COVID has changed a lot it seems. Bought a 30' walk around ocean fishing boat 9 months ago. It's been the most enjoyable and expensive thing I've owned. Every time you turn around it needs another thousand dollars for something done it it (just to fill the tank is $2200 now).

Went on vacation a month ago to visit family in Tusla. They lend us their R53 mini (05) to drive for the week. Manual six speed. Had the time of my life driving that thing. Our 'normal' cars are a Tesla model S and a Ram 2500 power wagon. But this thing was much different than both. Unique. Not as fast as our tesla, not as practical as a truck, but still something snapped in me and I was hooked. After searching around I settled on a black R52 2007 with 125K miles on it. My goal is to restore it to pretty much mint stock and keep it forever. Show the grand kids the some day "classic" gen 1 mini convertible.

I knew going into it, this was a project car. Lots of things would need to be fixed. I didn't expect it all needed to be fixed right away. So far every "fix" has lead to another fix needed. It started with a bad alternator during the test drive. The dealer "fixed" it by putting an autozone one in. On the way home the new alternator melted it's voltage regular and if the RPM went over 4K it would put out 16V and reset all the gauges. I took it to British Worx OC to have it fixed right. They put in a Bosch Alt, control arm bushings, oil pan gasket, and service stuff. It's was the same cost as filling up my boat.

The shock tower mount was completely ripped 360. I ordered all new Koni Special shocks front and rear, and new front mounts. Watch ModMini on youtube and did it myself. What a blast wrenching on a car again. Last time I worked on my own car was in the 90's with my 1973 240z. While doing the shocks I noticed the driver side axle boot completely ripped. Grease everywhere. Watched ModMini axel replacement, ordered two new axels. Also was told by BW the brakes were at 20%. Ordered all new pads & rotors. Then when they were putting on the new tires the shop said it wouldn't hold an alignment because the driver wheel barring is shot. So I order new front bearings. Will do the axel, bearing, and brakes all at the same time this weekend. Also getting vibrations at idle. Maybe bad motor mounts? I'm approaching another tank of gas for the boat cost wise.

I'm hopeful once I get through all this high mileage fixes it quiets down. I don't mind regular upkeep, but I pray I'm not chasing one problem after another constantly. I'm also a little intimidated about having to put it into "service mode" or pulling the subframe for fixes. I'm sure once I do it once it won't be a big deal.

Oh and btw that R53 I drive in Tusla... just lost all compression in #2 cylinder. That was not reassuring. (But he never checked the oil or anything. Just drove it daily).

Anyone has tips or advice on owning a mini, I'm all ears.

Cheers!

My new 07 R52

 

Sounds like you're right on track for owning an older MINI. If you're interested in keeping your MINI around for a while I would invest in a Bentley factory manual. Front end service mode is not nearly as intimidating as it looks. When you've done it once you can do it again in less than 30 minutes. Dropping the subframe is a bit more complicated but you've already discovered ModMini on YouTube who is an incredible help. When you have the subframe out all the suspension components are right in front of you so consider replacing those as well. I bought my 2004 MC40 for $4k and have spent another $4k in parts replacing just about everything (I do my own wrenching). So, for $8k I have a beautiful, limited-edition MINI that's a blast to drive and gets a lot of looks - best of all worlds. Good luck.