ECS Tuning sells the Bremman Aero front bumpers , made of ABS plastic as original …

 

I have seen that listing on ECS tuning and as tempting as it is, I am not sure if I want to pull the trigger on having to break an all original kit. Every piece I have of the aero kit is genuine MINI and I am honestly considering manually repairing it soon but just don't know when!

 

Hello friends!

This has been an eventful past few weeks with the cooper. Like mentioned in the previous update I actually had to remove the cable out of the car since I didn't have enough room to press in the new poly bushing into the hole of the shifter cable. All went well thankfully! It actually shifts much more firm than original which I am a big fan of!

Now, further back into this car I had the clutch slave cylinder replaced and since then my clutch AND brake pedal feel had worsened and it never got better. I brought it to MINI after the job and they managed to bleed both the clutch system and the brakes even though both my rear calipers were frozen and it made a drastic difference with how both pedals felt. It actually felt like new! But a few days after, both pedals went soft and have travel. I couldn't figure it out.

Since I had a track day coming I decided I would just replace all 4 calipers with new oem calipers (powdercoated in red because racecar lol) to ensure I eliminate any issues with my brakes because at this point my clutch pedal feels fine (and I dont know how it fixed itself ) but my brakes are still spongey. So I installed all 4 calipers and all went well. After each removal of the old calipers I pumped the brakes to drain out the old fluid until no more fluid came out. Once all 4 were in, I bleed the brakes (2 man way) and STILL a mushy pedal feel was there. I brought it to a nearby mechanic shop and they managed to bleed it well enough (also using the 2 man way) and it was pretty good.

A few days pass and I got to drive an extremely low mile (53k) R52 and it showed me how bad my pedals were still! So I decided to take matters into my own hands and buy a pressure bleeder since that was what the MINI Tech had used when he bleed my system. The power bleeder kit called for me to pressurize the system up to 15 PSI. And so I did. I went in the order of furthest caliper to closest caliper to the fluid res. A handful of bubbles came from the outermost caliper and THAT WAS IT. I drove the car around the block and it actually got worse.

I am at a loss of words on how to PROPERLY bleed the clutch and brake system in this car! Any help is appreciated!

 

Another update!!

I continued to bleed the brakes and it got back to the same level as what that nearby mechanic shop got it at so I left it as it is and I did not want to touch it anymore.

Yesterday, I had my FIRST track day with the cooper and boy was it fun! IT was organized with my school and so I went with my club so there were no prizes or even the ability to time yourself. Still very fun and I even ran out with another fellow MINI owner! His is COMPLETELY decked out for tracking. Hes got literally everything a MINI owner that is planning to track their MINI can dream of! From what I can spit off the top of my head hes got a TVS900, light street cam, stand alone ECU management system, fortune auto 500 coils, front and rear braces, roll cage, sparco bucket seats, larger IC but the one that wraps around the cold side of the SC into the intake manifold, os giken lsd, lightweight flywheel and upgraded clutch an pressure plate (idk the brand), ALTA intake, MSD coil and wires, milltek full exhaust system, coolerworx shifter,15x8 rays gramlights with a 5mm spacer in the front and semi slicks (I dont remember the brand of the tires). He took me in a ride in his cooper and it literally blew my mind on how well his car can take corners. He has -3 camber in the front and -2 in the rears. It is a complete monster!!!

Since that ride along I literally told my father I will be purchasing another vehicle as my daily and I will make this into a track monster! With that I have decided to put aside the MINI so that I can recoup some money to start seriously investing into this mini cooper. So far, this guy has already convinced me into looking into some lightweight wheels and some sticky tires alongside the fortune auto 500 coils. I would literally enter a turn with my steering wheel turned almost 180 and my car would still move straight so tires are a must! Although I did just spend close to 2500 on a clutch job, I am also planning to install a lightweight flywheel, maybe play with the clutch and replace that too which is a bummer but if I am going to track this car I need a serious spec'd out transmission. And I never realized the difference between an LSD MINI and a non LSD MINI until yesterday so an LSD will be entering the chat soon lol.

Will the money spending ever end???
I sure hope not haha.

 

hi sir, have you tired using inpa to activate the abs pump in the bleed process. The air can be in the pump especially if the reservoir ran dry

 

No I haven’t. I didn’t even know that was a procedure?? How does that work?

Regardless, I’ve gotten quick sick of the brake issue and its spongy pedal. I drove my brothers 05 r53 the other day and was reminded AGAIN how horrible the brakes are in mine.

