Description:

2005 R53 Mini Cooper S (LY/B)

Sadly, it is time to let him go.

I am the original owner of this Mini, built him and watch him sail across the pond to South Carolina back in 2004.  I bought him out of San Antonio and had him trucked to Phoenix, AZ.  I had every intention of keeping him and putting him back together but life has thrown me a few curveballs and it is time to part ways.  Anyone that has followed my Mini thread knows the car is in great shape.  I would walk through what I did, what I replaced and cleaned up everything I came across along the way.

But a few months back, something bad happened that has left him idle in the garage. 

NON-RUNNING

If I had to guess, it is a crank bearing in the block?  The last time I drove him, I limped him home.  At a stop light, I was getting a stutter at idle with the oil pressure light coming on the center dash.  Driving would be ok at higher RPMs but in the end that started to suffer and there was stuttering through the gears.

So I parked him and thought about what I wanted to do with him.  Replace the motor?  Or sell him to someone who would replace the motor and take care of him.

It is time to put him up for sale sadly.  I am not happy about this…

He has around 132,xxx miles on the chassis.  It has the original clutch that is still functional.  Flywheel was replaced back in April-2006 under warranty.  But it pains me to say that the clutch lasted longer than the motor.  Very frustrating.

THE BADs:

Motor is having issues with stumbling and oil pressure lights.

Air conditioning compressor does not work.

THE GOODs:

Chassis is in good shape I would say.  Front end has little chips here and there.  There may be 2-3 small indentations in the body where the paint is not affected.

Transmission (non-LSD) is in great shape.  Clutch is getting weaker but will be swapped when motor is repaired/replaced.

Power steering pump works great.  P/S lines were replace in my thread in Aug-2016 at 113.8k miles.

Radiator has been replaced in May of 2022.

All bulbs have been replaced except for the headlights.  Those are original.

PERFORMANCE ITEMS:

Milltek header and the Milltek catback exhaust.

Rogue Engineering air intake

Alta 15% pulley on the original supercharger

TIRES:

All 4 tires are Yoko Advan Sport A/S+ 215/45-17

All 4 tires have been replaced in April-2021 and only have approximately 4,600 miles on them.  Should be 10/32 of tread at all 4 corners.

Run-flats are gone and I carried a spare full size wheel in the trunk.

BRAKES:

Front brakes should be around 8mm left

Rear brakes should be around 7mm left

I upgraded the caliper bushings to steel so there is no flexing or mis-alignment with the brake pads.

Brake fluid test should yield 1% (maybe 2%) water in the brake fluid which is good.

Brake pad sensors are present but not connected.  I very much disliked the design using the sensor, let alone replacing the sensor at brake pad change intervals.  I checked/measured the brake pads every 6-12 months for when they got close to the limit and then just replaced the pads.

SUSPENSION:

Suspension is stock from 2005 at each corner.  Front top mounts are intact.

Swaybars are stock from 2005.

I have the stock cat-back exhaust system at the house that will go with the car.  I am sure I have a few spare parts here and there as well that will accompany the car.

That is all that comes to mind at the moment.  Feel free to asking questions.

Current pics?  He looks the same as he does in this thread.

MY MINI COOPER S THREAD

Price?  I was hoping to get $1,250 out of him given the condition and parts on him.  Lets see what kind of offers come in and then I will take the time to consider each.

Thanks,

Jeff