The engine blew on my '03 R53 S and I am going to have to purchase and replace the entire thing. I was wondering if there is anything to look for particularly or things I should take advantage of since the engine will be out of the car already.

Should I replace the motor mounts?

Putnam/Westchester County NY area who want to quote the swap.

 

Two trains of thought...
1. Replace only what needs to be replaced...
Pros..
Less Expensive
Cons..
Parts my fail requiring to redo work already completed
2. Replace everything...
Pros..
Mounts, hoses, clamps all new less likely to cause issues with new engine
Cons..
More expensive

Bottom line... Replace what you can afford, and by doing a failure analysis and decide what items are more likely to fail and cause potential damage to your new motor. e.g., cooling hoses, don't want the new motor to over pressure your old hoses, blowing the hoses causing you to overheat the motor.


Forgot to ask, is it a create motor, refurbed, or out of a salvage yard?

I would guess $4K for a create motor and $1200.00 to pull and install. ($75. An hour 16 hours)
Best of luck.

Motor on!

 

I have yet to decide. The crate motor is attractive to me simply because who knows what occurred resulting in the previous motor leaving the vehicle.

 

list price on a MINI long block is $5550 as of yesterday. We just had a customer spin a main bearing. Gets really expensive really quick once you add labor and misc parts like hoses, mounts, water pump and possibly new clutch while it is out.

 

someone is selling a reman engine in the marketplace.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...11-engine.html

otherwise, what do you mean by a "blown" engine? how many miles on it? what crapped out?

 

I would recommend replacing all the coolant hoses because they're cheap, they don't last forever and the small ones are a royal pain to get at with the engine installed.
Motor mounts are pretty easy to replace and can get pricey so I would let them stay if they look like they're in good shape.
Take a good look at the supercharger and decide if you want to have new seals installed while it's out. Definitely throw in a new water pump, serpentine belt and spark plugs.
While everything is apart, take a close look at p/s system, tie rods, steering rack bellows, control arm bushings, inner tie rods and CV boots. Decide if anything might need replacing in the near future. It's 100 million times easier to do it now then later.

As JBowders put it, it really comes down to personal choice of the matter. Personally, I like to replace anything that has a potential to wear out that isn't insanely expensive. I'd rather spend the money now then waste my time later. Case in point, when I replaced my shocks, CABs and swaybar last year, I opted to throw in new tierods, rack bellows ball joints and sway bar links. It was a few hundred bucks in parts, but with 100K miles on the odo, it was only a matter of short time before many of those parts would be showing their age (especially considering my driving habits).

 

I am not very sophisticated so I apologize for lack of available info. The engine ran out of oil and seized this is about all I know. Seized is probably a superior descriptive phrase. The car still starts and the car moves but there is little to no power.

I am definitely putting in a new clutch, possibly fly wheel and possible a rear sway bar if I get the work done.

 

The engine didn't seize you likely blew a bunch of seals leading to low compression.

This will get pricey fast....I would budget around 8k if not doing this yourself...

Might as well do a new clutch while you have it all out save yourself 800-1000 in labor for that later.

 

That's me, Thanks astro!

 

You're not alone with the blown engine. I know of two other NAM members right now going through the same thing.

Of course you're welcome to buy mine, but it's probably not the best choice since I'm up in Canada.

If it was starved of oil; it likely spun a bearing. Some internals may be reused if you're lucky.

From my experiences (which are lengthy and expensive you can ask others):

Book time is 24h's to complete the engine swap. My dealer did it in 19h (but at $130/h). Add that estimate of time & labour to the price of the engines:

1. Scrap yard engine ~$2000 questionable lifespan and quality
2. Rebuild existing $3000-5000 depending on if some internals can be reused (ie. crank & conrods). You may get a 1 year warranty on it from the rebuilder. Make sure an engine rebuilder does the work, not a mechanic. And have one that is familiar with BMW/MINI engines
3. Way Motor Works $4800 and up + core & freight
4. OEM crate $6000 (no core), comes with 2 year unlimited mileage warranty if installed by MINI

Upgrades/Replacements "while you're in there"
This depends on how deep your pockets are, and how long you expect to keep the car.

• Belt Tensioner
• Belt
• Supercharger
• Waterpump
• ATI Crank Pulley upgrade
• LCA Powerflex (while the subframe is out)
• Engine mount upgrades (I use Vibratechnics)
• Balljoints & Control arms
• Hoses
• Coolant Expansion tank
• Oil Catch Can
• Clutch & LSD

Of course in the first gen cars made before fall of 05 the JCW kit was a dealer installed option. If you wanted too, at this time, you could go for the 210 HP JCW upgrade (OEM JCW engine, ECU flash, Injectors, Airbox, Exhaust) and be a legit JCW. It is still a $6000 upgrade (the JCW crate engine is the same price as the stock S engine)




In my case, I had the dealer replace my engine and do the JCW upgrade and had a new OEM supercharger installed. That "while you're in there" cost more than the crate engine. It gave me a full 2 year warranty on the whole kit-and-kaboodle.



Total cost.... wait for it....


$16,110.93 CAD




Crazy? Perhaps. but this is my DD, and I'm keeping this car forever and have already taken 1st place in class with it at a local British Car event.

 

Another one bites the dust...

845, I'm one of the two others Jamez mentioned in his post dealing with the same thing. This all speculative, but oil loss (probably around piston rings) plusno warning on low oil level or pressure probably started my engine's demise... I think there wasn't enough oil for the cam chain tensioner to work, which lead the chain to flop loose and eat up the plastic chain guide. The itty bitty plastic shavings then clogged up my oil pickup tube, starving the engine lubrication until it shut off on me while on I-84 in Brewster NY (in the 845!!). I've got cracks in the pistons, scored crank, all bearings and rods trashed, etc - and he hasn't even checked the cam & head! Ugh.

Like you, I don't want to spend $4k swapping a used unknown engine in, only to have something similar or happen to me soon afterward - that would be a waste of as much money as I thought I'd be saving.

The price of a Mini-rebuilt motor is quoted above, and install by the dealer in Hartford, CT is a set-rate job, but you get 2 yrs parts & labor warranty. They quoted me $8890, all in, no clutch.

I looked at Way and RMW performance-modded engines, but with the engine, shipping, core charges, component swap time, and all, I'd end up at about the same ~$9k price point.

What my mechanic (and engine rebuilder, to Jamez's very good point) thinks is my best bet is to buy a used, unknown, 50k-70k mile, somewhat-warrantied engine for ~$2500 (less if we can re-use my head), crack it open and replace bearings, seals, piston rings, and that FN useless and traitorous oil sensor!!, pop in a new clutch, ATI crank pulley, performance S/C pulley, and CAI (no need for ECU remapping with those mods) and I end up with a very fresh and +20 hp more powerful R53, good for years to come!

...as long as I keep an eagle-eye on the oil level.



PM me your phone number if you want to talk directly - I'm in da 203, yo). We are close enough to each other that we could wrassle a 2-engine/half-price shipping deal out of Way Motors!