G'day all,

Well it turns out that I'm a soon-to-be R53 owner. Its a bit of a story as to how this is coming to be but it involved Triumph TR7's, 65' Ford F100's, Chevy C10's and finally Mini's! Long story short, we are picking up our first Mini on Saturday. Its a 2006 Cooper S "Rallye Edition" with 110,000 kms ( 69 K Miles). 6 speed in Chilli red with white roof and stripe kit. Single owner with full maintenance records although he admits that he hasn't been as "diligent" in the past couple of years.

I have a few questions for the members here... First off is regarding fluids. Is there any of the fluids in the R53 which "must be" Mini/BMW? My plan is to get the car to a base line pretty quickly with a fresh oil change, coolant flush and replacement, new fuel filter, swap out the old tranny fluid and filter, replace the brake fluid....hell, I'm probably even going to add windshield washer fluid! I've never owned a vehicle with a supercharger so I need to do some research and see what the maintenance is like on them. Other immediately fixes include a new rear wiper motor....I'll make a larger "to do" list once I can get the car into my garage here at home and have a good look at her.

Next question of priority is "What service manual"? Just go straight to the Bentley or are the data disks available on E-bay a good resource? The Bentley is going to run me around $175 Canadian with the data disk being a fraction of the cost. That being said, I like to buy things once.... I may cry about it at the time but it usually turns out to be a good decision in the long run.

Last question (for now)...... can anyone suggest a good book on the history of the mini? In particular the racing heritage? Amazon has a few but I'm not sure what the recommended book is.

Its been a bit of a journey but I'm excited to be taking on this car....TONS of potential with them....can't wait to start in on a few mods....

Rob

Oops...forgot to ask...How about essential "Mini" tools needed?

 

Welcome to NAM.

If you have not already done so, suggest you check out Gen1 FAQ area, lots of good info for you. Do not need to spend the extra loonies on BMW fluids. On the Bentley, I do not have one but have done a good amount of my own work. There is an immense amount of information here with over 85,000 threads in the Gen1 section. Between the threads, the members and the vendors there is not too much you cannot obtain right here on NAM.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-gen-faqs-445/

 

Hi Coop,

Thanks for that...I've been going through the FAQ's for a few days now. Its been a great resource but I haven't been able to narrow down the brands that are confirmed as "best" in all instances. Some of the vendor sites have been very helpful too....my main issue is availability of some items. If I need the specific fluid from "Mini/BMW" I've got to arrange a trip which will write off an entire day.... You're right though...I'm sure if I keep digging I'll find the info I need...

 

What fluids are you talking? As far as what is the best, you could get as many opinions as there are members here. Oil - full synthetic 5-30, Brake/Clutch - DOT4, Manual Transmission - 70W80 API GL-4 type, Coolant - G48 type but even a manufacturer says G05 can be used.

 

Coolant was the biggest one. There was a reference in a thread regarding a "lubricating" coolant, and I thought I needed something special. That along with not being familiar with the required G48. Got it sorted with a friend who will grab a jug from a dealer for me.

The others are a bit of a "Ford/Chevy" thing.... more about branding than anything else.

Tomorrows the day we get it home, then the fun can really start!

 

I did allot of pharmaceutical construction in my day so was around chemicals. On the G48, yes that is what BWM puts in the cars they make but the Tritec engine is part Chrysler and they are ok with G05. At the end of the day there is so much fantasy stuff written up on not mixing different coolants, this coolant has xx and that coolant has yy.

Here is a good BMW forum on coolant. Read it and then decide what you "need" to use.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=523954

 

Well...can't get any more straight forward than that can you? Thanks Coop.....great write-up and very helpful.

 

OEM mini coolant from amazon wasn't considerably pricer than G48 or pentofrost, so just stuck with that instead.

As for special tools...
- Belt tensioner tool
- 36mm socket (for oil filter housing during oil changes)
- K+DCAN OBDII Cable (if you want to code/program your mini)
- 2x M8 1.25x100 Bolts (to get your car into 'front end service mode', Forum recommends 100mm, but the longer the better. Lowes carries 120mm bolts)

Best of luck!