Dark Silver in the garage

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by fishmonger, May 14, 2018.

  1. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

    May 13, 2015
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    Hey thanks. Anal German here. Can't have a car that isn't done right. This one is my baby - first R53 I bought. Took me 2 hours to decide to buy it after it was posted for sale on NAM back in 2014 I think. Favorite color. This car has all the mods, the electric blue is staying sane. Allows me to do the things on this car that if it was your only car you would think twice about.

    Big picture stuff coming up for this car in the future are racing seats and roll bar with harnesses. Maybe a stereo upgrade, and the Milltek, which is already in the garage, just waiting for a few OEM hanger parts to arrive. So there'll be more updates to this thread that go well beyond clear bra removal :)
     
  2. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    The car is back on the "work side" of the garage, after I finished the LED headlights on the daily driver. Two things to tackle this weekend - the clunk coming from the left rear, and then the big job, installing the resonated Milltek exhaust.

    I didn't get done. Rust on this car and previous owner choices took extra hours to deal with, but there's no rush. I want this done right, so I am working out the issues as they come along.

    But first the clunk - I was able to hear it just rocking the car back and forth while in gear. It also was audible on load change while driving. My first guess was a loose downlink, but once I pulled the wheel off and rotated the hub, it was clear that a brake shoe was making the noice. The inner shoe had come off the piston. These springs that are supposed to hold it in place never felt secure when I first installed it.

    [​IMG]

    But an easy fix - just rip off the caliper and re-attach. But then when I have them off, why not do full maintenance? Since I am running brass bushings on the rear calipers, this was a perfect time to re-lube those. 2500 miles since install.

    [​IMG]

    A complete clean and re-lube of the shoes, and 60 minutes later the rear brakes are as good as new.

    Then the exhaust job. I was originally going to record noise levels and sound of the one-ball modded car, but decided to just ignore it. I don't recommend the mod, not for noise, but for other reasons. It doesn't sound much different than stock either. More on that later.

    The car lived in St. Louis for the first 9 years or its life, and the owner did drive it in salt. The bolts on the exhaust show that history and nothing I have in my garage was able to move them. So it was time to cut. Not having a lift, I could not use my saws-all on the upper bolt and had to improvise. Made swiss cheese of the bolt with my small dremel and then used a chisel to pop the rest of the nut off the bolt

    [​IMG]

    The lower bolt was cut with a big grinder in no time. After that, the removal was quite easy.


    100k miles of service.

    [​IMG]

    I already knew I needed a passenger side hanger in the rear and all new rubber mounts. Bought those from ECS and must say, don't waste your money on the cheap parts. I had to re-use one of the center support rubber mounts from because the aftermarket piece would always slip right back out of the cross brace. What total junk.

    In rear then I found that I should have bought new hangers for both sides - the driver side hanger was all bent down because of the lack of weight balance with the other ball. Easily 3 inches below where the new ($46) mount on the passenger side snugged up near the frame behind the shock mount. So I rolled in the floor jack and gently bent that hanger into shape again. I think it will be ok, but will need to keep an eye on it. One-ball mod definitely has some mounting issues.

    The next snag I ran into was the passenger side mount for the rear rubber support. The first owner had that removed completely after that part of the exhaust was cut out. Bolts went back on and when I tried to remove one, the stud snapped off. Since they are welded to the frame on a side you cannot access I needed to improvised again.

    I drilled it out, then found a similar bolt and nut, fitted with the heat shield to get it into the hole from above and eventually mounted the rubber hanger. $%%*!!

    Then I started the install. I spent about 2 hours with the center support and the crappy mounts slipping out. I have a hunch the hangers on the resonator aren't exactly in the right place, explaining a lot of tension in the rear direction. Maybe it's all going to snap in place, but right now without the rear connected, the pipe behind the resonator makes full contact with the chassis cross brace. I don't think OEM touches there. Going to be noise if that is the case, and I may need to remove it again to bend the hangers a little.

    In rear, I need to shim the hangers with washers, as my son had to do the same with his Milltek, plus I read of that issue in several threads on other sites. We'll see if I can sort that out tonight. Not much time today, but my son is coming here to work on his custom fog light mounts, so he can help get my car out of the garage :)
     
  3. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Nice job! Hay when your done I'll send you my R53
     
  4. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    I have been contemplating to open a Mini shop - then I realize I am far too anal to ever get a job done in less than 5x the specified time, so it probably won't be too popular. Muffler jobs definitely not scoring high in my "fun R53 jobs" rankings.

    The car is still on jack stands as I had no time yesterday. My son came back from summer college classes to work on his custom front light mount for Chili Red during the week, so tonight we need to get my car buttoned up and out of the garage. Currently my driveway and garage have all three R53s in it, then there's a Chili Red R50 two houses down the street.

