Story time, I decided against putting the R53 away for winter yet as temps are still mild up here in Canada. Fueled it up on the weekend and planned to run one last tank through for the year.

Leaving early Monday morning to head into work, not 30 seconds from home tragedy struck at the first intersection i came up to. The light was green with vehicles turning left the oncoming way crossing my lane. Unfortunately a Mercedes AMG driver was more concerned about the people honking behind him to make his left turn, then looking into the lane he was about to cross....

Seen it coming, the poor man's JCW brakes slowed tremendously but we still made impact. I slightly turned into it at the last second to put the impact on the front crash bar instead of what would have been the right front wheel. Seems as if that may have saved this chassis!

The R53 crash bar specifically hit the right front wheel of the AMG. It snapped his tie rod leaving him stranded, little mini drove away playing well above his weight class. The C43 AMG weighs a whopping 4000lbs while the R53 is 2600ish. Thankfully insured as a classic through hagerty with a guaranteed value so there will be no loss. Regardless of repair or write off.

Really hoping to save this chassis after the countless time and money spent keeping it in immaculate condition.
Damages as follows,
Front bumper
Bumper trim
Splittler
Splitter support rods
Grille
Crash bar
Hood
Indicator light
Fog Light
Xenon headlight

Unfortunately locating these parts in Canada can be difficult and expensive, hoping for the best!

 

Howdy!

I have a Dark Silver OEM Non Aero Bumper, and Also have Front Fog Light Housings, as well as Xenon Lights.

I am in California, but I could def ship for you if needed.

PM me if you have any Q's..

(PS: you can also alternatively get a Bremmen Aero Bumper + Retrofit Facelift Halogen housings, and upgrade to High Powered LED's. This is what I did (except i used an OEM aero bumper) and now my car has what i'd call FIA WEC GTD style projector LED Brightness for a 10th of the cost. You will have to code out the Leveling Sensors if you care about that, but will not throw any obvious codes/errors.)

 

Fixable : ). Can’t tell, but hood might even be addressed with paintless dent removal. You will need some paint work, but it will be worth keeping.

 

^^^+1
Man - Really sorry to hear and see that.
Very nice Mini - In no way that should even be considered "the end".
Totally fixable and definitely worth keeping!
Best wishes.

 

bummer to hear :(

totally looks fixable. good to hear you have insurance to cover

 

Bummer! Glad you're o.k. Doesn't look as though the airbags went off because that can really get messy and expensive. "When life throws you a lemon, make lemonade!".

 

Thank you all. I am hopeful it can be fixed within reason. The front bumper cover is going to be the most expensive and hardest to locate, thankfully being classic insured repairs are to my liking and not the insurance company so we can wonder into aftermarket bumpers like the Aero bumper from ECS. Would like to find a GP replica!

I do believe the hood can be PDR'd but would require a repaint. The outside edge of that dent has cracked the paint in a few areas. But i would rather salvage this hood being there is absolutely no rust, which is impossible to find in Canada.

I am going to pull the headlight out over the weekend and see if the housing is cracked or just the lens. Being joey modded i would prefer to swap just the lens, but if needed i will have to gut this headlight and swap the inners to the new housing.

Had an adjuster out yesterday from Hagerty who will give me some numbers next week, also have a body shop quoting the repairs Monday of next week.

@Chucho Shoots Thank you, will be in touch if needed!

 

So Florida was going to declare this a total loss, that’s right a bumper and paint.

So I did this for $300 and cancelled my insurance claim.

All better. So apparently 25% of total value is considered a total loss. A bumper and paint, as we can see doesn’t total a car, insurance is such a joke when you need them sometimes.

 

@Jason Cornelius wow that is insane! I can agree they are useless sometimes and are more focused on getting you out of their hair asap. 25% of value is ridiculous to write a car off! In ontario up here were about 50% of the cars value obviously depending on the situation.

I can say hagerty has been amazing to deal with, although i have been indirectly through Aviva. I feel no pressure and they have reassured me of the guaranteed value. Plus the fact they cannot guarantee repairs on a 20yr old car, its my decision and opinion of repairs and the shop to do so which sits well with me.

 

Sorry to see your beautiful Mini in such a state! Hopefully it comes out better than before the accident.

It reminds me of how I actually got into Minis. A drunk driver did a hit and run on my parked car back in 2017:

 

https://www.automotivetouchup.com/touch-up-paint/

I used their touch-up paint and clear coat on my daughter’s 2004.

 

Just curious -
Was the driver at fault uninsured / under-insured ?
Going with your insurance to cover/repair the damages; Won't that cause your rates to go up?
But then again, I imagine you'll be in a better position to ensure what you want and quality parts and service repair.

notwithstanding: whilst I agree; automotivetouchup.com / Microfinish formulates awesome OEM color match paints in a rattle can for "moderate touch ups" - I don't image a paint repair absent of 2k catalyst would suffice in longevity and endurance in this particular scenario.

Given the level of insurance premiums your paying for - There is no reason the Mini deserves less than or less than equal to the condition of the car. No sense in cutting corners if at all can be avoided.... or at least within reason.

 

@Here2Go The driver was insured, it was a young driver in his fathers car. Rates should not go up if your are not at fault, however depending on the severity of accident, or amount of claims you file, your rates can go up even if not found at fault. The reality is insurance rates keep climbing regardless of what you do lately! Now for the story update which will answer your second question

Story update,
I took the mini over to a local body shop who's done repairs on my cars previously. I know the owner and we had a great conversation regarding the repairs, and only using real OEM parts unless there is a logical reason (cost not being one of them). Even mentioned getting me a headlight lens and i will swap it onto my housing myself, because mine are joey modded. He was insistent that they would gladly do a lens swap on the housing for me, yaay!

