I bought a 21yo car I plan to daily! (R53 Mini Cooper S)
Discussion
Hello fellow PHs! 
I've been lurking round this forum for what seems like forever, but only recently signed up after reading tallpaul26's thread on his Mini R53, partly because I wanted to commend him on the amount of work he'd put in on that car, but also because his journey with that car is likely to mirror the one I've also embarked on - yep, I've for some reason bought a 21yo car and will eventually, potentially stupidly, run it as my daily driver.
Bit of background, I'm in no way a mechanic, but after owning a few Fiats and more than a few Vauxhalls, I've learnt to do as much as I can myself to save on labour costs, etc. During lockdown, I bought a very (very) cheap Astra Twintop with a non-working roof and pretty much stripped the whole car, replaced anything that needed replacing (and some things that didn't), fixed the roof and then ran it as my daily driver once real life resumed. It turned out to be the most reliable car I've ever had but it sadly met it's demise when another driver cut the corner at a junction and hit me head on while I was stationary.
Another (better spec) Twintop was sourced, but I've never really gelled with it, especially as there always seems to be something wrong with it. I decided I needed to do the same thing as with the first Twintop: buy a cheap project, replace everything and hopefully end up with a reliable car I can then maintain from that point forwards.
So, why a Mini? Well, my wife's Corsa was totalled by a KIA Sportage while on the school run, and she decided she wanted a Mini to replace it. I initially pulled my face, as all I knew about Mini's was that they are a retro fashion accessory with a chocolate gearbox, however, the more I researched them, the more my opinion changed. I discovered that while the early ones did indeed have a gearbox that liked to lunch itself, by the time the first facelift came around, most of the issues were solved, the Cooper had a proper Getrag box, and the Cooper S was a proper little sportscar.
In the end, she ended up with another Corsa, but I couldn't shake the idea of having a supercharged go-kart on the drive.
After months of searching, I spotted a nice looking 2004 (facelift) R53 on Facebook Marketplace with 130000 miles and a few issues, namely the chain tensioner needed replacing, and it had the usual rust on the tailgate, but importantly it ran and drove, and more importantly it was cheap!
Having spoken to the wife and gotten spousal approval, I went to have a look at it, and an hour later it was on the driveway.
Plans for it are the same as with my first Twintop, strip it, replace everything that needs it, some things that don't, and get it to a nice reliable standard, and then just enjoy it!
Money will be the limiting factor on this one as the wife would rather go on holiday than buy Mini parts, so progress will be slow, but it will get done, and I will document it here, whether you want to read it or not!
I've been lurking round this forum for what seems like forever, but only recently signed up after reading tallpaul26's thread on his Mini R53, partly because I wanted to commend him on the amount of work he'd put in on that car, but also because his journey with that car is likely to mirror the one I've also embarked on - yep, I've for some reason bought a 21yo car and will eventually, potentially stupidly, run it as my daily driver.
Bit of background, I'm in no way a mechanic, but after owning a few Fiats and more than a few Vauxhalls, I've learnt to do as much as I can myself to save on labour costs, etc. During lockdown, I bought a very (very) cheap Astra Twintop with a non-working roof and pretty much stripped the whole car, replaced anything that needed replacing (and some things that didn't), fixed the roof and then ran it as my daily driver once real life resumed. It turned out to be the most reliable car I've ever had but it sadly met it's demise when another driver cut the corner at a junction and hit me head on while I was stationary.
Another (better spec) Twintop was sourced, but I've never really gelled with it, especially as there always seems to be something wrong with it. I decided I needed to do the same thing as with the first Twintop: buy a cheap project, replace everything and hopefully end up with a reliable car I can then maintain from that point forwards.
So, why a Mini? Well, my wife's Corsa was totalled by a KIA Sportage while on the school run, and she decided she wanted a Mini to replace it. I initially pulled my face, as all I knew about Mini's was that they are a retro fashion accessory with a chocolate gearbox, however, the more I researched them, the more my opinion changed. I discovered that while the early ones did indeed have a gearbox that liked to lunch itself, by the time the first facelift came around, most of the issues were solved, the Cooper had a proper Getrag box, and the Cooper S was a proper little sportscar.
