Hi all!

I'm Miguel from the Philippines!

This is our 2006 R53 Mini in Chili Red. We got her about two years ago.






Now I have a pair of basically brand new top shock mounts lying around.


I've replaced a few OEM parts with better performance oriented aftermarket alternatives specifically:

Aluminium Expansion Tank
VibraTechnics Upper engine Mount
BSH Lower engine mount
Eibach/SPS Adjustable Camber plates
KONI FSD Shocks

Next thing one my mind is more maintenance as the next oil change is coming up. So I'm thinking:

Valve Cover Gasket
Oil pan Gasket
Spark plugs
Fuel Filter
Coolant drain

Can you guys give me the brand of spark plugs best to put on our mini's?

Do you think I should do a 60% coolant/40% water ratio on the new coolant? I'm in the tropics and believe me, it is hot here.

 

Welcome to NAM, Mig! Nice MINI & parts you got! What's your mileage? Unless you have leaks, gaskets aren't a priority.
Stock NGKBKR6EQUP are recommended for R53s.
10 unsolicited TIPS:
1. Crappy OEM harmonic damper. Go ATI or fluid damper, never the lightweight solid 1s. I pushed replacement back & got burnt. Damper died on the road, not a good experience.
2. If you loose low speed fan, bypass the rad fan resistor so you get high speed when low is called as you're in the tropics. You'll know you've lost the low speed when you turn on your A/C, you hear the loud high speed fan cycling on & off every few secs, your low speed resistor is gone.
3.BMW Coolant is more anti-freeze/anti corrosion. Distilled water actually has better cooling properties. Without freezing concerns in the tropics, 1 part blue BMW:2parts distilled would be ideal.
4. Mushrooming is a problem for the 1st gens. Supposedly, you've to make sure your strut towers are restored flat before those mounts/camber plates go in. Top reinforcement plates from M7 or Craven Speed or similar are a must have.
5. Before you change the fuel filter, run your tank around 1/4 level, check the DIY threads for procedure. Wrap your rear passenger underseat w/ plastic or trash bag to avoid spills seeping thru your carpet.
6. Check your lower control arm, sway bar bushes. They're usually gone after 40k mi, depending on road quality & abuse. The belt tensioner & its bushes are notorious for pre-mature failure, too.
7. A good CAI system like the Dave F. w/ K&N washable drop in never hurts.
8. Humidity affects euro headliners. Don't be surprised about pre-mature sagging. This rarely happens w/ Japanese imports. They use different headliner glues.
9. Use ethanol-free 93 RON (or higher)petrol, if possible.
10. Handle your seat levers & recliners w/ care. They're delicate! Swap em w/ JCW Recaros or the Euro JCW Sparcos, if you can source em.

I'm sure you've enjoyed MINI ownership. Expect the thrill to last longer than any other car you've owned. Unless, your other car is a Porsche, of course. Though it's not a Honda, don't worry too much about reliability & maintenance. BMW had to remind us that it's British. The R53 is way simpler & more DIYable than the R56.

 

Oh man, quite a list.

1. Damper? I sure wouldn't that to fail with me on the road. So the next time I order from the U.S., I'd make that a priority.

2. Yes, I have been reading about that dreaded fan problem. But the thing is, I'm not really good with anything electrical. I hire a mechanic to fix problems with our cars. Labor is cheap here. And I have read that it is easier to just replace the whole fan assembly? I do notice the high speed fan cycle every few seconds with the AC on and thought that it is normal. Does that mean my resistor is dead?

And sometimes after a spirited drive, the highspeed fan runs for about 3-5 minutes even after I turn the engine off. Is that a sign of impending fan failure?

3. We actually have coolant here that has NO antifreeze properties. Just boil over protection. The packaging of the coolant even has a table with a maximum of 70%coolant/40%water ratio with the highest boil over protection. I'll get more info on this when I buy it.

On a side note, I was once driving up the mountains. The engine was revving hard and all. Eventually, it boiled over so I pulled over and let it cool while sourced some coolant. Haven't been back up the mountain yet but plan on draining the coolant first and replacing it with a 60/40 ratio to see if I won't boil over. But then again, it could be my fan.

4. Yup, the mechanic visually checked the top of the strut mounts before we slapped them camber plates in. He said there was no mushrooming. He looked for mushrooming specifically as the original struts I had actually bent outward when I hit a huge pothole a few months back. Roads are bad, and I mean bad. The warping of the strut was so bad the wheel had a negative camber of -2.8, rubbing against the strut itself.

