Has anyone done an engine-driven power steering pump swap or does someone already make this for the R53 cars? I'm not a big fan of the current electric-hydraulic setup and much prefer the simplicity of a mechanical pump.

 

Space is going to be your problem. There's a reason they stuck the electric pump underneath.

 

I think it would work fine where the stock AC pump was. I deleted that already, I was just hoping this wasn't something I'm going to have to build completely from scratch.

 

What are you trying to accomplish by switching over to an engine driven unit?

 

From the sound of it, complexity.

 

Yeah...I don't see a single advantage. Why do you want more drag on the motor? The electric units are pretty reliable......I have 170K on mine, and it's still going strong.

 

I think it will be very difficult to make such a thing work. This engine was used in some European and South American market PT Cruisers and Neons (And is still made today in China by Lifan for some of their cars) which likely had engine driven pumps, but those are all N/A. You will be unable to use the brackets, lines, etc. from any of those. I would just find a used pump in good condition and add a duct for the cooling fan. BMW is smoking meth when it comes to what they think the two blow molded pieces of plastic are worth ($300-400!), so I would just make my own. I would also add a new set of hoses to and thoroughly clean the fan. If it is gunked up, that is due to the power of German engineering placing the fan in the line of fire for oil leaking from the crank angle sensor O ring. I changed mine and replaced it with a Viton O ring instead of the cheap nitrile one it comes with (I bought a $15 assortment on eBay for the occasion). Sadly, this O ring is likely the cause of the chain reaction that kills these pumps in a lot of MINIs.