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1st GearNew members: make an initial post and introduce yourself as you shift from Neutral to First Gear. Current members: meet some of the new members.
Been meaning to post here for a couple of months, new to me 06 R53 JCW in BRG with 55k miles.
It was an adventure getting her here during a good 24 inch snow dump this spring, trailer didn't want to come into the neighborhood in fear of getting stuck, as if this would fair any better than his rig... after shoveling half a mile of our street with my neighbors we finally got her in the driveway.
All cleaned up:
The AC didn't work, turns out the compressor was disconnected, and the low-speed fan resistor was shot, so had a little fun getting acquainted with all of that.
Also the dealer I bought from had apparently replaced the outer ball joints with some non-OEM version that didn't include the pre applied loctite (might be important?) one bolt fell out and the other was about ready to, both on the passenger side, ball joint cocked oddly in the seat. Lucky there, got both sides replaced loctite in place just in case.
Found an old NAM post on the car, looked like someone had upgraded the brakes before with (outlaw brakes I think this was TSW?), and subsequently someone has downgraded it to the poor man's JCWs. The calipers are a bit loose and rock on the carriers / make noise when I go over rough roads, I think the slide pins are probably missing the rubber bushing piece. Seems like they don't sell just that rubber piece and you have to buy the whole carrier. So, I bought some original R53 JCW brakes that I am debating repainting yellow or selling and swapping in some wilwoods instead. Opinions?
The maybe brakes:
Look forward to working some more on it and absorbing some of the knowledge on here!