Has anyone ever tried swapping an R53 supercharged engine into an R56? If so, what were some of the problems?

Hate to be the one to ask but why?? With minor mods (not getting into engine) you'll get better power (less work) on an R56 engine than an R53.

Why go through the trouble?

Mark

No one has and if you got the money you can do it. Not worth it in my book.

First issue...legality....
In most states (here in the US) you can always install a engine that is the same model year or newer...but installing a motor that is older is almost always an issue....
Secondly...WHY?!
BOTH MOTORS HAVE STRONG AND WEAK POINTS, but neither is exactly the cats meow...the perfect motor.
On the gen2 car, the computer runs so much....i bet you would have almost nothing working...so you would have to transplant most of a gen1 dash into it....not what most folks would want.
Good luck....i bet somebody with more $$$ than sense has trulied it on a mini forum somewhere just to say they did it.....

I think a turbo swapped W11 would be a really cool mod to an R56. Just for the uniqueness plus the lower compression/cast iron block of the W11 should allow higher boost levels with less chance of catastophic failure.

I don't think anyone has ever pursued either path. W11 into R56 or N14 into R53. Too much cost for so little benefit. For the cost and labor it would take you might as well buy an alternative car to the MINI that has it's advantages over the FWD MINI platform. I'd go straight to Lotus or something like a S2000 or highly modified Miata.

There is a guy in England that swapped a VW 1.8 Turbo into his R53.