Year: 2006
Make: MINI
Model: Hardtop
Price: $5999
Mileage: 103500
Color: British Racing Green
Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing
Location (Region): Midwestern

SOLD

Located near Cleveland, OH

Time has come to sell my R53, I bought this car in 2012 with 38,000 miles on it, daily drove it for a few years, autocrossed it locally pretty regularly. The past couple years it's been summer only and done a few track days. Rare combination of a final year R53 with factory John Cooper Works kit, in the best color (I'm biased...)

Factory JCW means the engine upgrades (underdrive pulley, injectors, plugs, airbox) plus front brakes and limited slip.

Also has factory aero kit, chrono pack, HK sound system, pano sunroof. Even though I didn't buy this new, I really lucked out finding one optioned the exact way I would have wanted it. The only possible difference would have been going slick top vs sunroof, but having done 95%+ street driving with it that actually has been a very nice option to have cruising around.

suspension (all done mid 2017 at 89,000, so less than 15,000 miles on it)

• Swift Spec-R springs
• new OEM JCW shocks
• IE fixed front camber plates
• powerflex front control arm bushings
• hotchkis adjustable rear lower control arms
• hotchkis comp rear sway bar

plus:

• crank pulley replaced with ATI super damper (preventative maintenance)
• milltek catback (June 2018, original had developed a leak in one of the mufflers)
• Carbotech XP10 pads (front) / XP8 (rear) - were paired with a brand new set of oem rotors - amazing for track use, completely streetable but noisy and dusty
• scroth quick fit harnesses (driver and passenger), red
• little stuff like OEM fitted car cover, M7 tow hook and a nice US millworks front license plate mount

Notable maintenance (aside from regular 3,000-5,000 mile oil changes always with OEM BMW 5w30, and regular air fliter plus fresh JCW NGK BRK7EQUP plugs every 20,000):

• Timing chain / chain tensioner (@ 91k)
• Clutch (back at 60k miles, must have gotten burned up early in its life but has held up great since)
• Clutch slave cylinder (developed a leak shortly after clutch was replaced)
• Crank pulley (ATI super damper), belt tensioner, front axle (101k)
• Water pump (leaky early 2019, replaced)
• Dealership replaced right rear quarter panel due to rust through near brake light, done in final months of the 12yr warranty
• Battery replaced early 2019
• Rear brake lines replaced 2019 (proactive, and to improve pedal feel)

The setup on this car is, to me, the perfect balance of being track capable but not horrendous on the street like most coilovers. It's an R53 with stiffer suspension/bushings so it does feel a bit like driving a race car, with some rattles and vibration, but in a good way... minimal body roll without killing your back like cheap coil overs. When I got the swift springs a couple years ago, I kicked myself for not getting them sooner. The way the exhaust pops off throttle also really pulls together the race car sensation (part of the JCW tuning kit ECU program, my understanding), plus it turns fast lap times and was locally very competitive in auto-x. It's aligned to custom specs (essentially zero toe all around, took a little camber out of rear, max in front). I think this could be a good candidate for a more dedicated track build if you were so inclined, or kept as-is completely streetable but still well dialed if you do take it out.

Street tires are factory dunlop runflats on black R112 challenge spokes (see photo album link below).

Also have a set of 17x7 Enkei RPF1 (black) with low mileage bridgestone RE71Rs (just one track day and a few hundred street miles on them).

AND also have a set of 16x7 OZ Alleggerita (matte graphite) w/ old dunlop direzza ZII star specs.

Would be asking $700 for either of those other sets of wheels/tires, and anyone who buys the car gets first dibs on them (for $1,000 take all).

The only issues with the car are minor and primarily cosmetic: rock chips on front, dings on back. I had debated front/rear paint jobs but using it as a track car, who cares! Besides that, it was driven in a few Cleveland winters and has a little rust, in common areas like the hatch and brake light (as mentioned right rear was replaced). The reverse light is out, and it's not the bulb - dealership said likely need to trace down an issue with a switch, and haven't bothered with that.

Photo album (should work as long as you have some google account, tried to capture all cosmetic issues):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ciPDpVTddaZ82eUN9

^pictured here are the 16" OZ wheels, with them and the shorter tire this is more wheel gap than with the RPF1s and R112s, check photo album. The OZ give slightly lower effective gearing.

 

Shes a beauty!

 

Considering putting into winter storage and keeping into next year, but open to offers in the meantime.

 

bump for putting back on the market with a price drop. If you're serious, make me an offer!

 

God shes a looker! So beautiful!

 

bump for offers!

 

Can you shoot me a txt at 907 201 one five zero five?

 

can you PM me?

 

Pm'd you

 

Hi, is your Mini still for sale? David

 

Yep! Have a couple inquiries but at the moment yes it's still available.

 

Wow! Pretty much everything I've been looking for! For months I've been torn between sinking repair money into my '05 MCSa or switching back over to a manual. I hate to jinx it, but is it still available?

 

Oh for real? I had someone really close to pulling the trigger on this over the weekend but they've backed out for now, so still available. PM me for more details/questions

 

For real! PM sent!

 

SOLD! Congrats to new buyer, look forward to seeing more track pics of it in the future

 

I want to talk to you about your mini, can I have your phone number?

 

I'm pretty sure it's been sold already.