Welp,

I've been lurking on here for the past week for MANY hours...lol

I've read many many things on quirks, things that need addressed, common problems, and overall fun for the car.

I always liked how mini's look more so the first couple gens than the later ones. The newer ones are just too bloated looking to me (no offence to those that have the new ones).

While bored at work I was looking on autotrader and found this one very close to me: an 04' R53
http://www.miniofalexandria.com/used...RE33424TD83131









It's cheap at $6k... this is really the only reason why I am looking at it. It would be a cheap fun car. Currently my DD is a ford ranger. My fun weekend car that's pretty modified is a 05' STi that I've had brand new. And our nice dinner car is an e350. My wife drives a solara convertible so we really have everything covered...lol

This would probably be my new DD honestly.

I went to go look at it before the dealer opened after work and just walking around the car and checking it out, it's extremely clean. No scratches, dents, dings or things that would appear for a car of it's age. It looks like the condition of my STi which is extremely good. One thing that looks like has changed is the front upper grill. When I looked at it on the lot the right side was kind of loose, so either a clip is broken or it's not clipped in fully. I can't make out what grill it is or if it's a JCW? The pattern looks different. It would look good if I could find a matching lower grill. Looks like one of the two previous owners debadged the rear, which is fine because I do that to our cars anyways. I do like the black mirrors and black roof. Would love if it had a pano roof or some other options but that's ok.

I checked out an 05' and the updated interior looks a little nicer. Especially the steering wheel and the headlights. Is this something that can be swapped over to an 04'?

I really like the wheels that are currently on it, and after looking at the configurator on BMW's website it has a couple options but nothing crazy. I will have to go back either this weekend or during the week to test drive it but overall what are some opinions on it?

Good deal? Too high, run away...etc?

I know things to look out for as far as strut mushrooming, PSP failures, horrible run flats. Check for the front control arm bushings, and the engine mount that is hydraulic fluid that normally leaks.

Sorry for the long winded post. Should have started off saying hello first...lol

Overall though as far as exterior it's CLEAN, looks mint in my eye. No accidents reported and only two owners. The car fax report shows normal maintenance and a couple repairs. But it appears that both owners did take it for routine maintenance.

I am not opposed to working on the car. I have a lift in my garage and work on all of our stuff now so that's not a problem. I just fear some of the horror stories that people with mini's indicating it's either a great car, or the worst car that is expensive to upkeep... (attached a picture of my garage)

Thanks!

-Nigel

 

Looks like a really nice car, and I've always liked that yellow. Personally, if I were to buy an R53, I'd stick with the '05-'06 versions. Those seem to be the most refined and reliable versions of the R53, not to mention the nice updates they include. I think you'd be a lot happier if you took the extra time to scope out a nice '05-'06, the price shouldn't be much higher.

I'm extremely jealous of your lift, your garage setup is very nice. Did you have to reinforce the concrete floor where the lift sits? It's nice that the posts aren't super high like most lifts. How do you like it?

 

Looks like a nice car - low miles for the year and a good price. It has the JCW (or some similar) upper grill - but the PO never changed out the mid-grill. I was hesitant about looking at pre-facelift cars before I found mine - but now I'm firmly in the camp of a well taken care of 03 or 04 being just as good a buy as an 05 or 06. Dealer has had it for a while - you can probably get it for a good price

 

I agree, the 056-06 R53 is the one to get.

 

^^^^ make that 05-06, fingers not working properly.

 

Appreciate the input guys! Hmm... I'll have to keep looking possibly then.


Drewster:
It's a maxjax mid lift. Prior to me lifting the garage doors up to the ceiling I got this lift so the cars wouldn't hit the garage door... after the high track garage doors I could put a full size lift in. I'm still debating that but depending on when we get another house I will probably just put a full size lift in that and take the maxjax with me as well. For home garages it really can't be beat as far as working on stuff.. Beats jack stands any day. Raises the car to 48" I believe with a lifting weight of 6k lbs. It's paid for itself many times over from working on our cars and not having to take it to the shop. My garage floor was already about 6-8" in most places so it requires something like 4" thick at 4,000psi I believe. On my garage forum several people had to reinforce their concrete floor because it was poured in properly from the builder.

Noonzio,

How can you tell the dealer has had it for a while? Should that be a red flag though?

I think only mods I'd probably do would be to fix the grill, and tint the windows.

Minirab,
I'll keep looking to see what's up there.

EDIT: Found this but it looks like it has one accident report at the front, even though it's a one owner car.
https://www.koons.com/used/MINI/2005...c84d14b208.htm

It's cheaper at $5k, has more mileage. But has more options it seems. Both front and rear fogs, heated seats. Has a white roof and white mirrors. Same wheels though the wheels look bright silver compared to the other one that has the same wheels..

-Nigel

 

You can tell from the Carfax report. Not necessarily a red flag - not many people would be looking for a first gen from a Mini dealer

 

The second link/dealer just dropped the price on the 05' to $4800... seems like I could probably get them lower. Should that accident at 76k miles roughly be a concern? Car has 103k so I'm guess all is probably alright?

Carfax:
https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistor...&partner=ATD_W

Not too keen on the white mirrors and roof but seems to be a little better spec'd than the 04' above.

One question both links have the same wheels but the 2nd link the wheels look more white where the first one looks darker? I tried searching for the wheels and they appear to be called: R84 V-Spoke (or X-Lite) Design Light Alloy Wheel. Did they make them in other colors from the factory or is silver standard and someone probably painted/powder coated the other ones?

Thanks
-Nigel

 

Edit 2:

Looks like the 2nd one has a lot more options. I've screen captured first and second car. Second car has a limited slip diff, along with things like heated seats, xenon lights, front fog/rear fog...etc. Even has sport suspension?

Also see that the wheels are in fact white...darn!..lol

-Nigel

 

I'd go for the second one. You're probably not going to be able to get much details on the accident, unless you're able to speak to the previous owner. Lots of visits to BNS / Mini dealers is nice to see. Just change those wheels out for something else - plenty floating about on NAM. LSD will he nice. Only thing I see missing is lack of cruise control / steering wheel stereo controls. Dealer has had it for over 2 months - probably yours for a little over $4k

 

The 2nd one, being an '05 face-lift with limited slip is very desirable. I wouldn't worry too much on the wheels or color of the roof and mirror caps as those things are easily changed.

Seeing as the accident was in 2013, it probably wasn't too bad if the car wasn't salvaged, rebuilt, etc. according to CarFax. It's really easy to total a 2005 MINI since parts and labor are so expensive. I would have a pre-purchase inspection done by a MINI specialist and go from there. The accident reported on the CarFax will be a big help with negotiations if you decide to purchase the car.