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Year: 2006 Make: MINI Model: Hardtop Price: $1 Mileage: 100 Color: red Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing Location (Region): Midwestern
Originally Posted by Jonny
Man, the monochrome pepper white, shows off every little bit, in a JCW, that would be my favorite, minus the seats. Geneva Motors brings a lot of nice Gen1s.
Need to jump start this thread again...
The 2006 PW/TR 21K mile S sold for $15,500 ($16,275 with fees) today on BaT.
Perhaps like some here, I followed that auction with interest to live conclusion. Might have gone a bit higher had one bidder been quicker with keyboard "paddle", but then likely a follow-up bid by the eventual winner. Yes, BaT 5% buyer fee added to final auction price but also transport fee ($2324 to my location) as well as prevailing DMV/MVD registration transaction cost. Here in AZ, no sales tax is charged when purchase transaction is between two private parties. If bought from a dealer (within State or transported from elsewhere), that sales tax will be collected. For me, a very big motivator to be patient and wait for private party sale within easy retrieval distance.
I thought that PW might’ve done even better, the flawless aero body showed that car off really nice, probably very tempting for some. I’d imagine if it were a JCW, or some serious performance upgrades i.e. you know who’s purple monster, we might’ve seen a Gen1 R53 cross $20k on Bat.
On the right day, your BEP might get closer to $25k than 20.
@Chamberlin1 and it's a BR GREEN JCW! I'm sure your current MINI scenario(s) are getting boring about now. Let's throw this wrench into the mix.
But it's not a factory JCW and no LSD, so you might have just been saved from more insanity....
LOL! Interesting timing....It's looking like I just sold the Royal Grey dealer JCW hardtop last night; he's supposed to complete the transaction in about a week... He has also expressed interest in the JCW brake kit that I bought and the Breytons... Maybe I should hang on to those red binders for this green beauty! And have the Breytons powder coated bronze! I'm definitely not a convertible guy though, having only had two green Z3 M Roadsters (S52 & S54), but I do miss the night time drives in the summer with the top down! Damn, I love the originality of this R52, and looks like PPF on the front end too. Just a little east coast rust on the bolts and aluminum parts, but damn, sure is tempting! I have LSD on the RG, but I'm not one to drive it hard enough to really make a difference. If it pulls decently well in a straight line, and I can hear the pops and burbles along with the supercharger whine, I'm a happy motoring fool.
I found a MC40 on Portland,OR. FB marketplace (search 2004 Mini Cooper · S Hatchback 2D) just after I found my ideal JCW..
110k, $5500.
bad pics but i noticed the badge..
I messaged about more info and got engine pics. Per owner
‘i have the original window sticker in the car i believe, as far as issues, the driver side outside door latch doest work and the head liner is sagging’
I found a MC40 on Portland,OR. FB marketplace (search 2004 Mini Cooper · S Hatchback 2D) just after I found my ideal JCW..
110k, $5500.
bad pics but i noticed the badge..
I messaged about more info and got engine pics. Per owner
‘i have the original window sticker in the car i believe, as far as issues, the driver side outside door latch doest work and the head liner is sagging’
Some other issues: his photography skills are terrible, the intercooler cover is not from a JCW, there is no MC40 shifter ****, there is no MC40 commemorative plaque, and the car, overall, looks like ****
I agree with Noonzio regarding that particular MC40.
Used car market is crazy right now,
but this is really nuts!
Got an email offer from CarFax the other day,
yeah okay LOL
Speaking of the market, back when I was looking, man did I burn up CarGurus, browsing there like 3 times a day! haha Came very close to getting a low mileage MC40 JCW down in Florida but it sold too quickly.
At the local junkyard yesterday I saw this particular car which has been there for like a whole year already, the battery box is like a pond for mosquito breeding LOL
Just a friendly reminder for all you R53 guys that it's a wise idea to open the drain hole in your battery box so you won't one day encounter this scenario:
It is a total conundrum in my mind as to why-in-the-hell they plugged the drain hole at the factory?
The drain hole is already there at the lowest point in the box, but it is plugged and painted over.
In my case I was fortunate to catch it before a massive accumulation, but still it was very alarming to see almost an inch of standing water in my battery box after an onslaught of continuous heavy rain. In my case it was a couple of those white trim clips on the waistline where the little foam tape bottom had degraded enough to provide an opening for water entry. There are more than several avenues for water ingression at the rear end. Both the 3rd brake light and hatch handle gaskets are prone to failure as these cars get older and older, mine weren't leaking but I changed them out for new anyways as a preventative measure.
This pic shows what a leaking hatch handle gasket will look like over time if left uncorrected:
And don’t forget under the door sill seal, the other evil place where water gets in. I hear it mainly gets there when you drive in the rain and somehow makes it’s way through the various spaces between the door. An easy solution for both is just don’t ever get your car wet lol.
I don't understand how some cars seem to escape the sill rust, but they do --- whenever I hit up the boneyard it's always something I check and doing my own informal survey --- from my rather small sampling size of cars I'd say that around 20% are rust-free in the sill tops, but most are like this one which haapened to have leftover info onboard of its origins even though it no longer resided there...
...and even southern cars get the rust there:
Originally Posted by QuickCooper
I found rust on my car today. 2006 MCS 43k miles, South Florida car. The drivers side has rust too but not as bad.
When I read up on the rust issue on the sills, seems as though it also starts where the clamp for spot weld goes, so is unpainted/untreated. Haven’t checked mine yet, but assuming it’s not bad because the car was garaged and summer driven only. But you never know. Think I’ll have to check while on the subject.
