R53 Mini Cooper S

[neil-c]

Picked this up from @richie_mck at the start of October. A 2006 Mini Cooper S - it's done the rounds on RMS I believe having been previously owned by @Coog worked on by @Wild Thing and then owned by a friend of @Alan B

It's got right spec for an R53 being a late model - LSD and stronger/more reliable supercharger.

Mods include 40mm lowering springs, miltek cat back, some fancy racing engine mounts and a 15% pully.

It was bought on an impulse and realising how much it costs to track a 986 Boxster! I'll maybe throw up another thread on that story!

Car is in reasonable shape - has plenty of history and had a recent clutch and radiator which is good.

Few things to sort but plan is to drive it over the winter and get it along to a few Trackskills.

Oh and thanks to @southsky sunrise for the pick up and delivery!

 

[Carson]

Nice purchase !

 

[neil-c]

I've only just got the car on the road this weekend so I can't really comment on the handling as at the moment it handles like a dog because the tracking it way out.

I took it down to get that looked at on Saturday and the guys at the tyre depot couldn't get the track rod end at the front to adjust - it was jammed tight. They gave it a quick spray with WD40 and then took the gas burner to it to try and give it a warm. They recon it needs the track rod end replaced because it was seized but I'm not sure they were just being lazy as the yard was full of other cars looking tyres.

When it was up on the ramp I was able to see that although the discs looked ok on the outside they have a lot of rust and uneven wear on the inside. Think I'll have to get a new set of discs and pads all round. Question is what type of discs do info for? I was looking at AutoDoc for parts and I can get Bembro vented disks for the front for £28 and solid rears for £20. Is there much difference in the cheap brands at £10/15 - surely they're just lumps of cast iron? And then couple them with a decent pad?

 

[Carson]

I’ve Brembo discs & pads all round on mine.

 

[richie_mck]

Great wee car, I miss having it about to just jump into and take it a rip. When I had plans to track it I was going to upgrade to the r56 callipers and discs (same as the r53 jcw brakes) as the standard brakes don’t seem to be up to much when getting abuse on track, it seems to be a fairly common upgrade

 

[Coog]

Was a good going wee car that. Good to see it's still going. Had a good few good memorable runs in that wee car inc one that involved a pit stop for a mate to chunder following a spirited run over the hill to the airport.

 

[Carson]

Check out my thread or @Neil_M old Cooper S thread for the R53 JCW/R56 front brake setup. If you plan to track that I’d recommend it. Even on road use they are a significant upgrade over the stock R53 setup.

 

[neil-c]

Yes I had a look at the R56 setup. I saw a few caliper sets going on eBay for what I thought was strong money. I need to work out the exact part numbers I need and price them up new. I see Modamini are selling carriers and calipers for £218 so pricey enough when you add on decent pads and discs.

I also need to get two sets of new rubber - one set for the x-lites on the track and then another for the 17inch daily wheels on in the above photo. The 17s definitely need a refurb but think the 16s will be ok. For that reason I was thinking of holding off on the brake upgrade until 2021 and the start of the new track season. If the weather holds I'll try and get to track skills next weekend (if it's on!).

 

[Wild Thing]

That mini always went well, have not seen it for a year or so since scott owned it

 

[Carson]

Here’s the part numbers you need for the calipers and carriers. I bought them from Autosoc.

 

[neil-c]

Good man @Carson!

I'll maybe make the jump... My wife isn't going to be happy. Our S5 is just coming back tomorrow from a 50% respray to sort out a few marks so it'll be an expensive month for the cars.

 

[neil-c]

So pulled the trigger on a R56 front break upgrade - order placed with AutoDoc last night. Went for Brembo discs and just went for the standard solid rears and vented fronts. Decided against drilled and grooved discs after hearing negative reviews from different people on the forum saying they cause wind noise. Also got a set of Brembo pads - I'll see how I get on with them road driving over the winter before considering at something more track focused next year when Trackskills starts back.

