2003 MINI Cooper S $2000

In that original post, the guy said it needed "It needs - supercharger and gaskets/seals for the following - supercharger, water pump, intake tube, crank sensor, oil filter housing, oil cooler, oil pan" Was any of that fixed?

In reply to Klayfish:

He was wrong.

He had been given a bad estimate by a questionable dealer.

It needed an alternator. It was replaced.

After which it was entered in the $2013 Challenge. It placed 8th overall.

Do not assume this is a road ready car.

And do not assume it is a race prepped car.

Assume it is good deal on a car with a few issues that needs to be gone through thoroughly by someone familiar with these cars.

OR, assume it is a good shell and chassis, with enough parts that can be sold to zero out the budget, and begin a motor swap.

It has a working supercharger. Can't tell you if it's working well. But it worked well enough to put it in the top 10 at the Challenge.

If this car was well sorted and I could guaranty it's reliability, performance, etc, the price would be triple.

I don't need another car. I don't need another car. I don't need another car. I don't need another car. I don't need another car.

I should add...

I drove it daily for a year.

Enjoyed the heck out of it. It's time to pass it forward.

Dave, I'll be in ATL next weekend.

The reason I am selling this was alluded to in the first post.

It is a reasonably high mileage car, beginning to show signs of issues which could be costly.

The reason they could be costly is that I am not intimately familiar with the R53, don't have a local shop that can work on them.

IF the car begins to act up (like the mystery turn signal which will not turn off), I could begin having to spend more money to keep it on the road than it is worth to me.

If it doesn't, then someone will have a bargain.

I am currently playing with turbo Miatas. That is my current weapon of choice, and will be for the next couple of years. I don't want this car to sit for a couple of years and develop problems.

I'd rather pass it forward, and let someone else enjoy it. I bought it well, I'm selling it the same way.

BTW, Alan McCrispin (pro driver) LOVED this car. He took it for about a half dozen fun runs after the autocross. The only reason it didn't place first in the autocross was we didn't have rain tires.

I will probably own another Cooper S someday.

I'm moving myself back to actively interested. Talk via email?

Sure.

I made a mistake- it does not have new calipers.

Only rotors and pads. OEM comparable.

I also have a little more info on the goodies:

• It is wearing a pair of Ireland Engineering adjustable camber plates. These should allow for 3* of negative camber. They sell for $275.

• It is wearing a Dinan tower bar, and tower reinforcing rings. Perhaps a little more bling than sting, but it is there.

• It has a Craven Speed 17% reduction pulley.

• The bearing noise that the previous owner was told was the supercharger was not. It was a disintegrated alternator. I installed a new Beck Arnley alternator.

• It has a 5 point clip-in sport harness- I think it is a Simpson. It clips in addition to the stock belts.

• Pretty sure I also have a car cover for it.

Southern GA then

In reply to markwemple:

Yep.

DILYSI Dave wrote: I don't need another car. I don't need another car. I don't need another car. I don't need another car. I don't need another car.

x2 however, if i were not picking up my challenge car tomorrow i'd send paul $ and pick this up on the way.

turn signal issues or not, it's still a good deal. that's why they made roll down windows and hand signals.

Looks like I'm going to loose out.

I'm not heading to the competition

In reply to markwemple:

Want me to sell you a trailer at a good price too??

In reply to markwemple:

Aren't you in Jersey?

I could sell you a brand new trailer for $2K less than you could sell it in Jersey, and fill it with 3 rust-free low priced cars.

You could part the cars when you got there, sell the trailer, pay for your trip, and have a free MINI!

Maryland. And you're starting to scare me. And what kind of money are you talking about?

US dollars??

Not sure what you meant- do you mean for a trailer?

That sport 5 point harness is a Shroth, not a Simpson.

Ca ca... a $2000 R53... and I am intimately familiar with the inner workings of new MINI's... so nothing in these cars scares me in the least... and considering I just wrote a $900 check for a steel bicycle frame, $2000 for a complete and running car seems cheap right now.

What sort of electrical gremlins does it have that makes you think it wouldn't make a trip from GA to PA? In my experience, these cars either run or they don't. Electrical gremlins tend to be non-engine related.

Otherwise, consider me seriously interested with cash in hand. Now to decide between this and that $4000 STR build Miata in NC... damnit...

In reply to Ian F:

Perhaps I am just concerned beyond what is appropriate.

I was led to believe the module that likely controls the turn signal probably also had engine functions. Could be completely off base.

There were occasional idiot lights, but they could be unrelated (ABS sensors may be disconnected, car was driven hard a few times at the Challenge and didn't like it, etc). IIRC, the cooling fan glitched a couple of times, etc.

I never tried to diagnose.

You know these better than I.

I lost confidence in it as a daily driver.

I began to think that it's former life in the rusty north had left corroded terminals, etc, which made it unpredictable electrically.

I felt like I needed to go through it thoroughly to figure it out, and never did.

I know everyone wants to know "What's wrong with it?", but that is the question I have not tried to answer. I don't have the time to diagnose it well.

So, the best I can say is it is glitchy. Gremlins.

In reply to SVreX: Money for the package deal you were suggesting

In reply to SVreX:

Understood. The various computers are inter-connected, so if one goes down it can make the others flake out as well. Diagnosing what exactly is wrong can definitely be a bitch and a half. Even MINI dealers often have trouble doing it.

I guess I'm just curious what it's doing. Would help me narrow down whether it's something I'd want to tackle or not. My long term plan would be to strip it down into a track car, but at the same time I don't have any way to effectively get it from GA to PA other than contracting truck transport. Granted, that still might be cheaper than a fly-n-drive...

FWIW, my plan would to have it a part of a pair of DDs.