In the end, she ended up with another Corsa, but I couldn't shake the idea of having a supercharged go-kart on the drive.
After months of searching, I spotted a nice looking 2004 (facelift) R53 on Facebook Marketplace with 130000 miles and a few issues, namely the chain tensioner needed replacing, and it had the usual rust on the tailgate, but importantly it ran and drove, and more importantly it was cheap!
Having spoken to the wife and gotten spousal approval, I went to have a look at it, and an hour later it was on the driveway.
Plans for it are the same as with my first Twintop, strip it, replace everything that needs it, some things that don't, and get it to a nice reliable standard, and then just enjoy it!
Money will be the limiting factor on this one as the wife would rather go on holiday than buy Mini parts, so progress will be slow, but it will get done, and I will document it here, whether you want to read it or not!
Great thread and in for the ride. I had an R53 JCW and it was one of the most fun cars I've owned, certainly more exciting than the Golf R that replaced it. Never tire of hearing that supercharger whine.
These guys were always a good source of upgrades for me : https://www.lohen.co.uk/
Hope it goes well.
These guys were always a good source of upgrades for me : https://www.lohen.co.uk/
Hope it goes well.
First thing to do, get a replacement rust free boot lid.
Scoured the usual places and found a couple of R50 ones, same physical boot lid albeit with a different spoiler, in the correct colour and was all ready to pick one up when a R53 one came up locally from a front-end fire damaged car, in the correct colour, a couple of messages later and I arranged to collect it.
It had a couple of minor rust spots where the boot handle is bolted on, but otherwise in good nick, certainly better than the one on the car.
Gave it a rub down, a couple of coatings of rust converter, some etch primer and the worst paintjob imaginable, it's hidden by the handle so I don't care for now. It'll get done properly when I have the whole car done.
I then fitted it to the car, much better.
The old crusty boot lid...
Next thing, properly check out the underside.....
Scoured the usual places and found a couple of R50 ones, same physical boot lid albeit with a different spoiler, in the correct colour and was all ready to pick one up when a R53 one came up locally from a front-end fire damaged car, in the correct colour, a couple of messages later and I arranged to collect it.
It had a couple of minor rust spots where the boot handle is bolted on, but otherwise in good nick, certainly better than the one on the car.
Gave it a rub down, a couple of coatings of rust converter, some etch primer and the worst paintjob imaginable, it's hidden by the handle so I don't care for now. It'll get done properly when I have the whole car done.
I then fitted it to the car, much better.
The old crusty boot lid...
Next thing, properly check out the underside.....
21TonyK said:
I'll be following this one with interest. Half looking at a 2001 R53 cooper but really want an S as a project to go with my R56 and F56.
You want to be looking at the facelift ones (mid 2004-06), the pre-facelift Cooper had the 'Midlands' gearbox which likes to lunch itself, from mid 04 onwards they had a 5-speed Getrag box which is much, much sturdier, the 'S' models all came with a 6-speed Getrag box. A variety of other issues were also fixed on the facelift cars so worth looking at a facelift if you can.That being said, you can retrofit the Getrag box, they don't seem to be going for silly money on ebay.
daqinggregg said:
I know this sounds odd, but that is a great colour, think its called ‘pepper white’ would look good with silver wheels.
I’m not a fan of retro cars, but IMO BMW got their reinterpretation just right. Looking forward to your updates.
I also love the colour, given the choice I'd have gotten the Grey one, but the Pepper White has grown on me. I will more than likely change the wheels, at least the colour, I don't like black wheels.I’m not a fan of retro cars, but IMO BMW got their reinterpretation just right. Looking forward to your updates.
Edited by BORNXenon on Friday 22 August 15:43
The BMW Minis drive really well.
Mrs Tidy bought an R50 One in 2003 and got invited to the R56 launch event as a result. Needless to say an order was placed before we left and she is still running her December 2006 as her only car. My daily driver is a BMW 330i that will be 20 years only next month so obviously I can't see why running a 21 year old as a daily should be an issue!
