2003 Mini Cooper S (R53)

[Peter C]

This is me: forum.retro-rides.org/thread/204912/mercedes-benz-w123-230e-w124

I bought a lovely 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) via Auto$hite, which my wife and I collected last Sunday.



The Cooper made the 250 mile 4.5 hour journey to Buckinghamshire (from North Wales!) under its own steam but all was not well under the bonnet. The fresh air vents were providing anything but fresh air, I was choking on oily fumes. I stopped on route and wiped a lot of oil from the rocker cover and gently kept going, keeping the engine revs below 3k.

Next day I investigated further. There was oil all over the front of the engine and on top of the exhaust manifold shield.





I went to remove plug lead No 2 and it came off in two pieces, the metal connector has split from the cable.



Next I removed the sparkplugs. Plugs 1 and 4 were a little moist but plugs 2 and 3 were sinking in engine oil.





The rocker cover gasket and plug well seals were obviously knackered, a typical R50/53 fault.

To get the rocket cover off...



All this had to be removed. It's by no means a difficult job but it was time consuming. There is a bit more space under the bonnet of my W123 & W124!



I bought a new set of leads (£18) and a gasket set (£40).



Look at this engine, it's hard to believe that it's done 120k miles in 18 years. Everything under the rocker cover looks mint!



The gasket and seals fitted fine, I reassembled the rocker cover, ignition system and intercooler and the engine started first time. Win. The strip down and re-assembly process took about 6 hours, which is not bad considering I've never worked on a Bini before.

To replace a blown brake light bulb I had to remove the entire light unit. How stupid. Modern* cars ehh?



The annoying rattle from the tailgate was silenced with a 4 inch length of insulation tape, wrapped around the lock catch.



Next I tackled some cosmetics. I do like a clean exhaust pipe. Or two. Out came the Brasso and I am pleased with the shine.



The windscreen wiper arms were manky, some of the paint had worn and there was localised corrosion.





A quick rub down and squirt of black gloss...



And job done.



The front ends of the sills were looking scabby, with part missing gloss black paint.





Another quick rub down, bit of masking tape and squirt of black gloss and job done.





I like the floor mats but the fabric on the driver's side mat was knackered.



Rather than buying a new set, I fashioned a repair by cutting up a rear footwell mat that I removed from my wife's old (leased) 4 series BMW coupe.



Looks a lot better and cost £0.00.

I have ordered a replacement Cooper S badge for the boot lid.



I was pleased that my ladder fits in the boot, which is great, as I may wish to use the Cooper S for work on occasion.



I cleaned the interior and adjusted the slightly offset (to the right) steering wheel by resetting it one spline to the left.



Then came out the Autoglym. One clean and shiny Mini Cooper.

[Alpina99]

A very nice looking car,
Planning any mods or keeping it totally standard ??
Nigel

[joem83]

Looks really nice that, I picked up a R56 Cooper S the same weekend - must say they are good fun to drive

[Peter C]

Jul 22, 2021 6:34:19 GMT Alpina99 said:

A very nice looking car,
Planning any mods or keeping it totally standard ??
Nigel

It's tidy and very pretty.

It's already been slightly modified. The previous previous owner spent £1,650 on having the bumpers re-sprayed (fine with me), spraying the exterior trim gloss black (looks amazing), the same for the dashboard panels (they don't look great and need doing again) and the intercooler cover was painted red (not my cup of tea). The alloy wheels were refurbished and colour coded, which usually would not be my thing but they look great. 

The supercharger has been upgraded with a 15% smaller pulley and a custom exhaust has been fitted.  The exhaust sounds great, deep and bassy but not too loud.

Previous owner's photo:



The head unit has been replaced with a funky DAB etc etc... Pioneer unit and I assume that the speakers have been upgraded because it sounds amazing.

I'm not proposing any other mods, I like it how it is, unless you have some suggestions?

[Peter C]

I was conscious that the engine oil leak has caused oil to spill down the front and rear of the engine and onto surrounding elements. Before I got my pressure washer out, I drove the Cooper onto ramps and had a good look underneath.



EVERYTHING was covered with engine oil. The rocker cover gasket must have been leaking for quite some time to cause this much mess.









Ten minutes later, I had most of the crud off and the underside was looking better.



It was a hot and sunny day and before starting on the engine bay clean, I created a funky tent outside my garage. Considering how much of a mess I was making, I did not want to undertake this job in my pristine garages.



