A MINI (R53 Cooper S) Adventure
Discussion
MDifficult said:
I may be teaching you to suck eggs in this one, but it’s always worth checking prices at BMW / MINI. I’ve often found them to be cheaper than you expect vs places like LLL
Cheers, nearest BMW dealer are 30 mins drive and I don’t really have much free time during office hours to get over, so the premium of convenience is tolerable!Luckily, I’m not spending huge sums on this car (yet)
Edited by tallpaul26 on Thursday 23 March 10:48
tallpaul26 said:
President Merkin said:
TBH if you've gone as far as taking off the radiator assembly, you may as well do the supercharger service yourself. It's only a few bolts further in, isn't particularly challenging to do & it has to come off anyway to get to the crank sensor o -ring. Go on, you know you want to!
SC can stay in place for the crank sensor o-ring; it's about half way up the front of the block so unrestricted access with the rads out.Honestly, I am tempted to do the SC service myself but part of the logic of getting a specialist to do it is their once-over of other bits whilst it's apart. They can see what I've missed or may be worth getting done preventatively.
Cambs_Stuart said:
I've been looking at these minis as a potential replacement for my clio 172, but pictures like this really put me off! What are they like for DIY maintenance?
the usual stuff like brakes and oil changes are easy peasy,.mines been pretty reliable in six years-other than consumables I’ve had to do a ball joint and a driveshaft.no issues at all.Cambs_Stuart said:
I've been looking at these minis as a potential replacement for my clio 172, but pictures like this really put me off! What are they like for DIY maintenance?
The front comes off. That's great for diy 
Every day stuff like oil changes, brakes etc. is easy. My car needed a thorough rebuild, the picture isn't typical of routine maintenance but even so, to get it to that point is about an hour with hand tools.
Even big stuff like taking off the front subframe is relatively straightforward but really, that kind of stuff is one off work you're really not going to run into often. I'm yet to find a job on these cars that outside of specialist stuff like wheel alignment etc. that I couldn't do on the drive. It's mostly about attitude but they're also old girls now & will need above average levels of looking after.
President Merkin said:
The front comes off. That's great for diy
Every day stuff like oil changes, brakes etc. is easy. My car needed a thorough rebuild, the picture isn't typical of routine maintenance but even so, to get it to that point is about an hour with hand tools.
Even big stuff like taking off the front subframe is relatively straightforward but really, that kind of stuff is one off work you're really not going to run into often. I'm yet to find a job on these cars that outside of specialist stuff like wheel alignment etc. that I couldn't do on the drive. It's mostly about attitude but they're also old girls now & will need above average levels of looking after.
I’d also add, every job will be covered in fantastic high-definition by someone on YouTube. I’m not talking the usual shaky-cam garbage in the dark but really good stuff. The benefit of huge sales and very enthusiastic owners (especially in the US it seems). Every day stuff like oil changes, brakes etc. is easy. My car needed a thorough rebuild, the picture isn't typical of routine maintenance but even so, to get it to that point is about an hour with hand tools.
Even big stuff like taking off the front subframe is relatively straightforward but really, that kind of stuff is one off work you're really not going to run into often. I'm yet to find a job on these cars that outside of specialist stuff like wheel alignment etc. that I couldn't do on the drive. It's mostly about attitude but they're also old girls now & will need above average levels of looking after.
MDifficult said:
I’d also add, every job will be covered in fantastic high-definition by someone on YouTube. I’m not talking the usual shaky-cam garbage in the dark but really good stuff. The benefit of huge sales and very enthusiastic owners (especially in the US it seems).
Yes the “mod mini” guy in you tube is excellent I'm going to slightly disagree with those who say an upgraded pulley is essential. Mine had a 17% pulley while my BIL had a standard one.
For sure mine had more pull low down, but it drove a bit like a diesel, didn't really like revving.
The BILs standard one didn't pull as well low down, but it was still plenty quick enough, but it seemed to rev better, so it was more fun to really kick it's head in.
With the 17% you really need to stick a bigger intercooler on, which mine had, but then the smaller intercooler recovers more quickly than the big ones most people fit.
General consensus for just was, unless you are going to turn it into a monster, at most it's best to stick to 13-15% and leave the standard intercooler where it is.
Nice little car for a couple of grand, OP.
For sure mine had more pull low down, but it drove a bit like a diesel, didn't really like revving.
The BILs standard one didn't pull as well low down, but it was still plenty quick enough, but it seemed to rev better, so it was more fun to really kick it's head in.
With the 17% you really need to stick a bigger intercooler on, which mine had, but then the smaller intercooler recovers more quickly than the big ones most people fit.
