A tale of 2 r 53's

A tale of 2 r 53's

Author
Discussion

egor110

Original Poster:

16,892 posts

204 months

Wednesday 9th January 2019
quotequote all
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 ?

egor110

Original Poster:

16,892 posts

204 months

Wednesday 9th January 2019
quotequote all
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

egor110

Original Poster:

16,892 posts

204 months

Thursday 10th January 2019
quotequote all
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.

egor110

Original Poster:

16,892 posts

204 months

Friday 11th January 2019
quotequote all
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 ?

egor110

Original Poster:

16,892 posts

204 months

Friday 11th January 2019
quotequote all
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

Original Poster:

16,892 posts

204 months

Saturday 12th January 2019
quotequote all
Well well , just had a message asking if i still want it for £1000.

I'll pick it up tomorrow .

egor110

Original Poster:

16,892 posts

204 months

Wednesday 16th January 2019
quotequote all
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 .

egor110

Original Poster:

16,892 posts

204 months

Saturday 19th January 2019
quotequote all
Jayzee said:
Pressing and holding the button sets and holds the values of each tyre pressure. So if you ensure all pressures are as per the book, you press and hold until it sets and stores them. If any of the tyres lose a few psi, then the system will ping it up on the display.
No, i tried that . All tyres at 33 pushed and held the button by the hand brake , nothing happened .