Mini Cooper S JCW R53 - Rebuild
Discussion
Hi all,
I've been inspired by Anthony Johns post about his Audi S3, I thought I'd share a similar story regarding a car I bought a few years ago. First a bit of context. I've always fancied spannering on a car but I have zero mechanical knowledge. I work in an office, my hands are clean..ish. However my family is/has been heavily invested in the automotive industry, with my dad, various uncles and aunts and cousins all working for MG, Rover, BMW and VAG over the years. My Grandad worked for MG and was responsible for the MGB that's been cut down the middle as can be seen at the Gaydon Motor Museum. That's his handiwork.
One of my Uncles was an engineer on the Metro 6R4 project and when Group B was banned, he purchased some cars from AR and set-up a business building/prepping 6R4's for privateers. This picture with some customer cars and his business partner in around 1990.
Later he worked for BMW doing some development on the original R53 Mini and supported its launch as an engineer.
So to the car. In 2015 I was fortunate enough to buy a house and I very much ensured it had a decent driveway and a nice garage so I'd have space to work on a project car at home. Early the following year my wife broke the news that we were to have our first child....I decided the time was right to buy a car!
My budget was modest (£1000) and I really didn't fancy trying to limp home a barely-runner for hundreds of miles so I searched only within a 20 mile radius from my home. I looked at a Fiesta ST (knackered gearbox), a Peugeot 106 GTI (had obviously been in a crash) and an MG ZR (was yellow, the advert said it was blue!!). Anyway after a while I stumbled across an advert on Gumtree. The advert was brief, it didn't even include a picture.
Mini Cooper S John Cooper Work, 106,000 miles, overheats £1500
That was it. No more info. No picture for reference. The owner didn't return my calls so I text him and shock, the car was provisionally sold. The seller agreed to contact me if the sale fell through but it didn't seem likely. I began to continue looking for alternative cars when, out the blue, my phone rang. The seller informed me that the original buyer didn't want to complete the sale...alarm bells began ringing.
Then followed the most mis-informed conversation I've ever had with an owner of a car. The seller told me that the K-Series engine (!!) in the Mini suffer from head gasket failure, his mechanic had inspected the car and had confirmed the head gasket had gone. The seller also added that the car hadn't had a service for a while and the cam belt could probably do with changing.
Well who am I to argue LOL I went to look at the car, my Dad met me at the owners house with his Land Rover and a tow rope.
The car looked bad and gave a terrible first impression.
It had a flat battery. It had a flat tyre. It had water running out from underneath it. It had dents (lots of small ones). It had a wonky bumper/bonnet shut-line. The owner looked desperate but to his credit he agreed to me jumping the car via the Land Rover and shock, it fired right up!! Engine sounded smooth. No more water leaking out (well, nothing obvious). The dash was lit-up like a Christmas tree.
So what to do? Run away FAST was the sensible option but, I wanted it. Bad. With the engine still running I gave the owner an offer, take it or leave it. He took it, we did the paperwork and the car was mine..all before the Mini was up to temperature. But how to get it home. My dad solved that by saying 'while its running you get in it, drive it and I'll follow you' so with a casual disregard for various legalities, and with a flat tyre and no fuel, we headed for home.
20 minutes later the Mini was on my driveway. So, what had I bought? What on earth was I into?
Well it was an early Mini Cooper S R53 with the John Cooper Works performance kit. I was shocked, the car was loaded and must have cost the original owner a bomb having been ordered with extras like the JCW performance kit, full leather, sat nav, CD stacker, Xenon headlights, heated seats, upgraded alloys....this was not a cheap car. The Mini showed 103,000 miles but the last documented service was at 69,000 miles....not good. Opening the bonnet confirmed (as expected) the absence of a Rover K series engine, and instead a Pentagon BMW/Chrysler engine. And man was it dirty. Everything was covered in oil. And mould....the inside looked like it was made from rotting fruit!!! My wife came out, confirmed it was 's
t', then waddled back inside, her disappointed look confirmed to me I had made a GREAT purchase.
So what to do with it? My original idea was to do some sort of restoration but every single body panel had a dent or scratch, all the plastic looked faded, the roof was faded (it had been specified from new with a union Jack on the roof but it had been removed taking paint with it). A restoration wasn't right for this car. Anyway Option B sounded more fun....weekend fun and track day car!!! :-)
First thing was to investigate the overheating issue. At this point I was sure the engine just needed some basic repairs, although it was running hot (or fully overheating) I did note that no water was escaping from the expansion tank, and the radiator wasn't hot...nor was there heat coming out the heather. However there must have been water in it because I drove home for 20 miles and it didn't get THAT hot....
