Originally Posted by Grandpa

New to the Forum!

I would like to take just a moment to THANK each and every one of the individuals who have taken the time to post on this Forum! Through your insight and mistakes, I have been able to "Rescue" this little Mini Cooper from being sent to the 'Junk Yard'. I have taken the time to read many insightful posts which have guided me in my 'Rescue' operation and have saved me countless costs along the way. To that end, I would like to return the favor and tell you my story to date.

Well it seems that I have been dragged back into the 'World of Mini Coopers'.
Vehicle: 2006 Mini Cooper S (R53)
Trans: Automatic
Mileage: 71,356

Story Begins:
A friend of mine (Tom) asked me to help a friend (Dave) of his with some computer issues. Since I teach Computer Science at the Local College, I agreed to help. The issue was fixed in about 25 minutes. Needless to say, the subjects of cars came up. As it turned out Dave had a 2006 Mini Cooper S sitting in his garage that he was going to send to the 'Junk Yard' because he was just so pissed off at the car and he just wanted it gone. He bought the car new in 2006 and in just over 70,000 miles had "blown" the struts, gotten 3 flat tires (no spare), and the final straw was when the Crank Pulley separated and left him stranded on the side of the road. He took the car to the Dealer and was "Flabbergasted" at the quoted price of having the Crank Pulley and Struts replaced. Instead of fixing the car, he towed it home and put it in his "Barn" (a heated out-building where he stores his tractors, snowmobiles, and Combine). Turns out the car has been sitting there for about a year. I asked to see the car and to my surprise, it had NO RUST on the body! Beautiful Leather Interior with NO rips or tears. The engine cranked up right away, but I did not run it very long because of the broken serpentine belt. The Exhaust is LOUD, holes in both the resonator and the muffler and the CAT is leaking, Struts are definitely blown and it has been sitting for almost a year.

On a whim, and pretty much as a joke, I offered him a stupidly low price to buy the car. He ask why? I told him that long ago, when I was stationed in Europe, I had a little Morris Mini that I could not ship to Korea (my next duty station) and that I thought it would be fun to have a "Winter Project" this year to play with. To my utter amazement, and taken completely off guard, he held out his hand and said "Sold"! Needless to say, I suddenly owned a Mini Cooper once more and went home, got the trailer, loaded up the car and took it home. Thus began my research on this forum. I have now owned the car for just about 3 months.

Repairs/Maintenance/Up-keep To Date: (Done in my garage at home)
1) OEM Crank Pulley ($218.00 including shipping)
2) Serpentine Belt Tension Unit ($98.53)
3) Serpentine Belt ($12.36)
4) Struts on all 4 corners (KYB) (On Sale $436.18 all components)
5) Sway bar bushing front and rear ($43.88 Front - $43.88 Rear) ( (Used the PowerFlex) (Since I had the struts out, just seemed like preventative maintenance)
6) Oil and Oil Filter Change ($15.00 Oil Filter and O'Ring, $32.00 Oil) (Mobile 1, OEM Oil Filter and O'Ring)
7) New Coolant and Expansion Tank ($40.36 Tank, $21.13 Coolant)
8) New Fuel Filter ($53.76 OEM)
9) New Spark Plugs and Wires ($32.26 Wires and Plugs)
10) New Tires (BridgeStone DriveGuard Run-Flat Tires) (On Sale $526.78 Mounted, Balanced, Alignment)
11) Brake Pads ($73.89)


To Date I have put 5,000 miles on the car. I have to admit, it is a very FUN little car to drive and it does remind me of my old Morris Mini (except this one is Left Hand Drive). No oil leaks (yet), and the new struts (I put KYB's) and sway-bar bushings offer a rather smooth yet responsive ride considering that a Mini Cooper was never meant to be a luxury ride. The exhaust is LOUD! I expected that the exhaust would be loud considering the number of holes I found but I will be taking care of that that situation shortly.

FYI: For those interested; To date I have spent a total (Including purchase price) of right around $1800 in the car. (Told you I offered him a "Stupidly Low Price" for the car.)


Mini Cooper as of Yesterday


Items on the wish list:
1) Upper Hydraulic Motor Mount - After reading many posts, I have concluded that this one needs to be replaced. (Recommendations Welcomed)
2) New Exhaust - (Nebraska weather eats exhausts, cat leaking, rust holes in both the resonator and the muffler) (Looking at a complete Magnaflow Exhaust) (Recommendations Welcomed)
3) Strut Tower Plates (Pot-holes all over Nebraska) Thinking I will go with the ECS Strut Tower Kit based on the posts (Comments or Concerns?)
3) 15% Reduction Pulley (I may be Grandpa but I do like a little bit of power) (Recommendations Welcomed)
4) New Stereo Speakers (He must have been deaf, all the speakers are blown) (Recommendations Welcomed)

So there it is to-date. Again, what I thought was going to be a "Joke Offer" has turned out to be a new Joy in my life. Grandpa has a "Cute" little car that makes me smile on a daily basis. It will never be a "Track Car" or a "Racer", however; it is my hope to have a nice little Mini Cooper that is more responsive than a "Stock" vehicle but "Tame" enough for me to use as a daily driver.

I would also Like to add the following:
Never hesitate to throw out a "Stupidly Low Offer" on a car that you like as long as you have the cash to back up the offer. Remember the worst that can happen is that they say, No and laugh. The best that can happen is they say, Yes and shake your hand. Many people view today's automobiles as "Disposable Items" and have no concept of DIY repairs. For those who say, "But I don't know how to do the work myself." I recommend you research, and don't forget "YouTube"! There are so many "How-To" videos now a-days that literally walk you through the process step-by-step. There also seems to be many, many people on this forum that are more than willing to provide "Excellent Advice" and "Guidance" in repairs as well as upgrades specific to our Mini Cooper Community.

Last but not least, a personal Thank You for all that post. Each and every vehicle now-a-days has its own special "Quirks" and "Tricks" for fixing those "Quirks". By sharing your knowledge with others, you allow us all to become better mechanics and better at doing DIY maintenance and repairs to our vehicles. Again, Thank You!
Grandpa
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