    The part that still bothers me is how the pipe is making direct contact with the center cross brace, but it's not connected to the rear yet, which may very well lift that center unit up so that all that it isn' treating on the mounts but rather only stabilizes front back and left to right motion via the center rubber mounts.


    don't buy these mounts - go with OEM instead

    https://www.ecstuning.com/b-meistersatz-parts/exhaust-hanger-mid-pipe-priced-each/18101174146~mei/

    they don't have metal through the entire base, making it impossible to install them, as one end is fed through the bracket and then holds in place by tension. These are pure rubber for 1/2 inch from the end, and just twist right back out of the hole when you try to snug up the other side. Plus, the hole with the bolt threads is completely filled in rubber and needs to be drilled and cut clean.

    General advise, just like Bentley manual states - replace all rubber mounts when the exhaust is replaced. At 100k miles hree out of four of my hangers were ripped and non-functional, one was missing (because one-ball mod - no need for it, so first owner pulled it off).
     
  5. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Anal is good! Well sometimes.:D I bought some parts and an OBD reader from ECS. I have sense found out they are trying to dominate the Mini market like they have the BMW market. One vender was told they will try and put them out of business.I decided I would pay double for a part before I use them agin. I have thought about sharing this in a thread but haven't yet.
    Sorry I didn't mean to highjack your thread.
     
  6. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    yeah, good to know about ECS. I've learned over my two or three orders from them that they will sell you stuff they don't have. You place and order and then they give you a ship date 2 weeks down the road, at minimum. I got my Milltek there on Black Friday last year, and it was delivered in late January. On the other hand, I had ordered a Milltek from Way in September and they didn't have it until January either.

    Since I am going out of my way to never spend a penny at my local Mini stealership again, I located a good online OEM Mini parts source in Seattle. May just get me the roof rack for the daily driver from them, but parts description there is sketchy compared to ECS Tuning where you at least know what you're going to get. On the other hand, it may take a month to get your stuff from them.

    In other news - above exhaust install is complete - my son finished it while I was sitting in the air conditioned office. He needed to get his car into the garage so the only way to do that was to finish my unfinished work ;)

    Turns out I had the center section upside down - he fixed that and now the pipe doesn't touch the cross brace. That was his second Milltek install, and he had that same issue. Note the Milltek packing list an "installation tips sheet," but there is no such sheet in the box, nor did he have one shipped with his exhaust. It's not too difficult but there's that 50% chance to get it in upside down. Install ended up real tight under the rear bumper cover just like with his car, even after sanding down the lip on the black plastic around the tips. I may need to add those washers people mention to drop the inside rear hangers a 1/4 inch if things don't settle in within a week of gravity pulling on those rubber mounts.
     
  7. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    The center section of pipe will drop down when you mount the rear section to it. I had the same issue when I put my Milltek on the first time. Now I do it in one long fully assembled exhaust with wooden blocks.

    I install the 2 center bolts from the 6 bolt plate and then move to the rear and work from the battery box out. The last thing I do is connect it to my RMW header because I do not want to stress the flow pipe at all.

    Also you may want two buy 2 small worm gear hose clamps to cure the “Milltek swing”.

    With new bushings and exhaust hangers the bushing tend to slide the Milltek exhaust tips to the passengers side after a drive. All Milltek exhaust do this.

    The fix I came up with is install a small hose clamp on the inside exhaust hanger before you put the bushing on. Yes before the bushing goes on. Do not tighten them until the whole exhaust is on the car and everything else is tight.

    When you get the exhaust tips perfectly centered in the bumper cutout then slide the hose clamps up to the bushing and tighten them down. Now the exhaust will not move off center because it can’t slide from either side and still be 100% cushioned and make no noise.

    To be clear the hole clamp goes on the inner exhaust hooks on the muffler that connects to the inner bushing on each side of the battery box.
     
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  8. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Hahaha I just saw you had the center plate upside down. I did that once also. Too funny.
     
  9. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Wow your son finished your work! Thats cool. I would have to park my car in front of the TV.
     
  10. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    simple solution - get rid of the TV. I haven't had cable in almost a decade, I think. Now, usually that meant the kids were in front of their computers. Not sure that's better :) He did get into the car and engineering interests, though, so his upbringing wasn't a total failure.
     
  11. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    I know exactly what you mean. My son's Milltek has moved around a tiny bit over just a few hundred miles, so it may be time to fix it. I am going to wait until he is back out of my garage to get under my car and add the clamps.
     
  12. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    Turns out he added the hose clamps as well. Did his homework, . Exhaust rattles a tiny bit, because it is tucked very close to the already sanded-back lower bumper lip. I'll give it a few days. If things don't improve soon, I'll get under it and add some spacers below the inner rear hangers, maybe 1/8" or 1/4" max.

    The car is quiet compared to the electric blue with Megan Racing exhaust, not much different from the Chili red with non-resonated Milltek. I haven't been out of town with it, but at low revs it is quite smooth.

