The Christmas Mini - R53 Cooper S
Discussion
The last thing I need is another car, particularly a 20 year old one purchased sight unseen on eBay .
The background to considering a Mini - earlier this year I met a group of online friends at Blyton Park for a group track day.
We are all part of the breakaway from the Best Smoker Barge £1k-£5k thread when things became “difficult” a few years ago.
I attended the track day in my 718 Cayman 4.0 GTS , great fun but I felt it might have been better suited to a track with longer straights and fewer tight corners necessitating a lot of braking , accelerating followed by braking again.
We are doing it all again next year but due to a Swiss road trip a month after I thought a different car might be required.
My 986 Boxster S was considered but it has a sentimental place in my heart.
So , what to do?
A couple of posters recently extolled the virtues of their R53 Minis.
Tall Paul and BornXenon I’m looking at you !
So what to do ?
EBay of course. I had a few on my radar,few silly bids but a 2006 Cooper S in Chilli Red kept speaking to me.
I did my usual of placing nonsensical bids with the hope of buying it for £500
Anyway, I noticed the auction finished at 21:30 hrs ish on Christmas Day.
The great thing about Christmas dinner is the wine.
And prosecco.
And wine.
You know what happened , don’t you.
Yep, I bid on it.
Then I bid again when a rascal bid against me.
Eventually I held my nerve, waited until 21:20 hrs and put my last bid in.
Then panicked as the car was in Cornwall and I’m not !
F5,F5,F5 - Bingo !!!!
The background to considering a Mini - earlier this year I met a group of online friends at Blyton Park for a group track day.
We are all part of the breakaway from the Best Smoker Barge £1k-£5k thread when things became “difficult” a few years ago.
I attended the track day in my 718 Cayman 4.0 GTS , great fun but I felt it might have been better suited to a track with longer straights and fewer tight corners necessitating a lot of braking , accelerating followed by braking again.
We are doing it all again next year but due to a Swiss road trip a month after I thought a different car might be required.
My 986 Boxster S was considered but it has a sentimental place in my heart.
So , what to do?
A couple of posters recently extolled the virtues of their R53 Minis.
Tall Paul and BornXenon I’m looking at you !
So what to do ?
EBay of course. I had a few on my radar,few silly bids but a 2006 Cooper S in Chilli Red kept speaking to me.
I did my usual of placing nonsensical bids with the hope of buying it for £500
Anyway, I noticed the auction finished at 21:30 hrs ish on Christmas Day.
The great thing about Christmas dinner is the wine.
And prosecco.
And wine.
You know what happened , don’t you.
Yep, I bid on it.
Then I bid again when a rascal bid against me.
Eventually I held my nerve, waited until 21:20 hrs and put my last bid in.
Then panicked as the car was in Cornwall and I’m not !
F5,F5,F5 - Bingo !!!!
So the vendor was keen to get the car off his driveway.
I needed to arrange my travel plans pretty quickly.
08:30hrs flight Belfast International to Bristol .My daughter came for the adventure - the 3rd time we have done this.
The vendor brought the car up to meet us for an extra fee. Jumped in his car,off to a nearby garage forecourt, did the admin and set off with Apple Maps guiding us to Cairnryan.
I needed to arrange my travel plans pretty quickly.
08:30hrs flight Belfast International to Bristol .My daughter came for the adventure - the 3rd time we have done this.
The vendor brought the car up to meet us for an extra fee. Jumped in his car,off to a nearby garage forecourt, did the admin and set off with Apple Maps guiding us to Cairnryan.
Off we went, getting to know the little Mini, not sure what we had bought but having a laugh as it was such a cute, cheeky thing.
Off along the M5 Northbound, ferry departure 20:00 hrs, 395 miles to travel in 9 hrs.
Plenty of time, no problem.
Well, the fine drivers of England had other thoughts.
Heading towards jct 11 - traffic slowed to a stop.
Apple Maps wanted to divert us around the problem.
Only issue with that was it took 40 mins to get to the off slip.
Got there, diverted , back on to the M5 , slow going until we got to the M6.
1 more hour of traffic, followed by 20 mph all the way past Preston/Liverpool junction.
By this time our eta at Cairnryan meant we were going to miss the ferry.
Bugger.
Quick stop at Lancaster Services for petrol and water for the screen washers.
Next stop Tebay, get a bite , purchase a gift for my long suffering wife, book the Stena ferry for 23:30 hrs
It was by this time that I realised the headlights needed a good polish.
