For those of you that pay VERY close attention, this is my 2nd post here. The first was almost 5 years ago.

TLDR of First post: Bought a mint 2005 MCS with 43k miles on it, had some issues along the way. The worst being a rusted through brake line and subsurface rust on the door. Loved the car, but sold it as soon as the rust reared its head to cut my losses. I've wanted another R53 ever since.

I've had a craigslist alert set up for the past few months for minis in my area. I've test drove a few but either had unmotivated sellers or cars that weren't worth the asking price. Budget is quite thin thanks to already having a toy car and needing to replace the wife's car in the near future. Cut to earlier this week. Mini listed for $1000; not much info aside from leaky sunroof and it "needs the electrical harness replaced". Sent an email within an hour of the listing but apparently it already had a deposit put down. Figured that was the end of it.... Until I got an email yesterday afternoon from the seller stating they couldn't get a hold of the gentleman who put the deposit down so I was welcome to come take a look at it. I set up a meeting immediately and checked it out after work.

To keep it somewhat brief, there was a half inch or so of water in the DS footwell, it rained about 3" the night before last (not exaggerating). Some rust in the usual places at the very bottom of the DS door and around the tails. Aside from that and the tape around the sunroof the body is in reasonably good shape. 107k on the motor which appears to run smooth, but thanks to the clutch being 98% gone, anything more than quarter throttle would cause the clutch to slip. Brakes were mild at best thanks to the car having sat for the past 18 months. Talked them down to $800 and drove it 40 miles home with no issues. Interior is in above average shape also, with the exception of the car being owned by smokers and mold on the otherwise mint backseats. Shouldn't be too much of an issue to remedy. Car comes with owners booklet, some mini brochures, a mini picnic blanket roll, and mini winter floormats, AND A PARCEL SHELF! Wooooo

Link to google album of the car on its first night home

I look forward to returning this car to its full potential and enjoying it to the fullest; daily driver and track car. I was too afraid to take my previous mini on the track, nothing to be afraid of on a three figure car. I plan on documenting the entire process for myself and whatever enjoyment others may receive from following my progress.

Step 1: Dry the floor and document the remainder of the car. This is in process. Also show everlasting appreciation for my eternally understanding wife. Four cars in a three car garage? She's a saint :-)

Step 2: Determine where the water is coming from and determine what else needs to be replaced along with the clutch. The previous owners were convinced it was the windshield that was leaking after they had it replaced. My money is on sunroof drain tubes.

Step 3: TBD. I purchased a 15% pulley and IE camber plates for my last mini and never installed them. I held onto the parts and hope that I would find another. Can't wait! Stay tuned! Thanks for reading!

Follow the build here

 

Welcome back.

 

Welcome back, I can't wait to see your progress!

 

Welcome back to the community! Hope our tech articles will come in handy during your project and if you ever need anything please don't hesitate to let me know!

 

Congrats Great to see a MINI being saved. Let us know if we can help as we have a have parted many R53s and even wiring harnesses.

 

I'm excited to see what happens with this.

 

Welcome back! We hope you contribute in the future!
Your car does not look like insurmountable problems. Are you planning on doing the clutch yourself?
I would bet the drains for the sunroof are plugged and maybe the seal on the front one is dried out and cracked.
Keep us posted in the gen 1 section.

 

What seal are you referring to?

I don't see anything here that makes me super nervous. It's just a matter of determining the nature of the problem and determining the fix. I plan on doing all the work myself. I wouldn't be able to afford any of my toys if I had to pay someone to do the work Plus, the work can be fun. Sometimes. I haven't got the car up on stands yet, but that's my next project for when I have 10 minutes. Need to get the wheels off and really understand the state of everything else. I'm basing all my projected repairs on just a 45 minute drive. I haven't actually SEEN much.

Thanks for posting, I've read a few of your recent acquisition threads during my quest for knowledge.

Edit: Didn't realize which thread this was. Check out my build thread in the Gen 1 forums!