1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Buying the perfect R53 - what would you look for?

Oh one last thing to add color: Chili Red..... they look the best and are 5% faster off the assembly line. :lol::ihih::devil:

 

My idea when looking for R53 was going for "bone stock" as well.
The fact that I was sooooooo lucky with finding CHARLOTTE on local Kijiji one morning was a "sign from above"... I have seen a dozen of other 05/06s over last six months and most of them had first the rear rust issue (still fixable under warranty), far more kilometers, and some were really beaten up.

Being a fully factory loaded JCW, with SUCH LOW KMs meant the price was a bit higher than I planned (but far less that I expected for such a rare car in this day and age). The car was a trade in and this small luxury car dealer in a town 200km away from Toronto wanted to move it fast, not even advertising properly the specs of the car in Kijiji ad (Aero kit and factory bonnet stripes on the lousy photos were "tell all" for me to step on it...).

After getting the car, driving it for a while I came to conclusion that THIS R53 is closest to the brand new stock 2006 I have ever seen in a few years! I mean, just one look on interior and under the bonnet and proof is right there. I turned over 26000km (not miles) on the way home!

After many years of having R50, two R55s and lastly R61 I came "full circle" to a perfect (for me) MINI. Being MINT is understatement, trust me. Being stock is a plus. I am planning to keep it as is. I tried modding. I tried all (with R55s, awards to prove), I tried "little" (with R61). Now, this one is 99.99% staying as limited edition Canadian car (one of 64), the way it came off the boat. I will be adding a front jcw strut bar, few stickers to "personalize" and getting RF tires to garbage. That's it!

Oh yes: I LOVE BONNET STRIPES on this car. And I was the first to trash them before. But, somehow on this car it works for me. And I don't really care that paint can't breath under the stripes and that vinyl is 9 years old. The car is so mint that paint and vinyl is excellent. Everything is staying "on" the car. It's the total package that I really appreciate. I could never afford this car new, 9 years ago. Now, it's mine!

I even love the stock rims! MINI 17" web spokes. Yeah, and this from the guy who waited 3 months to get special ordered WORK wheels 18s from Japan. Go figure!

That's it. I gotta go and change a scent tree in my car. The vanilla smell is getting low...

 

Sounds like you have it narrowed down pretty good right there..

 

Your NOT interested in list is AWESOME!

 

Here is my score from last week:




Sorry about checkers, hood stripes, sun roof, etc... It came in the package with 26K original KM...

 

But then again that is a special edition for Canada. Keeping the graphic package might be a good idea as it is so limited.

 

This one stays as it is...
I love all bits on it.
It is "retro" already, so it fits...
Cheers.


P.S.
Only thing missing was JCW front brace... That has been corrected with help of eMINIparts. Package is on the way! Thanks.

 

I know a guy selling a really really nice car for 15 with a 1.8 in it in the bay area...

 

FTFY. Punctuation helps sometimes. Especially, with your typo track record.

 

:cornut:..................and they'd be 30% faster in BRG and if they had a turbocharger. (all in good fun. Merely engaging in playful badinage.:lol: No one MINI is better than another except in the eye of the beholder.:cornut: )

Jason

 

I would be tempted to shop around my CR/W 06 R53, with most of your top list requirements, and none of your bottom list no-nos.

Only 3 obstacles I see:

1. mileage is more than 75K, closer to 121K
2. I love driving it
and, most important
3. It's my wife's first MINI, and she would stab me in my sleep if I sold it

:cornut::cornut:
pac

 

Oh, I will...:devil:

For years I have been "fighting" R53 diehards, when I had my Clubmen and Paceman... Now, I became one

Reeeeeeveeeenge! :cryin::cryin::cryin:

 

It's better here on the Dark-side with the R53's.

 

Oh we know the earth is round because we can still take the turns faster then the new MINI's.

 

No we can't in a stock R53. Sorry, technology has made the F56 more capable in measureable ways.

It's different, you don't like it. We get that. We got that a year ago. We'll still remember that you dislike the F56 and its variants tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future.

Enough with the carp.

 

No mods (especially not Alta), 05/06, no sunroof, LSD, and preferably grey, blue, or green.

 

You do not need a big brake kit unless you track it. You can put on the 06 GP JCW brakes A.K.A. The R56 standard brakes and call it a day.

 

Savvy,
Read his whole post.

Look at the second section of things he does not care for, (not interested in)

 

I'm not sure, but I'm think'n you'll probably not be able to check all the items on your wish list for a 10K budget...