New member, 04 R50
New member, 04 R50
Hello everyone,
I bought my Chili Red R50 back in February with 109k on the odometer. Since then I've realized that the previous owner flogged her pretty hard. It appears they thought they were a tuner and butchered some of the parts, broke some things and lost a few others. It came with an improperly installed cold air intake that was chopped up to fit (poorly might I add) but it does add some roar to the engine. The strut mounts a were bad, it has an engine code for the fuel pump, and it's cost me about $250-300 so far to replace broken or missing trim and body panels. I've had to replace the stereo and speakers because they hacked into the factory harness to put in an aftermarket stereo. I've also stripped the crappy rattle can flat black paint off the grille and replaced the other 3 sections that were broken or missing, resurfaced the headlights, replaced all the tail lights, and swapped the factory 15's out for some 17" Motegi wheels. I'm definitely happy I picked her over what I had originally planned to get.
I also want to thank everyone for all the times I've found help for problems I've had on these forums, you guys are a treasure trove of knowledge and these first gens seem to have their fair share of quirks.
I'll be slowly fixing some of the remaining problems and I look forward to sharing with everyone when I get around to working on them!
I bought my Chili Red R50 back in February with 109k on the odometer. Since then I've realized that the previous owner flogged her pretty hard. It appears they thought they were a tuner and butchered some of the parts, broke some things and lost a few others. It came with an improperly installed cold air intake that was chopped up to fit (poorly might I add) but it does add some roar to the engine. The strut mounts a were bad, it has an engine code for the fuel pump, and it's cost me about $250-300 so far to replace broken or missing trim and body panels. I've had to replace the stereo and speakers because they hacked into the factory harness to put in an aftermarket stereo. I've also stripped the crappy rattle can flat black paint off the grille and replaced the other 3 sections that were broken or missing, resurfaced the headlights, replaced all the tail lights, and swapped the factory 15's out for some 17" Motegi wheels. I'm definitely happy I picked her over what I had originally planned to get.
I also want to thank everyone for all the times I've found help for problems I've had on these forums, you guys are a treasure trove of knowledge and these first gens seem to have their fair share of quirks.
I'll be slowly fixing some of the remaining problems and I look forward to sharing with everyone when I get around to working on them!
Neutral
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 6
Likes: 2
From: South Florida
Welcome Wolf!
Glad you posted what you are doing. You seem like you know a thing or two, so I'll be following you along with the wealth of information found on this site.
I also have an 04 - R50 (in white) with some of the same issues but perhaps not as ill sounding. I'll be trying to do my own fixings. My first task will be: Engine mounts and suspension
... the car shakes like a maracas. Got myself some new B4 bilstein shocks and working on getting the engine mounts. Never done something this big, but I found a garage-for-rent nearby with lifts and all the right tools and is affordable. Wishing you luck on bringing your red mini back.
Glad you posted what you are doing. You seem like you know a thing or two, so I'll be following you along with the wealth of information found on this site.
I also have an 04 - R50 (in white) with some of the same issues but perhaps not as ill sounding. I'll be trying to do my own fixings. My first task will be: Engine mounts and suspension
... the car shakes like a maracas. Got myself some new B4 bilstein shocks and working on getting the engine mounts. Never done something this big, but I found a garage-for-rent nearby with lifts and all the right tools and is affordable. Wishing you luck on bringing your red mini back.
This was taken mid-summer. I had just re-plumbed and changed the air filter so it would fit better in the engine bay. Since then I've replaced the upper and lower grilles and put in a new battery box cover.
Monday she got new stereo wiring and a set of Pioneer speakers. I had changed out the crappy head unit that was in there for a Pioneer over the summer, but I haven't been able to integrate the steering wheel controls yet. My horn quit working last week and I'm afraid it's the clockspring, which I think might be causing the sync problem with the unit I bought to get those controls working again. I still have a fuel pressure issue I have to figure out, and some rattles from the suspension to work on. Other than that, the intake gives it a nice throaty tone when I jump on the throttle, and she hangs the curves pretty well. Sometimes I wish it rode a little smoother, the roads in my town are terrible.
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