First Hello everyone. My name is Greg and I just recently bought my 1st MINI Cooper S. Love the car! I live out on Siesta Key, FL (West Coast-Sarasota), and I found my MINI down in Miami. Everything except NAV and Harman Kardon. It has the Chrono Gauge Pkg. I have to say I'd rather have the Chrono Gauges then NAV. It also had a Borla Sport Exhaust (aggressive) on it - didn't know that till I got there.

Anyway, road trip to Miami over Memorial Day Weekend. Bought the car and very much enjoying it.

First things First - flush all fluids and change all filters.

1st the Cabin Filter - You won't believe this, but look at the picture. The air in the cabin did have a smell to it. Couldn't figure it out what it was, but thought maybe the cabin filter is dirty. Well Dirty was NOT the word - how about a complete cesspool of garbage!

2nd the Air Filter - the car under half to full throttle felt a little sluggish at times. Well, opened up the air box, removed the filter and - yup - another complete cesspool of garbage in the air filter. I put in a K&N Drop-in Filter for the replacement and OMG - it is like a brand new engine and supercharger. My MPG went up by 3mpg. That is just crazy.

3rd - Fuel filter will be done today as well as the Oil - will runs Amsoil in her.

4th - Brake Fluid change too

5th - Coolant flush

6th - 6sp Manual Tranny fluid will be dumped - Or is the tranny sealed? What Tranny fluid do you recommend?

7th Spark Plugs changed - any suggestions?

Anyway, I'm really concerned now cause it seems like the car was neglected.

Does anyone have any other suggestions??

Thanks to all and hope everyone has a nice weekend!

 

Those cabin and air filters are pretty common....
If the car does not have a reduction pulley on the sc, then the stock plugs are fine..ngk...they actually have a long life...they are 4 electrode plugs.
the fuel filter will likely be dirty too...the change from mtbe to e-10 fuels a few years ago resulted in lots of gunk at the gas stations getting disloved, and getting put into folks tanks....the ethonol worked as a solvent and cleaned out the varnishes that had built up in gas station tanks, and even the cars....the filter catches it.
The 6 mt is not sealed....uses a mt gear oil...a few in use...one drain plug, then a fill hole...just gill till it drips out...when 100% level....
How many miles on the car?!

 

Hi Zippy, thanks so much for the info!

Miles on car are 95,400. Paid $11k

 

Plugs then are due...about 100k on a car without a pulley...should be done more often imo, but fine.
be sure to tourqe the plugs with a tourqe wrench, and check them later...many have been spit out when done wrong.
If you have a pulley, one step colder plugs...the sam as the jcw, and change them every 30000 miles..every major service as like a jcw.

 

Wow! This made me go get new filters for my '06 R53. Hopefully mine aren't as bad. Zippy hit everything on the head. I'd go ahead and check the belt too.

 

People tend to forget about that filter and don't change them. Mine was pretty bad too when I changed it last year. I'm about due for a new one...

Plugs, NGK Iridium one step colder if you are running a reduced pulley.

Seems like the rest is done! Enjoy the ride!

 

Redline 50204 MTL Synthetic Manual Trans. Lubricant, I got it off of Amazon.com you will need to order 2 quarts as the transmission holds 1.25 quarts or something around that.

I would go with the plugs daflake suggested.

You might want to change your ignition wires too. I think around $80 or so for the set from Waymotorworks.com

You may also need to look into replacing your front control arm bushings, I suggest Powerflex.

Check your brakes, at that mileage they may need to be replaced soon (depending on when they were changed last).

And check your upper and lower engine mounts. The upper is a silver canister to the left of the engine. If you see a black residue below it, it has gone bad and is leaking oil. That is a fairly easy DIY change and the mount is about $90.

 

For plug wires, check out these... They are awesome for the price!

http://www.waymotorworks.com/kingsbo...nce-wires.html

 

A year ago I paid $77 for blue ones of these at WMW

Regardless, they are good wires for the money.

 

Yeah, the price is dropping. I paid a bit more for them as well.

 

Okay, just making sure I am not going crazy (or even more crazy, for that matter )

 

Plenty of room for all of us crazy people...

 

Slide back to square 1 real quick with me. You got yourself an '06. So far, that year has proven to be about the best for trouble free motoring. The engine and gear box are near bullet proof if cared for on schedule. Don't resist the urge to become OCD about your new to you motor and enjoy the heck out of it. Get these previously neglected items sorted, find a trustworthy independent shop and discover the zen of true motoring.

PS: Pictures are de rigueur.

 

I did plugs on my Justa at 35k and it made a difference.

Just be carefull on taking them out. They tend to seize to the aluminium head the longer they sit without being taken out. I find that loosening about an 1/8 turn and then tighten slightly and repeat works pretty well. Just make sure that it does not feel like it is getting tight as you are trying to loosen it. A bit of never-seize on the threads of the new plugs will help (however, there are differing opinions on this one)

 

Congrats on your new Mini!
I can't offer any mechanical advice, but there's lots of good advice to had from the others here.
I know you are in shock over those nasty filters, but please post some photos of your car!