Removing the intercooler revealed 2 issues. Firstly, someone had already had a go and taking the car apart, loads of bolts were loose or missing. Worried face! Secondly, everything was covered in grease and oil. It was totally uncared for and really shocking that it was allowed to get like that.
Luckily no parts seemed to be missing (excluding bolts and nuts), however a heat shield that covers the starter motor had not been refitted and was missing.
Some parts hadn't been refitted, such as this above. No idea how it ran so well.
Over several weekends I started to get seriously stuck into it. The more I took parts off, the more I found it needed. gaskets, water pipes, header tank, timings chain, tensioner....this was getting to be a big list.
I decided to take the head off and to strip the engine on the car, however this generation Mini allows you to have incredible access to the front of the engine once the bumper and crash bar is removed. Therefore I started coming round to the idea of taking the engine out. For someone with no mechanical training, or hands on experience, I wondered if I was getting out of my depth. Brave pill swallowed, I decided to just keep going. That engine needed to come out
Generally it wasn't too difficult removing the engine, I guess one benefit of everything being covered in oil and grease was that nothing was stuck or rusty....WITH ONE HUGELY ANNOYING EXCEPTION. I could not get the exhaust manifold off. The issue with these Mini's is that the manifold is on the back of the engine, facing the firewall. There is no access and the bolts are fiddly to get to being between the manifold primaries. I believe there were 9 or 10 bolts and I got 8 or 9 of them off...but one was absolutely welded to the flange. I was stuck for the first time. What to do? The bolt rounded off, so I got an extractor on it and it still didn't shift. I had enough and with a look of Clark Griswald in my eye, I got my grinder out and cut the whole manifold off...
Anyway, I had decided that Milltek would be able to help extract a little more power and noise :-)
In fact by now I had ordered a whole load of parts, from a full engine gasket kit to Forge engine hoses, smaller supercharger pulley, ARP engine bolts....things were getting serious.
So....having now invested in an engine hoist/crane I put aside an entire weekend and got to work....the engine was coming out. The thought of extracting an engine, alone with no knowledge, does sound like madness and a recipe for disaster. But, I truly believe that with logic, a hammer and ignorance anything is possible.
Now a confession, at this point I got a bit excited and didn't take many photos for a while, however I will explain what I found. As I took the head off, it was immediately apparent that the head gasket was fine. These engines have a strong block design with decent space between the cylinders, oil/water ways and bolt holes, so HGF isn't common. However as with any mixed metal engine (Iron block, aluminium head) they suffered from corrosion if the correct antifreeze isn't used (or if only water is used) and that's what had happened, with the cylinder head being badly corroded on the mating surface.
I originally thought the head was scrap however I have a fantastic old skool engineering company down the road, so I asked them to have a look. Amazingly they confirmed that 'its not that bad mate' and agreed they could weld and skim it. They needed it for 4 weeks however due to a huge workload. No issue for me, I wasn't under any time pressure plus it was apparent now that the block had issues too.
The block was full of sludge. Literally full. The oil-ways were ok but the waterways were totally blocked. I spent a further weekend, literally the whole weekend, flushing the block then the water pipes on the car, what came out was literally like mud and was no doubt corrosion from the block and head. At this point I ordered a new radiator, for £45 it seemed a false economy not to.
As well as some fairly sizeable engine issues, the gearbox, or specifically the casing, had an issue. I had noticed when driving the car that the clutch was both heavy and it felt inconsistent. As you can see, some previous owner had managed to snap off the bolts which is used to hold the slave cylinder in place, and their solution was to put it on at an angle with a cable tie!!! So, new slave cylinder ordered, plus a Valeo single mass clutch kit as I had heard they have a lighter pedal than standard. My Dad helped me drill-out the old bolts (the only help I had), and we tapped the holes. Job done.
By this point, the engine was in pieces. The pistons were out. The crank was out. The girdle was off. I had amassed a load of parts, this was scary.
