So I've been in the market for a deal on an R53. A local one popped up online today that sounds interesting, so I'm going to take a look at it. I'd appreciate everyone's feedback/opinions. Based off of the information in this awesome forum, I do know to be on the lookout for leaks around the crank seal, crank sensor, door sill rust, and maybe the expansion tank. Here's what I know about the car so far. I will post more information and pics later today, after I check out the car in person:

• 2003 R53
• Manual Trans
• 43,000 miles (low miles!)
• Two owners. Current owner bought it from Colorado with 29,000 miles in early 2015.
• No paintwork or accidents
• No sunroof, has manual a/c controls, Navigation screen where the speedo normally is.
• Not much to speak of on service history. No records were provided by the previous long term Colorado owner. Seller says it has brand new tires and regular oil/fluid changes, but he has not done anything major to the car.
• Asking price is $5,250

 

Here is a link to the Craiglist ad with photos:
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto...218640121.html

 

Looks like a nice car. Gotta remember the car is pushing 14 years old so I would plan on changing the crank pulley as with those years would think the rubber has dry rotted somewhat.

 

Take it

 

Crank pully - yes, I agree it will need that. Do you have an idea of what a shop would charge for that?

So I took it for a drive today. Drove nice; clutch felt good. A few issues that I noticed - again, feedback is appreciated:

1. After the test drive, I left it running idle for about 5 minutes. Opened up the the hood. Coolant expansion tank overflowed like crazy. Any thoughts? Pics attached.

2. The air conditioning would blow warm(er) while idle or moving slowly. It would blow ice cold at highway speeds. Any ideas on why?

3. Major dash rattle - is this common?

Again - thanks for your reply!

 

Upside - very low mileage and excellent price.

Downside - Given the coolant overflow problem which likely due to thermostat or pressure relief valve problem which aren't a big deal if taken cared of early. However if it has been a long deferred maintenance the engine may have suffered from overheating events.

I suspect what you observed with the odd behavior of the AC is the result of the cooling system problem. So my advice is to concentrate your assessment if the engine has suffered from irreversible damage due to cooling system problem.

The dash rattle is not a big deal and you should be able to hunt down the cause with some diligence.

Lastly from the photos and location, it is definitely a rustbelt car so check for serious rust.

 

Thanks for the feedback. The seller was legitimately surprised when it overflowed in front of us after the test drive. I believe him when he says it has never happened before. Do you have an idea of what a new thermostat and/or pressure relief valve would cost at a shop?

The information on this forum suggests to look at the door sills for rust on R50/R53's. The only rust I could find was in the picture above. It was on the bottom of the car in the rear passenger side corner. I am not sure what this part is, or why the rust seems to have concentrated in this one spot.

 

I gave your observation of the coolant overflow at the expansion tank some more thought. It is possible the radiator fan completely failed - meaning it does not run on low as well as high speed - which may be consistent with the spraying coolant/steam at the expansion tank. I personally do not like a potential purchase that have sign of possible of overheat events. It takes only a few minutes to cause irreversible engine damage. I would advise proceed cautiously. While you should check for signs of engine oil in the coolant, and coolant in the engine oil, you should still be very suspicious of the seller's misrepresentation. A cunning seller could change both before showing you the car.

As to rust-prone areas of gen 1 Mini, I have no experience as I am in the temperate Pacific Northwest that use no road salt.

 

It's a very low mileage car, which is very good. One thing that struck me is you asking how much things costs to get done. These cars are very costly to repair and unless you're decent with a wrench and can follow directions, the price of getting things done rack up pretty quickly. If it were me, I would get this car after I tested to make sure the overheating is related to an Overflow tank, and or thermostat/Housing. You can get a block tester and check for exhaust gases in your coolant. Good luck with what you decide.

 

When I bought my car I knew there was a AC/Low Speed Fan issue. With no condenser function, the car would not get hot as when the temp got too high, the high speed fan came on. If you had AC then the low speed fan must be working for without the freon would have boiled out on high pressure. The overheating could be as simple as a bad coolant cap but without seeing the car, it could be worse.

Yes, if you cannot do your own work, then repair costs are high on ANY car. Mini is a BMW and the OEM parts cost more, but there are some decent aftermarket items out depending on what part function you are looking at.