Hence, I got them Koni FSD's and the eibach plates and man, what a world of difference in the comfort!!!

Isn't there a strut bar with top strut mount reinforcement?

5. Yeah, read the fuel filter DIY. Will be making sure the mechanic reads it too.

6. Yup, already replaced the lower arm bushings with lemforder. The OEM one's where basically just hanging. I'll be making sure we check the other busings as well.

7. A CAI crossed my mind a few months back. Is there really a noticeable improvement with aftermarket CAI? Will I hear more intake sound?

8. So far so good with the headliners. Hope they hold up longer!

9. Unfortunately, most of our gas here has ethanol in it. I know, it sucks. I've read it's not so nice for engines and try to avoid them when I can. Mostly, I use 95 octane Shell V-Power Nitro+. Allegedly, it has "friction modifiers" and is the same thing they use with Ferrari's F1 cars. haha. I also alternate it with Caltex 95+ with Techron to "clean" the engine. That's if it really works.

10. I make it a point that people who get in the Mini are careful. Especially if they ride at the back and fiddle with the seat to get in. Sometimes, I just do it myself!

I previously had an 2003 BMW e46. It was utterly a nightmare when it reached the 7 year mark. From cooling to transmission, the problems were endless. I even had to take out the head and had it resurfaced as it was warped. wheeew. glad that nightmare was over. We sold it for the Mini.

Yes, I love this car! So far, my problems with it are minor and I consider them for the most part, normal. But I'll be looking more on the high speed fan issue and the possibility that it was the reason for the boil over a few months back. If it is, then I'd just probably swap the whole thing and worry about it again a few years down the road.

Thanks! Hoping to enjoy this car some more!

 

Oh man. I'll make sure to keep all of that in mind. I drafted a reply which was quite long but it seems that it has been lost in limbo. Not appearing even though I already posted it.

Anyway, yes, my high speed fan does cycle on and off every few seconds whenever the AC is on. Does that mean my fan resistor is shot? If it is, would it be better if I purchase the entire assembly as good measure?

I once drove up a steep mountain with 4 people inside the mini. Eventually, the Mini boiled over and coolant started gushing out of the expansion tank through the cap. Hence I placed an aluminum tank and currently waiting for a new cap. But I think the coolant has large part in the boil over. Here in the Philippines, we actually have a coolant that has no Antifreeze properties in it. It just raises the boiling point and the higher concentration you use, the better the boil over protection. The label of the "Prestone" Concentrate suggested up to 70% concentration as the maximum, but I'm thinking if I use just 60%, it should be enough because as you said, water is better in dissipating heat. Right now, the concentration in the Mini is just 50-50.

What do you think is the cause of the boil over? It hasn't happened since. But I haven't tried going back up that steep mountain with four people (including me) in the mini. Also, after a spirited drive through our city streets, the highspeed fan doesn't turn off with the engine and goes on running for about 4mins. I check the coolant every week and I usually have to top up every 2-3weeks. I'm not seeing any leaks but attribute the lost coolant to a boilover which probably went unoticed as I drive around. Any theories? Would increasing the concentration help prevent a boil over? Really hoping to flush out the coolant soon.

Sometimes I wish I was born in a colder country.

 

Yes, coolant generally brings up water's boiling point, but it doesn't really mean it's cooling your engine better,& not w/o your fan working. I'd recommend getting the phosphate/nitrate free BMW coolant from your BMW dealership. It has the recommended mix based on different ambient temp conditions. Don't increase coolant concentration beyond recommendation.

Remember we only have 1 fan assembly, not 2, unlike most Japanese 1s. The trick if your low speed resistor is shot is to drive w/ A/C ON, not OFF. Yes, opposite of what you might be doing...A/C ON, set to coldest temp, to raise the refrigerant pressure to 18bar & call out your high speed fan. This way, you run your engine w/ high speed fan on all the time. Bet you had boil over on spirited driving w/ A/C off, right? Try it. ECU will have your hi on even w/ engine off if your engine temp is still high when you killed engine. It's not uncommon to have a sticking relay & not have the fan turn off til your batt dies. Beware! You might come back to a car that has no juice left for starting.
There's a loaded 32page thread about that resistor here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lution-32.html

If your high speed is still alive, no need to replace the fan assembly yet. Just milk the life out of your current fan motor. Besides, a new fan still has that new but faulty resistor.Bypass that resistor.Since you have an 06, you don't have to do what I did here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-surgery.html

You can just splice the high speed wire to the low speed wire on the fan-side harness as described in the former 32page thread. A lotta info, w/ a summary on page 32.

