1st Gen R53 Cooper S Buying the perfect R53 - what would you look for?

Here is my score from last week:




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

 

The checkers and bonnet stripes are easy enough to ditch. And if it was garage kept..... I'd be willing to bet the paint fade is minimal with that odometer reading. So, the sooner you yank them, the more likely you won't have to deal with that issue.

 

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.

 

Blah ^ Get rid of the strips as the vinyl is old and let the paint breath and see the sun. You can always buff it out and apply some wax.

If you want the stripes back you can always buy new stripes at the dealer and put them back on or put them in storage until you get rid of the car in the future.

OEM stripes are worthless for resale value.

 

For me, buying the perfect R53 nowadays would be to find one with low miles and basically bone stock. After all, WHY buy one that may be modded with stuff I would never use or even appreciate? If I bought a modded R53, how would I ever know how it had been maintained, especially if it was bought off a car lot?

Nope, I would buy an unmodded, low mileage R53 and start from scratch with just the mods I wanted to have. THAT is MY idea of a perfect R53.

That's EXACTLY what I did when I bought my wife's '06 MCSa, 26,500 miles in early 2012. It's Pepper White, sunroof, checkered flag mirror caps, has DSC, Harmon Kardon, Aero kit front and back, side skirts, Xenons, 17" R91 wheels with non-runflat tires, and heated pleather seats. I installed Rogue Dragon Eyes inside the bonnet, a Light-in-Sight on the inside of the windshield, a set of used strut tower reinforcement plates, a few stickers that SHE wanted the world to see, and an American flag antenna topper. As of today, it has just under 52k miles and she is in love with HER MINI! :cornut:

 

I'll never forget my first week of R53 searching back in APRIL 2010...my wife had just bought her 2006S and I wanted one. Hers came with about 36K and many packages.

I found one nearby (BMW Allentown, PA) a PW 2006 S, manual, with SEVEN thousand miles on it...and I wasn't quick enough to move on it that evening.

I often wonder who got that beauty.

pac

 

I just sold a 2006 R53 JCW, manual, cloth seats, 55k miles to FLOW MINI in Raleigh, NC.

JCW Exhaust, JCW brakes, high flow air filter, and Dinan strut tower brace -- I sold it with two sets of wheels -- 17 aftermarket and 18" JCW "additional option" wheels.

Space Blue Metallic/ Silver Roof

They were a solid dealership, and this could be a good start (I am not affiliated in any way -- I picked up a Clubman from them in exchange).

2006 MINI Cooper S Hardtop for sale in Raleigh - WMWRE335X6TN27680 - Flow MINI of Raleigh

Could be a good start

 

Looks like the one above is already gone...

I just went through this exercise when I bought my latest Mini. I wanted a late run convertible with as less than 40k miles. Wanted sport suspension and limited slip. Preference for non-jcw and no mods unless it had a spectacular service history (and even then...) Ended up finding an 08 sidewalk loaded with only 32k on the clock with a good history and bone stock. Honestly I paid a bit more than I wanted but low mileage is getting harder to find

 

I had a feeling it might go to someone at the dealership. Sales manager drives an R53. Parts manager drives an R53. Some of the finance guys were curious

 

I bought my MINI in January and did nothing but obsess about MINI's until I took delivery in April. It is 2005 R52 S that was bone stock with 3,648 original miles. It lived in a garage in Key Largo. I left for the Dragon a week after I took delivery of the car. I modded it with Detroit tuned at the Dragon. (CAI, 15%, 19mm RSB, strut tower braces) The biggest mistake I have made with the car is letting my wife drive it...

 

Mines up for sale.
Checks most of your " wants"
But also a few of your " don't wants"

It's also a fair bit above your 10k budget.

 

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...

 

Great find. We are envious. Good to see that the car has found an owner who appreciates its history and uniqueness. Thanks for sharing the story with us.

 

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.