 

Excellent feedback from everyone. Thanks again. My "how much will that cost at a shop to repair" questions are about a dollar figure to attach to the negotiation of the asking price, not about me not doing my own work on the car (or at least some of it). I had an older Land Rover for many years, and I know what you mean about costs adding up quickly. When things got out of hand, I had a local British mechanic that would step in. He is an expert on Mini's and Land Rovers. I called him this morning and he agreed to do a full PPI on the car before I purchase it. I'll let you all know how it turned out.

 

Check the coolant and the oil make sure it's not milky, be cautious of heating problems. The rust is on the muffler, its shot and will need a replacement. Brake rotors are also done, use it all to knock the price down because that's already reaching $1k in repairs.

 

Crank Pulley, some tstat work, brakes, fluid changes, and the muffler, I can see at least $1,000. Then with the age there is the crank sensor o-ring, the belt, belt tensioner and power steering hoses that is another $1,000.

 

^^ I completely agree that the thermostat, brakes, and fluids need to be changed immediately. And while the rest are items most will replace over the course of owning an R53--I don't think I would personally replace the crank pulley, belt tensioner, and power steering hoses without their associated symptoms. I'd definitely tell the PPI mechanic to pay special attention to those areas though!

Brakes are standard wear items. I probably wouldn't knock too much off of the sale price for that.

The biggest things for the mechanic to check IMO:

• Lower control arm bushings, ball joints, strut mounts
• Aforementioned leaks (crank/cam sensor o-rings, oil pan, valve cover, P/S hoses)
• Engine bay rattles (belt tensioner, timing chain tensioner)
• 3 Engine mounts & 1 transmission mount

By the way, part of the door sill rust is exposed by removing the weather stripping in the door at the bottom. (this area) The other area is further under the side skirt, and you'd need a new set of clips to be able to check that, because they usually break while removing the skirts.

And remember, if money is tight, you can always check the part-outs here in the marketplace, and your friendly neighborhood auto wreckers! Used parts need love too

 

I agree with most of what's already been said here, but here's my two cents.

The 2002, '03 and '04 are basically the same car with the same problems. Distinct changes weren't implemented until late '04 and into the 2005 and '06 models. I've had an '06 and an '04, and I would likely not buy another pre-'05 model again.

The asking price isn't bad, but the seller's charging a premium based on the low miles. Granted, the engine and trans internals are in good shape, so you'd probably have another 60,000+ miles before any major repairs are necessary. But the car is also pushing 15 years old. In general, rubber and plastic parts have been deteriorating from age alone. So the low miles don't really matter here.

The odd A/C temp issue is almost certainly a common one: the low-speed fan resistor isn't allowing the A/C system to turn on the fan. At higher MPH speeds, the forced airflow does the same job, so the A/C condenser is getting the airflow it needs to cool the refrigerant. It's fixable for under $100 for a new fan/resistor assembly and a few hours of your time.

Also, with the rust I can see in the pics, combined with the year model of the car, I can almost guarantee that there's rust on the door sills. Simply pull up the door seal (gasket) and have a look. Also have your PPI guy look around the tail lights and lower edge of the hatch for signs of rust - another common problem with pre-2005s.

Mileage aside, I'm thinking that's a $4,000 Mini Cooper S. Rust and overheating = bad juju...

 

Did you get it? The Craigslist link has been removed.

 

I did! I am now officially part of the Mini family!

So let me start off by saying I really appreciate everyone's input and advice. It really helped me with making my decision and knowing what to look for.

The PPI from my mechanic revealed the following (as expected from most of this group):

• Replace cooling fan, relays, and thermostat
• Power steering fan seized
• Replace right engine mount
• Replace lower control arm bushings + alignment
• Exhaust is rusted on right side. Remove right side resonator and install one-ball pipe.
• Brake & Power Steering fluid needs a flush.
• Front and Rear brakes are at about 30% and will need to be replaced soon.

After reviewing the PPI list with the seller, we agreed on a selling price of $3,250, so I felt that with knowing the work involved to bring it up to speed and only 44K miles, what the heck - I'll buy it and see what happens.

I was happy with the fact that when put on the lift, he could not find any evidence of rust (besides the resonator). It looked very clean and well kept. Not even a door ding on the car. I did pull the rubber door gasket/seal and noticed moisture, but no rust there either.

No oil leaks of any kind (although I know they are coming) and nothing else was discovered during the inspection.

Once again, I appreciate everyone's advice and I'm sure I'll be asking for it again - but probably in the performance modification forum instead!

 

WOW !!!

$2000 OFF the asking price !!!

Great job and welcome !!!!

