Discussion
My wife owned an r53 mini years ago it was an excellent car. Handled brilliantly, Was plenty fast enough (kept my dad very honest in a mk1 focus RS on runs) and the supercharger and (non-manufactured) pops from the exhaust meant it sounded great too. We had to sell because there wasn’t room in the boot for a pushchair.
I’ve just been idly browsing the classifieds and have seen how cheap these cars now are and I’m tempted to replace our very boring diesel 1 series.
How are they holding up with the age? The newest are 15 odd years old now.
Do they rust?
Do the superchargers need rebuilds/replacing?
Do they throw large bills?
I’ve just been idly browsing the classifieds and have seen how cheap these cars now are and I’m tempted to replace our very boring diesel 1 series.
How are they holding up with the age? The newest are 15 odd years old now.
Do they rust?
Do the superchargers need rebuilds/replacing?
Do they throw large bills?
Yes to all three based on my experience of one.
Mine had rust spots on bonnet as paint seems to chip easily with stone chips. It had the supercharger already replaced before I got it, along with power steering pump, radiator and some other bits.
On flip side they are cheap and fun. I'd definitely want a well looked after one and to be honest I never missed it when it went. Liked the supercharger whine though!
Mine had rust spots on bonnet as paint seems to chip easily with stone chips. It had the supercharger already replaced before I got it, along with power steering pump, radiator and some other bits.
On flip side they are cheap and fun. I'd definitely want a well looked after one and to be honest I never missed it when it went. Liked the supercharger whine though!
My mother has a shed R50. Not a blob of rust anywhere outside. Some general surface corrosion underneath. Wheeler Dealers made a big hoo-hah over the 100k service which is pretty intense and requires changing fluids both ends of the super charger. Didn't look difficult, just time consuming to do it all. Super charger only seemed to take a short time once removed though.
I’ve had my r53 for nearly 2 years. It’s been a real love hate relationship. It sounds brilliant, both the pops from the exhaust and the whine from the charger...
But it’s cost what I paid for it in general maintenance and repairs. This was a shock having come from Japanese cars which only ever needed servicing and tyres and brakes. Replacement parts have Mostly been age related bits and bobs, but I had a waterpump failure early on followed by the the thermostat. It’s currently off the road awaiting new wheel bearings and a clutch pipe...
But it’s cost what I paid for it in general maintenance and repairs. This was a shock having come from Japanese cars which only ever needed servicing and tyres and brakes. Replacement parts have Mostly been age related bits and bobs, but I had a waterpump failure early on followed by the the thermostat. It’s currently off the road awaiting new wheel bearings and a clutch pipe...
Mine seems to have been very well looked after before I got her.
Had to do clutch and brakes but the later is fine as she is a 3rd car / TrackDay bit of fun.
She definitely has expensive tastes, prefers the premium Shell stuff and thicker oil than recommended by the factory. Oh and she leaks it back out in about 3 different places, but apparently they all do that.
Bang for buck is amazing and she is still close to her fresh out the box 0-60 time if not better because of the mods the previous owner did. Not bad for an ‘04’ 15year old girl.
V
Had to do clutch and brakes but the later is fine as she is a 3rd car / TrackDay bit of fun.
She definitely has expensive tastes, prefers the premium Shell stuff and thicker oil than recommended by the factory. Oh and she leaks it back out in about 3 different places, but apparently they all do that.
Bang for buck is amazing and she is still close to her fresh out the box 0-60 time if not better because of the mods the previous owner did. Not bad for an ‘04’ 15year old girl.
V
I loved mine, but got shot of it when bills became too significant a percentage of the value of the car.
Radiator failed on mine, cooked the head gasket and piston rings. Was guzzling oil in the order of litres per x-hundred miles in the end. Leaked at the crankshaft too, but it seams they all do that....
The clutch was replaced under warranty twice, and from memory it was an extortionate cost on the job sheet. Never solved the issue, which was some sort of hoot/chirping noise when pulling away cold or under load.
Caught the timing chain tensioner on its way out - suspect that would have been costly.
Parts seemed relatively expensive, and every job seemed to involve dropping the engine or gearbox. Maybe my local garage were just having me on though....
Never had any rust issues though!!
I still found myself giving serious consideration to getting another one as a second car recently.
Radiator failed on mine, cooked the head gasket and piston rings. Was guzzling oil in the order of litres per x-hundred miles in the end. Leaked at the crankshaft too, but it seams they all do that....
The clutch was replaced under warranty twice, and from memory it was an extortionate cost on the job sheet. Never solved the issue, which was some sort of hoot/chirping noise when pulling away cold or under load.
Caught the timing chain tensioner on its way out - suspect that would have been costly.
Parts seemed relatively expensive, and every job seemed to involve dropping the engine or gearbox. Maybe my local garage were just having me on though....
Never had any rust issues though!!
I still found myself giving serious consideration to getting another one as a second car recently.
Edited by Electric sheep on Sunday 13th October 23:00
When I had mine, it was clean of rust but was at the age when things needed replacement.
The clutch is about £1000 to replace, and the supercharger will need servicing. There is alot of owners groups, and how-to guides out there so if your handy with spanners most things are easy to work on. Also plenty of secondhand spares on ebay to keep costs down.
Main issue is the is not alot of space to work on things so labour costs can be quite high. For example changing the inner front bushes mean you need to drop the subframe to replace them.
The clutch is about £1000 to replace, and the supercharger will need servicing. There is alot of owners groups, and how-to guides out there so if your handy with spanners most things are easy to work on. Also plenty of secondhand spares on ebay to keep costs down.
Main issue is the is not alot of space to work on things so labour costs can be quite high. For example changing the inner front bushes mean you need to drop the subframe to replace them.
Yeah I would echo the labour costs - most of my expense has been labour. Replacement waterpump requires an entire front end strip as it’s under the supercharger.
Mine also drops oil... specialist suggests it’s either from the sump or rear main seal. Again it seems a common complaint that they drop a bit of oil.
If it wasn’t for the noises it makes I would have sold mine ages ago. Also I’ve sort of reached the point of no return with the amount of cash I’ve sunk into it
Mine also drops oil... specialist suggests it’s either from the sump or rear main seal. Again it seems a common complaint that they drop a bit of oil.
If it wasn’t for the noises it makes I would have sold mine ages ago. Also I’ve sort of reached the point of no return with the amount of cash I’ve sunk into it
I had my S for a couple of years for a play thing..
It didn't have any rust (thankfully)
I changed the supercharger oil along with the engine oil.
New brakes and tyres and that was about it.
I didn't have anything "major" go wrong with it, although the interior squeeking really annoyed me at times.. thankfully a smaller 'charge pulley increased the whine to cover it mostly...
One thing to note was that the insurance for the car was more expensive than my RS6 - like 3 times as much!
More people crash mini's was the reason.. maybe something to think about..
It didn't have any rust (thankfully)
I changed the supercharger oil along with the engine oil.
New brakes and tyres and that was about it.
I didn't have anything "major" go wrong with it, although the interior squeeking really annoyed me at times.. thankfully a smaller 'charge pulley increased the whine to cover it mostly...
One thing to note was that the insurance for the car was more expensive than my RS6 - like 3 times as much!
More people crash mini's was the reason.. maybe something to think about..
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff