I am new to Minis so I do not know much about them. Here is the situation:

A friend blew the motor on his R53 and is looking to get rid of it. It is an 03 with around 100K miles. I have done motor swaps and engine work on a lot of different cars before so I am looking at it as a really cool project car for the summer. Maybe keep it as a DD, maybe flip it, maybe build it up and auto-x it...

Issue #1 - What should I be looking to give him for the car? I obviously do not want to over spend because if I decide to flip it I want to be able to make a decent amount of money on it for the work I have put in but I also am not looking to screw him.

Issue #2 - How difficult is an engine swap/engine work? What is the best way to do it? I have a lot of experience with doing this and the tools to do it but I do not know if the Minis pose any interesting challenges with its small size.

Issue #3 - Where would I go to find new/used engines and/or rebuild kits and how much should I be expecting to dump into this?

Issue #4 - I am not sure of the extent of the damage yet. The oil pan cracked, it ran out of oil, and the engine seized so it could be pretty extensive.

What do you guys think? I am open to any/all thoughts.

 

go aftermarket and contact Way at "Way Motor Works"

 

You could start here, parts and retail price list for Minis.

RealOEM.com Online BMW Parts Catalog

 

With that extensive damage to the lower end you would be better off doing a used motor swap out.
You can get a used motor, with a warrenty, for about 3K.
Might as well replace the clutch while you have engine out.
Pull motor & trans as a unit.
Replace as same.
Get a copy of Bentley MINI Cooper service manual.

 

probably the best advice you will ever receive. They can be expensive, every now and then one will pop up in the market tho. I recently bought one, and wish i had it when i did my motor swap.

KBB lists a 03 R53 with basic options and 100k miles, fair condition right at $7800. Excellent is around $9500.
Like Vollgas stated, a used motor can be bought for $3k, so if keep that in mind. To the right person a fresh engine is worth more to someone...

When I did my swap, I removed the whole modular front end to easy the removal. It allows the motor to come basically straight out instead of having to lift it up then out.


and i know you stated you have experience with engine swaps, but if you do it, label every connector with tape. And put bolts into zip lock baggies with a description of where they came from to help with install.

If you want to go aftermarket, call Jan at Revolution Mini Works, he can help you out with any questions

 

Lots of mini's are weekend cars....so many of the wrecks to get motors from are pretty low mile cars....i'd just get a used motor....bolt it up...and go.
Some things are different, the learning curve is kinda steep, but doable with a manual and a few hours of research I think with some prior experance.

 

I wouldn't plan on flipping the car. Simply because the second you take it for a test drive to test the new engine, you won't want to part with it!

 

Thanks for the help and tips guys! I will definitely be buying a service manual, those can be a real life saver. Where would you go to find a used engine? I am struggling to find much for Minis. I am seeing some stuff on Ebay but I am not sure that is the best place to go.

Can you get a complete aftermarket engine or are you saying build up the one that I have? If I were to make some minor mods a pulley, sway bar, and CAI are probably the first places to go?

I will definitely be replacing the clutch. Is there anything else that I should be looking to replace once I get everything torn apart?

Thanks again! Excited to be a new member of the Mini Community.

 

The usual places for used motors....wrecking yards...ebay....or some vendors like waymotorworks.com sometimes have wrecks they part out if they are close enough...
Start with a stock oem motor ....then get it running...then do mods.....if you want a factory rebuilt, I think mini/bmw might be your only option...if you want a performance motor prebuilt, rmw can do them (strokers too) for a $$$. When you price out a crate motor, the cost will not seem so crazy....but for a budget rebuild, just get a good used motor, transfer over your accesorys, and install....
Then enjoy the car...get any bugs worked out, then mod it!!

 

Where are you located? You could try these guys here in Seattle:

http://www.britishautocenter.com

I'm thinking specifically of this car, which had less than 10K on it:

http://www.britishautocenter.com/?id=1501

With any luck the engine wasn't damaged. They have two other "S" models as well.

Val

 

There are several good deals on ebay for motors.
You can also just get a salvage car for a nominal sum.
Great to have a parts car around.
You also might check out this source.
http://www.car-part.com/
You can find parts that are in your area.
Good luck!

 

Thanks for th help guys! I will let you know how it all goes.