It was a snowy cold day, they were struggling to asses the amount of damages and insisted on keeping the mini for a day or two (inside heated storage!). Not only that but the owner has done repairs to R53s, and wanted to disassemble the entire front end to give the most accurate quote. As you mentioned, it deserves the repairs equal to what it was. I have been ball parked around 5k CAD (3500usd) in parts alone, but will have a very accurate number in the coming days.

Stay tuned

 

sounds like your on the right track, Sir

 

Another update on the day:

Hagerty / Aviva called. The car is a complete loss to them as the repairs surpass 80% of the value 9k. Their adjuster quoted 7411$ CAD to repair. The good news to this, i am being paid the agreed upon value with Hagerty of 9k, i am purchasing the car back unbranded for 510$ (scrap value) with a 8490$ cheque in my name. There is no structural damage so the chassis will be unbranded by insurance, it could be driven as is or repaired to any extent i would pay. They essentially are wiping their hands of the situation which i actually prefer at this point.

Now the tough choice,

• do i buy a new chassis for the going rate of 3-6k and swap everything over, having extra cash in my pocket for more goodies!
• or
• repair the current chassis and wipe the cheque received basically clean.

Been through the trenches with this car, but it was about as complete as i was going to make it. Swapping chassis will give me more wrenching time, and the enjoyment of doing so.
Appreciate everyone staying tuned thus far

 

Once you have the $ deposited - take it to a good body shop, get it checked for straightness, and proceed from there. If any minor tweaks on a frame jig are needed, now is the time. Take it apart, and see what else is broken. Cross reference the adjusters write up. Www.car-part.com has been useful for finding used parts. I am in NY, and I get Canadian listings, so you should find folks near you.

 

Absolutely, funny enough i just got the mini back last night from the body shop. They kept it for 2 days to dismantle the entire front end, document and quote the repairs. The good news of this is that the strut towers and crash bars did not move at all. The bumper reinforcement took the brunt of the impact and folded being aluminum, which protected the actual structure up front. They quoted an honest $8824 in repairs, about 5.5k in parts alone. I am well familiar with car-part they come in clutch some days, appreciate the thought! thanks! Even the body shop struggled to find parts up here, i was matching numbers off the "shop.mini.parts" website to the shops quote papers.

I have decided to fix a majority of it myself, i have a parts car which is lacking the all expensive bumper. It however has the hood in the same color and all other needed parts. rad support, bumper reinforcement, grilles ect. I will be on the lookout for another parts car, mainly for the front bumper. Basically it will be going back to the body shop at some point to likely only have the front bumper painted, possibly hood if i am unhappy with the parts one.

At this point i will have money left in the bank after repairs, which may lead to funding my next project of k-swapping a 2nd gen clubman!

 

Sounds like a solid plan, Sir

the k swap would be exciting too see 😃

 

Just looking at the front end damage. Aside from the lower splitter; Isn't that the factory/stock bumper cover you have that needs replacing?
I don't know about Canada but here in the States (if you can find one at a salvage yard), front bumper clad usually go for $300 - $500 depending on condition or seller.
Salvage yards that I've frequented from coast to coast; typically sell between $250 - $300 for a bumper cover.

Edit: Well, it maybe of no help to you - although just out of curiosity; I performed a price search for bumper covers at the salvage yards I am a member of and finding prices for bumper covers between $50 - $80.

 

I wish that was possible up here, scrap yards have been cleared out years ago. What is left is pretty well garbage, partouts up here are the only way to keep these alive.
Canada mini sales in 2006 = 2948
US mini sales in 2006 = 39,171

Thats across all models but you can begin to see the issue. unfortunately we do not have an allmag mini maniac place up here either. The closest bumper listed to me on car-part is in PA, its missing trim pieces and god only knows what else wrong. The cheapest solution is parting out another mini, this will be the 3rd parts car to keep the main one running!!!

We have it rough up here

 

Indeed, the Parts car is a great option to have. I envy you.
Definitely let us here state side know if we can help in anyway

 

Thanks I appreciate it, heading that way next summer but I cant wait that long to retrieve cheap parts!

I have a lead this sunday, a 2006 cooper s, only 165km/100miles. Its auto, transmission toast but the panels are perfect. Plus it has the chrono pack, mine is already equipped but a future backup is nice. 2k cash, I will swap everything over, back to the body shop for 2k of paint. Thats if it all works out!

With money left to fund a clubman k-swap!

 

Darn nice parts car!!!

 

Update to the story...

Had to pass on the parts car last weekend, canadian winter set in and we didnt risk the trip. Things of course got mild again...insurance cheque arrived and cashed so the fun really begins.

During the week i found a local partout with a rather mint front end. Bumper trim has a crack but I have replacements, and the hood has clearcoat issues, but its all being repainted. Sourced a rad support, crash bar and headlight from my current parts car, altho i have to re-joey mod the headlight.

I am set to pull the hinge off my parts car tomorrow as i am having alignment issues on the former smushed side. Was suggested by the body shop that swapping hinges usually fixes issues.

Still have a line on the silver parts car, it may be picked up regardless as I know how valuable these parts are. More to come, altho paint may be waiting until spring.

 

Was able to get better alignment tweaking the 4 mounting bolts. At this point I have started stripping all the trim to send off for painting.