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I re-bled the brakes a few more times, and used ISTA to cycle the ABS pump. A surprising amount of air came out of all four corners. I followed the instructions in the Bentley manual to a tee. The most helpful change was when bleeding to submerge the end of the hose I was using in a bottle so that its always covered in fluid. This makes bubbles and dirty fluid way more obvious.
Some notes for anyone with a similar issue.
Attach a pressure bleeder and keep it on and pressurized at all times. Prevents running dry
submerge the bleeder hose in fluid. I drilled a hole into a 20 oz soda bottle and pushed the hose to the bottom. Worked perfectly.
Open each bleeder (rear two first) and allow fluid to flow, have someone pump the pedal a few times while you do this.
After pressure bleeding all four corners, perform the service routine in ISTA, which will guide you through the same thing but with the ABS pump running and the ABS valves open.
After pressure bleeding with and without the ABS pump running the air will come out. The brakes feel way more stiff now, I haven't driven it on the road yet, I'm replacing the passenger's side CV axle and ball joint.
This car has a vibration under acceleration, previous owner told me it was and axle. I drove it around and I came to the same conclusion, feels like the passenger side. Removed the axle and found the inner CV boot had torn and was leaking. Removed the axle and found that the bearings on the inner tripods have several spots in their rotation where they bind and click. So that's the problem located.
I'm replacing with a new CV axle from Napa, looks to be good quality.
The lower ball joint fought me on removal, outer tie rod end fell out after a couple whacks with a mini sledge hammer. The lower one I sprayed with PB blaster, hit, sprayed and tried again the next day. It came out of the knuckle which was good for getting the axle out. However the boot on the ball joint is torn, and there is a lot of grit inside it. So I ordered a new one which will be here tomorrow. Getting it out of the control arm will be tough, I have a separator tool I'll be trying tonight. Then I'll re-assemble everything except for the ball joint.
Tomorrow is my deadline for inspection, but the state isn't really checking. If i wait until Monday it wont be an issue.
I also fixed my drivers side headlight which was stuck pointed at the ground. It has just popped off the adjuster. The wiring is not in great shape inside the housing. I’m just gonna paint it with liquid electrical tape. Torn boot New vs old Ball joint removed Cracked insulation in headlights
My headlight wiring was doing the exact same - can't believe any car maker would buy wiring with insulation that would get hard and flake apart like that. Recipe for short circuits.
In my 06, someone had replaced a headlight at some point. Mine is an R52 S, I don't know if they are the same headlights as the R53, but an interesting fact is that they kept making the R52 until '08. The headlights were updated to 2nd gen guts - explains why my one headlight looked nothing like the other inside. I ended up buying the 07 or 08 guts version off Ebay to make my headlights match, and the wiring seemed better inside those headlight units - in fact, they had heat shielding. I think they learned from their mistake.
In my case though, it was mostly the wiring inside the lights that was going to hell. Something to look at though if the wiring in the lights is going bad.
My headlight wiring was doing the exact same - can't believe any car maker would buy wiring with insulation that would get hard and flake apart like that. Recipe for short circuits.
In my 06, someone had replaced a headlight at some point. Mine is an R52 S, I don't know if they are the same headlights as the R53, but an interesting fact is that they kept making the R52 until '08. The headlights were updated to 2nd gen guts - explains why my one headlight looked nothing like the other inside. I ended up buying the 07 or 08 guts version off Ebay to make my headlights match, and the wiring seemed better inside those headlight units - in fact, they had heat shielding. I think they learned from their mistake.
In my case though, it was mostly the wiring inside the lights that was going to hell. Something to look at though if the wiring in the lights is going bad.
Interesting! My long term plan is to just do an LED retrofit, so I'll just end up rewiring the whole headlight when I do that.
I'm not a fan of the Xenon's, sure they were hot tech at the time and better than halogen, but modern LEDs outpace them for half the cost of new bulbs. I'm happy to have the projector housings though, it will work better with an LED.
Got the new axle in last night, its exactly the same size and length. Splines lined up on both ends with no fuss. The car was fairly noisy when driving it, I'm wondering how much of that was the axle, I guess I'll find out soon enough.
I used a ball joint tool to pop the taper out of the control arm, sounded like a gun when it released. The boot has likely been torn for a while, its totally full of road grit. New one is out for delivery today.
took the car for a spin last night after putting the new ball joint in.
It rides nice and smooth now, and it makes much less noise while driving. It was late and raining and my wipers are bad so I just drove around my neighborhood a bit.
no more vibration at hard acceleration! Guess I didn’t need to buy the driver side axle but I assume that one doesn’t have much time left anyway. I’ll keep it around until it fails too.
Axle loosely in place Carrier bearing aligned New ball joint in Passenger front corner back together Lookin fresh
i also tried to adjust my headlights but it was not as easy as I expected, I think they’re pointed a bit too high. Or maybe they just aren’t very good, hard to say!
Missed the deadline to inspect but I’ll go next week.
My brakes were still a touch soft, after some looking I found that the brake bleed procedure is called "vent" in ISTA+. Excited that I finally found the answer to my soft pedal, I bled the passenger rear wheel, before moving to the next wheel I checked the pressure bleeder. Saw that it had dropped to 10PSI, I pumped it back up to 20 and my brake reservoir exploded. At the rear left corner A chunk flew off and sprayed brake fluid everywhere. The manual says its safe to go up to 30PSI, I thought i was being careful.
The corner of the reservoir is exposed to sun and elements through the cowl vents, and it had become brittle over the years. There are only 2 mini dealers in MA, so I'll be battling Boston traffic tonight to get the part. $110 and its only available as a genuine part.
This is really frustrating but I'm telling myself its a good thing because this likely would have eventually caused water to leak into the brake system and ruin everything.
New brake reservoir was picked up yesterday from Mini of Boston. $110 but exactly the right part! Popped it in and bled the brakes. First pressure bleeding ever corner then running the “vent brakes” procedure in ISTA+. That got out a bit more air from the passenger rear corner but nothing extra from the others. Ended up pushing about a quart through the system, the fluid is spotless now too. The brakes are very good now much improved, but still not as firm as I’d like. I’m gonna drive it for a bit and bleed it again, I suspect there could be a bit more air hiding somewhere but I’ll need to give it some time to work loose. I also want the pads to bed in and give the system some time to work any air out on its own that it can. I’ll drive it for a week or so, it’s perfectly safe, I can lock all four wheels.
The other thing I did was put in a set of Bosch 0280156063 374cc Audi TT injectors. My original JCW 380cc injectors were leaky, causing hard starts and making me worry about oil dilution. With these new ones the car starts perfectly every time and cruises smoother. Power during WOT also feels much nicer and more predictable. No engine lights to speak of the car is running great . I paid $180 shipped from FCP Euro. A much better deal than paying $700 to Allmag for the real deal. I could have had them cleaned but I wanted new parts, I’ll send them out for professional ultrasonic cleaning eventually.
And that’s it for now! I have safety inspection tomorrow, and then I’m gonna start driving the thign. I’ll pick up a set of winter rubber sometime soon. Thanks for reading this far if you did! I’m happy to share my little adventure here for anyone. Overall I’d say it was a fun experience, this is the first car I’ve ever fixed up this much. I’d do it again but maybe with less rodents
I’ll continue to update this thread as I do more mods and repairs, but this milestone marks the end of the major repair and restoration of this car. Old ones looking a bit tired My Chinese diesel heater to take the chill out of the garage New injectors Pressure bleeding setup New injectors compared to JCW originals Plug and play no adapter needed On the rail Missing chunk from old reservoir
Wow, impressive level of detail. This car is going to drive like brand new. Good job. Can't wait to see the final result.
Thanks! Its already so much better than it was before. Having good brakes and smooth axles has really gone a long way in making the car feel solid and dependable.
The failure with the brake system has finally revealed itself.
The pedal felt good after bleeding but gradually over 3 days got worse, i saw that the reservoir was empty and knew there had to be a leak. There simply wasn't that much room in the system. The issue was that the master cylinder was leaking into the brake booster, so every time I pushed the pedal more air would get pushed into the brake system through the leaking seal. This explains why no matter how many times I pressure bled it, air would always come out.
So I'm on the hunt for a new MC and potentially a new booster. The booster has a puddle of fluid in it, I saw it through the vacuum port, I'm going to remove it and try to clean it out with brake cleaner and hope it isn't too damaged. Realistically its only had fluid in it for a week or so, and the diaphragm is still holding pressure.
As far as how i knew to even check for this, when i parked the car yesterday i noted that the brake pedal made a sort of "sloshing" sound when pumped with the engine off. That is when I saw that the reservoir was empty, knowing that in order for the fluid to slosh like that it had to be in a location with a very large volume of air present. The only place that could logically be is inside the booster.
Brake booster is out, I removed approximately 500ml of black brake fluid from the booster. Then struggled forever to get the booster out of the car.
seriously whoever designed this can catch me out back. It’s like it was designed to be the first thing to go onto a bare chassis.
It doesn’t seem like it’s failed, idk how well the diaphragm will do long term, I'm betting I’ll be wrestling this POS out again but at $200 for a new booster I opted to re-use the stock one. I won’t loose my brakes without it.
