R98 17" wheels are for sale in marketplace, $200 plus shipping. wheels are in excellent shape aside from one wheel with some rash. Either way a great set for the price!

 

Would be great to have these, it'll cost another $200 to ship to Hawaii I bet.

 

wish the shipping was decent I'd pay part of it for you.

 

Really happy today, been wanting a set of r90s forever. Today I bought the next best thing, ASA AR1 revolutions. $325 and they are almost mint, I'd say 9.5 out of 10 can't wait to get them mounted up. Couple quick photos I took

 

Those are some nice lookin wheels bav.

 

thanks minicoop, I'm bummed I won't be mounting my r98s but I just have too many sets at this point.

 

Looks good, nice find. Looking forward to pics when they're mounted!

 

Slow going these days, having to share mod money with my new toy:

 

After a long and painful hiatus, I've finally scraped up the funds to get a used transmission to replace my failed input shaft bearing trans. I had the common issue of the rattle when clutch was let out and went away when pressed in, thought it was the throwout bearing so I had a new clutch put in. No dice, still made noise and was told the input bearing was toast. So many dollars later I'm about to pull the trigger on a used trans with LSD, an upgrade from my open diff.

I believe the subframe is dropped to do the swap, but not sure. If so I'd like to have my mechanic replace the control arm bushings while he's in there. Hoping someone can confirm this. Also is there any other items I can get replaced that won't add much labor to my bill? Im thinking redline fluid this time and maybe a new gasket somewhere on the trans? Lastly, will the switch to LSD mess with the asc at all or require any coding?
Sorry for the long post, can't wait to get back behind the wheel.

 

Since you have to drop the trans to get it out, I'm almost positive that the sub frame must come out as well. I just did my LCA bushings and went ahead and replaced my front sway bushings with poly bushings. You can also go ahead and do ball joints while you're at it as this is the ideal time to.

If your PS lines are leaking this would also be something to consider since it drops down with the sub frame.

Also, for the trans fluid, you can do that as long as you have simple serif sockets/wrenches. No need in them tacking on extra money when you can do it in 30 minutes.

Past that someone else will need to chime in. Since yours is a face lift I'm not sure what other motor mounts/bushings are accessible.

My clutch chatters and I've just written it off as the DMF since that's seems to be the general consensus. I'll probably be going with the Valeo when the time comes to get rid of the chatter. And of course an LSD eventually would be ideal.

 

my steering lines do leak as well as my oil cooler. I have on my list so far
- sway bar bushings
- inner and outer ball joints
- control arm brackets with bushings
- lower engine mount

 

I completely forgot about the oil cooler now that you mention it. I even looked at it while I had the sub frame out and wished that I needed an oil change since that and the oil filter housing are both getting new gaskets/O-rings when it comes time again.


To save you a little dough I would recommend the Super Pro front sway bar bushings rather than the Powerflex. It's only a $30-$40 difference depending on shipping but you could throw that towards the labor since your mechanic is doing it. He also shouldn't charge you any more for it considering the bolts that hold the sway bar brackets on are the ones that hold the control arm brackets on.

 

I also did oil cooler, oil filter housing, oil pan, oil dip stick, crank position o ring, valve cover gasket, supercharger oil change, belt etc when I did my transmission swap. Nothing really added much time on to the whole thing, maybe two hours, but going back later would have been a real pain. I am using Red line fluid and have no complaints. I did lose my cruise control going from an 04 to an 05 transmission but that has to do with gear ratios, not the limited slip. I have had no issues with traction control at all and there was no coding done. By the way, if anyone knows if and what the fix for the cruise control is, I'm all ears.

 

I believe it's a coding issue, I'd talk to the dealer. The supercharger oil won't add much time? I have the oil pan and dipstick, crank and valve cover done already, also the top supercharger oil.

 

Well I just pulled the trigger on a used transmission from a 2005 Cooper S with LSD option. Very excited to have LSD and be back behind the wheel. Should help with the snow driving too.

 

Just ordered a few parts from ecs while the trans is being replaced

 

I'm curious on why you decided to go with stock control arm bushings... have they been changed for the better? I thought most people were going with powerflex because the stock bushings were still prone to wearing out quickly.

 

I wasn't sure if they needed to be greased occasionally, which is something I don't want to deal with, plus the cost of the bushings and any extra fiddling with pressing them in to save on labor cost. This job is going to cost quite a bit. My stock bushings are actually still holding up so I'm hoping they will suffice.

 

Added front sway bar bushings to my ECS order, she's gonna be tight and right in the front end. Free of oil leaks and fluid leaks running smooth! Gonna get my new ASA revolutions put on soon after the tranny replacement.

 

As tight as she can be on OEM LCA bushings.

Way will pre-press the Powerflex poly bushings for $20 after returning your core bracket. I don't believe they need to be greased.

 

I believe all poly bushings require periodical greasing, especially when you live in dusty, snowy, salt road areas. Greasing squeaky bushings is something I just don't wanna deal with.

 

Well she's all fixed up and drives tight and right. No more trans or throwout bearing noises, all I hear is whining and burble. The bill set me back all in total:
Parts: $351
Used LSD transmission: $950
Labor: $940
Total of $2,291
I guess that's not too bad?

 

How's the LSD? Factory right?

 

Yea factory, it's too early to say. Still spins some tires but haven't pushed it yet. I'll report back once I get down miles on it.

 

I would love to have a LSD in my R53, one of the biggest problems I have in autocross is getting the power down in mid speed corners, I'm always struggling to not spin the inside wheel. I'm curious to hear how you like it.