Looking at buying a Cooper S R53

[Isysman]

Hi Folks,

I'm in the market for a Cooper S R53 in the next couple of weeks. My budget is about 3-4 grand and so far I'm thinking that will get me a 2003 53 reg car. What should I be concerned with when looking? I've been trying to find a buying guide but not coming up with much, if you have a link to a good one that would be great also.

It's going to be used as my daily drive as I have another sports car for the weekends etc.

Thanks in advance

[NormanD]

A few months ago I purchased a 53 reg R53 with 150,000 miles on the clock for £2,200

A few jobs I had to do on it, replace air-con pump, replace power steering pump

I also had the wheels referebished, they weren't bad but I wanted them in Body colour,
dark silver and replaced the tyres as I didn't like RunFlats

So in all I expect I spent £4k

Even at 150K the engine still pulls strong, cleen interior and my machanic says all looks good underneath

Edited by NormanD on Tuesday 2nd September 06:55

[Challo]

Check service history is up to date and the serpentine belt has been replaced. Also mine is a 2002 and just hit 70k and I have been replacing the suspension components so worth while checking they have been replaced.

Early cars had known issues with failing Xenons which can be pricey. In 2years mine has been reliable, with consumables only needing replacing.

[Defcon5]

I'd try and stretch to a facelift one if you can

At the very least it will save you £300 in fixing the xenons on the pre when they break

[Isysman]

What year is the facelift? I heard the later car with the French engine is unreliable.

[Sir_Dave]

Isysman said:

What year is the facelift? I heard the later car with the French engine is unreliable.

Thats the R56 turbo-charged one, so not relevant to this thread.

Buying guides:

http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f29/r53-cooper-s-p...
http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=2990...
http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-gui...
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/mini-bmw/mini...

Loads of info above, so read that & you'l end up with a good one

[Defcon5]

Isysman said:

What year is the facelift? I heard the later car with the French engine is unreliable.

05 onwards, you can tell them by the projector headlights mainly

They are more powerful, and sound better too

[mike9009]

Defcon5 said:

Isysman said:

What year is the facelift? I heard the later car with the French engine is unreliable.

05 onwards, you can tell them by the projector headlights mainly

They are more powerful, and sound better too

Facelift happened sometime in 2004. I had a 54 plate R53 that was a facelift. Check the position of the reverse light and fog light to tell the difference. (From memory it was June 2004 manufacture date for the facelift)

[jackh707]

July 2004 onwards is facelift time.

Better lights, shorter gearbox and later supercharger, 3 piece dash instead of 5. Move clock, different exhaust, door cards etc. subtly different in a few ways.
I have June 2004 pre facelift, but with the later Teflon charger , and the longer ratio box which I prefers, amazing motorway cruiser. Got a decent deal, it's a nice car with full leather. But I wish I'd stuck out for face lift car, but you are looking 4-5k for a facelift.

[Isysman]

Thanks for all the feedback so far chaps. I have found a fantastic 2007 car with JCW kit and great looks although it's going to obliterate my budget!. It's an R53 (Nov 2006 model). I'm looking into it and trying to make a deal. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Sir_Dave]

Link to car so we can advise of anything specific to ask/look for?

[jackh707]

Isysman said:

Thanks for all the feedback so far chaps. I have found a fantastic 2007 car with JCW kit and great looks although it's going to obliterate my budget!. It's an R53 (Nov 2006 model). I'm looking into it and trying to make a deal. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sounds good.

[largsvegas]

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...


How does this stack up, folks of mini knowledge?
I am tempted

[Sir_Dave]

largsvegas said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...


How does this stack up, folks of mini knowledge?
I am tempted

Looks ok to me, aero front bumper & JCW seats are a bonus (they are worth £800 lol). GT Tuning cars dont generally tend to make anywhere near their quoted power figures, but the quality of the parts is good. Id certainly have a look.

I love this one on Minitorque though: http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f228/r53-cooper-s-...

[Isysman]

Hi folks, so the car I was hoping to buy sold before I got to see it. Dag-nam-it!

I saw a nice 54 plate Cooper S soft-top on ebay and I've just been to look at it. It looked nice at first look, a little tired but i suppose it's to be expected. 60k miles but missing the service book. So my questions, is it easy to clock a Mini? He says BMW verified the mileage but I'd rather have the handbook. Also it looked like to me tat it had done more miles judging by the look of the interior. Can't be sure though, maybe it's done many short trips?

Also the power steering was really quite noisy. I'm assuming this is the pump. High pitched whirring sound, assuming it's the bearings in the pump. I made a video (for the audio only) and you can hear it change pitch as I turn the steering wheel.

Slight damage to the inner wheel arch on the passenger side, he said because the tyre blew out and punctured it. You can see it when you open the bonnet.

Please excuse the video I was only wanting to record the sound.

http://youtu.be/E7R5kddhs94

[Defcon5]

PAS will fail at some point regardless, but it is very noisy even when working properly

[Clivey]

IIRC the R53s do make that noise.

Good luck with your search.

[jackh707]

I took my time when buying and bought a car with more miles but a better service history because of things like this.
Soft top is not as good a steer as the hardtop..

Hold out for a better car, ebay is full of R53s

[mike9009]

If you are worried about the mileage/ clocking then try here...... Can also give you some insight into the work required on the car to get it through various MOTs..

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history-vehicle

[Isysman]

Yeah I decided to give this car a miss. I'm going to look at another car tomorrow in Blackpool. A coupe