I currently drive a lightly modded SQ5 and an F60, recently sold my F54 but I miss my R53 the most. I want a summer toy for daily commutes. I live in the North so it’s going to see 5 months a year of use.

I stumbled on a 2006 chili red 62 k miles, sunroof, 17’s, chrono, h/k, only it’s automatic. Not sure that will bring back the magic. I’ve always been looking for the holy grail JCW with an aero kit but this one is asking for about $4700. Second owner (mature lady) dealer serviced at least for the last 7 years, never accidented and stored for winters. Sounds pretty stellar, minus the slush box.

Is the auto going to spark the same joy as my manual 2006, or am I going to be spending more time and $ changing out all fluids, bushings, gaskets, and endless service to recreate the feeling that I won’t get without rowing gears. I’m pretty ocd with my cars so I’m not sure if I should hold out for something else. From the pics the only bad I see is cracked stripes on the hood, dented steering wheel logo and lightly sagging pleather drivers seat bottom.

It’s a whole different game but maybe Id lower a mini E coupe and put the ac Schnitzer catalog on it ( I have the wheels already from my clubman).

 

Just my $.02 but I'd keep looking. These cars, IMO, are so much more fun and engaging driven with 3-pedals that I wouldn't want an autobox version. Heck, even my Jeep JK Rubicon has the 3-pedal 6-speed (wouldn't appeal to mainstream buyers) for increased fun factor. Only my F-150 truck has the auto but then is well-suited to its 6.2L Boss engine, so I won't complain...

 

Thanks MCS, I guess I was hoping that someone would tell me that it’s still as much fun as I remember. But as a second car that’s intended to be the fun one, you may be right that it won’t recreate the romance.

I did everything I could within reason to convert my SQ5 to a sports wagon so at least I’d look back at it when I walked away. It’s clear to me that no matter what I do, it was designed to be a soccer mom car and no amount of money will buy it a soul. The r53 was more smiles per gallon and now most on the market cost as much as my extended warranty (before the laundry list of servicing).

 

Try and drive it. We have an 05 S with the same. It’s a lot of fun. Heat is what kills ALL automatics. I just put $5800 into a rebuild of the Auto trans - with an externally mounted air to fluid cooler. At 178100 when it was done in Feb. now 179500. I also have a Dinan CAI, UUC post cat exhaust, and no run flats ( Michelin 4S summers. ). Never letting it go. I found the r53 a blast. - the rest of fleet is an e38 ( 00 750 ), e39 ( 99 540iT ) e46 ( 01 330Ci Vert ), GMC T800 ( 02 Yukon XL 2500 6.0 ). Yes all Automatics, but I had stick for years ( Audi x2, SAAB, Volvo ).

 

+1 on manual. Besides, that 3rd pedal makes it theft proof ln today's world.

 

The lady tells me all service records are current to dealer recommendations. I service my mini at the same dealer so it can’t be hard to fact check that. She is moving out of the country in a couple weeks. So there is definitely room on that price…or she is hoping to flee the scene of the crime.

Either way, there is some amount that makes it worth the gamble. Its not far off impulse buy territory, I just don’t want to bother owning it if I won’t love it. Then it hurts more if it’s a money pit. I changed my steering pump on my old r53 and was just stoked to have her back.

 

All my MINIs/Mini are manual, so I'm biased, and you already know my answer to your question...good luck with your search!

 

Again - test drive - other than time, it is free.

 

@noodlesandsam I’m headed for a test drive this weekend. I’ll give some feedback. From all I have read about the automatic transmission, as long as I budget for a full service and maybe new valve bodies, the rest looks good. I researched the car more and it’s a Rallye edition, so Canadian only limited spec where 1600 were produced. Certainly not collector grade but a nice list of options for what I think I can get for $2500 but it needs up front about $1000 to get cleaned up (that’s just fluid changes and paint correction).

I did a deeper search and found what was much closer to my grail about 6hrs away. A grey/grey 2003 with 20k miles. Aero front bumper, ralley lights, clear oem tail lamps, h/k and stick shift. It has an Alta intake, some
aftermarket exhaust and if that was done I assume a pulley but I can’t tell. One owner (who passed away) and not winter driven. They are asking $9k. My guess it’s that it’s been sitting for a bit. What do we think it’s worth? I know it’s worth way less to anyone but a mini enthusiast.

 

9K CAD? That is 7500 US? Worth a look also.

