A couple weeks ago I bought an '05 MC S hardtop, but flipped it to get a lower mile manual car.

Anyway, I got this one today for $3,900, but it's a project.

The car is in horrific shape, but I need a winter project. The interior is disgusting. It's as though the owner never once cleaned it out. Smells like vomit. It runs very strong though and it's manual.

The Good:

- Runs great.
- Shift great.
- Looks great.
- Handles great.
- Only 86K miles with clean Carfax
- One owner.
- Heated Seats in great condition.
- HID headlights
- 3 piece BBS wheels (I think)

The Bad:

- Hood was repaired and needs a partial respray.
- Driver's door looks like someone took a crowbar to remove the door card. A little bondo and respray.
- Bumper lip needs replacing.
- Missing power steering pump duct and plastic splash shield.
- Tiny hole in top.
- Wheels badly rashed and one definitely pot-hole damaged.
- Car smells like VOMIT
- Door seals are delaminated.
- Rear top seal is degraded.
- Small rough spot on top that I don't believe leaks, but I'll find out soon.
- Need to repaint some interior pieces.
- Door cards need work.


Without further adieu, here it is:

 

Wow , pretty rough , most of its looks cosmetically fixable , what did they do to that poor Convertible, as a Convertible R52 owner my heart sinks :(


- Hood was repaired and needs a partial respray.

Yes , looks like bad bondo fix and primer.

- Driver's door looks like someone took a crowbar to remove the door card. A little bondo and respray.

Yep body filler and respray.

- Bumper lip needs replacing.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/51117130315/





- Missing power steering pump duct and plastic splash shield.

This is for the convertibles with automatics, stock, but used as a mod / upgrade for the manuals.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/51757201784/





& Air Channel For Power Steering Fan 51757201453

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/51757201453/







On that P/S tank clean it up and replace the little seal, its might have just been overfilled and overflowed out the weep hole on the cap.

- Tiny hole in top.

Trim shop that does Convertibles on Cars might be able to stitch that.

- Wheels badly rashed and one definitely pot-hole damaged.

New webspoke wheel or contact a wheel refinish company.

- Car smells like VOMIT

Take the seats out and scrub and steam the carpets. New floor mats help also,

- Door seals are delaminated.

They looks like just need cleaned unless you are talking about the door sill ? Clean , peal and stick.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2005-...Interior/Door/






- Rear top seal is degraded.

We have the screw hardware kit included with the install kit w/ the moldings. Which we found and included in our larger kit. On older moldings that have deteriorated so bad I have seen them wear down then rub and etch into the top paint on the shoulder of the body, right were they seal.

The trim is for the R52 MINI Convertible ( 2005 -2008 ) only:

Easy to unscrew and install.

We have them in kits with and without the hardware ( screws and such ). The screws can really take a beating from salt and weather and then become hard to put back in and tighten. Would be good to check the condition of yours.

Convertible Top Rear Trunk Molding Kit 51137123438KT


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/51137123438KT/

With install hardware:



Without install hardware:






DIY :::: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ng-away-2.html


- Small rough spot on top that I don't believe leaks, but I'll find out soon.
- Need to repaint some interior pieces.
- Door cards need work.

Looks like new clips for the door and reset.


Little bit of a project , but you can bring it back to life. Its a nice Cool Blue color which I like in the r52. Good luck.

 

Congratulations! Happy to see you picked one up so quickly! Are you going to flip this one or hold onto it once you get it fixed up? Be sure to check out www.car-part.com for a lot of cheaper options for the interior/exterior components that are damaged. Otherwise, if you need help with any of your parts lists shoot me a PM and I'll gladly help you out. Looking forward to watching the restoration of your new project MINI. Don't forget to post lots of pictures of the process for everyone.

 

A body shop took in my web spoke rims, striped them down, smoothed them out and repainted for a fraction of the cost of replacements. 30+K miles and they still look great. Worth looking in to.

 

Thank you guys for the incredible support. I'll definitely be ordering the front lip and door sills, but I'm on a budget for most of the other stuff. I plan to restore the car to the best condition I can, but on a budget. I intend to drive it until April, and then it will likely be sold. I usually buy a winter car in Fall, an off it in Spring due to my daily being over powered and a bad fit for wintry conditions.

 

Day one of the restoration:

First I opened up the key fob and realized it's likely not the reason it's not working. As a result, I'll just deal without having keyless entry for a while.

Next I changed out the rear emblem:



Then I installed the cup holder and garage door opener:



It's held in place with tape while the adhesive cures.




Next I installed a different set of wheels so I can focus on refurbishing the R98's.





After that I tackled the area under the rear seat:







And then I hit the front carpet:





I also removed the warped door sills:



Next I'll be taking on the foggy headlights, dirty engine, and FILTHY rear seat. I really enjoy the 6-speed and targa top.

 

The vomit smell is a prob....I hope it goes away. Good luck to you and thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

Thanks. The Vomit smell is gone after a dozen or so hours of elbow grease. I've had a hard weekend so far.

 

I would liked to have jumped on the Mini reconditioning first thing this morning, but my wife wasn't having any of that. So here's how my day started:











She gave me a reprieve around 3PM today, so I was able to spend around 7 hours working on the car.

Anyway, here's what I did:

First, I cleaned the rear seat:

Before:



After:


Next I cleaned the floor mats.

After that I moved on to the engine:

Before:




After:









After that I cleaned and installed the front seats:





Have a good evening.

 

The new floor looks nice. Also, you did an outstanding job of cleaning up the engine.

 

You are welcome. Well done and very nice floors. Looks like glass and dirt under that back seat. Looks like glass from a side or rear side window.

 

You're welcome. Looks like you're off to a good start, on the MINI and the house. If you need anything please don't hesitate to reach out and looking forward to watching your progress.

 

Thanks guys. Today I worked on the headlights along with a few other minor things. I'm taking tomorrow off and lounging on the couch.

 

Hard to believe a 2007 car can be neglected quite so much!

Look forward to seeing the progress

 

Much better, looking good.

 

Ordered some parts from ECS, which shipped today. Hopefully I ordered the correct trim for the rear: https://www.ecstuning.com/ES2730704/

I also ordered the front lip and hood guide.

 

This evening I cleaned and installed the old door sills. It's hard to tell in the photos, but they look fine.

 

Looks very nice, considering what you started with…Keep up the awesome work and keep us posted…

 

Those are for the R57 MINI Convertible ( Gen 2 ) , I linked all the R52 Convertible ( Gen 1 ) trims above. Please contact our customer service and let them know you ordered the wrong items, they can help. customerservice@ecstuning.com or 1.800.924.5172

Thanks

 

Thanks

For some reason I was thinking the one I ordered was the correct part without hardware. My fault 100%, not your's. Has anyone checked to see how close the newer trim is to fitting?

 

Installed LED interior and license plate lights tonight. Car is running strong.

 

Its ok, I just wanted to make sure, hopefully my links above are all clickable and easy to find. They all work for me.

 

Nice work on your restoration!

Which LED tag lights did you use and do they flicker?

 

Ziza ?

 

I haven't checked for flicker, but here's the kit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/361349002415?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT