Greetings comrades! I recently gave up and finally decided that the first car in my life needs to be be a Mini. My college friend had an automatic R56 S and it was an exceptionally fun, precise, and quick car to drive. 3 years after college I'm in the market for a car which I don't really need — public transport covers all my needs and live in a family of two. I just love cars and want something exceptionally fun to drive.

So I set aside your classic first-time-buyers’ Toyotas and started to look at something more impractical. I decided to focus solely on R53 made between 2001 - 2006. I've managed to collect 4,500 USD which should be a reasonable budget for a first-gen Cooper S. After all, isn’t the R53 *the true* Mini Cooper S?

Anyways, I’ve managed to find 2 nice cars. A 2006 R53 with 130k miles and a pre-facelift 2004 R53 with 170k miles. Both cars are manual and have drastically different packages:
1. 2004 car is fully loaded with Navi, sunroof, etc. Has 170k miles and 6 owners. Last 4 years have clear history of the car, last owners kept all records and wrote a blog. I'm worried about a general age of the car and potential issues it brings.
2. 2006 despite being a Checkmate edition has no AC, has cloth seats, etc. But these three words — Limited Slip Diff — is all I need to hear before I start telling myself I kinda like cloth seats better because breathability 3 owners, but no history. Like the LSD, lower miles, and the fact that it's a facelift.

So I wanted to discuss post-facelift vs pre-facelift reliability with you guys. Is a 150k+ mileage a worrisome thing? Is a post-facelift model superior to the pre-facelift? Do you look at the specs when buying a car or a Mini is just as fun with no sunroof and navi? Last but not least, should I pay attention to the R50 Justa as well, or is it not as much fun as the Cooper S? Is an R56 out if my budget if I want low miles?

Thanks everyone!
— Nick



P.S. After test driving a 120 HP Ford Fiesta yesterday I realised what an enormous potential does a 2400 pound chassis with a manual gearbox have. It drove like a charm even with 3 people inside. My girlfriend mentioned how featherlight and quick the car felt, how easy you could get it going despite it being a FWD.

We test-drove an automatic BMW 1-Series with 150HP that weighed 3000+ pounds and had 4 people inside, and it felt like a heavy slug. It was like a suffering animal at the start of the drive and felt heavy when riding between cones. Although once you get it going, rear wheel drive propels you out of a corner in a super balanced way.

 

Nik, generally the 05-06 R53s are your best options mostly due to having better transmission gearing and a few other improvements I don't remember. Any used R53 you buy will have repairs that will need to be done or will develop shortly after your purchase. Are you handy with a wrench?
Other than that follow general used car buying advice and wait for a well cared for one to show up. Learn as much as you can from Modmini on YouTube. He has one about buying a used MCS.
Imho,stay away from the r56. I'd get an r50 before an r56 any day. No sunroof cars are rare btw.

Read this!
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/buying-maintenance/a30177/mini-cooper-s-buyers-guide/

 

Thos pretty much sums it up right here.

I would add. If your not handy with a wrench, be prepared to $$$. Nobody is going to be kind about having to go service mode when it needs repairs.

 

In "some cases", the higher the mileage the higher the likelyhood of maintenance / wearable parts having been replaced..
One important factor.....that whom ever owned it had good relations with their MINI dealer and / or they used only OEM parts...Most of the aftermarket replacement parts for MINI are ****, from rotors to front axles....and with the labor costs no point to using them as you will be back in there sooner than later anyways.

Car #1 with nav ? Not good feature....may as well turn that thing into a fish bowl.....MINI doesnt update that thing and typically the electronics dont last long.
Car #2 Has no A/C ? are you sure or is it just broken ?....This would be my pic so far.

Plan on maintaining a maintenance budget as if you had a pet English Bulldog. It's not so much the cost of the part, but as previously stated everything is so packed in it can take hours just to get to the part needing replacement.

I would plan on spending upwards of $7,500.00US for a good R53 and if possible, import one from a warmer climate. My JCW was a daily driver, now has 234K miles on the odometer and just had to replace the full length of hard brake lines which were rusted to ****....MINI of Warwick in RI worked with me on the labor, but its like a 10hr job which included the need to drop the fuel tank to access the lines....

One thing for sure, having a MINI will aid in keeping you a bachelor for a while....if / when repairs are needed or the mod bug bites, you just won't have the $$ for a relationship or dating

 

$4500 will buy a nice R53 but will probably require a bit more budget set aside for maintenance. Another option is to find one that openly needs work done (if you can do the work yourself) because they are much cheaper. 2005/2006 cars that need repairs can be found for under $2k all day long and with about $1k to $1.5k of work you can have a very nice reliable daily. Once the car is solid with maintenance done, start saving for mods!
But really if you want to own an R53 without spending a fortune you will likely need to work on the car yourself. Luckily these cars are modular and have tons of documentation all over the place for repairs so DIY jobs are super easy.

 

Not sure what your climate is but an air delete car is, well, kind of hot and nasty in the summer. Then again having good winter traction in your country is likely a desirable thing.
You can buy an LSD new for $900, install it when you change the clutch (you didn't really think you were going to get out of doing a clutch job with that much mileage on either vehicle...right?). Mod MINI has a video on it:

 

Thanks for the advice Apexlate! Well cared car is exactly what I've been looking for for the past couple months. Yes, I'm handy with a wrench and I'm planning on doing most of the maintenance myself.

Why should one stay clear of an R56? What about late-year fully loaded S / JCW examples, it's a great way to spend 10 grand IMO

 

Agree about using only high quality parts, importing a nice car from a warmer climate, and being a bachelor with the $$$ spent on mods!

Re. car with Nav — not a practical feature, just love the look of a fully loaded car.
Re. car with no A/C — I meant it does have AC but a manual controlled one with knоbs.

 

That's the plan! Love working on cars / bikes with my own hands.

 

LSD is among the top of the list for me. Or would you say there's some better mods to be done for 900 bucks? Say sway bars + polyurethane bushes + light wheels and tyres?

 

Would recommend putting mods on the back burner until the 'usual suspects' of high-mileage are addressed - crank pulley, belt, tensioner, hoses, filters, gaskets/seals (these things leak in the classic BMW fashion - from everywhere) water pump, thermostat, supercharger service, bushings, struts, the list goes on; just lurk on this site for a month.

Basic maintenance and preemptively replacing stuff that will get you stranded or end the ownership party early if you let them go long enough (and you're arguably past long enough with any R53 >100K miles at this point). Some things you can address with an upgrade in lieu of OEM repair - 2% crank pulley for example, and if you really want it that LSD to drop in when you do the clutch. Just depends on what's needed first, how deep your pockets are (step 1: remain a bachelor - ideally forever), and how much you want to tackle "while you're in there."

 

Alright gotcha. Fix any issues first then start modding. Is an r53 a fun little car when fully stock? What are some best bang for buck mods one can do to it?

 

R53 are a blast even in stock form. Best bang for your buck is a reduction pulley and arguably an intake. Next on my list would be an adjustable rear sway bar and exhaust. I have all these on mine and don't see any reason to add any more for a daily driver. I have an open diff and wouldn't add an LSD unless I wanted to track/autox it then it would make more sense, imo.

 

Alright sounds good! Are JCW R53 sway bars a better upgrade from standard S R53 sway bar? I've seen some for dirt cheap from a seller that that breaks cars for parts. Can't really justify spending close to a rand for a diff when you can get a high quality sway bar for a fraction of that cost

 

My vote also goes to facelift car, especially if it concerns a R53 MCS. I made a similar choice not too long ago and waited out for a 07-2004/2006 MCS or MCS JCW. I found a 2006 MCS JCW with 210/211bhp in the trim I wanted, within budget!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...th-06-jcw.html

Things I found important: chronopack, 6speed getrag gearbox, newer eaton m45 supercharger with teflon coated rotors, under 200.000kms. Mine has 161k kms and unfortunately it hasn't had the big supercharger service, which I am currently doing myself. I talked something off the price for this off course and it's very educational to be honest. I also renew things which I spot during this job. Progress can be followed here: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/andyramdin

Differences pre-fl/facelift:
https://www.allmagautoparts.com/blog...-changes-guide
https://www.minitorque.com/threads/r...t-guide.29996/

 

The standard advice for used car buying is mere relevant for MINI than most other brands: buy the later years of a generation for the greatest reliability. Buy the lowest mileage best maintained car you can afford.

MINIs will require more repairs than a Toyota or Honda but most of us think it is worth it. Prepare to spend some money getting it up to the standard you want and maintain it along the way.



Your comment reminds me of the comment from my mother the day I brought home a new Eagle Talon. She advised me that I would never find a wife driving a sports car. I should have bought a sensible car to attract a wife. (I met my wife a few months later.)

Don’t buy any car that stretches your budget to the point of jeopardizing your ability to live the life you want to live.

 

Thanks for the advice links re. pre and post facelift cars! Of course, as with any MINI, best car is the youngest car. I'm on the lookout for that as well, but here's when the low-mileage deals come into play...

A lovely pre-facelift March 2004 Cooper S popped up for sale with just 68,000 miles (110,000 kilometres). From a warm climate province and seemingly unused in the winter, no rust, perfect undercarriage. It's barely covered 20,000 miles over the last 10 years, 2nd / 3rd car in the family. It is almost fully stock which is nice. As for repairs, looks like it only needs new rear shocks and new power steering — it whines like a dying whale but still works.

Mods / repairs: JCW brakes, Bilstein shocks, cold spark plugs, one-ball exhaust. New clutch, front suspension, chain tensioner, belt tensioner, pulley, all fluids and filters after the winter. Serviced brakes, clutch and gearbox, fresh oil in the supercharger although I don't understand if it counts as a service or not.

Can someone tell if this pedal and seat wear indeed looks like 70k miles? Flipping cars and correcting their mileage is a fairly popular activity in Russia.

Thanks,
Nick

 

The 3 spoke steering wheel is a facelift steering wheel btw, also it has climate control, which for me is also a plus (insted of manually dialing in the heat/cold like a peasant )