So far, I’ve had my Mini for about 4 months now. While it is a fun car to drive, it has become a complete nightmare as well. The previous owners really did a number on this thing. Missing bolts holding the scrapyard transmission in place with a new clutch held on by mismatched bolts that stripped the threads in the flywheel and ultimately destroyed it. Now, a head gasket seal is needing replaced after finding coolant in the oil...

so so it’s adventure in the shop continues! So far, I’ve replaced the clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, pulled the supercharger and had it serviced with new oil, replaced the seal, replaced the stock pulley with WMW 16% and matching belt and colder plugs, new spark wires, screamin demon coil pack, new power steering hoses, new intake hose that goes from the throttle body to the supercharger, a few plugs were replaced for various sensors since they were damaged, transmission was leaking fluid and had that sealed. Now getting head gasket replaced as well as the valve cover gasket and spark plug seals. Rear main seal has also been replaced even though it wasn’t leaking (might as well since we were able to). I am also going ahead and replacing the crank pulley and front main seal as well as the tensioner since I have no way of knowing when or if they have ever been replaced before. HOPEFULLY this solves all my issues and I can finally have some time to enjoy my car while I pay for all the repairs. 😭

So, it’s been a bit of a nightmare, but hoping it turns into a great time with this little car. Once I get everything paid up, the audio system is getting replaced. The Harman system is nice, but I lost a few speakers/channels already, and if I’m paying almost $130 per speaker, I’ll just invest some extra and put in something custom. Already got the new head unit in.

so that’s just my little rant for now. 😅

It’s a 2005 R53. It had 147,000 ish miles on it when I bought it. I’m the 8th owner so who knows what was done to the poor thing. Haha

i love her though! It’s going to be a good car when all the work is done.

Some pictures from my mechanic. Coolant got blown into the exhaust on cylinders 1 and 2. 3 and 4 were dry. Cylinder head is getting checked out to make sure it is good to go. Still waiting on parts.

Cylinder head is warped.

looks like a new new cylinder head is in store for this nightmare vehicle... But! Good news is the car should run pretty good once it’s all put back together. Also replacing the timing chain. It had a little bit of play in it and since the motor is taken apart, might as well replace it now.

already got that in and ready to change out.