I’ve honestly given up and since school is just around the corner, I’ve decided I’ll just send it to mini once more to completely bring the brakes back to normal. I have a few things also that I would like them to check over.

 

So….

back in 2021 - I had a line to the rear rust thru. And I replaced the master as part of that. The system was very dry.

I used a motive pressure bleeder. Once all parts were replaced, I filled the system, and bled using the Motive. I do start the car and let it run while I bleed. During the bleed, the left front line blew out an amazing amount of air.

This is without INPA. Try bleeding with it running. Can’t hurt.

 

@ttawfik3 ,

Good buy back in 2024! I found mine and bought it on January 4th, 2025 with 78k miles for $4k.

Regarding the brakes, I've replaced all of mine and the clutch slave cylinder (twice). Telltale sign for the clutch cylinder is difficult shifting or hard to shift into first gear (air in the system keeps the cylinder from completely compressing) - keep bleeding it and bubbles will come out. I used a pressure bleeder for the brakes (and clutch slave) and used about 3 bottles of Motul 600 brake fluid to get all the bubbles out - but it's good to go now. I also use the second person trick for the brakes and the clutch slave - press in on the pedal, bleed - then close, release the pedal slowly - wash, rinse and repeat about 20 times. That finally did it on both the brakes and the clutch slave cylinder. It took a bit of practice, but it's done. FWIW, I also bought some EZ Bleeders from Pelican Parts ant they definitely helped bleed the system. I tried bleeding the system with the stock bleeders and failed miserably. EZ Bleeders were much easier and I completed the process easily (with a second person).

IMHO, you're doing it right in fixing all the niggles and then improving the car. Your journey is similar to mine. My thread here describes what I went and am going through. Same as you some leaks, deterioration of parts (shocks, saggy springs and rubber parts mostly) along with all the prices. If I had it to do again, would I do it - absolutely.

After all the truly maintenance items - getting rid of the low tire and DSC lights, bushings, coolant and power steering hoses, shocks & tires - the car drove like a new old car. Well put together, solid and reliable.

Since the maintenance items, I started improving the car - RSB, pulley, intake, harmonic balancer, exhaust, plugs, wires, ignition module, injectors and a tune. That's when the car started coming to life. I bought the car intending on keeping it (forever), so I've just been working on it as time permits and slowly improving everything.

Fortunately, I have 3 cars to choose from (2002 Ford Ranger, the R53 and a '13 just R56), so I'm not intending to put a bunch of miles on the odo. (And) Fortunately, there's only been a handful of days that the car was torn apart and unable to be driven. My process has been to pick smaller tasks and do them in a single day. Anything that took multiple days I looked at long and hard to either sub out or DIY. So far the only items subbed out were the coolant and power steering lines, bushings (because it made sense at the time) and the clutch/LSD that I'm going through right now.

I guess you have to consider your own purposes for the car as a keeper or enjoy it while you own it. I plan on keeping mine for the long haul. Just a terrific car. The "improvements" make it better.

John

 

Upon some more research and more digging I came to the conclusion that there was some air introduced into my ABS unit probably from the scammer mechanic that did my slave cylinder but also from me bleeding it cause I am not a professional mechanic. I will have to see if I can ask one of the MINI techs to help me bleed the ABS pump.

Thanks John and thanks noodlesandsam!!!

 

It was certainly a good buy! You also got a great deal especially. Post some pics of her I need to see it!

 

@ttawfik3, So I just heard back from Euro Werkz and my clutch replacement and LSD install are done and my ‘05 Mini R53 is ready for pickup. Too bad I’m still in Germany. I’ll pick it up in the afternoon on 9/2.

In other news the clutch slave cylinder is leaking again and they’re replacing it before I pick it up. At least this time they get to bleed the air out of it.

John

PS - Here are both of my Mini’s.

Paul and Otto

 

Good Morning, Good Evening, Good Afternoon, whenever you're reading this at!

It has been some time since my last update and that has been due to school reasons and financial reasons.

Unfortunately, insurance for this MINI was not the cheapest and since I was not daily driving this car anymore (I have an 03 landcruiser), it was a bit of a waste of money to spend. My father had told me to either sell it or find cheaper insurance. I spent the first few months freaking out and trying to find cheaper insurance so I had to put up posts to sell the car. Very hard to do. I had one very nice couple come check the car out and even drove it. They absolutely adored it. And they even agreed to my asking price which was $8,500! I felt at that moment I priced it very low. All this is happening while I am still trying to find a cheaper insurance company for the MINI.

