2006 Mini Cooper S R52 Convertible BRG

[YLJ]

Still reading a lot the readers cars section, and to compete with Facebook groups, I decided with the free time available today to start a thread on the new summer project.

The search for this summer project was long due to a lot of indecision on my part, but here's what I decided:
- Convertible
- Fun
- Cheap
- Interesting
- Easy to find parts / work on
- Reliable
- Low miles
- No or little rust
- Ready to enjoy or just a little TLC

No E46 convertible, I already owned a lot of them, as the Audi TT Roadster (and hard to find a nice one). 350Z they cost a lot more if you want to find one decent.

And one day on auto trader, this Mini Cooper S popped up locally.


2006 - 63000miles - Same owner since 2017 - FSH. Green with black/tan leather, Harman Kardon, and the best thing for me: Wood steering wheel + wood trim. No heated seats, a shame for a convertible, but with used cars, you need to do some compromises.




After some messages exchanged, everything seemed to be ok. But the schedule wasn't the best (working between UK and France, it means the only time available for both of us was a Saturday evening).

Appointment set but once on the Uber, I got a little bit more informations: the battery is totally flat, the airbag light is on, and the tyre sensor is on... A little bit annoyed to learn this in the Uber after we had been chatting for 2 days.

And once in front of the car: boot damaged, driver door keyed, 4 non matching tires and one with a puncture, one key, and the clutch sleeping as hell...

But it had some good points: it seems no rust underneath, timing chain replaced, serviced every year, roof working smoothly, and I can't resist for a green Mini.

So after some shrewd negotiation, a fair price for both of them has been agreed and I tried to go back home with a sleeping clutch in central London. As you can't imagine, it wasn't funny at all...

After one week parked, I took the road for France to drop the car to my mechanic and asses what needs to be done.



And it's a lot..
The car is leaking all the possible fluids (coolant, oil, steering fluid), front top mounts shot, clutch and DMF, lambda sensor, and possibly an head gasket,...
But it's confirmed, the underneath is in perfect condition, something I was really looking for.

So it will stay there for few weeks the time of the repairs.

Edited by YLJ on Monday 21st April 11:03

[trevalvole]

That looks classy.

[Over over under steer]

My wife thinks I’m nuts at the moment, but after a string of Boxsters, M2 Comps, Lotus and now a mk3 TTRS I keep thinking how much of a waste it is to have £40k sunk in a convertible fun car that I drive once a week. I have this gut feeling that if I bought an R52, supercharged like yours, for a few thousand, I would have just as much fun.

I’ll be watching this thread with a keen eye, I hope it goes well. Even if you have to throw a few thousand pounds at it, it’s an absolutely wonderful car for the money.

[YLJ]

Over over under steer said:

My wife thinks I’m nuts at the moment, but after a string of Boxsters, M2 Comps, Lotus and now a mk3 TTRS I keep thinking how much of a waste it is to have £40k sunk in a convertible fun car that I drive once a week. I have this gut feeling that if I bought an R52, supercharged like yours, for a few thousand, I would have just as much fun.

I’ll be watching this thread with a keen eye, I hope it goes well. Even if you have to throw a few thousand pounds at it, it’s an absolutely wonderful car for the money.

I had a little bit of the same background. Lot of very cheap cars alongside some nicer one. I had M5 e39, Boxster S, M2 manual (non comp), GLE 63 AMG, RS6 Performance pack…

Now I sold them and I just kept a Z3 Coupe 3.0l. Very Nice cars but to enjoy them, the driving licence can be gone too quickly and you can’t work on them because of the resale values.

It’s less stress to get a cheap car like this, you are almost sure to get most of your money back if needed.