Yep, always worth a looksee. Mine have a slight bit on both sides which makes me cringe because rust never sleeps and it's only going to get worse but I don't know what to do to properly fix it --- just cleaned/sanded/repainted the areas and added Fluid Film but that's only a band-aid really.
Although I'm unsure, I suspect that moisture collects within the sill box and it starts rusting from the inside out.
Found this interesting listing where you can see the various openings which allow ingression...
...would love to find an answer and a solution.
And,
since this is the hound-dog thread where we occasionally talk of such stuff to be on the lookout for when inspecting cars under consideration, we also love to speak of specification and the bare shell from that listing has an intensely interesting history, a sad shame really, to see it in such a state.
The seller had an invoice from the financing company with all the details.
It was a proper JCW car sold by Mike Raven complete with a good gathering of JCW accessories, plus upped a bit to the 225 option which was not BMW approved.
I wouldn't normally consider a car with 173k miles to be a good deal, but considering some of the awful turds I see for sale here in the PNW, this one is actually a good deal, considering all the recent work thats been done on it:
I considered rust aspects on cars of interest. For example, many of Carvana inventory advertised locally were bought at auction in the "rust belt" with provided CarFax report annual mileage suggesting used as daily driver thus subjected to salted roads vs simply as summer cars. As often said and still applicable, "buyer beware" or at very least, be savvy shoppers.
My recent acquisition is an anomaly, having been stored in a large outbuilding garage its entire life in east Phoenix suburb area, possibly being driest likely possible of desert climate conditions. Rust? What's that???
Yep, always worth a looksee. Mine have a slight bit on both sides which makes me cringe because rust never sleeps and it's only going to get worse but I don't know what to do to properly fix it --- just cleaned/sanded/repainted the areas and added Fluid Film but that's only a band-aid really.
Although I'm unsure, I suspect that moisture collects within the sill box and it starts rusting from the inside out.
Found this interesting listing where you can see the various openings which allow ingression...
...would love to find an answer and a solution.
And,
since this is the hound-dog thread where we occasionally talk of such stuff to be on the lookout for when inspecting cars under consideration, we also love to speak of specification and the bare shell from that listing has an intensely interesting history, a sad shame really, to see it in such a state.
The seller had an invoice from the financing company with all the details.
It was a proper JCW car sold by Mike Raven complete with a good gathering of JCW accessories, plus upped a bit to the 225 option which was not BMW approved.
Essentially it was a regular 210 JCW with added 4-2-1 John Cooper Motorsport headers + sports cat, and a 15% s/c pulley.
Neat stuff!
You’ve got hound dog like research capacities that lead you across an ocean...I find this stuff so nostalgic and much more interesting than most typical posts. At first I looked at the sale price and figured pretty cheap for that specific build, then realized it was pounds. That was a pricey build sheet, probably at the upper end of a well optioned sale price. A shame it ended up like that.
I considered rust aspects on cars of interest. For example, many of Carvana inventory advertised locally were bought at auction in the "rust belt" with provided CarFax report annual mileage suggesting used as daily driver thus subjected to salted roads vs simply as summer cars. As often said and still applicable, "buyer beware" or at very least, be savvy shoppers.
My recent acquisition is an anomaly, having been stored in a large outbuilding garage its entire life in east Phoenix suburb area, possibly being driest likely possible of desert climate conditions. Rust? What's that???
Arizona is a beautiful place, I was absolutely mesmerized by it.
Y'all get that surface level oxidation rust patina stuff but it takes ages to develop, recently stumbled across this neat video:
Apparently Arizona didn't mandate removing crashed vehicles from such sites until 1978, so I guess there are numerous spots like this on tricky curves at the bottom of various canyon roads out there?
^^^ Yes, I'm north of there at 5k' elev but my other passion is off-pavement recreation (Can-Am SxS and Jeep). My buddy and I are active volunteers with Tonto Recreation Alliance which does the USFS trail inspection and signage on behalf of and in accordance with the Tonto NF district rangers. As such, we routinely see dump sites as shown in that video as a byproduct over decades from folks preferring to haul junk into the forest (desert being part of that) rather than pay landfill tonnage fees.
Sorry, seems I got off track by somewhat gloating about rust not being an issue. Apologies...
You’ve got hound dog like research capacities that lead you across an ocean...I find this stuff so nostalgic and much more interesting than most typical posts. At first I looked at the sale price and figured pretty cheap for that specific build, then realized it was pounds. That was a pricey build sheet, probably at the upper end of a well optioned sale price. A shame it ended up like that.
Yeah, the poundnotes are heavy!
I enjoy checking in on the UK ebay, seen these GP brochures selling for around the $120 mark for the last couple of years:
.
Several instances were I've spotted rare decals,
and they are quite in demand too,
this one sold for around $85:
And of course just seeing the various parts even if I don't necessarily care for them, like the R53 factory shift lights,
they always make a mint whenever they pop up.
They’re now selling 3D printed versions of the shift lights...and they look simply awful. You’ve got a great eye for the marketing literature etc. sounds like a good expensive hobby to indulge in lol.
Yeah some of the lit is stupidly expensive which is why I don't have that GP brochure!
I did get a supplementary owners manual though because those are pretty cheap.
In it they list the US version as being 55lbs lighter than euro version and all I can think of is those fancy seats they got over there, but it doesn't make sense because I wouldn't think the seats would be that much heavier.
I don't go too crazy with the printed materials though like trying to be a completist and get everything --- not really much R53 stuff out there comparatively speaking like how cars in the pre-digital age tend to have much much more stuff.
Library of Motoring has a good amount of pdf's for browsing, as do other places, and I'm okay with just downloading pdf version too.
Also neat to go back and read press reviews, all these for example from GP introduction are still up on the web:
