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A few months back I saw a nice looking British Racing Green, white slick top R53 parked in downtown Calgary. I don't see many green R53's period, especially sans a sunroof. I tracked down a pen and paper and left the politest note I could, hoping I'd hear back from the owner. I said to my wife - I'm absolutely sure this is an original owner car! I just got a sense from the overall condition - the interior being very clean and original, the exterior being nice and original with lots of small superficial damage - the kind of car that would only continue to be invested in from a service perspective by someone who loves and has sentiment for it.
It's difficult to see but the roof is peppered in dents from severe hail damage - and notice the front fender trim hanging off. This is a pic from Aril when I saw it parked, wearing winter tires at the time.
I heard back within a few days of leaving the note and the owner Connie politely said she'd love to sell me the car later in the year when she's bought herself a new car. Excited, I spilled a little coffee over myself and patiently waited, very occasionally checking in with Connie to let her know I was still interested. Last week on one of my occasional check-ins, she let me know she'd be picking up her new car that coming weekend, and that I could make arrangements with her husband Lee so I could come check it out. When I arrived, just a 5 minute drive from my own house I was met with a much cleaner car than I remembered (amazing what you can do with a hose and soapy water) and noticed the car was on it's trick original S-lites and summer tires. Now I really got it - triple white on green with the stripes - I was transported back to the early days of the R50's and the cool, original specs we used to see in the early naughties. I got to looking around the car and realized it wasn't a JCW as I'd originally thought which changed my perspective on what I was willing to pay. I took a very short test ride - she felt great, suspension felt a little hard but that could have been tire pressure, or even older tires. Other than both window regulators being shot I thought this would be a car I'd love to bring home for a mini resto. There's nothing here I can't do myself outside of a little paint, and I've always been fond of these green first gens.
After chatting with the owners we decided to park the conversation for a couple of days. They felt such sentiment for the car and were having a hard time letting go for the price I offered. We found a middle ground of $3,000 and let it marinate. I got the text a couple of days later saying they'd love me to have the car and they'd be happy to drop off the winters at my house and give me a ride back to theirs to conclude the deal. Awesome! and what great people.
I can't believe they used to butcher these aero bumpers with the red reflectors upon installation of the clear tails.
Absolutely everything about this car is cool. original owners, only 94,000kms, the overall spec... I'm not against making some changes as I go but I think it'll be important to maintain the overall integrity of the theme (famous last words) I got myself under the front and rear of the car and it seems to be in great shape. The only corrosion is on the steel control arms, suspension components and brakes (all replaceable) There is no leaking or sweating of any kind coming from the engine bay. I degreased the engine and gave it a good spray down with the hose and it came up looking great.
The front end of the car has been well protected by 3m film so I got to work peeling away the yellowed film I warmed the car up for 5-10minutes and let the hood cool for a short while so it was easier to peel away in large sections it's tricky work but I was able to finish up the job after a few hours, and I cleaned down the paintwork with goo-be-gone before giving it a bucket wash
I've asked my PDR guy to come over and check out the roof damage next week and give me a quote for pulling all the dents. That'll be a big moment for the future of this car because if I'm not able to get the roof to a good place I think it'll be hard to justify the kind of project I had in mind. That said, I'm feeling optimistic. He's coming to check it out a week today so before then I'm going to give the whole thing a polish to get the deepest scratches out and I'll follow that up with a finishing polish after the dents are pulled.
Horrible what they had to do just to get a red lense in the back as required in many countries. These days I believe you can get a red lense that stick at the bottom of the clear...don’t know why they didn’t think of that back in the day, was glue not invented yet.
As someone who just spent the spring waiting to pick up an 06 BRG JCW in excellent cosmetic condition from the original owner, I can relate! I'm finishing the first step of 'restoration' by getting all the nagging issues resolved so I can get it on the road while I determine what direction I want to take it.
Keep us updated, looking forward to following this.
Great stuff buddy! Without giving away our identities online here.....Hint. hint I'm the dude who you picked up spacers from at one time with the 28K km 06 JCW in BRG in Cochrane , I know the last red one you wanted didn't exactly work out so I hope this one comes together for you. PS - we still need to grab that coffee.
You realize a new Aero kit alone (if you can locate one), is at least $3000, and that's without grills. Another $600 for new set of original driving lights. And I'm not talking CAD but USD $. You got a steal! Looks great, I agree about the butcher job on the rear bumper though...why!!! Anyway, subscribed.
BTW. be thankful your old clear bra is pealing off! I just got a BRG '06 JCW that lived its whole life in sunny states, and the clear bra is all broken into tiny pieces which will take days to remove. I've done it before and it's no fun. At least the reward is (hopefully) near perfect paint underneath!
Horrible what they had to do just to get a red lense in the back as required in many countries. These days I believe you can get a red lense that stick at the bottom of the clear...don’t know why they didn’t think of that back in the day, was glue not invented yet.
Were the white lenses a Mini option or aftermarket? My 04 S JCW (dealer installed) has them and I was wondering if they were ordered from the factory that way or changed later. Mine also has the aero sides and grill but not that rear bumper.
They were a MINI accessory installed by the dealer or sold over the counter.
Most 1st gen “options” were not Factory installed when the car was built, but dealer or port installed after the fact. I’m pretty sure this also included the aero kit.
As for your missing aero rear bumper, all of the pieces were also available separately and the previous owner might not have installed all of them, possibly due to availability or preferred the stock rear bumper over the aero version. It also could have been damaged and replaced with a stock bumper. A rare aero item is the aero spoiler which was different than the JCW spoiler.
Long time no update but I'll keep this one fairly brief. Did a full brake overhaul with fluid, rotors and pads.
I've got window regulators and motors on the way along with nice new oem red/amber rear tails and all new side lights.
Pulled off the aero kit and did some minor repairs, including filling those ghastly rear reflectors. Painting was just finished this afternoon so they'll be ready to reinstall tomorrow.
Great stuff buddy! Without giving away our identities online here.....Hint. hint I'm the dude who you picked up spacers from at one time with the 28K km 06 JCW in BRG in Cochrane , I know the last red one you wanted didn't exactly work out so I hope this one comes together for you. PS - we still need to grab that coffee.
Hey buddy!! Hope all is well. Sorry I'm just coming back to this thread after some time because I haven't been getting email notifications about posts. Yes on the coffee.
Please PLEASE tell you you Still have the right side bumper reflector ?????? I need it fir my brg aero I too just picked up recently. I found it legally needed the red reflectors because of the stupid all clear tail lights.
, I know the last red one you wanted didn't exactly work out so I hope this one comes together for you. PS - we still need to grab that coffee.
