My Other Project: 2006 R53 MINI Cooper S

adamw · 21 Mar 2019

Great thread on the R53 - top work - great fun these cars :thumbs:

I too run one as a daily but would really like to have a go on a track day as they are really like a slightly bigger kart :grin:
Never done any track days at all so would need a novice session and I'd prefer to take this out than risk damaging the 911.

Shameless pic :

MaxA · 27 Mar 2019

Adam, they are great fun on the track, but it is a bit too easy to overwhelm the standard brakes: the R56S kit with decent pads and lines is a good start. I'd get out there anyway, and enjoy yourself. These are ideal on the track, so much clarity and confidence about what's going on at all four corners.

Anyway, I've now got the R53 back with the new uprated - but still organic - clutch, and it is a joy, nice and light but a very positive engagement. The flywheel makes a massive difference to engine response: it revs to 2500rpm on start up, and really zings. It forces you to drive well, to plan and execute your gearchanges properly (it's way too easy with the stock dual-mass flywheel, you can get all sloppy and it indulges you). And finally the new LSD: now that really bites hard. None of this crappy wheel spin and torque steer anymore.

I suppose, as with all good mods, I should have done this lot before. This is however going to be a good season. :bye:

MaxA · 24 Apr 2019

This weekend, we'll be working on set up: I'm planning to fit adjustable top front mounts from Vorshlag to add a bit more camber to the front end. I have KAVS adjustable rear camber arms at the rear already.

I did have some cheapo adjustable top mounts on the front but they added 10mm to the ride height (and thus compromised spring travel as I had to wind down the Bilsteins) and then the bushes started failing and they knocked all the time. Buy cheap, buy twice.

They came off when I added the à–hlins, but the à–hlins come with fixed camber plates... it's a never ending circle.
:grin:

Y2K · 24 Apr 2019

Off topic Max, but have you been to / done a track day at Arctic Circle Raceway?

I have driven to Norway (and Sweden) before but only as far as Oslo; inspired by my friend who drove all the way to arctic circle in a CSL, I'd like to drive to arctic circle one day plus a track day at ACR in my GT3.

rabbitstew · 24 Apr 2019

I've just bought one of these, a 2003 R53 Cooper S to mess about with. The wife bought a gen 2 Cooper Convertible a few weeks back and after using it for a week myself I thought ive got to get one. I had a look around, test drove a few and ended up finding a cheap one needing some love locally.

Mine had been sitting for a while, but came with full MOT. In just 1 week I have already done:

Air Filter, Pollen Filter, Oil & Oil Filter, New cooler plugs, new radiator, new header tank, 15% pulley, dave.f airfilter mod with k&n, new ancillary belt, new rear brake discs & pads, r56 bigger disc & calipers upfront, hel brake lines, brake fluid change, coolant change, silicon coolant hoses, new battery, removed supercharger and changed oil in it, new waterpump, new 1320 BPV and repainted various bits of bodywork.

Luckily I have a ramp in my garage and can do it all myself. So far everything has been really straight forward and there are plenty of guides online.

It already came with a sports exhaust & new tyres.

Hopefully should have it finished by the end of the week then can actually drive it. Ive only done 2 miles in it so far. :lol:

MaxA · 25 Apr 2019

Y2K said:
Off topic Max, but have you been to / done a track day at Arctic Circle Raceway?

I have driven to Norway (and Sweden) before but only as far as Oslo; inspired by my friend who drove all the way to arctic circle in a CSL, I'd like to drive to arctic circle one day plus a track day at ACR in my GT3.

Nope. That's a very long way away. 1,369 km via Tornio/Haaparanda from home. I have driven Alastaro, Ahvenisto, Botniaring and Pesà¤mà¤ki in Finland and à…rlanda and Knutstorp in Sweden. So far ...

Norway's nice but there are so few roads, and such low speed limits. You're often better off trying to make some progress through Sweden. It can be very frustrating trying to overtake 14 caravans/camper vans at once.

That being said, I do want really to drive the ACR, the Trollstigen and the Great Atlantic Road. On the bucket list.

MaxA · 25 Apr 2019

rabbitstew said:
I've just bought one of these, a 2003 R53 Cooper S to mess about with. The wife bought a gen 2 cooper convertible a few weeks back and after using it for a week myself I thought ive got to get one. I had a look around, test drove a few and ended up finding a cheap one needing some love locally.

Mine had been sitting for a while, but came with full MOT. In just 1 week I have already done:

Air Filter, Pollen Filter, Oil & Oil Filter, New cooler plugs, new radiator, 15% pulley, dave.f airfilter mod with k&n, new ancillary belt, new rear brake discs & pads, r56 bigger disc & calipers upfront, hel brake lines, brake fluid change, coolant change, silicon coolant hoses, new battery, removed supercharger and changed oil in it, new waterpump, new 1320 BPV and repainted various bits of bodywork.