Even thought they are Xenon, candles would have been better.
That was an interesting drive for the next 190 miles.
We had to laugh, it was just so ridiculous.
Apart from that, the car was performing well.
No need for the breakdown cover thankfully.
Off along the M5 Northbound, ferry departure 20:00 hrs, 395 miles to travel in 9 hrs.
Plenty of time, no problem.
Well, the fine drivers of England had other thoughts.
Heading towards jct 11 - traffic slowed to a stop.
Apple Maps wanted to divert us around the problem.
Only issue with that was it took 40 mins to get to the off slip.
Got there, diverted , back on to the M5 , slow going until we got to the M6.
1 more hour of traffic, followed by 20 mph all the way past Preston/Liverpool junction.
By this time our eta at Cairnryan meant we were going to miss the ferry.
Bugger.
Quick stop at Lancaster Services for petrol and water for the screen washers.
Next stop Tebay, get a bite , purchase a gift for my long suffering wife, book the Stena ferry for 23:30 hrs
It was by this time that I realised the headlights needed a good polish.
Even thought they are Xenon, candles would have been better.
That was an interesting drive for the next 190 miles.
We had to laugh, it was just so ridiculous.
Apart from that, the car was performing well.
No need for the breakdown cover thankfully.
PistonbrokePaul said:
I love a good R53, fond memories of my old one and road trips in it.
Looks like a lovely example and an interesting experience getting it home. With that being a 2005 plate car, would it have the factory LSD with the chilli pack (I think the gearbox code is BKL)?
Just had a check and it appears that it does have the LSD . Nice bonus.Looks like a lovely example and an interesting experience getting it home. With that being a 2005 plate car, would it have the factory LSD with the chilli pack (I think the gearbox code is BKL)?
It looks really smart in the first photo when it was clean!
I have quite a soft spot for the earlier BMW Minis as Mrs Tidy bought a new R50 One in 2003 so got invited to the R56 launch event, and couldn't leave without placing an order. Collected her Red R56 Cooper with a black roof on Christmas Eve 2006 and still has it.
I have quite a soft spot for the earlier BMW Minis as Mrs Tidy bought a new R50 One in 2003 so got invited to the R56 launch event, and couldn't leave without placing an order. Collected her Red R56 Cooper with a black roof on Christmas Eve 2006 and still has it.
When I purchased “Little Red” as it has been christened, there was a sheaf of servicing invoices going back some number of years.
The last one was carried out in February at 113000 miles.
I had checked the oil level when I got it home and it was at the low mark.
This morning I removed the oil canister cap in order to check the filter condition. It’s never a good sign if you need to use a breaker bar to loosen it !
The oil was thick and black and initially I was unable to even see the filter pleats . Not confidence inspiring.
There was nothing else for it - I had to drain the oil.
Hex 13mm socket and a breaker bar required to remove the sump plug.
The last one was carried out in February at 113000 miles.
I had checked the oil level when I got it home and it was at the low mark.
This morning I removed the oil canister cap in order to check the filter condition. It’s never a good sign if you need to use a breaker bar to loosen it !
The oil was thick and black and initially I was unable to even see the filter pleats . Not confidence inspiring.
There was nothing else for it - I had to drain the oil.
Hex 13mm socket and a breaker bar required to remove the sump plug.
New oil, filter, sump plug and spark plugs fitted.
2 new bonnet struts too.
I feel a lot happier now that I know there is fresh oil and plugs, and that my head is safe.
One thing I noticed when stuck in traffic with the a/c on was the engine temperature climbed 3/4.
Switching the a/c off helped it stabilise until we started moving again.
This afternoon I ran the engine to temperature and activated the a/c-radiator fan didn't move.
Something to investigate, could be many reasons. The actual fan will turn manually so I know it isn’t seized.
Something else to think about is whether I carry out a service on the supercharger.
I guess if I have to change the fan then while the front is off the car I should just do it. Hmm.
2 new bonnet struts too.
I feel a lot happier now that I know there is fresh oil and plugs, and that my head is safe.
One thing I noticed when stuck in traffic with the a/c on was the engine temperature climbed 3/4.
Switching the a/c off helped it stabilise until we started moving again.
This afternoon I ran the engine to temperature and activated the a/c-radiator fan didn't move.
Something to investigate, could be many reasons. The actual fan will turn manually so I know it isn’t seized.
Something else to think about is whether I carry out a service on the supercharger.
I guess if I have to change the fan then while the front is off the car I should just do it. Hmm.
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