The good about getting the aluminum coolant tank is avoiding the splitting of the OEM plastic 1. The downside is you won't have a way to check level w/ coolant hot & pressurized w/o the risk of burning yourself. The OEM cap is rated 16psi, pressures higher than that should be relieved by the cap.

Get a ScangaugeII if you don't have 1 yet. It'll tell you a lot of info like boost, voltage, coolant temp, etc, aside from reading & clearing codes.

The t-stat gasket is prone to failing. It's on the block under you air filter box. Check for signs of weeping or leaks.
Your blessed as you can motor all year round. Many would trade places w/ you.

 

Great info man. Thank you so much. I will get to reading that thread soon!

So it is best I stick to OEM coolant then? Okay, i will do just that. Hope they don't cost like liquid gold though. And yes, I did get that boil-over up the mountain with the AC off. Makes a lot of sense now.

About the t-stat, already had that one fail on me 4 months back. Ordered the entire housing as my parts supplier didn't have the gasket alone. So far, the disappearing coolant is my worse worry.

I also had a leak of PS fluid directly below the reservoir where one of the hoses connect. Fixed it by buying a hoseclamp from the hardware store. The CHF fluid was quite hard to find! Luckily the German Parts supplier had that in stock. :(

Lastly, I'm not sure if I math is correct on this one, but what I did to measure the coolant level in the aluminum expansion tank is I first filled up the oem expansion tank to Max, then measured the volume of water. Poured that same amount into the aluminum one when it was still uninstalled, and measured the level with a homemade dipstick with grooves so I can see the water level. I know it's probably crude at best, considering everything that goes on in the cooling system, but better than nothing.

Still loving the car! And true, I do get to motor all year round, except when the rains bring the chest high floods!

 

Anytime, brotha. PS hose clamps can be recrimped but you did good. 1s you've covered those unsolicited tips, your MINI should hopefully be close to say, a Honda.
Anything else you might need that we could help, just holler!

 

I will! I'll take em' one by one.

Just came home from a good drive! quite hard actually! High revs and all but this time with the AC on. Guess what, high speed fan turned off with the engine. That high speed fan resistor problem is beginning to be the most likely culprit. Will keep an eye on her more.

I have good feeling this wont be like our BMW E46. That one was an utter nightmare.

 

Nah, R53s are pretty predictable once you understand em. Wife material.You should be glad you didn't get a 56( high maintenance girlfriend).That would be more dealership dependent. The resistor mod is very DIYable. You can do that in less than 30mins. Follow what Blwnaway did as I pointed out in page 32.

 

Yeah, i read about the pains of the R56. Overall, i love the car and have a good feeling about it. I'll start gathering the stuff I need for the oil change and the resistor mod diy soon.

The only downside is I have to source all them parts, the good aftermarket ones, all the way from the US. But still worth it!

 

If that's the case, I'd stock up on basic essentials like an ATI or fluid damper, oil filters, a set of plugs, wires, & maybe a set CV boots as the car ages. There's actually no downside to waiting for parts shipment. It only heightens the anticipation & thrill. The world has shrunk so much in the web age!

 

Oh yeah, did a little search on those dampers. Which one is better in smoothing out the engine?

I have enough NVH with my BSH and Vibratechnics engine mounts. i read that the fluid one is better. Just wanna know your say on this one.

 

Went w/ ATI, precision is top notch. Found 1 in the mare that might interest you:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...er-damper.html
The PRW fluid damper is cheaper, maybe because it's China made.
The vibra mount does just that, TSW is worse. I'm lucky 02s have the rubber body upper mount. Lasts longer & actually absorbs NVH very well.
I also just changed my tensioner damper. That's another weak link. I might try slapping on the Alta adjustable tensioner down the line, just outa curiosity. These are all part of the fun MINI gives those who tinker.

 

Actually the early mount is not longer lived its just better at hiding the signs of a failure as no fluid leaks out and makes a mess on the ground.
Go with the factory mini coolant at a 50/50 you will be fine, and i would not run the ac while driving the car hard.
Id wire in a switch into the cabin to manually toggle it.... its not very hard.
I have fit both the PRW and the ATI, i honestly feel like the PRW does a better job.
and the ATI is a bit easier to fit. (problem solved by heating the prw)
Again, the alta tensioner to me is the wrong solution.
if you have belt slip, check your belt length and fit a new tensioner.
Also one of the main problems with the mini coolant system is not just the tank its that the cap is horribly weak and unreliable. theirs only one company that makes a real replacement...
And I am shocked no one has mentioned checking on the control arm bushings.

