Hey guys, I think I am going to take a break from mods. I have a 2003 Cooper with almost 112,000 on her. I am on my third tranny, third clutch, second flywheel, second powersteering pump and fan, a number of coolent issues, mushrooming an etc. I think it is time to give the car a break and just leave the darn thing along! I am thinking about selling the car in late 2008 mainly because of the tranny issues. I am considering a Toyota MR-2 Spyder as my next car. The modding and maintance at the same time is getting very expensive. I should stop right or keep modding?

HERE ARE MY MODS:
True Flow drop in air filter
Magnaflow cat-back
Powerflex upper and lower motor mounts
Spec Stage 1 clutch

Suspension:
Ireland fixed camber plates
H-sport springs
Koni Yellows
18mm HandR rear sway
OMP lower front strut brace
H-sport rear control arms
Powerflex front control arm bushings
fresh ball joints!!

Brakes:
Powerslot front rotors
Mintex pads all around
Brake Calipers painted red

Wheels and tires:
Black with red lip (Rota Group N's) (12lbs) (15x6.5)
205/50/15 Bfgoodrich G-Force Sports (20 lbs)

Exterior:
Mini Cooper S front bumper
Aero kit front grill
Tinted windows (35% on front) (15% on rear)
Blacked out:
(Head light rings
MINI Cooper S gas cap
Lower front grill
reverse light
Side markers
Side grill markers)

Stock tow hook painted red
Racing strips on bonnet and boot
Debaged rear
Yellow tint on front turn signals
Shorty anttena

Interior:
Red shift boot
Aftermarket shift **** shift ****
Red tape around tac


Audio:
Pioneer deck
Pioneer 6 1/2 front speakers
stock tweeters and rear 6X9 speakers

 

Definitely don't put more money into a car you are planning to sell.

If I were you, I would start REMOVING mods and selling them since you won't get much if anything if you leave them on the car when you sell. . . .

 

Very true, I am just worring if my third tranny is going to hold up! My car will be paid for in Oct 2008. I will just need to keep my fingers crossed! Plus my car is so HIGH MILAGE!!

 

And I think the MR2 Spyder is a great car. I'd love to have one in my garage. . . . yummy mid-engine car. . . .

 

I can pick one up between 10,000-17,000 depending on year and mileage.
Here is one Spyder forum:

www.spyderchat.com

 

If you planned on keeping it, I would drop in the Getrag 6 speed tranny and get Jan to tune it for more torque. There's a thread here on NAM about tranny mod being done and that would likely solve your problem for good.

 

How much is a tranny swap? How hard is it?

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...=getrag+cooper

Not sure, but a lot less than 3 Midlands I'm sure. =)

 

Had they done this a year ago, and I still had my '03 Cooper, this would have been my next mod, as that was the ONLY thing that concerned me with my Cooper. Now I'm stuck in mod hell with my '05 MCS, lol, and it never ends....

 

I'm stuck to man!! LOL

 

Haha it's not clear to me if they will be offering this tranny swap as a service or just posting a DIY on it. I researched this to death way back then---although it was more about swapping an '05 Getrag tranny with my '03 Midlands and the one person that did it wasn't telling how--except it was really messy and time consuming.

Just think, with a bulletproof tranny, you can then think about modding the Cooper engine with some of the more durable Cooper S internals, add a Turbo, or a new Head, or ....... lol

 

What was the issue with all the trannys? I keep getting worried when I hear things like that. I just picked up my 03 MCS a week ago. I have a good income but it's not budgited for things like trannys and superchargers blowing up..

 

True that, my motor has been great though! I love the little Tritec motor!

 

The tranny issues are more with the 2002-2004 Cooper Midlands tranny not so much with the MINI Cooper S 6-speed Getrag tranny.

 

Ok oh.. That eases the worry a bit.

 

Yep while you don't need to worry about the Getrag tranny, the Superchargers have a life span, seems to be around 100,000 miles--though many have gone much longer and some have gotten much less. However this thread is about the Non Supercharged Cooper and his Midlands tranny.

Richard

 

I kinda wish I got a S LOL!

 

yah, you should've started modding on the car that you really needed.
i think my MCS with only like $5k in mods is faster. (i donno)

 

Well it's never too late. All of those mods you have on the Cooper can be transferred over to an MCS--atleast R53, don't know about R56. When I bought my broken MCS, I had a good start of mods by transferring over most of everything, and what couldn't-- I gave to a deserving Cooper friend that couldn't afford them-like my Remus exhaust. =)

If you sell your Cooper, considering the miles without the mods---maybe you can get $9,000 or $10,000 for it? Then find a 2003 or 2004 MCS for $14,000 to $16,000--and start again? LOL. I'm running my 5 speed custom Whalen **** on my MCS. Great for slowing down an unknowing thief trying to find reverse in a hurry, but bad for valet guys, lol.

Just a thought.

Richard

 

If I buy a 2002-2004 MINI S will I have to through the hassle of powersteering pump problems, coolant tank problems, mushrooming, rattles, cold start problems with earlier model MINI S's and etc?

What are some of the main problems with the 2002-2004 MINI S?

 

Think it depends on "who's" you buy. I probably wouldn't buy a 2002 being the first model year. I really like the 2005--if you could find one in your price range, that would be my pick, especially with LSD, but not likely to find an '05 for cheap yet.

Richard