 

Way has a nice JCW engine just sitting around. Not the cheapest way short term, but zero mile motors have their upsides too..

http://www.waymotorworks.com/john-co...53-engine.html

 

Yeah, thats cool but very expensive! I just want to tear into this thing and figure out what all is going on in there so I can figure out what all it is going to need because I would like to get it running as cheaply as possible and then look into adding some goodies.

 

Cross linking this with another thread - they appear complementary.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-to-sell.html

 

Yeah, I saw that. Defiantly a different car tho. I would buy his too! Maybe I should make an offer.

 

So here is what I have kind of come up with...
KBB/Edmunds TMV - $8,500
Engine - $3500
Clutch, Supercharger Service, other - $1000
My labor/profit - $1500 minimum

Leaves with a price for the car of $2000 to $2500...

Does this sound reasonable to you guys?

 

Is there a good place to buy a r53 with a bad motor? I keep looking around but I failed to find any...

 

Dig in Craigslist. In May I bought a 2006 S with spun bearing. It is red with the full Aero kit. It has exactly 100k miles. Purchased it for 1800. I purchased a used motor with 84k verified miles from a local salvage yard with a good rep for 1200. It came complete with supercharger. I did put about $2k in new parts to freshen it up. I got $300 for the original supercharger and traded the blown motor for left and right race rated axles. It is up and running.

 

Nice job... keep 'em on the road.

Motor On!

 

Thanks. It was my first swap. I've done a fair amount, but nothing this invasive. It was pretty easy really with the videos on Youtube. When I got done the only issues I had was an injector that was not plugged in all the way and the power steering power cable came out for some reason. Just for reference if you do buy one with a blown engine here is what I changed. I figured best to just get it all refreshed for another 100K miles.

I'm probably all in at just under $5K

- Supercharger pulley to 17% plus service (with the Way service kit)
- Poly control arm bushings, lower engine mount insert, steering bushing (and a few others)
- Control arm ball joints
- New Bilstein struts with baffle
- Under mount reinforcement plates
- Red Line Trans Fluid
- Valeo clutch kit
- New upper passenger motor mount
- New front wheel speed sensors
- The common seals (oil filter housing, sensors, dip stick tube, etc.)
- Front rotors and pads
- Front wheel bearings
- Links
- Radiator
- Missing parts replaced were the rubber shims on the drivers side motor mount and the upper heat shield over the exh manifold
- Other items neglected by prior owner replaced - some screws for the center console, passenger dead H/K 5.25 mid range (replacement is actually coming tomorrow)
- 8 cans of brake cleaner!
- There is probably a bit I am missing

Things still broken:
- Passenger Airbag mat is bad ( common )
- I small amount of taillight rust ( common )
- There is some sort of clunking on the drivers front wheel area... noticeable when going down the gravel driveway
- I think the steering may have a warn U-Joint (may also be the clunking?)

Next is refreshing the rear.

Oh and my other MINI is an 1987 Mayfair!

 

Any used engine swap on an R50/R53 should include the all seals and gaskets bazooka. Maybe ECS should put together a kit.

Front crank seal
Rear crank seal
Dipstick o-ring
Oil pan gasket
Crank sensor o-ring
Valve cover gasket and plug hole seals
Oil filter housing gasket
Change the timing cover gasket.

I was doing this again, I'd buy some semi gloss black engine block paint. The paint MINI used wasn't that great

 

[QUOTE=R35P3CT DA M1N1;3289018]
KBB lists a 03 R53 with basic options and 100k miles, fair condition right at $7800. Excellent is around $9500.[QUOTE=R35P3CT DA M1N1;3289018]

Damn!......
Where did you see that?!!
Both Edmunds & Kelly estimate/value my '04 R53 (S), w/80k, good condition @ only $2,500 - $4k....

"Low miles", documented service & well maintained engine/PT history, very nice exterior (no scratches, dents or accidents)... The only exception being; is the faux leather driver seat has some cracks in the material.
For that estimate/lowball price - I think, I'd prefer to drop $6k for a motor...rebuild or a used one!

*BTW - How common is it to crack an oil pan?...
A valve cover; I can see....
You got me thinking about getting a skid plate for mine.

 

[QUOTE=Here2Go;4603751][QUOTE=R35P3CT DA M1N1;3289018]
KBB lists a 03 R53 with basic options and 100k miles, fair condition right at $7800. Excellent is around $9500.Ooops!
This is an old (2011) thread.
My bad.

However;... How common is it to crack an oil pan?...
A valve cover; I can see....
You got me thinking about getting a skid plate for mine.