 

Check item 6 in post #2 re control arm & sway bar bushes.
Thanks for chiming in, Colin. Would you know of a better than OEM tensioner damper?
True on the early mounts but the later, supposedly improved ones were bound to leak in no time. Aftermarket ones have better, more direct power transfer, but trade-off is NVH.
Haven't tried fitting the PRW really, but know it's among the best options. Installed for a friend & mine the ATI & fitment was spot on.

 

Just came back from a good long spirited drive. The new OEM belt tensioner damper makes a world of difference. Car just feels brand new. Dunno how the Alta would perform but that'll surely outlast the OEM 1. I know there are apprehensions on having no dampened tension, esp on the upper rev range & sudden bursts of throttle, power & acceleration. Colin's view on the Alta Stiffy is sound.

 

Someone should come out w/ a "lifetime" tensioner damper, then!
Old school engines have been running undampened tensioners for ages w/ no issues other than the occasional/periodic manual tightening. Using the Alta eliminates the need for a tensioner tool & stop; avoids all that collateral damage when belt snaps; renders the spring useless & you won't need bushing replacement. ON PAPER, that's a lifetime part.
I know our stock tensioners compensate for belt slacking-tightening in real world engine conditions & that's great in absorbing potential stresses! Good intentions, just lousy execution. We need some aircraft-grade 'lifetime' strut dampers!

 

but this is the problem everyone has, they always try to compare minis with old school motors, they almost never had blowers on them or all the other space constraints minis had.
the tensioner needs to be able to move as the belt stretches under load, regardless of how much tension you put on the belt it will get loose under load, also the damper is on there because of how the blower under load beats the belt.
If the damper did not do anything it would not wear out.

 

Well, I'm no expert but I'm all for better parts for the Mini. If I had my way, I'd run this car till I have grandkids. I don't think the car's looks will age at all.

Already replaced my lower arm bushings. That already gave up a few months back. Now I'm actually leaning towards a new damper and tensioner now that you both got me interested.

I'll do more reading on the dampers then. Right now, the fluid damper has my attention. The Vibratechnics and BSH engine mounts are awesome. The car puts the power on the ground so much faster and better. The higher NVH is a worthy trade-off which I actually don't notice that much anymore. haha

Can't wait for Christmas break so I can do that resistor DIY and a coolant drain.

 

One other item that's basically bulletproof on other makes, but seems to commonly fail on ours is the DENSO alternator. Helped fix 2 R53s, an R50 & know of another local R50, all w/ mileages between 20k & 50k. 1 replaced w/ new, 3 others sourced from salvage yards. All are running w/o issues after the fix. If you're OCD like many MINI owners, having a spare won't hurt.
Denso alternators are known to be pretty reliable in Toyotas & other Japanese makes. Again, this maybe attributed to what Colin mentioned: cramped space & heat in MINI's engine bay + the complex electrical system demands more load than others. Symptoms of failure would be batt light on, loss of power steering, overheating. This is where having a Scangauge can help monitor symptoms.
Wait, why am I letting you in on some 12/21 doomsday scenarios? Let's shift to more positive Christmas programming. Give your MINI that love it deserves this Christmas break! & may 2013 be a trouble-free MINI motorin' year for us all!

 

hahaha! If doomsday comes, I'll drive around in the Mini and go out in style!

Yes, I must say the electronics on this one is a lot more complicated than most Asian car makes. We also have 2010 Lancer GTA (GTS in US) which pales in comparison to the complexity considering the 1st gen Mini was designed way back in the early 2000's. But the 2011 Peugeot 508 my dad drives around is just Starship level when it comes to electronics!

Haha, hmmm. A spare alternator? If I can find a remanufactured one for cheap, maybe I'll give in to my OCD tendencies. haha

First things first though, them coolant drain, fan resistor, then some good old fresh plugs. Too bad I won't be having some mods next year. I have to review and take our Bar exams.

 

Good luck with the bar & the plan of not moddin'!

 

I still can't find the DIY for the low speed fan resistor by-pass for the 2005-2006 R53's. Any chance you can point me in the right direction?

 

I believe the circuit was changed in 05.

 

There's not a step by step DIY, but its easy enough. The solution is on page 5 of the main thread "low speed fan resistor - we need a solution". There's some comments an a crude wiring scheme in the following 5 or 6 pages. I just did it myself with those instructions, it's fairly easy.