Well the rebuild is complete.

Lower control arm bushing
All the ball joints.
Swaybar bushing front and back
Rack and pinion bushing replaced
Strut mount repair using Cravenspeed plates
Cravenspeed 15% pulley, Msd coil pack and Ngk plugs
Transmission filter change
Repaired leaky steering hose
Replaced rear shocks
Replaced factory 17'' with black 16" rims
All bushing were replaced with proflex poly bushings.

Had lots of fun, not. But all said an done. She handles like a dream. Plus the transmission is so much smoother.

 

How is the belt tensioner and crank pulley holding out ? both are known problem areas on the R53. Also when you put the 15% pulley on did you adjust belt size and maybe get a step cooler plugs ?

 

I used colder plugs. The bushing on the Tensioner were in perfect shape. I used a smaller belt to compensate for smaller pulley.

 

I just did many of the same things to my mini. When I was in there, I replaced the entire tensioner assembly. I noticed that it was bouncing around when the car was idling. I figured that I was already spending close to a grand for all the other parts I was installing....why not spend an extra $100 on a new tensioner

 

Nice work!
Can you break-down the cost, installation times, and offer suggestions where to get the parts for future readers?

 

When I was going through my R53.....I got a bunch of parts off of Rockauto. Stuff like ball joints, seals, gaskets, filters.....are half (if not more) the price of the dedicated MINI shops that sell the stuff.

The more specialized stuff like SC pulleys, poly bushings for the LCA's, swaybars, steering components, good brake pads.....Way Motorworks and ECS Tuning are both great to deal with.