new to you Mini S. Enjoy that machine!