Hey all!
First time Mini owner. Bought a 2003 S with 75,000 on the odometer.
Engine sounds good, but has a few mechanical things to work out (master cylinder, flush all systems, etc)

A few questions for yall.
Its pretty hard to shift between gears. Have to put some force behind it. Think this is a master/slave cylinder or a clutch? Is there anything else I should be looking at? This is my first manual in over a decade, so excuse the ignorance.

I will be rebuilding the entire braking system from rotors/calipers to booster/master. Noticed the brake pedal goes down, but does not return, and brake pedal is hard before startup. How is the brake system configured on these cars?

I'll be flushing every system. Steering, coolant, brakes, oil.
Any other suggestion on something I should swap out? Any vaccuum lines that should probably go?

Thank you all!

Last thing. I've only owned VWs the last two decades, and have our equivlant to VW's software called VCDS. What's your go to diagnostic/modification software for the mini?

 

Do you mean the clutch pedal is hard to press or the shift lever is hard to move once the clutch is pressed?

Is the brake fluid level OK?

Based on my recent experience with some plastic tees in my cooling system, I would say replace all the hoses and the 3 plastic tees that join some of the hoses because they are 19 years old and you don't want a catastrophic cooling system failure while you are enjoying your R53. . There's a comprehensive coolant hose diagram on RealOEM.com that includes part numbers you can use to order the hoses and tees from your favorite parts supplier.

It probably goes without saying but if the tires are 10 years old too (or older) definitely replace those ASAP.