Fortunately, about 2 months ago, I found Hagerty which was able to take my car for roughly $200 a year! Immediately texted the couple saying the car is not for sale and now I get to keep it!! Woohoo!!!

The car mechanically has not let me down since last august. Just recently I took it Autocrossing at Metlife with some fellow MINI owners and it was an absolute great time! Drove flawlessly. Though I need to focus on some suspension work. I was bouncing so might need some strut braces and sway bar upgrades!

As far as performance, I do have lying around an rmw performance cam (250/400). With that being said, I will most likely throw that in this coming summer and also replace the whole timing chain system. Super excited for that!

I am almost done with school this semester. I have a few days left till my finals so once I am done with my finals I will be up and about!!!






Also, one of the photographers that was at englishtown when my school had hosted a track event @ Englishtown, they hit me up a few months after and send me this photo of my MINI. This is probably my favorite photo of all time and now I have it printed and framed in my room!

 

Hey man it has been some time I apologize for that.

Did they properly replaced and repaired the slave cylinder? Hope it went well with you.

 

Good looking car !

 

Congrats on keeping the R53! They truly are terrific cars and I'm so happy that I found mine. I found Hagerty insurance a while back too. Right now the car is double insured through Progressive and Hagerty. When I finally find a low mileage R50, I'll switch the Progressive insurance to the R50 and keep Hagerty on the R53.

Regarding the slave cylinder replacement, they did! All good with that now.

However, the Giken clutch and LSD has been a learning experience. The clutch is sort of binary - it's either on or off. Though I am learning the subtleties of the clutch now, it wasn't easy with a R56 (non-S) with a stock clutch and the R53 with the Giken clutch - whew, totally different driving experiences. Since then I've sold Paul (the R56 base) and it went to a good home.

With Otto, I'm still struggling a bit with the tune though - getting a rich code ( Code 0172) that Jan at RMW is still chasing down. Seems the 380cc injectors aren't as easy as 450's or 550's - at least on my car.

In January/February, I also had a charge pipe leak after the throttle body - before the SC. The bolt that holds the charge pipe to the SC is a specific bolt and the charge pipe shouldn't be tightened down hard to the SC (with the different bolt) as the charge pipe needs to wiggle a bit otherwise it breaks the tab off the charge pipe and you'll have a vacuum leak. The correct bolt lets it do just that. It took me a bit to chase that one down, but in the end - and two charge pipes later - it's on without any vacuum leaks anywhere.

If you're interested, my thread on Otto is located here.

Oh, I also signed up for a couple of AutoX coaching sessions - one with the Porsche club and one at High Plains Raceway - both through SCCA. Plan is to attend 3-4 AutoX events beyond the coaching sessions.

Because of my mods, I'm still a little confused on the SCCA classification system. Originally I thought I'd be in SMF (and I still may be), but at the recent Pro Solo event I visited, they said likely the I was in XB. Who knows for sure! Look, I'm not expecting to be anywhere near competitive in any specific class, I just want to drive and get better. I figured AutoX and Time Attack would be my disciplines for now.

Back to the tune, I recently bought the Bytetronik FA system for data logging - which should help Jan with the tune a bit. ETA for delivery is later today, but because of an estimated 4"-8" of snow forecasted for us tonight, I could be data logging for Jan today or tomorrow, but probably it'll Friday. I'm not planning on messing with the tune at all with the FA system - I almost wish Bytetronik sold a neutered version just for data logging with the DataViewer app - and let the tuners tune...

Next is the Innovate AFR meter (LC2?) but that needs to wait until I get the RMW shorty header. I'll probably pick up the RMW R53 "Speed Kit" which includes the shorty header, 4550cc or 550cc injectors (probably 450cc) and the Dominator cam. Once I have the new header I can have the new AFR sensor bung welded on the header and install the rest of the Innovate kit. That means I'll have another gauge placement to figure out too.

Anyway, good luck on your adventure. Love to hear more AutoX stories!

Be well brother,

John

 

Sounds like you're on your way to having a fully done up R53! Wish I can do the full RMW upgrades. Had some rmw stuff on my old R53 which was the BVH and the cam along with bosche 550 and a ton more stuff. Happy for you! Only thing I got so far is the RMW cam which I'll be putting in this summer so hopefully that all goes well. Ill be posting updates here when that time comes closer.

 

never sell

good to hear it worked out. hagerty is the best

 

Nice roof rack, perfect for hauling your track day tyres with you.

Motor On!

 

that is indeed what I did! I had all my tool boxes in the cabin and enough room for two wheels and threw the two others ontop. Love this cooper