Just picked up my first 06 R53 6 speed. It has 64000 miles and looks to have been a garage queen. I wanted to know what I should look out for, what maintenances I need to do or any problems that will be coming up. Thanks for any Intel you have to offer.

 

Unless you're a competent mechanic, find a shop with mechanics that you trust. Change the oil frequently, every 3000 miles, maintain proper pressure in the tires and use common sense. You and the car will be happy.

 

For starters if there are no maintenance records I would change all fluids including the transmission, check air and cabin filters, lube boot hinges, make sure the coolant is below the seam if it has the oem coolant tank, inspect or replace the cheapo oil dipstick for wear, use only toptier 91 octane fuel and enjoy. Frequent TLC goes a long way on an R53. Been doing this since day one and our R53 always puts a smile on my face. Congrats! PS-oil change interval and brand is a personal matter. I have used Castro Syntec which was recommended by MINI when delivered at a 5k mile or approximately one year intervals as gleened from this site and no problems.

 

Buzz and elvis speak the truth. Keep good synthetic oil in the motor and trans, change the belt every other year. lots of good info here on NAM; read up, learn all about your car and enjoy!

 

Thanks all. I Want to get the oil changed just so I know it's done so I'll add the trans fluid change and the belt along with it. So what's the deal with the cheapo oil stick and the OEM coolant tank?

 

Congrats on your purchase!

In my '05 I changed my oil as recommended - 15k miles (I use Mobil1). Still haven't changed the transmission fluid, but it's on my to-do list. I used regular unleaded until recently when I started rallycrossing the car. I did the air filter for the first time at 115k miles. Plugs sometime around then I think.

I changed the serpentine belt at 170k because there were cords hanging down...think the car was about 8 years old at that point. Dipstick I just replaced because I wrecked the tube getting it out of the block while doing my supercharger oil...

So don't think you need to go nuts doing all sorts of useless repairs - just enjoy the thing! (oh ya, I just passed 200k miles on it)

Pat

 

The oem oil dipstick shaft is made of fiberglass and has a propensity to break over time leaving all or part of it either in the oil dipstick tube or the oil pan. Rather than risking the hassle of removing the remnants from the tube or go to the effort or expense of removing the tube or oil pan to retrieve the broken remains, I purchased a metal dipstick from Cravenspeed. It isn't inexpensive but cheaper than the alternative as mentioned above. Figured an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? If you search the subject, you will get an earful: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-dipstick.html. As for the coolant tank, they may fail at the seam spewing out coolant. You will also get an earful on searching this subject. I keep the coolant level below the seam as mentioned on NAM. On the next coolant flush I will replace it with a metal tank. Good luck.

 

I also would do something to protect your strut towers from mushrooming, Personally I like m7's strut tower brace which includes big beefy plates to keep the strut towers from mushrooming up and improves handling some.

I've had a coolant tank fail, and broken a dipstick. for the coolant tank, I just say wait til it fails, it's not a huge deal, and it's easy to replace. The dip stick, I say replace before it fails. I was super lucky in that mine broke with some sticking out of the dip stick tube so I just pulled it out, but frequently you have to pull the oil pan which is a few hours of labor

 

Congrats that's a low mileage car now days.

Yes strut towers are very prone to mushrooming. We use the Craven Strut Tower Defenders as they are the strongest and have extended studs.

Change the oil every 5k miles.

The plastic coolant tanks all tend to leak at the seams so we replace with an aluminium tank when they leak.

Control arm bushing all fail in 40-50k on the R53s. Go Powerflex when you replace and never have to do it again.

Belt is normal every 60k replacement.

Also be prepared for the crank pulley to fail it's not an if, it's a when. Go with the ATI Damper and you never worry again.

Keep an eye on the dipstick for cracking so it doesn't break off in the tube.

Hope that helps

 

Thanks all, I feel much better about it now!

 

Everything Way said is right.