The main engine bearings were not in a pretty state and needed replacing. So more parts ordered. I did try and buy them from 'Real OEM' which is the online store for BMW parts however they quoted me (and I'm not joking) £945 for a full bearing set!!!! 10 minutes later I'd ordered a set of rings and bearings from eBay, the parts are not OEM but I know the brands so I wasn't worried,
This was probably the low point of the project. By now the head and block were at the machine shop, I had spent a couple of grand on parts and all I'd really achieved was to turn my garage into a well-stocked branch of Euro Car Parts. To top it off, I had to order a new battery as that was bulging on one side and was ready to blow-up, plus I recognised I needed a new intercooler as it had a crack in it and would have been leaking. eBay came to the rescue there again, with a cheap 'performance' upgrade for just £55. Bargain.
Couple of weekends later and things improved as the block had been glaze busted and the head had been welded and skimmed. I was a pleased man, so I painted the block red. Because why not, right?
Over the following weekends I spent the odd hour rebuilding the motor, I have to say I loved it. I didn't have a clue what I was doing but I found the torque values for all the bolts and put it all back together in a logical order. And actually, it was quite easy. An awesome experience.
During the build I didn't ignore the rest of the car. I fitted new springs and shocks all round, renewed a couple of bushes and added performance pads and disks which were TERRIBLE!!! What a mistake they were!! However the engine did take-up the majority of the time.
After more weekends, mostly doing the odd hour on the car here and there, I started to make progress. However lack of time was becoming an issue and the birth of my son was getting nearer, I needed to get the car finished. What I learnt is that even when the engine is in, there is still a mountain to climb in terms of axles, gearbox, mountings, gear linkage, suspension, wiring.....I was beginning to feel that I would never finish!!
I didn't want to neglect the mods, this car was never going to be considered as in good condition, so I decided to have some fun. I love the sound of a good cone filter so I fitted one, and upgraded coil and leads. It was starting to look cool.
Last few bits to do. I felt the car needed de-chroming...so I rubbed down the chrome then used etching paint then satin black. I also replaced the body coloured grill with a black grill. Also, in a moment of beer induced madness, I became inspired and then obsessed with Corvette C5-R's with the central fog lights and headlights in yellow. So I did that too.
Then, I had an arrival of my own. My son was born and, suddenly my free time became no time at all. To be honest the car was nearly finished, but it wasn't quite ready. Still, I had my hands full.
I managed to get one last weekend on it, and finally....it was finished!!! It was a very personal project for, I found it was a very relaxing experience overall and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It passed the MOT first time, without a single advisory which was something I was really proud of. It was ready for its first track outing...trouble was, I had no time and my ever patient wife didn't want me 'to kill yourself' now that I was a Dad. Nonetheless, the Mini was finished...
At the time I was part of a Mini Forum so I stuck-up some pictures of the finished car. I got a bit of hate for the lights (fair enough) but mostly it was well received. And it drove SO well, with the supercharger screaming and the cone filter really providing a throaty induction roar!!!
In fact, it was so good that the following weekend, it was sold. Unbelievably I was made an offer by a member of the Mini forum and it collected immediately. I didn't make or lose money on the project, but I did have a great time building it. At the moment my son (who's now 3 years old) takes up all of our time but he loves looking at the pictures of the car I was building while his mum was building him, and I reckon we'll do our own project together soon.
I hope you enjoyed that write-up guys, sorry if you didn't expect that ending but sometimes you need to recognise when to move on and after spending so long (and so much money) on it, I really didn't feel it was right to watch it rust away on my driveway.
Last twist in the story, the kid that bought it stuck a 21% pulley on it and blew it up. These cars will take 11% pulley all day (standard JCW is 11%), I put a 17% pulley on and it was great fun. But 21%....madness. He did acknowledge his mistake but it cost him dear.
I wont be selling my next project :-)
Thanks.
I've been inspired by Anthony Johns post about his Audi S3, I thought I'd share a similar story regarding a car I bought a few years ago. First a bit of context. I've always fancied spannering on a car but I have zero mechanical knowledge. I work in an office, my hands are clean..ish. However my family is/has been heavily invested in the automotive industry, with my dad, various uncles and aunts and cousins all working for MG, Rover, BMW and VAG over the years. My Grandad worked for MG and was responsible for the MGB that's been cut down the middle as can be seen at the Gaydon Motor Museum. That's his handiwork.
One of my Uncles was an engineer on the Metro 6R4 project and when Group B was banned, he purchased some cars from AR and set-up a business building/prepping 6R4's for privateers. This picture with some customer cars and his business partner in around 1990.