Luckily I have a ramp in my garage and can do it all myself. So far everything has been really straight forward and there are plenty of guides online.

It already came with a sports exhaust & new tyres.

Hopefully should have it finished by the end of the week then can actually drive it. Ive only done 2 miles in it so far. :lol:

Good work! In terms of preventative maintenance, you could also do the fuel filter and gearbox oil. And rear wishbone bushes. I so want a lift at home...

And in terms of next steps, you'll be wanting a bigger intercooler and either 380cc JCW or Bosch 550cc injectors as your 15% reduction pulley will take the standard 330cc injectors over 100% cycle duty at 7000rpm (creating too much heat). As such, a longer 4-1 or 4-2-1 manifold also helps a great deal.

Apart from that, get out and drive!

rabbitstew · 25 Apr 2019

MaxA said:
Good work! In terms of preventative maintenance, you could also do the fuel filter and gearbox oil. And rear wishbone bushes. I so want a lift at home...

And in terms of next steps, you'll be wanting a bigger intercooler and either 380cc JCW or Bosch 550cc injectors as your 15% reduction pulley will take the standard 330cc injectors over 100% cycle duty at 7000rpm (creating too much heat). As such, a longer 4-1 or 4-2-1 manifold also helps a great deal.

Apart from that, get out and drive!

Yeah ive done the gearbox oil. Nice easy job and the old stuff was horrendous. It improved the sticky gear movement no end!

Fuel filter is on the list. Where is it? In the tank?

I was looking at intercoolers and the big name ones are around £400, but there is the potential for a hobo £90 one with some modding - which sounds more appealing financially - when I only paid a grand for the whole car. I drive past 1320mini every day and they reckoned the stock intercooler is fine for road use even with a 17% pulley. But, I will see once I start driving it.

I am planning to get it on the dyno once its all back together to check fueling and all that. Be interesting to see what power it makes.

All in all its a great little project, hopefully I will have it finished by end of the weekend! Although once I start driving it it will become clear if I need to replace the ageing suspension. I can see I need to sort out one mushroomed strut tower already......

MaxA · 25 Apr 2019

rabbitstew said:
Yeah ive done the gearbox oil. Nice easy job and the old stuff was horrendous. It improved the sticky gear movement no end!

Fuel filter is on the list. Where is it? In the tank?

I was looking at intercoolers and the big name ones are around £400, but there is the potential for a hobo £90 one with some modding - which sounds more appealing financially - when I only paid a grand for the whole car. I drive past 1320mini every day and they reckoned the stock intercooler is fine for road use even with a 17% pulley. But, I will see once I start driving it.

I am planning to get it on the dyno once its all back together to check fueling and all that. Be interesting to see what power it makes.

All in all its a great little project, hopefully I will have it finished by end of the weekend! Although once I start driving it it will become clear if I need to replace the ageing suspension. I can see I need to sort out one mushroomed strut tower already......

Ah, great, I don't know how they can call it 'lifetime oil' in the gearbox. The fuel filter is underneath an inspection panel under the rear bench, on the passenger side (in my LHD car).

If you have access to 1320 you're sorted. I ran a year or so without the bigger 'cooler, but even a hobo would help keep IATs under control (as long as there are no boot leaks). You can bash the strut tops back into place. There are solutions from Cravenspeed or M7, but you may prefer to save the funds for decent suspension - always a good idea on a 53 which rides like a skateboard...

rabbitstew · 25 Apr 2019

MaxA said:
rabbitstew said:

Yeah ive done the gearbox oil. Nice easy job and the old stuff was horrendous. It improved the sticky gear movement no end!

Fuel filter is on the list. Where is it? In the tank?

I was looking at intercoolers and the big name ones are around £400, but there is the potential for a hobo £90 one with some modding - which sounds more appealing financially - when I only paid a grand for the whole car. I drive past 1320mini every day and they reckoned the stock intercooler is fine for road use even with a 17% pulley. But, I will see once I start driving it.

I am planning to get it on the dyno once its all back together to check fueling and all that. Be interesting to see what power it makes.

All in all its a great little project, hopefully I will have it finished by end of the weekend! Although once I start driving it it will become clear if I need to replace the ageing suspension. I can see I need to sort out one mushroomed strut tower already......

Click to expand...

Ah, great, I don't know how they can call it 'lifetime oil' in the gearbox. The fuel filter is underneath an inspection panel under the rear bench, on the passenger side (in my LHD car).

If you have access to 1320 you're sorted. I ran a year or so without the bigger 'cooler, but even a hobo would help keep IATs under control (as long as there are no boot leaks). You can bash the strut tops back into place. There are solutions from Cravenspeed or M7, but you may prefer to save the funds for decent suspension - always a good idea on a 53 which rides like a skateboard...

