Whats up guys. Im new to the mini world and I picked up an 03 cooper s with a blown head gasket. Just wondering if there are any upgrades I should do while I have the head off that are a must. Im not looking to do performance work necessarily. Im more looking to make it more reliable, maybe upgrades on stock parts.. Im already changing the water pump, thermostat, timing chain tensioner, bypass valve and fan resistor. It only has 47k miles on it.. Any information would be much appreciated.

 

hey good looking car, sir...I'd say do some searching there are some good "while you are in there" threads here.

I'd add supercharger oil change to the list for sure

 

Was the car tracked? Did it overheat? With only 47K miles on it....it would make me wonder why the head gasket popped. Are you sure it's a HG issue and not a valve or valve seat issue?

I have 180K miles on my 03' R53.....stock head gasket.

 

yea i own a shop it was my customers. 100% a HG. It looks like the cooling fans stopped working or a thermostat is sticking. Can't run it too long. I need to replace the head gasket first. I'm just wondering if there are some upgraded parts I could install to make it more reliable.

 

Upgrade to one of my coated rotors packs for cheap for the sc 😊 but add new oil to it , lube shift lines under airbox id replace the crank sensor since its rite there too and cheap enough. Id get new coolant hoses too as they go on 10x easier and on eBay any color set is only 50$ and replaces EVERY hose..just give it a good inspection and if you see an issue like leaking oil source , fix it.

 

He's trying to avoid issues.......not cause them.

 

Bit of a low blow, but ok.

Other things from reliability perspective:
-Idler pulley
-Coolant hoses (I would recommend EPDM hoses)
-Crank pulley > ATI Super Damper
-Rocker cover gasket
-Oil cooler gaskets
-Dipstick tube o-ring
-Dipstick replacement
-Sump gasket
-Oil drain bolt
-New bypass valve
-Supercharger horn gaskets
-Intake manifold gasket
-Injector rubbers (8x)
-New coolant reservoir
-PCV valve

 

So s/he signed over the title rather than pay you the $$$$ s/he owed you in troubleshooting and/or the additional $$$$ you wanted to "fix it" all the while you had no idea what the issue really was; hence your approaching this board to find out what was really wrong with the car so you can fix it and most likely next flip it for profit. That about sum up the situation?

 

You are really reaching there........and assuming a lot.

 

Exactly, why does it matter what the reason is?

Lets just help Nacho

 

With those miles it's probably not needed to change the W/P and BPV, the tensioner is such a simple job, I don't know if it's really needed to spend the money now. Plus most of the normally recommended "while you're in there" parts are also sort of a toss up because of the low millage, most of those items are recommended to address above 75k or so.

But... Overheated with head issues usually isn't just a gasket in these motors, it's usually a warped head that causes the gasket to leak. You'll not only want to check the mating surface for true, also check around the valve seats and spark plug holes for heat related stress cracks.

As far as upgrades for reliability and longevity with head work, the only real thing would be to spend the extra on a set of ARP Head Studs, unlike the one time use only OEM head bolts, they can be reused, in case you would need to disassemble it again for some reason. Intake and Exhaust gaskets can often be reused with the addition of some cooper gasket spray.
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