I've always been a bmw guy and I have had 4 different e46's, a few e36's, and I currently own 2 e30's. I found this little guy for sale though and I couldn't pass it up. I heard mini's were great so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

2002 cooper s, 79k miles, sport package, leather interior, manual 6 speed

Electric blue, white stripes, white mirrors, white roof



I was reading through the forums and from what I understand he maintenance items are similar to my BMW's. The only thing I didn't see was suspension bushings, control arms, etc. When can I expect those to fail or need to be replaced? Also I was going to do the supercharger oil in the next 10k, would it be better just to replace almost all of the gaskets/o-rings while I'm in there?

 

Saw your other thread as well, but as far as maintenance items, we have some pretty good tech articles here. These can help with any future fixes and or repairs. Inspect your suspension bushings and look for any type of wear/cracking, etc. Needless to say, these critical components can wear out over time, and should be replaced every 100,000 miles or so or if the front suspension is beginning to feel a little wobbly. When it comes time to bushing replacements, look into Powerflex here. They help prolong tire life, improve performance, better handling and they are more cost-effective than OEM bushings. There is a great DIY for the supercharger oil change here. There is some talk about the seals and what not in that thread as well. If you need anything, parts, advice, etc. please do not hesitate to reach out to me. There are a lot of very helpful individuals on this forum as well to help you with your projects!

 

Hey, we did the same thing and just moved from BMW to Mini, I have been a huge BMW fan but wanted Mini for the same reasons you did, so I got an F56 in the exact same style as you, electric blue with white racing stripes and a white roof and mirrors. Hope your enjoying Mini ownership as much as I am.

 

Welcome. Im trying to get back into another R53! Like you I had my fair share of BMW's an e46 M3, an e90 M3 and an e30 with an S50 swap.

 

I still have an e46 330 coupe and a e30 with a 2jz I'm building. The e30 is a massive project though and probably won't be running for 2-3 years and won't ever be street legal. I got the mini to have something just to have fun with. I have a 2012 impreza as well that's the second daily driver.

 

Congrats! That's a great find!

 

Oh...as far as maintenance, I would try to get the supercharger rebuilt before you hit 100k. There's a flaw in the factory seal, and once it runs out of oil bad things happen. Worst yet, MINI is out of superchargers, so you're better off maintaining the one you have. It's a pain in the tale to get to, but if you get it rebuilt, you can get another 50k-100k (depending on how hard you drive it). That's what I was told when I had mine rebuilt here: http://www.pse.us

That guy specializes in our superchargers. He's the guy MINI approached to fix the original problem. He can tell you more about the flawed seal if you call him. My supercharger was rebuilt at 100k, and it was alright. It was leaking, but it still had enough fluid to prevent damage. He had 8-10 others there that were in terrible shape and beyond repair.

 

I'm not too worried about the super charger. I was going to pull it apart in the spring and change the oil, water pump, and pulley. I'll inspect all the seals and bearings and replace all the gaskets. It should be fine and I found supercharger replacements for as low as $1500 so it's not much of an issue but a rebuild would be more cost effective. As far as I know it can't be done in the garage like my turbos.