 

The high speed fan only functions when the a.c. is turned on, this is what most people who have lost low speed function do to keep the car from overheating.

Cold ac when moving and hot ac when sitting are classic signs of no low speed, as when you are moving air is being forced through the condenser. But when you are sitting still there's no flow to cool down the condenser. The high speed will occasionally kick on to keep the engine cool.

Freon most definitely will not boil out of anywhere, there is no kind of pressure relief. If the pressure gets to high from the heat the pressure sensor from the high pressure side will trigger and prevent the compressor from running at all.

I haven't seen where it's been said that the car actually overheated, just that the coolant tank overflowed.

It's possible that the cap is bad, but more likely that the low speed has gone bad and is causing the engine to get warmer than usual. I have a bad low speed fan my self that I have wired to a relay to come on with the key on. The upside is my car isn't overheating, the downside is my fan runs constantly when the key is on.

 

OK, the Mini Cooper Coolant systems functions as follows; low speed fan switches on at 221 and the high speed switches on at 234. When the AC is on, the low speed switches on when the system pressure is at 116 PSI with the high speed switching on when the system pressure reaches 261 PSI. The high speed fan will run without the AC being on if the set point of 234 is reached. On the Gen1 car, you can bring up the coolant temperature inside the car (will read in Centigrade) with the set points being 105 and 112.

AC compressors have a high pressure safety relief valve. If the low speed fan is not functioning, then the pressure within the system can build up and the relief vent will discharge. On my car when I bought it, the low speed fan was not working and the system had vented. I had to get more Freon into the system before the low pressure cut out switch would turn the compressor on.


I generally use the term "boil out" here in lieu of saying the high pressure relief valve opened up. The system got too hot, that creates too much pressure and the compressor lets the pressure out.

 

Huh, I'm gonna look into that, I've never heard of a relief valve on a car. First European car I've owned though

 

Congrats on the purchase, and for such a great price!

I wanted to clear up some notes on the low-speed fan issue. The functions are confusing, and there is a lot of conjecture on how to fix it. Therefore, there is a huge, multi-page thread here on NAM on the problem. Making it even more confusing is that the fan circuits were slightly changed before 2004, so you may have the earlier version. But if you do have the later version, what it comes down to is this:

The coolant fan motor either works or it doesn't work - there is no separate low-speed or high-speed fan per se but there are two different circuits sending power to it. The fan goes full-blast when a full 12V is sent to it, and it runs 1/3 slower when that 12V is pushed through the resistor before getting to the fan. When the resistor burns out (very common, mostly because of its placement - hidden away from ambient airflow) you get no low-speed fan action under any circumstances. Since the high-speed fan circuit and operation is probably fine, the car's computer kicks on the high-speed fan when the coolant reaches a certain temp. The computer will also first (try to) turn on the low-speed fan circuit when the coolant reaches a lower temp. (This has nothing to do with the A/C, by the way.)

However, when you turn on the A/C the low-speed fan will automatically turn on and stay on (no matter what the coolant temp is) to cool the condenser. If it doesn't come on, and the car is sitting still, there's no airflow on the A/C condenser, so the condenser doesn't do its job and you get warm A/C inside the car. Further, as I said above, once the coolant temp reaches the point to turn on the high-speed fan, it will do so (and you'll hear the fan as it's pretty loud) and so you'll get cold A/C inside the cabin - until the coolant cools off and the fan is shut off... So if this is happening, your fan is fine, just the low-speed circuit has a short in it - very likely the burned-out resistor.

A related note when the high-speed fan circuit has been working overtime:
Inside the engine bay fuse box, there are two identical (green) relays which control these two fan circuits. So if/when you turn off the car and fan continues to blow (after a minute or so), it's likely that the relay is sticking closed. You can usually tap on it with a screwdriver handle to release it, but it's not a bad idea to have one or two replacement relays on hand.

 

Any 14 year old car is going to need something. I didn't see anyone mention the SC. Granted it's low miles but something to think about.. Looks like 1 muffler has no rust on it? KBB claims it to be worth low to mid $4000's which is dependent on location of course... Low miles is good but alot of sitting isn't good either for seals etc... Helps rust set in...

 

For $3k and change, IMO you got one very nice car as long as the overheating did not warp the head. Keep an eye on the coolant and the oil for crossover.

and Welcome to NAM as an Owner

 

Thanks! Good advice and will do.

I'm working on fixing what the PPI revealed (in the thread above) and will post some pictures here as soon as I have it all cleaned up.