Originally Posted by Husky44

Mine was chattering a little. Nothing major, and could have probably wrung another year out of it, but it's one of the common points of failure, from my research. I budgeted for it when I bought the car, and went ahead and addressed all of the known problems, and the likely ones, in the first two weeks. Again, that was all part of my buying plan, but I wound up with a car that was pretty well set to run another 50-70k without major mechanical issues. Plus, I like the feel of the lightweight clutch better than the stock dual mass (but that's just preference).

FWIW, I test drove 6 different MINIS before I bought mine. 2 first Gen, and 4 second Gen. The first R56 seemed like it was about to rattle and shake apart. Most of the other second Gen cars rode... nice. But I wasn't looking for nice. R53s seem more raw. They can still be loose and squirrelly, if the PO hasn't taken care of the maintenance.

Disclaimer: my idea of a good ride is formed from the fact that my last two DDs were a Super Duty and a GT500 with a lot of suspension work, that could corner like a MINI. So my perspective may be a little distorted. 😁

Originally Posted by veedubpat

Well I’ll be honest then...

It sounds like youre you’re young and interested enough to daily a Miata as well. The only reason I chose a Mini over a Miata for my toy car was that My pup can’t fit in a Miata w/ a cute chick in the passenger seat. Otherwise I’d have gotten another MSM - had one in SoCal and it was great.

Originally Posted by Jagermeister956

I have no regrets buying my 06 R53,,,,I've only taken it on one long drive and found it pretty comfortable ....way better than my 99 NB Miata...I'm 6 feet tall and have plenty of room....I did a rear seat delete and it's surprising how much room is behind the front seats
Look for service records...Don't take anybodys word for work done...

Originally Posted by tej98

Definitely drive a few cars before you buy one. Also check out Mod Mini's videos on YouTube, he has put together a wealth of information about R53s that makes it possible to do any task at home.

Here is his video on buying an R53: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUhzyfb3cxg

Also bring an OBDII code reader with you if you plan to purchase a car and check for any pending codes or codes. This could point to potential issues that are lurking that the previous owner is trying to hide. As far as the clutch goes, Mod Mini says that if the pedal feels stiffer then the clutch is towards the end of its life, but I have no experience with that since my car came with the Valeo single mass conversion already installed.