A tale of 2 r 53's

[egor110]

I'm looking at getting a r53 , budget is around £1500.

2 have come up locally .

£1500 for a r53 jcw mot until sept . LJ05 YDZ

'The power steering pump, windscreen washer motor, supercharger,brake disks, pads, wiper blades, sump gasket, powerflex wishbone bushes and timing belt all been changed in the last two years, got 11 months mot and oil service due in 14k miles. reason for sale want to get a convertible 1500 priced to sell'

So looked at the mot history and it runs out end of sept , both times it was put in for mot the eml and abs light was on he's told me when he replaced the pads/discs he didn't do the abs sensor and the engine light is due to 02 sensor .

The 2nd is r53 s BN53 BZY 90k miles £1200

mot runs out in august and in the ad he states it has abs light showing but has no other service history .

Mini experts of pistonheads what do you think ?

[GiveItSomeWellie]

If it's had proof of the work done, I'd chose the JCW regardless of miles if it was a proper JCW and not just an aero-kitted car.

Regardless, if it has receipts for work done then I'd say that's a safer bet, that list is about 50% of the most common issues on 1st Gens.

[E-bmw]

egor110 said:

…...timing belt all been changed in the last two years,

These engines have a timing chain, so I doubt it.

If it is a genuine JCW (google mini vin checker & insert the last 7 digits of the VIN to be sure of full spec) I would definitely go for that with extensive proof of work done & assuming it drives well.

[egor110]

E-bmw said:

These engines have a timing chain, so I doubt it.

If it is a genuine JCW (google mini vin checker & insert the last 7 digits of the VIN to be sure of full spec) I would definitely go for that with extensive proof of work done & assuming it drives well.

This is the jcw https://www.gumtree.com/p/mini/mini-cooper-s-r53-j...

Running insurance quotes there all coming up as nini cooper s , no mention of jcw.
there's no proof of the work being done though , no bills etc .

I've come from clio 1#2's and ford pumas and it's amazing how many of these mini coopers have oil leaks on the mot advisories , one i checked had to be topped up to do the emissions and the previous 5 years all had a advisory for oil leak !

Edited by egor110 on Wednesday 9th January 17:32

Edited by egor110 on Wednesday 9th January 17:40

[Mr-B]

Don't the factory JCW's come with a certificate (thinking about it even the dealer upgrades came with a cert I think) ask for a photo of that. Also the blurb under the photos says 160.9 bhp, I'm not sure of the JCW output but I thought it was more than that??

[soad]

Mr-B said:

Don't the factory JCW's come with a certificate (thinking about it even the dealer upgrades came with a cert I think) ask for a photo of that. Also the blurb under the photos says 160.9 bhp, I'm not sure of the JCW output but I thought it was more than that??

Should be around 210bhp iirc.

[Mr-B]

soad said:

Should be around 210bhp iirc.

Yeah 200+ sounds about right.

[and31]

Don’t take any notice of what the oil service indicator says-anyone can reset that theirselves
I’d be more concerned that he has no bills for any of the “work”that’s been done to it.Then there’s the “timing belt” that’s been replaced-on a chain driven engine ...
I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole I’m afraid

[egor110]

and31 said:

Don’t take any notice of what the oil service indicator says-anyone can reset that theirselves
I’d be more concerned that he has no bills for any of the “work”that’s been done to it.Then there’s the “timing belt” that’s been replaced-on a chain driven engine ...
I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole I’m afraid

Been getting a lot of help from the r53 facebook group.

There doubtful it's a full fat 210bhp jcw more like a body kitted cooper s as there's no pic of the build number under the bonnet , front/rear jcw bumper is missing and the jcw badge is on the wrong side of the boot.

I messaged the seller and he says he'll send a pic of the build number and engine , but to be honest to much doesn't ring true.

At least the other ones tatty with a broken abs sensor and there not trying to gloss up a turd.

[Vince70]

This car is nothing to do with me but I go on a fantastic site called autoste which is full of very nice people and someone is selling a very nice straight gunmetal grey R53 on there for £1200.

Here’s the link if it helps.
http://autoste.com/topic/34008-2003-mini-cooper-...
You have to put the hi in to make it work lol

I’ve just bought a really nice near immaculate Cooper myself last week for a winter car for £350 with long mot and lowish miles which has soggy carpets and needs a new body control module.

Edited by Vince70 on Thursday 10th January 22:41

Edited by Vince70 on Thursday 10th January 22:49

Edited by Vince70 on Thursday 10th January 22:50

[GiveItSomeWellie]

egor110 said:

There doubtful it's a full fat 210bhp jcw more like a body kitted cooper s as there's no pic of the build number under the bonnet , front/rear jcw bumper is missing and the jcw badge is on the wrong side of the boot.