    One thing I noticed and my son confirmed is that in idle just after startup, the revs change up and down far more than with the OEM exhaust. Seems to be a Milltek side effect, but nothing that seems to kill the engine. Still was somewhat odd to see it do that. Megan exhaust has no such effect on the electric blue car.
     
  13. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    Two days in, here's the first basic observation: the muffler is significantly quieter than one-ball, than Megan Racing, than non-resonated Milltek and I think also quieter than bone stock with two balls. I don't hear a thing in the car at 70mph, and the car has no back seat. Very strange experience. I may end up getting the pipe segment to rip out the resonator for "fun driving," but on longer drives, I think it'll be nice to have peace in the cabin. Well almost, because now you really hear the super charger though the DDMWorks intake. Compared to my electric blue car, I am also missing the big pops and burbles. My son's non-resonated Milltek does a lot more of that type of music. On the other hand, I don't have to worry about they neighbors when I come home and lift off on the downhill in front of my house :D

    I will need to put some spacers under the hangers, as it rattled quite a bit more than last time I ran the car after a cold start this morning. Still too close to the rear valance. It has to come off again. Weekend project now that my son has freed up the garage again. He nearly finished his custom headlight project. The custom mount is great, strong enough to mount a snow plow :) - the lights - well, something different but he likes them. STill not wired up, because it took us forever to figure out where to tap into the high beams on an HID car (yellow wire in rubber tube coming from ballast going into side cap)

    This is how he left the garage this morning, not fully wired up yet. Center lights are high beams, outside are dual high beam/fog lights (the center bar is fog) and will be wired in as fogs to replace factory fogs, and the high beam will be triggered in tandem with the OEM high beams via a relay. We didn't have time to install the LEDs in the OEM high beam locations, nor are they aimed yet. License plate mount had to be customized. Fogs will become brake ducts, I am told.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Looks good!
     
  15. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    During this last hot and humid weekend, I kept the garage door shut and the space relatively cool so I could adjust the exhaust tip position without dripping in sweat.

    Here the before and after - first image is mounted totally as shipped with brand new hanger rubber all around. The bumper inner edge is already trimmed off but this close, I got a frequent pretty nasty rattle.

    [​IMG]

    I sanded the plastic back some more and then added one thick washer, maybe 1/16" thick, under just the inner hangers. That got me this final result

    [​IMG]

    As usual, I had to do the job twice - my first attempt added far too much spacing, about 5mm with a nice aluminum plate I had drilled to match the hole spacing. Well, with that the muffler tips were about 1" below the valance! the spacers seem to tilt the whole assembly by a factor that amplifies at the tips.

    So a little goes a long way. I added a second hose clamp to the inner hangers to keep things centered in both directions, plus "adjusted" all heat shields that were anywhere near the Milltek.

    Here's the brand new $46 factory passenger side hanger, a part removed by the previous owner. $46...

    [​IMG]

    When I was done with all that, I took out my rear tail lights for the first time ever. Great opportunity to clean out all the crud that may be in that space and then wax the heck out of it, before installing the lights with fresh bulbs. Turned out the backup light on one side was out, and my last trip to Walmart ended up with my nice new 921 reverse light bulbs in somebody else's shopping bag. Grrrrr. So I spent $20 and got some super bright LEDs on Amazon. Upgrade!

    Will post results when I get them. Glad I already coded out all the bulb checks on this car, so no flashing reverse lights :)
     
  16. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    Dark Silver "out of the garage" this weekend. I took it for a drive to blow out the new part smell from the Milltek cat back. Great weather last night after humid and hot air finally got pushed out of the area. We were sweating on Saturday messing with coilovers, air conditioning blowing into the garage, but it didn't help much.

    [​IMG]

    And a glance at the Milltek tips in the good evening light.

    [​IMG]

    No rattles, but also very very quiet. I may just have to order that pipe segment to pull out the resonator for the local runs. For long travel trips, I actually like the quiet cabin.

    And here is the current H7 low beam setup. Not going to keep that for very long. It gave me a taste of better light, and now I want it all - a bi-xenon conversion is coming later this year or in winter.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
  17. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Great pictures, your mini looks good!
     
  18. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Nice job, the car looks great.
     
  19. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    and it has never been polished, ever. The last wax was put on a year ago... I hope to paint correct what needs to be corrected and do a ceramic coating before the end of this year.
     
  20. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    OK, so I cracked the bolt holding the timing tensioner, took out the old one, grabbed the package with the new one and that one is already extended... so how the hell do I get the genie back in the bottle so I can get that bolt threaded and the tensioner installed? I now have two extended tensioners and there's just no way I can push and turn the tool hard enough to compress the tensioner and not cross thread the bolt Heck, I don't even get close to the bolt ever grabbing a thread.

    Do I need to buy another tensioner, or is there some funky twist and turn trick to lock it back in the install position? I've had it laying around for a year and somebody played with it, I think :)

    Really should have done this when the subframe was out. Not touching it on the other cars until the subframe drops...
     

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