Hi all, just joined today.

My wife will be in the market for a new runabout in the spring, and she's decided on an R53 Mini S. I'm a big fan of little British cars, have thinned my fleet in the last couple of years but I've loved these Minis since they first came out, and never owned one, so I'm thrilled shes making the switch from turbo Subarus.

We're hoping to find a 2006 S, stick, as clean as we can find and willing to travel for the right car. We're planning on really starting to search after the winter, as snow and salted roads are coming fast in the Northeast and this car will be a "three season" car, garaged all winter. It's garage mates will be my Caterham 7 and a 1969 Hillman Imp that imported and I've been tinkering with for years.

In the meantime I'll be browsing this site and getting excited about the new toy.. hopefully she lets me drive it sometimes.

-Jim

 

Welcome! It will have great roommates!

 

Thank you! I've found that the smaller the cars are, the more of them I can fit in the garage.

 

Hi and welcome to NAM, JVL!
The 05/06 R53's are the choice years for a gen 1 (not that earlier ones are bad) They have many improvements, with the 06 R53 (last year) unless you want a convertible, which goes to 08 in R52 configuration.
The gen 1 area here is a good place to find about everything R53.
You new 06 Mini, will be happy with it your other machines!

 

The 06 MINI S is a great car if you are looking for a fun to drive fairly reliable go cart of a car to drive. Also consider the 06 to 08 convertible if she wants the ultimate open experience.

Enjoy the shopping.

 

Well that escalated quickly.
We picked this up over the weekend. It's a 2006 S 6MT with 68k miles. I was able to run the VIN thanks to a great link on this forum, and the car has lovely optional wheels, and a sport + suspension package(?)
Best of all it fits in the garage nicely, and my wife is thrilled.

Weather has been mild here in MA so it's on the road, but I'd like to get caught up with some preventative maintenance over the next couple of months. I know I can get OEM filters and fluids at the dealership, but does the MINI community have a recommendation for an indie Mini parts specialist/supplier?

One last thing - a service manual. Does BMW/Mini offer one in print or online, does anyone use a Haynes or Chilton type of book with any success? I always like to have some literature on hand.

Thanks all
Jim

 

Nice and clean. Get a R50-R53 Bentley Manual (its a book) and we have it, very DIY and pictures. And you can also try this which is more dealer level https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/

 

Thank you, ECS. I'll be ordering a Bentley from your site. (Which is dangerously fun to browse by the way!)

 

Wow congrats and welcome! Get a group shot of your cars for us sometime. ;]

 

Congrats that is a great looking R53, my last two were both Dark Silver like that.

Hope we can help you with any parts you may need as we offer everything for the early cars.