In fairness a popular mod back in the day were just the JCW side sills and not the full kit. The badge could be on the wrong side after a boot replacement or a respray.

The VIN says it's not a factory fitted JCW kit, but there's a possibility it could have been a dealer fitted when new, or possibly later than that. Without a picture of the engine it's impossible to tell.

[egor110]

GiveItSomeWellie said:

egor110 said:

There doubtful it's a full fat 210bhp jcw more like a body kitted cooper s as there's no pic of the build number under the bonnet , front/rear jcw bumper is missing and the jcw badge is on the wrong side of the boot.

In fairness a popular mod back in the day were just the JCW side sills and not the full kit. The badge could be on the wrong side after a boot replacement or a respray.

The VIN says it's not a factory fitted JCW kit, but there's a possibility it could have been a dealer fitted when new, or possibly later than that. Without a picture of the engine it's impossible to tell.

Yesterday he said he was going to get a pic of the engine , today the story is he'll get a pic after work so i'm going to assume it's not a proper jcw plus there's no actual proof all the stuff he claims has been replaced has been .

The vin number he also hasn't given me .

I totally understand getting a mate to spanner for you ( i myself use a tractor mechanic ) but surely you keep the invoices for the parts you've purchased as proof ?

[CrippsCorner]

egor110 said:

E-bmw said:

These engines have a timing chain, so I doubt it.

If it is a genuine JCW (google mini vin checker & insert the last 7 digits of the VIN to be sure of full spec) I would definitely go for that with extensive proof of work done & assuming it drives well.

This is the jcw https://www.gumtree.com/p/mini/mini-cooper-s-r53-j...

Running insurance quotes there all coming up as nini cooper s , no mention of jcw.
there's no proof of the work being done though , no bills etc .

I've come from clio 1#2's and ford pumas and it's amazing how many of these mini coopers have oil leaks on the mot advisories , one i checked had to be topped up to do the emissions and the previous 5 years all had a advisory for oil leak !

Edited by egor110 on Wednesday 9th January 17:32

Edited by egor110 on Wednesday 9th January 17:40

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure every single R53 ever built has an oil leak... like I'm not trying to make it up for laughs, it's down to the way they're made. I've certainly experienced it on mine!

[CO2000]

CrippsCorner said:

egor110 said:

E-bmw said:

These engines have a timing chain, so I doubt it.

If it is a genuine JCW (google mini vin checker & insert the last 7 digits of the VIN to be sure of full spec) I would definitely go for that with extensive proof of work done & assuming it drives well.

This is the jcw https://www.gumtree.com/p/mini/mini-cooper-s-r53-j...

Running insurance quotes there all coming up as nini cooper s , no mention of jcw.
there's no proof of the work being done though , no bills etc .

I've come from clio 1#2's and ford pumas and it's amazing how many of these mini coopers have oil leaks on the mot advisories , one i checked had to be topped up to do the emissions and the previous 5 years all had a advisory for oil leak !

Edited by egor110 on Wednesday 9th January 17:32

Edited by egor110 on Wednesday 9th January 17:40

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure every single R53 ever built has an oil leak... like I'm not trying to make it up for laughs, it's down to the way they're made. I've certainly experienced it on mine!

Could it be reusing the old sump plug after a oil change makes things worse as time goes on or is it leaking from elsewhere?

[egor110]

Been to look at the cheap one with abs light on.

Story is he tried to replace the sensor but couldn’t so left it off .

Drove nicely, steering nice and tight .

It was up for 1200 lowest they’d take was 1100 and 1000 was all I was prepared to give ( and had on me ) given it needs mot in July and if the sensor ends up being the pump it’s going to sting me.

[egor110]

Well well , just had a message asking if i still want it for £1000.

I'll pick it up tomorrow .

[Brompty]

I think as long you accept that you are going to have some challenges for the money you are paying then everything can be fixed on these cars. The ABS light IS most likely the sensor, but it is annoying to change. If you are lucky the old one will pull out and you replace with a Delphi or OEM one. However it's probably stuck in which case the safest way is to dissassemble the hub and then either pull or drill out. I would not rely too much with the Facebook group - have a look on Minitorque instead.

[egor110]

Abs sorted , but run flat lights still on despite not having run flats .

Next jobs sort leaky rocker cover gasket , change coolant and brake fluid , swop plastic expansion tank for a metal one .

Oh and get a quiet exhaust pipe this things to lairy .

[CO2000]

If it hasn't got a resonator and only rear boxes, fitting one may be a cheaper option to quiet it down.

[Brompty]

It's not a 'run flat' light, but the tyre pressure indicator. Press and hold the switch next to the handbrake. If all is well the light should change from red to orange and then out. Oh, and check the tyre pressures.