I rinsed it out with brake cleaner and put it all back sans the MC. Vacuumed all the pine needles out This made it a million times easier to get back in Back together waiting on an new MC from FCP
After replacing the passenger side axle the car was much smoother, however a slight vibration remained. I saw that the boot was torn on the drivers axle and decided to replace that one as well. The symptom was nearly identical so I assume that was the same failure.
The ball joint was good on this side but looked original, so I opted to replace it. $30 insurance IMO. This time I went with OE Lemförder. Used the same NAPA axle. I also replaced the axle seal as the passenger side began leaking after replacing the axle.
I need to do the oil filter and cooler gaskets and replace the passenger side axle seal. I’m dreading digging around in that greasy pit again but hopefully this will be the final oil leak and it will eventually start to dry up. I’m still waiting on the new master cylinder, I went with OE Ate on that, genuine part was $480 from FCP the non branded part was only $150 so that’s a no brainer.
I also have a new coolant leak at the thermostat housing which I’ll address after the car is back on the ground. Only so I can do it outside and rinse it off with the hose lol.
I just finished reading your story. Nicely done. That engine looks like someone at least changed the oil regularly and at a reasonably short intervals. Mice - an ever constant problem. Have you changed the cabin air filter? I found nests in there in our R50. Ugh!
As for bleeding the brakes, the ABS unit can be a pain, as I found out with my 2019 MINI. Elsewhere on NAM I remember reading that triggering the ABS on a slippery surface (sand, gravel, snow, etc) by braking hard is a way to work the air out of the unit. Then going back through the bleed process.
Looking forward to how you make out with it, and the adventures you might go on.
I just finished reading your story. Nicely done. That engine looks like someone at least changed the oil regularly and at a reasonably short intervals. Mice - an ever constant problem. Have you changed the cabin air filter? I found nests in there in our R50. Ugh!
As for bleeding the brakes, the ABS unit can be a pain, as I found out with my 2019 MINI. Elsewhere on NAM I remember reading that triggering the ABS on a slippery surface (sand, gravel, snow, etc) by braking hard is a way to work the air out of the unit. Then going back through the bleed process.
Looking forward to how you make out with it, and the adventures you might go on.
Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement! Thankfully on this car the little guys never entered the HVAC system so the cabin air filter, while dirty, was mouse free. I actually don't have a cabin filter installed right now, I keep forgetting to buy one...
Since putting the new master cylinder in the car is responding to bleeding normally, there's just a ton of air in it. The rear brakes appear to be going through a restrictor, so they're just slower to bleed out. I have it in a really good position now, there's just a tiny bit of air left that I'll get out in the next day or so. You're right though, this thing is a royal PITA to bleed, this is probably the most difficult brake job I've ever done. I bled in the master cylinder on my wife's Honda fit with no special tools at all.
A ton has happened since the last update on this vehicle. Mainly, I injured my wrist which prevented me from making any progress for three weeks at the end of November to mid December. This was a real wrench in the plan, because I had removed the master cylinder, and was ready to put the new one in and then the whole project went on hold. I had a large burn around my entire wrist which I sustained while trying to purge my boiler, its all good now thankfully.
However, since healing up I've got a bunch of things sealed up and fixed
New oil filter housing seal
New oil cooler seals
New passenger side axle seal
New thermostat housing and thermostat
First off, the oil filter housing and cooler seals are a bear of a job, that's a really tight area. Since I needed to replace the axle seal, I first removed the passenger side axle which gave me better access and even then it was tough. Tightening the topmost bolt was not easy. Its done and the leaks are all stopped now, incredibly, this car no longer drips oil of any kind, I'm stunned.
The axle seal was interesting, I didn't replace it when I did the passenger side and I noted transmission fluid leaking out that wasn't happening before. I assumed that the old seal had just given out. I installed a new seal from Corteco, but when I installed the axle back in the second time I realized that it wasn't actually seating all the way into the transmission. What had happened was that the carrier bearing was not fully pressed onto the new axle and that caused the whole assembly to be shifted slightly out by maybe like 4-5mm. I was able to gently tap it all the way down and that let the axle seat all the way in again. I'm waiting to see if it still leaks, this axle may be manufactured wrong.
Thermostat housing was replaced with a fully metal replacement part from Üro parts. Its a nice piece, I think this is how it should have been from the factory but what do I know lol. Thermostat is a new part from Facet, I tested it in a pot of boiling water before installing it. The coolant leak is gone now. The lower two bolts didn't torque up normally, they felt like they were definitely gonna snap, so I stopped before that happened and put in an order for some fresh stainless hardware. I'll replace them later one at a time to avoid draining the system again. The leak was on the bottom half of the thermostat, I assume years of exposure to coolant weakened the original hardware.