 

They are asking $9k us. That’s a lot of Canadian pesos. There is for sure some flexibility but I’ll find out how much. My service advisor at Mini told me to run away from the auto transmission. Too bad…

 

Try the Auto - this is not the cvt. In the end, you have to buy what you like. I was not sure in 2005, but it’s been a blast. Valve body at 10 years /120k, full refresh at 20 years, 178K, the car does not owe me anything.

 

I have an automatic 2005 MCSa and real like it. I've done some track time with no problems in fact I think it works better than the manual shift. I never miss a shift.

 

If I had the maintenance history since it was new, or if it were mine, I’d have no concerns because I’d never miss a service. My original r53 needed a new power steering pump at 25k and clutch at 50k. Neither transmission is without flaws, but the repairs and replacements of the automatic is prohibitively expensive relative to the actual cost of the car. I’ll definitely drive it harder than the older lady that currently owns it, and there is already 100k on it. In Montreal 100 k km wears like 100k miles. It’s always city km on busted roads and hard weather. When I lived in LA, 100k miles was barely breaking a car in.

I think I’m lusting for the spec and history of the grey one more. It is twice the asking price, but 1/3 the mileage and be a little easier to care for. Plus the little mods on it will make it more engaging. One major service on the red one and it will bridge the price gap. First time my service advisor told me to take a hard pass, and they also confirmed they maintained that car (but can’t divulge the records)

 

Ok. 100k km - 62k miles - there is not much to do to the Auto. Change fluid? Maybe. If it did not live in heavy traffic in hot weather, it should be fine. The rest of the car is identical to a manual. I don’t really trust dealerships. If any 2005 Auto was driven in a ‘spirited’ manner, it was mine. My wife put 300 miles a week on it taking my kid to dance class for 5 years. Now it does the daily commute in San Diego, with same dance kid. It works hard. Look at 09G boxes in VW GTI stuff - same box. What is the asking price again?

 

Asking price is $4300usd on the auto. 2006, 63k miles Rallye edition (1600 made for canada only). Bone stock. Needs stripes removed, paint correction, headlight polishing. New badges. Bent airbag badge I would need to pull up the door sills to check on rust and look closer at other parts of the car. Not winter driven (at least for 7 years) and seemingly not abused. I’d probably upgrade the wheels and exhaust (don’t like the beer cans).

Asking price is $9300 usd on the manual. 2004, 22k miles, aero bumper, Rallye lights, euro tail light, apparently twin webbers, Alta intake, unidentified exhaust and I can see a catch can so I imagine it’s got a pulley or 2 but not lowered. The guy was a car lover with 6 cars in his collection. This seems to have been a toy and when you peel pack the layers it’s adult modded. There are some displays (like gauges) wired in that I’ll inevitably take out) and some chrome to remove…like a chrome grill with aero bumper and it includes 2 sets of wheels. The ones on the car aren’t my preference but it comes with a second set, presumably oem.

 

Just to be clear... ALL R53s are money pitts. Tons of fun but you should definitely enter with eyes wide open.

 

No question you have to pay to play with these. Now 20 years old, they are just old cars but there are many to be had that spent their life as garage queens, driven sparingly by mature owners. The buy in isn’t much, they are reasonable to tinker with and you get more smiles per mile than most cars.

I’m also not looking for a major project, something that looks like a hooptie or a rolling midlife crisis. Just to share my passion for cars with my kids and an analog driving experience. I expect to spend a few grand up front to replace anything worn from age and a couple grand a year for annual upkeep.

 

Fate may be pushing me to an automatic. I found this red one locally with about 60k miles for a little over $5500 usd. Even if the auto craps out I could make half back in parts. 2 owner and super clean with mature mods and rare oem bits. The chrome wheels and trims are not not a difficult fix.

here is the grey one. Dealer tells me it’s about $3k in preventative maintenance at their rates and it needs to be registered locally. In canada it’s a PITA. I did it for my last 3 cars. Asking $9k with 20 k miles.

Alternately, I found a well optioned manual volcanic orange 2015 F56 with 60k miles for about $8. I already have some great 19” wheels to fit on it. So an exhaust/intake and dinantronic with some lowering springs would make it a solid modern ride for about $10k.

i guess I need to decide if I want the addictive supercharger experience, if I have the stomach for a $5300 rebuild of the tranny if things go sideways or if the modern version will bring me the same joy.

 

Hey @AirborneMini003

That Grey mini is much closer to me than you, i have inquired about it previously a few times. Yes the owner did pass away, and it seems as if his friend is selling off his cars and items.

There is a few sketchy parts about this car that veered me away,
- How unbelievably low the KM's are based on age (1400km a year over the last 22yrs) Which could entirely be possible, it seems immaculate, would need to check the underside to confirm this.
- The current buyer / owners friend is very uninformed about the car and modifications. One can simply not put twin webber carbs on a fuel injected engine, the mods you can see are OCC, Alta intake (installed with a hardware store hose clamp not the provided fancy stainless Alta one) and MSD plug wires.

I do believe the current seller is highly mis-informed about this car, so i would carefully investigate this if your thinking of purchasing.
Id be willing to go take a gander for you as i'm about a 30 minute drive from said vehicle.

 

I love that. I was going to fly into my office I. Mississauga and check it out but that would save me a trip. Agreed about the Webber carbs, it’s just not possible. There is some miscellaneous exhaust and some odd monitors in there to be removed. At least there is a catch can and I suppose a pulley. The exhaust fitment is a little off as well and hard to tell what brand it is, but the brackets need adjusting at a minimum.

I can’t imagine it was used on a track but the license plate registration suggests it hasn’t been on the road for 2 years which is where all the work comes in. I’m less concerned about the mileage, some people just have toys they don’t use often but cars don’t age well if they don’t move so I’m budgeting for a lot of repairs. Plus getting the mandatory ON inspection and registering in Quebec is a hurdle, so unless there is a lot of flexibility in that price it didn’t make a lot of sense as a project and will add $5k to the purchase price for me. It ticks a lot of boxes…

I started with this being an itch I wanted to scratch in a couple years. Then you see a few priced as an impulse buy, and into the rabbit hole I go.

 

Let me see if i can get over there this Sunday, ill report back about that. There is also a 2003 Dinan S out this way near Kitchener, 160km unfortunately but the price tag is extremely tempting at 3k! Its listed on Kijiji.

I am unsure of your requiring the Ontario inspection, i know importing from Quebec to Ontario is a hassle but Ontario to Quebec seems easy via forums i have read.
This is a write up i found on a Ferrari forum,

""
1/ Called the SAAQ to have their bluebook value for my future Lotus. 27k.
2/ Went to the bank to get a 40k bank draft.
3/ Called my insurance to tell them I needed a policy for a car I was buying. I had a copy sent by email within 30min. Printed it.
4/ Drove with a friend to Ontario to meet the seller at their SAAQ equivalent in Ontario.
5/ Paid the seller
6/ Seller gave me a bill of sale, which we agreed should show 27k rather than the 40k I was paying him)
7/ Seller gave me the keys (yeah - very happy at this point)
8/ Being at the SAAQ equivalent in Ontario, I told them I was moving the car to QC and asked for a temporary transit number. This can be done when you have the bill of sale + proof of insurance + QC driving licence in hand. Cost 8$, valid an unknown number of days, and you wont pay them the PST (TVQ) there.
9/ Drive the car back.
10/ Get the car inspected by a SAAQ mandated garage. Cost 75$ + taxes. Collect the proof of valid inspection and the window sticker.
11/ Go to the SAAQ, give them the bill of sales + proof of valid inspection + TVQ (ouch), they will give you a QC licence plate in exchange
12/ Install the plate and enjoy the car.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/143525999/
""

 

Crazy about the Dinan! I asked if he would part it out those wheels are my favorite. Looks to be in rough shape. Apparently all cars sold in Ontario need a safety inspection report. If it’s being shipped out of province it doesn’t. Same with tax, you pay HST in Ontario and GST in Quebec and then need to file to get the HST refunded. You also need an inspection in Quebec before it can get registered. It’s not that fun, I’ve done it 3 times. The guy with the grey one is calling me when he’s back in town in a couple weeks. You seem to be in the market as well

 

The Dinan is tempting to bring back to life, although i just finished "restoring" my S and am not about another project at the moment. Really in the market for a JCW, but specifically facelift 05-06 in BRG. Its always fun to snoop around as its how this whole mini issue started when finding my S for 1k because the dude was leaving on a plane to BC the following week!!!

Ah what a hassle, sounds like you've done this a few times so your in good hands there. I don't know why is has to be so difficult essentially moving cars "provinces". If i can be of assistance in anyway let me know as i am just east of Toronto. Its to bad i couldn't "buy it" and resell it to you and avoid the government taking half the pot of gold!

 

That’s much appreciated. You might be my brother from another mother where we can do a $1 sale. I’ll wait to see when he gets back in town. If he is flexible on pricing I’m ok with the investment of time and the service overhaul (and new wheels…) and I’d love to put some eyes on it. I’ve been bracing my wife for this next round of mid life crisis so I don’t want to let all the groundwork go to waste.

It’s crazy how hard it is between provinces, I don’t think there is any of that complication between states.