I have a 05 MINI S, R53 with 132,000 and I want to be preemptive and replace the alternator now. Anyone who has replaced theirs, would you please recommend a brand and website where to purchase? Amazon and eBay have terrible reviews for their products.
Thanks in advanced.

 

I just replaced my alternator on my 04 R50. I purchased mine from rockauto. So far I had no issues. They will charge a core fee. They will help in cost of retuning core. Was like 5 dollars.

 

about 14 months ago I put in a Carquest/Adv Aut reman; it lasted just under a year, took it back no charge replacement.

 

We do them in our shop and can say to avoid the cheap ones as we have seen them not work right and keep the light on. This is the OEM one we use
https://www.waymotorworks.com/altern...-cooper-s.html

 

I was wondering about this, guessing you mean rebuild one if we send it to you ? Can these be 'beefed up' to higher current output, i.e. the 120A (or more) found on the heavy(ier) duty R52 unit?

 

if your redline is bumped stick with the stock alternator the regulators on the rebuilt crap they sell at local parts stores wont regulate over 6800 rpm, go to a junkyard and get a spare the stock ones are better.

 

I meant when we replace them in our shop when I said we do them in our shop. Basically saying from our experience of working on MINIs, as people don't always realize that we work on MINIs everyday.

 

I bought a denso reman from amazon 18 months ago and so far it's been flawless. I would recommend sticking with denso. They're the OEM supplier so I think they're your best bet at avoiding problems.

This is the one I got.

 

Racingguy, Good advice. Think I will spend the extra money and purchase this unit. Did you install into a Cooper S or a plain Cooper? I think it will work on either car but was wondering what you have.
Thanks,

Buggy

 

While you are there I would check the seal on the crank sensor. An service supercharger while you have front off. My alternator was not putting out correct voltage. So while I was into it so deep.
I replaced:
alternator
Water pump
Thermostat
All coolant hoses
Tensioner
Belt
Fan relay
Manuel trans service

 

I have a cooper S. I also replaced my crank position sensor while I had it in front end service mode, but that was pretty much all I did. ModMIni has a good video with the DIY. Also I ordered a 50 pack of the plastic rivets for the fender liner. Then you can just drill the old ones out and replace them.

 

Excellent suggestions all the way around; Thanks!!

Here is my plan of action;
Jack up the car in my heated garage & remove wheels and fender liners from all 4 wheels. I'll do a complete looky lou just for giggles. Next, front end mode and initiate an oil filter housing gasket replacement. Upon completion, I will remove the belt and remove alternator. Before replacement with a new alternator, I will drop the A/C unit to access the crank sensor unit to replace the o ring. I will reattach the A/C unit and install new alternator. While I'm down there ; ), I will extract the manual transmission oil and replace. I'll de-grease all visible oil on the engine and replace the liners and wheels. I'll finish off by extracting the engine oil, putting in some new Royal Purple and replacing the filter. Otherwise I will hire someone to flush the brake fluid and coolant since I've never done those myself before and they can be tricky if not done just right. Although if I had a competent helper I would accept the challenge.

 

So if those are the jobs you want to do, here's my advice. First, you don't need to remove the A/C compressor to get to the crank position sensor. Second, while it won't hurt to have it in front end service mode, it won't help with the oil filter housing gasket. If you need to change/flush the coolant, I would do it with all this work. It couldn't be simpler, you pull the hose off the lower part of the radiator, let it drain, and refill. My procedure is to repeat the process with distilled water until it comes out pretty clear, add 3 quarts of coolant (non-diluted) and top off with distilled water. I like to fill the radiator through the top hose, rather than through just the overflow tank. For years I used channel locks to move the radiator clamps, and they work, but I picked up some specialized pliers a year or two ago, and it's sooooo much easier. Taking the radiator off will give you way more space to work than front end service mode.

You'll only need to remove the right fender liner, and it's easiest if you have a belt tool, though some people fudge it with tools they already have. Brake flush isn't hard, especially with a motive power bleeder, or something similar, but it's not something you want to get wrong, so if you're not comfortable doing it, it might be worth paying someone to do it.

 

"First, you don't need to remove the A/C compressor to get to the crank position sensor."
The modmini video shows him moving it/dropping it down and it created lots of room to access the crank sensor so thought I would implement since its just 3 bolts and dropped down.

"Second, while it won't hurt to have it in front end service mode, it won't help with the oil filter housing gasket"
I concede your correct, however when the wheel and liner are removed, I'm inclined to think that would provide, albeit limited, more options to remove the 3 bolts of the housing.

"Taking the radiator off will give you way more space to work than front end service mode".
This is true, however I will attach 4/ea, 8m x 200 bolts so I can still keep the radiator on the modular unit and slide it back for about 4 or 5"'s of access so the alt, a/c unit and o ring can all be changed/dropped and not have to drain the radiator.

 

you can definitely do it in front end service mode, that’s how I did it, I just think that if you need to change the coolant, you may as well remove the radiator to give your self more room to work and you can make sure you empty the radiator.

My car mid alternator change

Mod mini removing the alternator with the compressor in place.