The engine bay was dusty and dirty and the plastic bulkhead linings and PAS reservoir and coolant header tank were covered in oil.









I wasn't going for concours quality, just a freshen up. An hour later, the engine bay was clean. The Cooper will be another garaged dry weather use only kind of car, so keeping the engine bay clean shouldn't be a problem.







And the replacement Cooper S badge arrived and was promptly stuck on.




I'm driving the Cooper to London this evening to see my parents. WCPGW?

[shandylegs]

Oils leaks are what normally puts paid to the starter and/or alternator. Not the worst job to do, it’s just a pain having to remove parts for access.

I presume you know the header tanks and caps are prone to cracking and leaks respectively. Have a good check.

Lastly, as you have an uprated pulley it would probably be wise to put on a better intercooler to keep the charge temps down at reasonable levels.

[pobsey]

I would check if the spark plugs are heat range 7 given the smaller pulley, stock is 6.

[Peter C]

Yep, the S part of the boot lid badge was not on properly. I stuck it on as per the template without checking if it's right. Now corrected.



I took the Cooper to west London and back last night, approx 60 miles. It drove great but whenever I stopped, the same oily smell was coming through the dash vents. Today I spent more time cleaning up the engine bay. I removed the exhaust manifold upper heat shield and found it to be coated with oil along its underside and where it abuts the cylinder head. The lower shield was even worse, in places it had approx 2mm of oily deposits. Also, pipework that extends towards the oil filter housing was filthy.







Another hour, a few squirts of Jizer and half a pack of wipes later, everything looked a lot cleaner.







I removed the cabin filter and thought it might be best to get a new one. The old one smelt bad and was no doubt contributing to the problem.



That's as far as I'm going with this issue now. I will let whatever oily deposits are left on concealed parts of the engine and ancillaries to dry up and all being well the problem will go away.

Whilst the exhaust is well concealed behind the rear bumper, I thought it would be a good idea to give it a clean.

[Paul]

Lovely looking Mini.

I've been tempted by one of these several times, they look like really fun little go karts.

What's putting me off (and you've sort of demonstrated) is that every video I've seen shows them to be a pig to work on.

Will be following with interest 😊

[Peter C]

Jul 24, 2021 13:07:06 GMT Paul said:

What's putting me off (and you've sort of demonstrated) is that every video I've seen shows them to be a pig to work on.

I must have given you the wrong impression. Ok, so far all I've done is replace the rocker cover gasket but it was an easy job. Every fixing came off easily enough and went back on again, fit for re-use. Nothing was seized, nothing broke. The engineering is quite clever and if need be, the front end comes off easily enough to allow better access to the ancillaries.

[Peter C]

The Cooper's interior is fairly tidy but the driver's seat bolster was very worn.



I bought a bottle of dark grey leather dye from Amazon for less than £8.



I treated the worn bolster and whilst it looked much better, the dark grey was clearly not as dark as the original seat colour.



Undeterred, I proceed to dye both front seats and I am really pleased with the results. The job took 2.5 hours and wasn't particularly difficult.

[pobsey]

Jul 24, 2021 15:38:09 GMT Peter C said:

Jul 24, 2021 13:07:06 GMT Paul said:

What's putting me off (and you've sort of demonstrated) is that every video I've seen shows them to be a pig to work on.

I must have given you the wrong impression. Ok, so far all I've done is replace the rocker cover gasket but it was an easy job. Every fixing came off easily enough and went back on again, fit for re-use. Nothing was seized, nothing broke. The engineering is quite clever and if need be, the front end comes off easily enough to allow better access to the ancillaries.

Would love to see you remove the front strut pinch bolt from the hub carrier, they seized and snapped when these cars were still in manufacturers warranty, let alone after 18 years 😂

Have a look at my Instagram basically_stock_r53, with a few upgrades these are great cars that put a smile on your face, just don’t look at the VED rate or fuel consumption 😉

[ontheedge]

Lovely looking Mini, I had a R50 for a few months until I bought a NEW car, would have likes a bit more power though.

[grizz]

As is known, I do like the earlier cars.

Would also like one of them on my driveway, but space is limited (rule is one in, one out)

Looking at these, I think Sally would love one too, especially if it was a bit eager.

Yours seems good.