I also re-bled the brakes a few times, unlike before it gets better every time I do it and it does appear to bleed with just the power bleeder. I was bleeding fluid out and then putting that fluid back into the power bleeder, I know that's a no-no and I think micro-bubbles in the re-used fluid were causing it to never fully bleed. Its really close now.
I also found that when I installed the header there was an exhaust leak at the head that I hadn't noticed before. Heavy exhaust smell was constantly entering the cabin. Who could have guessed that this $100 header has a poorly manufactured flange on it! I used a stock style metal gasket, I took it out sprayed it with 3 coats of copper gasket spray and threw it back in. I think its fixed now, but I have a thick composite metal-fiber exhaust gasket from Fel-Pro on standby in case this doesn't work long term.
I've been driving the car around a lot more now, the suspension is really cooked, I likely need to do a complete overhaul, but that will wait until the summer time. This thing is like riding in a log wagon, and its too low for my taste.
Big news, the brakes are finally fully bled and have no more air in them! I had air coming out of the passenger side rear caliper. This is also the caliper I had replaced, I opted to tap the caliper with a hammer to try and loosen up any air. To my surprise a ton of air came out of it, I kept tapping and tapping until the air fully stopped.
The pedal is totally stiff now! Feels like pushing against a wall. The pedal feel when driving is pretty lackluster, I’ve come to understand this is a result of the small stock master cylinder in conjunction with the larger JCW front brakes. In the long term a better master cylinder would be a nice upgrade. I’ve seen people retrofit the z4 master with good results.
I also swapped the bolts for the thermostat for stainless hardware. Just a nice to have cheap insurance type thing.
I also found that I was leaking exhaust at the downstream o2 sensor because somehow I didn’t thread it in properly. Tightened it up and my exhaust smell in the cabin is gone.
I put the trim back on, which required $80 worth of plastic clips from FCP as all the original ones disintegrated.
additional good news is that the passenger side axle seal is no longer leaking.
The car is much more confident now, I drove it around more tonight with the fixed brakes.
at this point the major worrying items are solved, on the horizon is adding a cat to the car, overhauling the suspension, and replacing the clutch.
Thank you for posting up your project and taking the time to put up photos.... and all the details that go into your work ... and the process you are going through... even the cool the little diesel heater !
Kudos...
Please keep em comining.. not many of these on this forum anymore.
As for the brake feel, have you replaced the flex lines to the wheels? If you haven’t, you maybe getting some soft pedal from those. And an option there would be braided lines for a further improvement.
Thank you for posting up your project and taking the time to put up photos.... and all the details that go into your work ... and the process you are going through... even the cool the little diesel heater !
Kudos...
Please keep em comining.. not many of these on this forum anymore.
.
Thank you! I'm having a good time documenting it, I did pretty much the same thing on my Focus ST before. The Engineer's ST
My thought is that by keeping a good record of everything I did it can help anyone else and also help me when I inevitably forget what I did to the car lol.
This mini is the first big project I've had, my ST build started with a perfectly clean, working car, this is the first time I started with a car that wasn't useable. Its been a whole different experience. This forum is a goldmine too, pretty much every problem has already been solved.
Originally Posted by Eddie07S
As for the brake feel, have you replaced the flex lines to the wheels? If you haven’t, you maybe getting some soft pedal from those. And an option there would be braided lines for a further improvement.
Glad to see it coming along.
The previous owner put on some braided brake lines, I suspect in an effort to improve the braking feel. Its not horrible at all, its just not great. I'm looking at this master cylinder upgrade kit that uses an M3 cylinder. I think this would be an ideal upgrade that would pretty much entirely fix this issue. I need to do suspension first through.
So I took the car out for a little spin, and I didn’t expect the bypass valve to do much but I’m really surprised and happy to say that it totally killed the yoyo this car had. It was previously really bad and would break into an oscillation pretty much any time it was driven at part throttle. It’s totally fixed now. The power seems to come on a bit smoother too, a bit more gently I’d say?
I also changed the transmission fluid while I had the car up, idk how old the stuff in there was but it was totally black. I used redline 75w90 shifts nice and smooth.
A chunk flew off and sprayed brake fluid everywhere. The manual says its safe to go up to 30PSI, I thought i was being careful. 
. I paid $180 shipped from FCP Euro. A much better deal than paying $700 to Allmag for the real deal. I could have had them cleaned but I wanted new parts, I’ll send them out for professional ultrasonic cleaning eventually.
I actually don't have a cabin filter installed right now, I keep forgetting to buy one...