 

[pablo]

Good choice. Brakes maketh the car

 

[Carson]

So pulled the trigger on a R56 front break upgrade - order placed with AutoDoc last night. Went for Brembo discs and just went for the standard solid rears and vented fronts. Decided against drilled and grooved discs after hearing negative reviews from different people on the forum saying they cause wind noise. Also got a set of Brembo pads - I'll see how I get on with them road driving over the winter before considering at something more track focused next year when Trackskills starts back.

Good shout. They look the part.

 

[rosssei]

Great example with all the right spec!

Took me months to track it down! Glad to see it’s still going well!

 

[neil-c]

These arrived on Wed. For some reason the package with the discs and pads didn't come in the same shipment - they got stuck in the depot for a few a few extra days and are due with me tomorrow. Fitting booked for Tuesday!

Need to pick up some paint today for them in Halfords.

Also have an ABS issue - it's randomly coming on under light braking. Haven't bothered to plug it in get to see the fault code as it's getting the brakes fitted Tuesday so I'll get it all sorted then.

 

[richie_mck]

They’ll make a big change. If you’re up my direction I’ve a driver side arch liner as the old one is cracked and I didn’t get round to changing it

 

[Wild Thing]

You need to change front brake hoses also if doing the r56 s upgrade

 

[neil-c]

You need to change front brake hoses also if doing the r56 s upgrade

Agh, I don't have those. I just assumed the R53 hoses fitted. Do R56 hoses have the same connectors as the R53 i.e. do I just buy a set of R56 braided hoses from somewhere or do you need to mess with fittings.

They’ll make a big change. If you’re up my direction I’ve a driver side arch liner as the old one is cracked and I didn’t get round to changing it

Good job, I hadn't looked close enough to notice. I'll get a chance to call up sometime over the holidays.

 

[Wild Thing]

No just buy any r56 front hose from cheap and cheerful to braided whatever floats your boat. Straight fit just a bit footery geting them clipped in. No other fittings required. Only thing to watch is hight chance you will wring cooper pipe trying to loose hose, good excuse to do front pipes also

 

[neil-c]

So mechanic friend got stuck into the mini today - left it down with him just before Christmas and made the mistake of saying I was in no panic for it back.

Tracking sorted, new front wheel bearings, new front brake lines, upgraded front discs/pads/calipers and new rear discs/pads.

It's just all back together and bled well but the peddle is very long. It's not biting until it's 50% pressed which is very unnerving. It's consistent in its bite position but it definitely shouldn't be this long imo. @Wild Thing any ideas where the problem could be?

 

[neil-c]

Got the mini back again on Tues after the brake upgrade and tracking sorted out. Feels like a different car now it isn't trying to pull me into the hedge with the tracking. lol.

The brake upgrade ended up being a bit of a b******s. Everything was on easily enough but the peddle was very soft at the top so it was a bleeding and stripping session to see if anything was wrong. In the end we thought it was perhaps air in the abs module which requires a specialist tool to open the solenoids and release any air. According to the forums activating the abs with hard breaking opens the valves and releases the air into the brake lines so did that a few times and rebled. This did help a bit but there is definitely still a soft top on the peddle until the brakes bite. Once they bite it does stop well - the peddle is just longer than I expected.

Hard to know whether the brakes are much better now as the discs were done before I had the upgrade so I don't have much to compare it too.

From reading on the forums a lot of people say the peddle is a bit soft at the top due to the slightly smaller master cylinder on the R53 S vs r53 JCW and R56 S.

 

[neil-c]

Give it a quick wash just as it was getting dark this evening - I may regret that later this evening when the yard is like an ice rink!

I've also put in a quick comparison photo of the new R56 front brakes vs the original rear brakes. Not much clearance on the front with the x-lites on!

 

[richie_mck]

I love it on those wheels. I’m sure the brakes are a great upgrade but the tracking will be the biggest difference