Mrs Tidy bought an R50 One in 2003 and got invited to the R56 launch event as a result. Needless to say an order was placed before we left and she is still running her December 2006 as her only car. My daily driver is a BMW 330i that will be 20 years only next month so obviously I can't see why running a 21 year old as a daily should be an issue!
Mr Tidy said:
I can't see why running a 21 year old as a daily should be an issue!
It shouldn't be an issue really so long as its maIntained. As I said in the first post, my first Twintop was a brilliantly reliable car, bought it for £550, spent about £1k on it sorting it out, and, got £2500 back from the insurance when it was written off.Some would call that a result, but the one I got to replace it has been a problem almost from day one, it's clearly been neglected before my ownership and ive spent far more time under the bonnet than I would like.
The Mini will be sorted and then maintained so it should be a reliable little motor, I can't wait to get it on the road!
100% here for this. I absolutely LOVE a MINI and the R53 is a peach. Cheap to buy, fantastic fun to drive, plethora of parts available (used and new) and relatively easy to work on. Even if it totally s
ts itself you can get it back on the road for hundreds not thousands. Yes they rust, but not as badly as most of their contemporaries, and they like a bit of a drink, but who doesn’t in their 20s? I think this’ll do you proud.
Just resist the temptation to go down the MINI rabbit hole and start colour coding everything in the interior and slathering it in Union Jack bullst 
ts itself you can get it back on the road for hundreds not thousands. Yes they rust, but not as badly as most of their contemporaries, and they like a bit of a drink, but who doesn’t in their 20s? I think this’ll do you proud. Just resist the temptation to go down the MINI rabbit hole and start colour coding everything in the interior and slathering it in Union Jack bulls
t 
R53s are superb. I had mine two years, did about 15k miles and three track days.
I’ve got an F56 now which is a far better daily driver, miles faster (mapped to 280 bhp v a 15% pulley on the R53), miles better on fuel but nowhere near as good to drive.
I had R56 brakes on my R53 and they were a huge upgrade for minimal cost. I also had gaffa tape on my boot lid because I put my hand through it shutting the boot, it was that rusty!
Enjoy buddy!
I’ve got an F56 now which is a far better daily driver, miles faster (mapped to 280 bhp v a 15% pulley on the R53), miles better on fuel but nowhere near as good to drive.
I had R56 brakes on my R53 and they were a huge upgrade for minimal cost. I also had gaffa tape on my boot lid because I put my hand through it shutting the boot, it was that rusty!
Enjoy buddy!
MDifficult said:
Just resist the temptation to go down the MINI rabbit hole and start colour coding everything in the interior and slathering it in Union Jack bullst
Yeah, not going to happen, with the possible exception of the smoked union jack rear lights I've seen. Everything else will stay pretty much as is.t I do have my eye on the lounge leather interior though, that looks really comfy and my current interior stinks of cigarette smoke from the previous owner, not sure if it's redeemable.
BORNXenon said:
Yeah, not going to happen, with the possible exception of the smoked union jack rear lights I've seen. Everything else will stay pretty much as is.
I do have my eye on the lounge leather interior though, that looks really comfy and my current interior stinks of cigarette smoke from the previous owner, not sure if it's redeemable.
Resist the temptation on the lights I do have my eye on the lounge leather interior though, that looks really comfy and my current interior stinks of cigarette smoke from the previous owner, not sure if it's redeemable.
For the cig smells, try a good wet vac and then a load of baking soda sprinkled everywhere (once it’s dry) then dry vac. It’s amazing what it’ll pull out!
Good luck, can’t wait to hear what else you do to it. As well as Lohen I can heartily recommend 1320 as experts - they’re brilliant
So, onto the underneath, initial inspection reveals a pretty crusty rear subframe and the usual knackered exhaust hangers with one side of the exhaust being suspended only by some wire in the bodgiest way possible.
Everything else I can see seems remarkably solid.
Bit of an oil leak, par for the course on an R53, will get to it at some point, but for now, the focus is on the rear, so it's up in the air and boots off.
Exhaust and subframe off, fuel tank follows.
Hmm, not quite as solid as first appearances would suggest.
Rear floor panel looks pretty bad, anything forward of this panel is fine, but it doesnt look like the rear floor has any underseal on it whatsoever, as a result, there is a rust hole above the fuel tank on the drivers side, and the passenger side footwell kick panel looks like Swiss cheese.
