Hello all,

New to the forum from Washington state. Purchased a 2010 Mini Cooper R56 for around $4k but found out that it needed $5 - 6k of work. Decided to jump in and do it myself to save $.

So far I have:

• Replaced the oil pan seal (2x)
• Vacuum pump
• All the struts and shocks
• Valve cover
• Fuel filter
• Brakes and rotors

And most recently:

• Rear main seal, fly wheel, clutch and related components

It has mostly been fun and satisfying, but is often frustrating. I will be here looking for advice as I move forward.

Looking forward to meeting people and sharing ideas and experience.

CaddyDad

 

Welcome, you can find a bunch of DIYs under the models in the forums here.

You can save a ton doing it yourself.

 

Welcome !

 

Welcome CaddyDad! Here’s a few things I learned that may help;

The Bentley service manual is the best available in my experience. It’s not cheap, until you compare it to the cost of taking your car to a shop!

Looking for a part and want to be sure you get the right one, the first time?

Check out RealOEM.com for exploded diagrams with OE part numbers. You can drop that number into the search field of one of our vendor’s websites, and there’s the part you’re looking to buy. (A little too convenient, maybe)

If one vendor doesn’t have it, more than likely one of the others will. Right down to the correct fasteners for putting things back together, after you’ve repaired the damage some idiot hack mechanic... oh, that’s a rant for another time.

Mini Coopers are real picky as far as battery voltage and charging voltage. 14.5Vdc charging voltage is what you want to see. And the battery voltage with the car off shouldn’t dip below 12V. Mini’s will have all sorts of weird electrical problems if this voltage drops off - I’d start getting concerned if it was below 14V with the car idling and voltage checked across the battery. Plenty of threads on this topic.

There are “secret screens” that can be viewed when you have to troubleshoot. Here’s an example;
Which A/C control do you have? There’s the manual control with 3 *****, or the automatic control with a whole bunch of buttons. If you have the automatic control, you may want to see this;


These are for Gen1 cars like mine, but other videos are out there for Gen2 cars, etc.

See you around the forums!

 

Thank you. This is spectacularly helpful for making sure I have the right parts. Best diagrams I have seen yet. Thank you for the other recommendations.