Later he worked for BMW doing some development on the original R53 Mini and supported its launch as an engineer.
So to the car. In 2015 I was fortunate enough to buy a house and I very much ensured it had a decent driveway and a nice garage so I'd have space to work on a project car at home. Early the following year my wife broke the news that we were to have our first child....I decided the time was right to buy a car!
My budget was modest (£1000) and I really didn't fancy trying to limp home a barely-runner for hundreds of miles so I searched only within a 20 mile radius from my home. I looked at a Fiesta ST (knackered gearbox), a Peugeot 106 GTI (had obviously been in a crash) and an MG ZR (was yellow, the advert said it was blue!!). Anyway after a while I stumbled across an advert on Gumtree. The advert was brief, it didn't even include a picture.
Mini Cooper S John Cooper Work, 106,000 miles, overheats £1500
That was it. No more info. No picture for reference. The owner didn't return my calls so I text him and shock, the car was provisionally sold. The seller agreed to contact me if the sale fell through but it didn't seem likely. I began to continue looking for alternative cars when, out the blue, my phone rang. The seller informed me that the original buyer didn't want to complete the sale...alarm bells began ringing.
Then followed the most mis-informed conversation I've ever had with an owner of a car. The seller told me that the K-Series engine (!!) in the Mini suffer from head gasket failure, his mechanic had inspected the car and had confirmed the head gasket had gone. The seller also added that the car hadn't had a service for a while and the cam belt could probably do with changing.
Well who am I to argue LOL I went to look at the car, my Dad met me at the owners house with his Land Rover and a tow rope.
The car looked bad and gave a terrible first impression.
It had a flat battery. It had a flat tyre. It had water running out from underneath it. It had dents (lots of small ones). It had a wonky bumper/bonnet shut-line. The owner looked desperate but to his credit he agreed to me jumping the car via the Land Rover and shock, it fired right up!! Engine sounded smooth. No more water leaking out (well, nothing obvious). The dash was lit-up like a Christmas tree.
So what to do? Run away FAST was the sensible option but, I wanted it. Bad. With the engine still running I gave the owner an offer, take it or leave it. He took it, we did the paperwork and the car was mine..all before the Mini was up to temperature. But how to get it home. My dad solved that by saying 'while its running you get in it, drive it and I'll follow you' so with a casual disregard for various legalities, and with a flat tyre and no fuel, we headed for home.
20 minutes later the Mini was on my driveway. So, what had I bought? What on earth was I into?
Well it was an early Mini Cooper S R53 with the John Cooper Works performance kit. I was shocked, the car was loaded and must have cost the original owner a bomb having been ordered with extras like the JCW performance kit, full leather, sat nav, CD stacker, Xenon headlights, heated seats, upgraded alloys....this was not a cheap car. The Mini showed 103,000 miles but the last documented service was at 69,000 miles....not good. Opening the bonnet confirmed (as expected) the absence of a Rover K series engine, and instead a Pentagon BMW/Chrysler engine. And man was it dirty. Everything was covered in oil. And mould....the inside looked like it was made from rotting fruit!!! My wife came out, confirmed it was 's
t', then waddled back inside, her disappointed look confirmed to me I had made a GREAT purchase.So what to do with it? My original idea was to do some sort of restoration but every single body panel had a dent or scratch, all the plastic looked faded, the roof was faded (it had been specified from new with a union Jack on the roof but it had been removed taking paint with it). A restoration wasn't right for this car. Anyway Option B sounded more fun....weekend fun and track day car!!! :-)
First thing was to investigate the overheating issue. At this point I was sure the engine just needed some basic repairs, although it was running hot (or fully overheating) I did note that no water was escaping from the expansion tank, and the radiator wasn't hot...nor was there heat coming out the heather. However there must have been water in it because I drove home for 20 miles and it didn't get THAT hot....
Removing the intercooler revealed 2 issues. Firstly, someone had already had a go and taking the car apart, loads of bolts were loose or missing. Worried face! Secondly, everything was covered in grease and oil. It was totally uncared for and really shocking that it was allowed to get like that.
Luckily no parts seemed to be missing (excluding bolts and nuts), however a heat shield that covers the starter motor had not been refitted and was missing.
Some parts hadn't been refitted, such as this above. No idea how it ran so well.
