city driving in the r53 isnt that great, 20-24 dpending on how u drive like everyone said, now on the highway u could get pretty good mileage 29-30's, but u cant sit in ur boost on the highway so like 70+ wont get u the best mileage, about 55-60 ull get pretty good mileage. I actually cant tell you that iv gotten that cuz i always go faste but im sureu could.

The only other thing i can say is that i hav the mods that are at the bottom of my post and from a roll i run neck and neck with e46 m3s s4s r32s srt4s, close to 335is, take almost all wrxs, mustangs and so on and so forth
only difference is that i get way better gas mileage than they do whether im going all out or not.
Another thign is that with intake, exhaust, pulley, dtbv, youll definately be capable of getting better mpg, but ull have like twice the car you had before so you would have to keep your foot out of it. Definately get the mini over an s2k, only ones i find attractive hav big turbos and lots of money in them, and after i drive one and get back into my mini im always happy with my choice

 

Well since I live in central FL, I can tell you that with my modded R53, I get approximately 26 MPG if I'm not goosing the throttle all the time and my driving is predominately on 408/417. I do notice, however, that if I drive like a granny, I can almost get to 30 MPG, but where is the fun in that? Consequently, if I'm hammering it all the time, I have noticed my fuel economy dip down to low 20s/high 10s.

GotMINI

 

Ok LAST (important) question from me (for now)...

I see a lot of people on here who have done quite a lot of minor and major upgrades to their mini. I am all for this. My question is do most of you do the upgrades yourself? Or do you take it somewhere to be done.
For the DIYers, how difficult is it to get in under the hood and change parts out? It looks like a tight squeeze from what I can see.

I'm definitely mechanically inclined. On my Saturn I've changed out just about everything, including timing chains, cylinder heads, rings and bearings. The saturn is definitely pretty easy to work on as far as room goes. The Mini... it looked difficult to even change the drive belt!

 

FuelEconomy.gov quotes 31 highway for the 03 MCS, they may have retro scripted that so its figure isn't as good as it used to be. I don't seem to be able to get the best mileage out of MINIs, the first gen ones particularly. Our R53 never got above 26.4 even on the highway. I was pretty dissapointed by its mileage, but it was fun, and we eventually got the R56s instead.

The 03 may be a bit more economical than our 05 anyway, due to the higher gearing.

 

I would like a 2nd gen Mini but unfortunately I don't have that kind of money.
After reading a lot of info online about changes in models through the year I don't think I'll be going with anything pre-'05.

 

I have done everything on mine myself, and plan on doing everything in the future my self. It takes some getting used to working on it, and its always better to have a buddy but it isnt thaaaat bad. Youl get really good once u change a belt twice, wont take you to long, dont be intimidated it really isnt that bad

MINI ON!

 

I noticed you have a reduction pulley (as with a lot of others). Is 15% the smallest one? I've also seen 19% and was under the impression that it was 19% smaller than stock which would technically be smaller than the 15% one. But I may have that wrong.

 

The 19% is smaller than the 15%.

GotMINI

 

Ok then! I don't think I'll be modifying my MINI until it's about paid off (I'm going for 20 months on that).

So... looking for an '05 R53m w/ less than 60k miles for less than $15k.
I wonder how long that will take. Oh, and w/ leather interior. :D