Also, check out Sunshineminis.org
It's the Florida motoring club with chapters all over the state.
You should be able to find someone nearby with advice on local sources for various Mini needs.
It's lots of fun to hook up with others and take part in events too.

Welcome to Mini madness!

 

'Performance' wires don't make any difference in our application. Neither do any of the 'hot' coil packs.

 

***** UPDATE *****

Wow - I really want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I will be doing all that and getting the Red Plug Wires too. This is just great advice and can't thank you all enough!!!


Well as my FEAR continues, today I went to my mechanic and we dumped the oil. Problem #1: Could not get the filter cover off with regular breaker bar. So out came the Monster breaker bar my mechanic had. That did it no problem - at this point I have no nails left.

Problem #2: Filter came out, black. K - Matt (my mechanic) took is fingers and pulled on part of the filter and it just designated in his fingers. UNBELIEVABLE. I did the same and the filter would just tear right apart and crumble.

Problem #3: Oil plug head stripped. Matt had a new plug with copper washer - worked fine, new oil plug on order for next change.

Problem #4: Oil very black.

Well, we sealed it all up and used a new OEM MINI Filter made by MANN and filled her up with 5w-30 Amsoil. Now this is the really cool part.

I have the chrono gauge pkg. When I was running between 80-90mph on the interstate for over 10-15 miles, my oil temp would raise to about 220. At 70-75 it hovered at around 190. With the Amsoil in her, today, I drove 50 miles south on the interstate at 80-90mph in humid 88 degree weather and the gosh darn oil temp did not raise at all and stayed at 180. Now that is just plain crazy - but Awesome!!! I love Amsoil and have used it in every vehicle I have ever owned - never had an oil related failure - even when I was racing in IMSA for Honda - never a problem.

Next week we dump the gear box. Matt (my mechanic) said he was surprised that the brake fluid looked fine and the coolant checked out fine too. So were good there. Brakes have over 50% life on them and rotors are good.

Plug wires and Plugs are next too when I do the gear box.

Once again I want to really thank everyone for all the advice! I'm still very concerned that my new MINI seems to have been neglected but now she will be very well taken care of.

We did find a small leak in the valve cover so we'll have to get that done too.

I'll update next week when we do more and how the gear box feels with fresh oil.

 

The transmission fluid is really easy to do, just make sure you have a funnel and a hose that can attach to it so you can put the new oil in the gearbox.

Same thing happened with my drain plug, the idiots who worked on my car before I bought it used an impact wrench to put the drain plug back on.

You might want to run the car for 3,000 miles or so and do another oil change... if the filter was like that then who knows what might be going on internally.

 

John, I think you are correct. I'll run her for about 3k and dump and refill with Amsoil again with the new oil plug. I can't believe that some idiots would use an impact gun to put in an oil plug.

It really upsets me to see how someone can purchase such a nice MINI and just poo all over the maintenance. I mean they must be complete IDIOTS!! Right? Or am I missing something here???

Thanks again for the advice and I think I'll do that.

Greg

 

I think part of it is that some people have no understanding for even basic reasons why you do maintenance on a car (not even working on it, just why work has to be done on the car). I have heard of people going in for an oil change once the check engine oil light comes on...which means the oil level has gone way below the point it should be.

 

Nobody said they did, they just look nice and for the money you can't go wrong.


FYI, you can't tell the life of oil by its color. Black means nothing as it can turn black from heat alone, this does not mean a thing. The paper filters are also fairly fragile so tearing into them is pretty easy. The only sure way to find out about the oil is to send it to a lab for testing. That being said, changing it was a good idea as you never know how it was taken care of.

Also, it is known that the oil plugs on our little cars seize up and strip. Nothing out of the norm to be honest. Other than the cabin filter being dirty you guys are bashing someone that may have done regular maintenance.

 

OEM ignition wires are about $60, spend the same money for cool looking wires that work well, sounds good to me.

 

Next visit to your mechanic, suggest you get a compression test done when you pull the plugs. It's a great indicator of engine condition and readings can be used in the future to see how it's holding up.
BTW, I'm very familiar w/Sarasota/Siesta Key/St. Armand's. I'm so old I remember when Lido Beach was still intact. You may not be in Paradise but you can see it from there!

 

You may want to get the fumoto valve for the oil changes, very easy to install and makes the oil change quick with almost no mess.

 

One thing to add to the list...
It was previously suggested, but you have not mentioned it (i don't think) is a new SC belt...
the supercharger belt functions as the serpentine belt, but also runs the supercharger, and the waterpump off of that....a failed belt can be a hassel, and can cost some big $$, so imo, spend the $30 while the hood is open to save $300 once a year qith a pulley, maybe 2 without.
The year car got is a good car...sounds like you got it in time.
One reminder, the mini does not use longlife coolant, so remember to change it regularly, and watch the level...very slow leaks can sneak up on folks.