Over several weekends I started to get seriously stuck into it. The more I took parts off, the more I found it needed. gaskets, water pipes, header tank, timings chain, tensioner....this was getting to be a big list.
I decided to take the head off and to strip the engine on the car, however this generation Mini allows you to have incredible access to the front of the engine once the bumper and crash bar is removed. Therefore I started coming round to the idea of taking the engine out. For someone with no mechanical training, or hands on experience, I wondered if I was getting out of my depth. Brave pill swallowed, I decided to just keep going. That engine needed to come out
Generally it wasn't too difficult removing the engine, I guess one benefit of everything being covered in oil and grease was that nothing was stuck or rusty....WITH ONE HUGELY ANNOYING EXCEPTION. I could not get the exhaust manifold off. The issue with these Mini's is that the manifold is on the back of the engine, facing the firewall. There is no access and the bolts are fiddly to get to being between the manifold primaries. I believe there were 9 or 10 bolts and I got 8 or 9 of them off...but one was absolutely welded to the flange. I was stuck for the first time. What to do? The bolt rounded off, so I got an extractor on it and it still didn't shift. I had enough and with a look of Clark Griswald in my eye, I got my grinder out and cut the whole manifold off...
Anyway, I had decided that Milltek would be able to help extract a little more power and noise :-)
In fact by now I had ordered a whole load of parts, from a full engine gasket kit to Forge engine hoses, smaller supercharger pulley, ARP engine bolts....things were getting serious.
So....having now invested in an engine hoist/crane I put aside an entire weekend and got to work....the engine was coming out. The thought of extracting an engine, alone with no knowledge, does sound like madness and a recipe for disaster. But, I truly believe that with logic, a hammer and ignorance anything is possible.
Now a confession, at this point I got a bit excited and didn't take many photos for a while, however I will explain what I found. As I took the head off, it was immediately apparent that the head gasket was fine. These engines have a strong block design with decent space between the cylinders, oil/water ways and bolt holes, so HGF isn't common. However as with any mixed metal engine (Iron block, aluminium head) they suffered from corrosion if the correct antifreeze isn't used (or if only water is used) and that's what had happened, with the cylinder head being badly corroded on the mating surface.
I originally thought the head was scrap however I have a fantastic old skool engineering company down the road, so I asked them to have a look. Amazingly they confirmed that 'its not that bad mate' and agreed they could weld and skim it. They needed it for 4 weeks however due to a huge workload. No issue for me, I wasn't under any time pressure plus it was apparent now that the block had issues too.
The block was full of sludge. Literally full. The oil-ways were ok but the waterways were totally blocked. I spent a further weekend, literally the whole weekend, flushing the block then the water pipes on the car, what came out was literally like mud and was no doubt corrosion from the block and head. At this point I ordered a new radiator, for £45 it seemed a false economy not to.
As well as some fairly sizeable engine issues, the gearbox, or specifically the casing, had an issue. I had noticed when driving the car that the clutch was both heavy and it felt inconsistent. As you can see, some previous owner had managed to snap off the bolts which is used to hold the slave cylinder in place, and their solution was to put it on at an angle with a cable tie!!! So, new slave cylinder ordered, plus a Valeo single mass clutch kit as I had heard they have a lighter pedal than standard. My Dad helped me drill-out the old bolts (the only help I had), and we tapped the holes. Job done.
By this point, the engine was in pieces. The pistons were out. The crank was out. The girdle was off. I had amassed a load of parts, this was scary.
The main engine bearings were not in a pretty state and needed replacing. So more parts ordered. I did try and buy them from 'Real OEM' which is the online store for BMW parts however they quoted me (and I'm not joking) £945 for a full bearing set!!!! 10 minutes later I'd ordered a set of rings and bearings from eBay, the parts are not OEM but I know the brands so I wasn't worried,
This was probably the low point of the project. By now the head and block were at the machine shop, I had spent a couple of grand on parts and all I'd really achieved was to turn my garage into a well-stocked branch of Euro Car Parts. To top it off, I had to order a new battery as that was bulging on one side and was ready to blow-up, plus I recognised I needed a new intercooler as it had a crack in it and would have been leaking. eBay came to the rescue there again, with a cheap 'performance' upgrade for just £55. Bargain.
Couple of weekends later and things improved as the block had been glaze busted and the head had been welded and skimmed. I was a pleased man, so I painted the block red. Because why not, right?