Good stuff, I saw that there was 2 inspection panels under the rear seat, so I will take a look. Looks like coil overs are cheap enough, so will check them out at some stage, if im taking a strut out to replace a bent top mount then might kill 2 birds with one stone. Bit wary that im already spending more than the cars worth on bits, but should be a fun car to mess about in.

MaxA · 26 Apr 2019

You might have a bent or failed top mount but it's more likely the strut top itself, which can be hammered flat (usually with a piece of wood).

When it comes to coilovers, people tend to run APs for comfort and stance (i.e. very low ride height), but the ST range seems to be the current go to coilover in the mid range. And do bear in mind that adjustable top mounts and rear camber arms are probably required for a good set up (try a firm called Orranje, they have lots of good product and great service).

Counter Of Beans · 26 Apr 2019

Max, I would ideally like coilovers that improve the crashy ride (it's on Bilstein B4's at the moment) but without lowering the car. There are a trillion speed cushions around here that the car currently clears, and I wish to keep it that way. Not remotely interested in a lowered stance, but greater compliance would be nice.
Will the AP's result in a lowered car? Any others I should consider?

MaxA · 29 Apr 2019

Counter Of Beans said:
Max, I would ideally like coilovers that improve the crashy ride (it's on Bilstein B4's at the moment) but without lowering the car. There are a trillion speed cushions around here that the car currently clears, and I wish to keep it that way. Not remotely interested in a lowered stance, but greater compliance would be nice.
Will the AP's result in a lowered car? Any others I should consider?

Hello Counter. An S tends to be pretty crashy, especially with stock rims (the S spokes weigh 11.4kg each) and non runflat tyres. It is a big improvement to simply run lightweight rims: my OZs weigh 6.5kg each...

If you're looking to keep the stock ride height, then I think your only choice is either Koni FSDs or the new Koni Active Shocks (there is some speculation that they're just rebranding FSDs - which stood for 'frequency selective damping'). It's similar in concept to à–hlins dual flow valves. They seem optimised for the stock springs, and they don't lower the car.

APs and STs (both of which are made by KW) lower the car 20mm at least (not as bad as it seems in my opinion). Funnily enough à–hlins minimum reduction is 15mm.

The thing is, if you want to avoid scraping things, there is a trick. It's called a 'lipectomy': the front lip seems designed to scrape everything, so removing it - usually with a dremel or some such - removes a lot of embarassment when it comes to negotiating speed bumps. My 53 doesn't scrape even though my car is lowered about 30mm (which is regarded as a modest drop).

MaxA · 29 Apr 2019

MaxA said:
This weekend, we'll be working on set up: I'm planning to fit adjustable top front mounts from Vorshlag to add a bit more camber to the front end.

I've added the Vorshlags and trimmed the strut tops for proper access to the bolts with an allen key. The plates are a little bit thicker than the fixed camber plates that came from à–hlins (and which looked like they had about half a degree of negative camber), so I assume that I haven't taken out any strength.

And even on the lower range of adjustment (there are two ranges) there's about 3 degrees of negative camber right now! A little much for the day-to-day but they're easy to adjust, as they just slide when you loosen the bolts.

I'll align the camber at -1.25 front and -1.5 at the rear. I need to have a look at the rear camber arms and check they're still adjustable: you literally just loosen the locking screws (?) and turn them with your hands ... but it would be easier on a lift, not lying under the car on jack stands!

rabbitstew · 29 Apr 2019

I changed the fuel filter on mine over the weekend and my god, after 100,000 miles it was black and the petrol in the filter housing looked more like oil. Shocking! Cleared it all out, refitted and car fired up straight away which is always a relief.

Also bought a hobbo intercooler which has arrived today, so will be fitting that at some point. Am intrigued just how good / bad it will fit - hopefully wont be too bad with just a bit of grinding off the inlet manifold with a bit of luck.

I also had a go at machine polishing some of the old bodywork - the bonnet has a ton of scratches on it for some reason. Unfortunately I discovered they are too far gone, so it will need a front end respray. Not really worth paying someone to do it on a car this cheap, so it will be a DIY job once the weather perks up a bit.

My Other Project: 2006 R53 MINI Cooper S

adamw

Portimao

MaxA

Magny-Cours

MaxA

Magny-Cours

Y2K

Hockenheim

rabbitstew

Imola

MaxA

Magny-Cours

MaxA

Magny-Cours

rabbitstew

Imola

MaxA

Magny-Cours

rabbitstew

Imola

MaxA

Magny-Cours

Counter Of Beans

Hockenheim

MaxA

Magny-Cours

MaxA

Magny-Cours

rabbitstew

Imola

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