General consensus for just was, unless you are going to turn it into a monster, at most it's best to stick to 13-15% and leave the standard intercooler where it is.
Nice little car for a couple of grand, OP.
and31 said:
I’ve a -15 % pulley on mine,and it pulls hard all the way through the rev range-I don’t think I’d want a 17%.I have a GRS intercooler and next steps for more power for me would be a cam and injectors-but it’s quick enough as it is.
I think 15 probably is about the sweet spot. If I remember correctly even the JCW and GP were using something like 11-13%, with the rest of their extra power being liberated elsewhere. I can't really see the justification for going 17 and the only reason I did was because it was already on the car.I've heard those with 15s say exactly what you have, but on mine it seemed little point in revving much beyond 6k, though it pulled like hell before that.
President Merkin said:
The front comes off. That's great for diy
Every day stuff like oil changes, brakes etc. is easy. My car needed a thorough rebuild, the picture isn't typical of routine maintenance but even so, to get it to that point is about an hour with hand tools.
Even big stuff like taking off the front subframe is relatively straightforward but really, that kind of stuff is one off work you're really not going to run into often. I'm yet to find a job on these cars that outside of specialist stuff like wheel alignment etc. that I couldn't do on the drive. It's mostly about attitude but they're also old girls now & will need above average levels of looking after.
Thanks for that. My two cars have a combined age of 36 and 250,000 miles between them so I'm used to a bit of driveway tinkering! Good to hear there is a support community. How are they for rust?Every day stuff like oil changes, brakes etc. is easy. My car needed a thorough rebuild, the picture isn't typical of routine maintenance but even so, to get it to that point is about an hour with hand tools.
Even big stuff like taking off the front subframe is relatively straightforward but really, that kind of stuff is one off work you're really not going to run into often. I'm yet to find a job on these cars that outside of specialist stuff like wheel alignment etc. that I couldn't do on the drive. It's mostly about attitude but they're also old girls now & will need above average levels of looking after.
They're good for rust generally. The problem areas are around the tailgate handle where the foam gasket between the handle shroud & bootlid retains water & the base of the rear lights which is another water trap. Tall Paul's picture earlier in the thread with his rear lights out shows this quite well. I have known people drill holes under the lights to drain water but not sure if that's better or worse then leaving it.
Otherwise the subframes can get a bit scabby, worse at the rear where oil leaks don't accumulate as a barrier. And they leak oil like it's going out of fashion. Crank sensor o-rings, valve covers, rear main seals, oil pan gaskets, all reliably leaky.
Otherwise the subframes can get a bit scabby, worse at the rear where oil leaks don't accumulate as a barrier. And they leak oil like it's going out of fashion. Crank sensor o-rings, valve covers, rear main seals, oil pan gaskets, all reliably leaky.
TameRacingDriver said:
I'm going to slightly disagree with those who say an upgraded pulley is essential. Mine had a 17% pulley while my BIL had a standard one.
For sure mine had more pull low down, but it drove a bit like a diesel, didn't really like revving.
The BILs standard one didn't pull as well low down, but it was still plenty quick enough, but it seemed to rev better, so it was more fun to really kick it's head in.
With the 17% you really need to stick a bigger intercooler on, which mine had, but then the smaller intercooler recovers more quickly than the big ones most people fit.
General consensus for just was, unless you are going to turn it into a monster, at most it's best to stick to 13-15% and leave the standard intercooler where it is.
Nice little car for a couple of grand, OP.
Do you just mean that a 17% pulley isn't essential?For sure mine had more pull low down, but it drove a bit like a diesel, didn't really like revving.
The BILs standard one didn't pull as well low down, but it was still plenty quick enough, but it seemed to rev better, so it was more fun to really kick it's head in.
With the 17% you really need to stick a bigger intercooler on, which mine had, but then the smaller intercooler recovers more quickly than the big ones most people fit.
General consensus for just was, unless you are going to turn it into a monster, at most it's best to stick to 13-15% and leave the standard intercooler where it is.
Nice little car for a couple of grand, OP.
C70R said:
Do you just mean that a 17% pulley isn't essential?
Not just that it's not essential, but it changes the characteristics of the car in favour of mid range grunt more than top end power.I believe this can be addressed with other modifications, however it depends how far you want to take it.
For most people, they don't need to do any pulley upgrade and if they do then probably best to choose a more modest size to retain the driving characteristics while giving it a bit more poke and without spending too much hard earned on a shed money motor in the process.
t at soldering but I think they’re solid!
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