At this point I hit the Internet in search of a new rear floor panel, they appear to be few and far between, although a few posts on various Facebook owners groups suggest they have been available recently from BMW, so I head down to the nearest MINI dealership and speak to the parts department who tell me that there are currently none in the country, worse than that, there is no delivery date on the system which means there are none scheduled to come into the country from Germany.
At this point I have decisions to make. I wanted a project, I've got one, but I didn't intend to have to start cutting out big bits of metal. I could feasibly at this point strip it and make more back than I paid for it, but that would be admitting defeat. And I don't like losing.
I decided I'd carry on, grind off the surface rust and see how bad it actually is.
Partway through, and it isnt looking as bleak as first thought.
I ground off the rest with a combination of wire brush on a drill and a flap disc on the grinder and started to feel much happier, no rust near the seat belt anchor points and other than the hole above the fueltank and the passenger kick panel, everything else is solid.
With everything looking much shinier, I gave it several coats of Rust Encapsulator so at least it's partly protected while I sort out the holes!
I also cut out the rust hole...
Back to the Internet to find some steel.
About 15 years ago, I had plans to build a Haynes Roadster, I had the book and I went on a night course to learn how to weld. I bought a welder, but then we had a child, and both the welder and the qualification has been redundant ever since. As its been a minute since I last welded anything more than a replacement stud onto a manfold, I ordered the biggest sheet of 0.8mm steel I could find giving me lots of extra to practise. Initial attempts were horrible regardless of welder settings, further attempts weren't much better so I decided to give up on the Flux Core wire and convert the welder to gas.
This yeilded much better results to the point where I felt confident I could actually do what I needed to do, so I cut out a patch and fettled it to make it fit.
Ground off the paint surrounding the patch, picked up the welding torch and queued the music...
It's not pretty, but it's not bad and there's good penetration, although upon grinding it down some pinholes were revealed which were dealt with. I did end up having to cut out another small section and weld in another small.patch due to a blowthrough that just got worse the more I tried to fix it, but I got there in the end.
The underneath..
I'll coat it in some seam sealer just to be sure, but for now I've sprayed some more Rust Encapsulator over the underside for protection until I can get some, but other than that I've called it a day, maybe Ill call it a weekend because I'm knackered!
Everything else I can see seems remarkably solid.
Bit of an oil leak, par for the course on an R53, will get to it at some point, but for now, the focus is on the rear, so it's up in the air and boots off.
Exhaust and subframe off, fuel tank follows.
Hmm, not quite as solid as first appearances would suggest.
Rear floor panel looks pretty bad, anything forward of this panel is fine, but it doesnt look like the rear floor has any underseal on it whatsoever, as a result, there is a rust hole above the fuel tank on the drivers side, and the passenger side footwell kick panel looks like Swiss cheese.
At this point I hit the Internet in search of a new rear floor panel, they appear to be few and far between, although a few posts on various Facebook owners groups suggest they have been available recently from BMW, so I head down to the nearest MINI dealership and speak to the parts department who tell me that there are currently none in the country, worse than that, there is no delivery date on the system which means there are none scheduled to come into the country from Germany.
At this point I have decisions to make. I wanted a project, I've got one, but I didn't intend to have to start cutting out big bits of metal. I could feasibly at this point strip it and make more back than I paid for it, but that would be admitting defeat. And I don't like losing.
I decided I'd carry on, grind off the surface rust and see how bad it actually is.
Partway through, and it isnt looking as bleak as first thought.
I ground off the rest with a combination of wire brush on a drill and a flap disc on the grinder and started to feel much happier, no rust near the seat belt anchor points and other than the hole above the fueltank and the passenger kick panel, everything else is solid.
With everything looking much shinier, I gave it several coats of Rust Encapsulator so at least it's partly protected while I sort out the holes!
I also cut out the rust hole...
Back to the Internet to find some steel.