Saying autoshite was where you got it, conjures up an image of a reasonably inexpensive car.

No idea of course.

[elmotheewokking]

Picked up an 08 R52 S convertible for the wife earlier this year. Hilarious fun, especially as hers has a Miltek fitted and a factory LSD.

[Peter C]

Jul 25, 2021 7:44:19 GMT grizz said:

As is known, I do like the earlier cars.

Would also like one of them on my driveway, but space is limited (rule is one in, one out)

Looking at these, I think Sally would love one too, especially if it was a bit eager.

Yours seems good.

Saying autoshite was where you got it, conjures up an image of a reasonably inexpensive car.

No idea of course.

I paid a reasonable price for it. It was neither cheap nor expensive, although if you consider how much previous owners spent on maintenance and repairs and how cool it is, it's great value for money.

[Peter C]

The 4.5 hour drive home from North Wales last Sunday was not fun, especially with knackered air con and what at the time was the hottest day of the year. Today I had an opportunity to take the Cooper for an A-road cruise to Aldbury and back.

I'll start by saying that I absolutely love this car. It looks amazing and despite there being a Mini on every street in the UK, I can't help thinking that mine looks special. The gloss black painted trim really sets of the gleaming paintwork, the previous previous owner did well to spend £1,650 on having that done (as well as other paint related mods).

The performance is superb and best of all the engine does not have to be revved hard to get it moving. On route between Beaconsfield and Amersham, a tractor was towing a large trailer at 30MPH and was followed by a van and a car, neither of which were preparing to overtake the slow moving agricultural vehicle. There was a gap in oncoming traffic so I pulled out, in third gear, with just over 2k revs and in no time the Cooper shot forward into the distance, well ahead of the oncoming bus and in the process the exhaust hummed and the supercharger whined - brilliant!

The handling is great, the Cooper corners flat, however my driving style is very relaxed and I will not be making much use of the Cooper's agility. The ride is absolutely fine, not crashy, quite firm but comfortable. The steering is nicely weighted and the two spoke wheel feels great to hold. I was planning on changing the steering wheel and fitting the optional three spoke wheel but I'm not going to bother now. The gearchange is quite heavy but precise. The clutch is also heavy and has a low biting point, just how I like it. The brakes work well but the pedal feels soft, typical R50.

I'm a big bloke but there is plenty of space up front. The dashboard design is retro cool, I love the large speedo in the centre and the sound system is impressive.

Overall, I'd happily give it 8.5/10.

Unfortunately, I'm still getting bad smells from the dashboard vents. Pressing the recirculate button solves the problem, however something is not right under the bonnet. I am starting to think that there might be a problem with the engine's breather system. I shall investigate and report back soon.

Tell me it's not pretty.

[delboy1984]

Great wee car mate cleaned up really well,i sold my 320D touring and got me a wee 1.6D clubman for work,not the fastest thing but great to drive proper go cart,will have it mapped to 155 so should pull a bit better
Del

[fiestaholic]

i know the Beconsfield to amersham road it's a nice run when it's quiet and the painted trim looks so much better than plastic

[Peter C]

Good news first, I bought a little Matchbox model of a grey 2003 R53 Cooper S.



The previous owner advised me that he removed a sub and amp from the boot, installed by another previous owner, which he very kindly offered to send me. When the ICE arrived, I re-installed all necessary cabling and plugged in the amp and sub and... not a sausage, it didn't work. I removed the amp and sub from my W124 and fitted them instead and bingo, we have music. A lot of music! The Pioneer head unit is decent and the speakers must have been upgraded at some point because together with my amp and sub, the system sounds superb. And I still have half a boot left.

I know someone who is willing to take a look at the defective amp, it might be fixable.



The bad news is that replacement of the rocker cover gasket has not solved the oil leak problem. I'm still seeing a fair amount of oil dripping from behind the engine onto my garage (carpeted) floor (now protected with cardboard). Looks like the oil filter housing or associated pipework is leaking, quite badly. However, by stuffing a rag into a duct that extends between the engine bay and the bulkhead space through which air enters the cabin, I've managed to reduce the smelly air problem by 99%.

The other bad news is that the power steering has started to creak. It only does it when the engine is hot but regardless whether the engine is running or not. The steering rack fan is working ok. I wonder whether I have sprayed water (whilst pressure washing the underside of the engine) onto something and washed out a lubricant. I need to investigate further....