Over the following weekends I spent the odd hour rebuilding the motor, I have to say I loved it. I didn't have a clue what I was doing but I found the torque values for all the bolts and put it all back together in a logical order. And actually, it was quite easy. An awesome experience.
During the build I didn't ignore the rest of the car. I fitted new springs and shocks all round, renewed a couple of bushes and added performance pads and disks which were TERRIBLE!!! What a mistake they were!! However the engine did take-up the majority of the time.
After more weekends, mostly doing the odd hour on the car here and there, I started to make progress. However lack of time was becoming an issue and the birth of my son was getting nearer, I needed to get the car finished. What I learnt is that even when the engine is in, there is still a mountain to climb in terms of axles, gearbox, mountings, gear linkage, suspension, wiring.....I was beginning to feel that I would never finish!!
I didn't want to neglect the mods, this car was never going to be considered as in good condition, so I decided to have some fun. I love the sound of a good cone filter so I fitted one, and upgraded coil and leads. It was starting to look cool.
Last few bits to do. I felt the car needed de-chroming...so I rubbed down the chrome then used etching paint then satin black. I also replaced the body coloured grill with a black grill. Also, in a moment of beer induced madness, I became inspired and then obsessed with Corvette C5-R's with the central fog lights and headlights in yellow. So I did that too.
Then, I had an arrival of my own. My son was born and, suddenly my free time became no time at all. To be honest the car was nearly finished, but it wasn't quite ready. Still, I had my hands full.
I managed to get one last weekend on it, and finally....it was finished!!! It was a very personal project for, I found it was a very relaxing experience overall and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It passed the MOT first time, without a single advisory which was something I was really proud of. It was ready for its first track outing...trouble was, I had no time and my ever patient wife didn't want me 'to kill yourself' now that I was a Dad. Nonetheless, the Mini was finished...
At the time I was part of a Mini Forum so I stuck-up some pictures of the finished car. I got a bit of hate for the lights (fair enough) but mostly it was well received. And it drove SO well, with the supercharger screaming and the cone filter really providing a throaty induction roar!!!
In fact, it was so good that the following weekend, it was sold. Unbelievably I was made an offer by a member of the Mini forum and it collected immediately. I didn't make or lose money on the project, but I did have a great time building it. At the moment my son (who's now 3 years old) takes up all of our time but he loves looking at the pictures of the car I was building while his mum was building him, and I reckon we'll do our own project together soon.
I hope you enjoyed that write-up guys, sorry if you didn't expect that ending but sometimes you need to recognise when to move on and after spending so long (and so much money) on it, I really didn't feel it was right to watch it rust away on my driveway.
Last twist in the story, the kid that bought it stuck a 21% pulley on it and blew it up. These cars will take 11% pulley all day (standard JCW is 11%), I put a 17% pulley on and it was great fun. But 21%....madness. He did acknowledge his mistake but it cost him dear.
I wont be selling my next project :-)
Thanks.
Had one in 2002, well specced cost about 25k. Had loads spent on it, including 330mm brembos and custom alloys. Extra running from GTtuing, about 230bhp.
Best car I ever had, total regret selling it. Did about 20 track day.
Kid that bought it crashed it weeks later, write off. Mini enthusiast bought it off inspired and spent a lot repairing it,
Best car I ever had, total regret selling it. Did about 20 track day.
Kid that bought it crashed it weeks later, write off. Mini enthusiast bought it off inspired and spent a lot repairing it,
TTmonkey said:
Had one in 2002, well specced cost about 25k. Had loads spent on it, including 330mm brembos and custom alloys. Extra running from GTtuing, about 230bhp.
Best car I ever had, total regret selling it. Did about 20 track day.
Kid that bought it crashed it weeks later, write off. Mini enthusiast bought it off inspired and spent a lot repairing it,
I recently bought one of the last r53's and posts like the above make me glad to have done so! Mine is an 06 with a couple nice options, mainly the LSD and heated Recaro seats like those fitted to the GP. Even standard it goes well, but I'm looking forward to getting more bhp out of it and some better brakes. Thankfully the support network for these is great with plenty of info on common upgrades - really an ideal platform for learning some car basics on. Best car I ever had, total regret selling it. Did about 20 track day.
Kid that bought it crashed it weeks later, write off. Mini enthusiast bought it off inspired and spent a lot repairing it,
With regards to another project OP, there was a high mileage late JCW on eBay that sold recently for a little over £1000
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