Early R53 Cooper S Buying Advice

Hi All,
I was i the fortunate position in the early 2000's to have bought both a new Cooper in 2002 and a Cooper S in 2004. I've been on the lookout for a while for decent Cooper S to have as a weekend toy and now have the chance of a very early Cooper S with a Chilli pack and a panoramic roof that was registered on the 1st of September 2002. It's a one owner car that has only covered about 34k miles and has lived it's life just North of London so corrosion shouldn't be too bad hopefully.

The main things that have been flagged up on the MOT history are that it has a corroded front coil spring and brake pipes and possibly due to the low mileage these haven't been attended to due to only being advisories. The other thing that has caused MOT fails is a recurring problem with headlight aim, too low/too high etc.

Overall the car does look to be in very good order from the pictures but I can't get down to see it for myself due to restrictions. Although they aren't too far from Deutsch Tech in Milton Keynes who could do an inspection service for me for around £90 which I would think be a good idea. I do know that it was in at Deutsch Tech to have the front bushes replaced a few years back so they have seen the car previously.

I just wanted to get any kind of advice as it's been a long time since I've had a MINI and they were brand new back then.

Some of the common problems with R53’s are engine oil leaks ,subframe bushes power steering problems ,cooling leaks the usual sorts of stuff ,get it checked over for these common issues and go from there sounds great with that mileage on it
:welcome:

Sounds a good little car. Oil leaks are a problem on an R53 along with subframe bushes and coolant leaks. The boot above the boot handle is also bad for rusting

Cheers for the replies guys and the car is now booked into Deutsch Tech for an inspection. To be fair to the seller he is keen on having it inspected for his peace of mind as well and is being good enough to take the car and spend a couple of hours waiting for it whilst its being done.

All going well I should be going down to get it as soon as restrictions have been lifted :thumbs up:

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Originally Posted by Sprockutt

Cheers for the replies guys and the car is now booked into Deutsch Tech for an inspection. To be fair to the seller he is keen on having it inspected for his peace of mind as well and is being good enough to take the car and spend a couple of hours waiting for it whilst its being done.

All going well I should be going down to get it as soon as restrictions have been lifted :thumbs up:

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Good news and a nice thing for the current owner to agree to do

Good Luck with your prospective purchase, I think you’re going about it in exactly the right way under the current circumstances.

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Originally Posted by ELFMAN

Good Luck with your prospective purchase, I think you’re going about it in exactly the right way under the current circumstances.

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Cheers, it's not natural for me to be patient where buying a car is concerned but we need to be sensible these days with current circumstances.

Although it is a slightly unusual sale to be honest in that he had taken the advert down several moths ago after changing his mind about selling last year. I just recently dropped him a message to see if he was reconsidering selling again this year and fortunately he was. So given it isn't currently advertised for sale and that I've made him a good offer, it's all quite relaxed and he's happy to take it for the inspection knowing that I won't actually be able to come down and collect and conclude the deal until around the end of April.

I'm also a bit more relaxed with the inspection as although I've never used them it appears Deutsch Tech have a good reputation and know there way around mini's. I had only previously heard of them when looking into buying a brand new JCW last year and I seriously considered a DT Edition JCW. They produce these in conjunction with Berry MINI and the visual/suspension and exhaust modifications they make don't affect the warranty on a new car. I've not ruled out a DT Edition in the future at some point but waiting to see what they come up with for the LCI2.

So the owner took it into Deutsch Tech and the only thing they highlighted was a slightly corroded o/s front brake pipe. Not bad for a 19 year old car!

Road trip planned for the end of lockdown to collect :thumbs up:

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Brilliant news. Looks a lovely clean well looked after car.

What a find, you will not get any better re ownership, milage & colour. Not my car but I'd keep something this good as standard as possible :thumbs up:

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Originally Posted by Crombers

What a find, you will not get any better re ownership, milage & colour. Not my car but I'd keep something this good as standard as possible :thumbs up:

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I agree and where possible I'll be keeping it standard or close to standard. I even asked the owner if they kept the original exhaust when they upgraded to a Milltek but unfortunately not. It would have been good to have had the option to return it to standard. Although I'm not sure I'll be able to live with the minidisc option! It's a great period feature and maybe I'll be happy just listening to the supercharger whine :D

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Originally Posted by Sprockutt

I agree and where possible I'll be keeping it standard or close to standard. I even asked the owner if they kept the original exhaust when they upgraded to a Milltek but unfortunately not. It would have been good to have had the option to return it to standard. Although I'm not sure I'll be able to live with the minidisc option! It's a great period feature and maybe I'll be happy just listening to the supercharger whine :D

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Milltek is fine, I'd keep the appearance standard as cars like these are getting so rare & IMHO the rarity brings out more of the beauty of the R53.

Excellent News! Hope everything goes to plan. By the way, I really like the DT Edition, I’ve seen a few very positive reviews on YouTube which got me thinking. Luckily I took the ELFmobile out for a run and saved myself a ton of dosh. It was a close call though! The DT JCW is a fantastic piece of kit, a well thought out balanced conversion. It handles well, has enough grunt with the almost standard setup - it’s Warrantied - it sounds great and it looks fab with its lower, wider stance. Very tempting...

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Originally Posted by ELFMAN

Excellent News! Hope everything goes to plan. By the way, I really like the DT Edition, I’ve seen a few very positive reviews on YouTube which got me thinking. Luckily I took the ELFmobile out for a run and saved myself a ton of dosh. It was a close call though! The DT JCW is a fantastic piece of kit, a well thought out balanced conversion. It handles well, has enough grunt with the almost standard setup - it’s Warrantied - it sounds great and it looks fab with its lower, wider stance. Very tempting...

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Have been talking to Dave at Bimmerdeals and an updated LCI2 DT Edition is on its way :thumbs up:

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Originally Posted by sprockutt

Have been talking to Dave at Bimmerdeals and an updated LCI2 DT Edition is on its way :thumbs up:

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Brilliant. Any idea of arrival?

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Originally Posted by MINI William

Brilliant. Any idea of arrival?

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No, just that it will be updated over the coming months. Looking forward to seeing it though! :D

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Originally Posted by Alasdair JCW

Exciting times. Any details of the spec or are you keeping us all in suspense? :p

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I wish! Unfortunately I meant that I've just been keeping in contact with Dave at Bimmerdeals with a view to possibly ordering a JCW/DT Edition with him at some point. I actually seriously considered buying DT 001 that was used in all the promo's on YouTube. It was on as an approved used MINI about 6 months ago but it was a bit too pricey for my liking.

The R53 is due to be collected next Saturday. It's been a long wait but hopefully it'll all be worth it in the end when I finally get my hands on it.