About 15 years ago, I had plans to build a Haynes Roadster, I had the book and I went on a night course to learn how to weld. I bought a welder, but then we had a child, and both the welder and the qualification has been redundant ever since. As its been a minute since I last welded anything more than a replacement stud onto a manfold, I ordered the biggest sheet of 0.8mm steel I could find giving me lots of extra to practise. Initial attempts were horrible regardless of welder settings, further attempts weren't much better so I decided to give up on the Flux Core wire and convert the welder to gas.
This yeilded much better results to the point where I felt confident I could actually do what I needed to do, so I cut out a patch and fettled it to make it fit.
Ground off the paint surrounding the patch, picked up the welding torch and queued the music...
It's not pretty, but it's not bad and there's good penetration, although upon grinding it down some pinholes were revealed which were dealt with. I did end up having to cut out another small section and weld in another small.patch due to a blowthrough that just got worse the more I tried to fix it, but I got there in the end.
The underneath..
I'll coat it in some seam sealer just to be sure, but for now I've sprayed some more Rust Encapsulator over the underside for protection until I can get some, but other than that I've called it a day, maybe Ill call it a weekend because I'm knackered!
Edited by BORNXenon on Saturday 23 August 22:50
Edited by BORNXenon on Saturday 23 August 22:55
If it makes you feel any better, I am having the rear end looked at at the moment on my Mini and it looks extremely similar but at time of writing I've managed to avoid having any holes. I'll be springing for a mini rear end resto and protection to make sure it doesn't get any worse.
It really seems that the rear is the place on R series Minis that rust gets to first, rear underside, rear lights and boot.
It really seems that the rear is the place on R series Minis that rust gets to first, rear underside, rear lights and boot.
Jester86 said:
If it makes you feel any better, I am having the rear end looked at at the moment on my Mini and it looks extremely similar but at time of writing I've managed to avoid having any holes. I'll be springing for a mini rear end resto and protection to make sure it doesn't get any worse.
It really seems that the rear is the place on R series Minis that rust gets to first, rear underside, rear lights and boot.
Aye, doesn't look like BMW bothered with underseal on the rear floor panel and all the crap from the road gets kicked up and sits between the fuel tank and the panel causing it to rot. That's my theory anyway.It really seems that the rear is the place on R series Minis that rust gets to first, rear underside, rear lights and boot.
Once I've replqced the rear kick panel, I'll cover that in a couple of coats of Rust Encapsulator then coat the whole rear floor in Buzzweld CIO paint, then their WAR product. Should stop it rotting any further (for a while).
Ill do the same with the front floor once Im in a position to take the front subframe off.
I've replaced the rear bootlid and mercifully my taillights seem ok, but I'm too scar3d to take them out to check properly!
Nice work, i am currently removing the subframe and tank on my R53.... replacing everything front to back, with all the parts sitting waiting to go 
Did you watch Hyphens R53 resto on youtube by chance? He was using the Buzzweld products too, I have the rust encapsulator to go on mine once i have ground it back then on to the other products.
I have the same oily mess under the front subframe, I think its the oil filter housing seal... i have all the seals to replace when i am doing the chain and charger service
I have R50 Copper tailgate in BEP to replace my rotten one too
Kinda wish I hadnt bought it but committed now, keep the posts coming lol
Did you watch Hyphens R53 resto on youtube by chance? He was using the Buzzweld products too, I have the rust encapsulator to go on mine once i have ground it back then on to the other products.
I have the same oily mess under the front subframe, I think its the oil filter housing seal... i have all the seals to replace when i am doing the chain and charger service
I have R50 Copper tailgate in BEP to replace my rotten one too
Kinda wish I hadnt bought it but committed now, keep the posts coming lol
Edited by rickygolf83 on Monday 25th August 15:09
Edited by rickygolf83 on Monday 25th August 15:17
Funnily enough I quite fancies one of these as a daily runabout, still better looking than the later generations Binis.
Despite being 21 years old it's still modern in many ways including it's looks, the irony being that a 21 year old car back when this Mini was new would be a totally different beast. My daily car is 17 years old and drives brilliantly!
Enjoy OP!
Despite being 21 years old it's still modern in many ways including it's looks, the irony being that a 21 year old car back when this Mini was new would be a totally different beast. My daily car is 17 years old and drives brilliantly!
Enjoy OP!
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