So i thought after years of lurking about that i would join the forum. i have had my 2005 r53 for about 3 years now and am really on the fence about trading it in due to the repair costs. thinking about an r56.

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Hi and welcome to NAM!
I don't want to sway you, but the first gens are pure! They need to be maintained as any good car needs.

 

Welcome

I would suggest driving the R56 first. Some love and Some hate so give it a try to see how you feel before jumping in as we have many customers that refuse to ever get rid of their R53

 

Welcome to NAM.

Assume you are familiar with the N14 vs N18 engine?

 

Welcome ...

We refuse to get rid of our R53s... we collect 'em.

Motor On!

 

I wouldn't buy anything except an R53/R50. The R56 isn't exactly know for it's reliability with the N14 engine...

 

 

I always look at my old junkers this way. If I have to spent some money every year to keep my old truck/car on the road it is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than a payment on a new one plus the insurance costs of new vehicles. Eventually they will all die, but I'm not ditching a vehicle that quickly.

You can find a used supercharger or put a sprintex on it. Or turbo swap it.

 

R53 models tend to have lower repair costs in general as they don't suffer from the same common issues such as the thermostat, turbo oil line failure, crud build up on the valves and a few other issues that are common with the R56 models. I don't hear about as many SUPER common issues with the R53 models as aside from the Control Arm bushings (which affects all MINI gen1 + gen2 models).

But, you may find owning a newer car with different features, newer design and other updates may be a good match for you.