Crashton......just keep the R53 and rebuild as necessary. No reason to jump ship and join the unwashed 2nd gen population. This is my plan anyway.
I hear what you guys are saying. The trouble I have is My R53 is my daily driver & I can't be without it during a lengthly rebuild. I'm hoping to squeeze at least another 50 or 60 thousand out of it. It may be a long time down the road, but eventually we may see that the R56 aren't as bad as we thought they were. As of now I'm leaning toward the R53 side of the fence.
You have to be kidding me. Oh, wait, your talking abut the R56 S not the R56 justa. Sorry, you could have a point there. :lol: Jim
Forgot to add. In my 63k miles, transmission seal died at less than 1 k miles and it was repaired under warentee. Cold start chatter repaired under warentee (about 50k miles). Turbo oil feed line leak two times, once under warrantee and the line replaced out of pocket the second time. Other than that, my drivers widow doesn't dip at the moment.
Yes, but did you see I said I had a "justa". It would seem to me that almost all the problems posted concern the "S". The "R56 justa's" are relative trouble free. Jim
Jim the Justa Cooper R56 has seemed to be pretty reliable. My guess is the complexity of the Prince of an MCS engine head, direct injection & turbo is what is causing most R56 MCS problems. I know there have been some changes to the Prince engine for the 2011 year. Not sure what those are or if they address any of the issues it has. CheckersSD I've got more than twice your mileage with few problems, keep motoring & you'll catch up. I know R53 MINIs can achieve high mileages. I love mine too, but am wondering what to do down the road. It's the whole long term high mileage R56 MCS engine that worries me. Lots of good feedback here. Keep it coming. Thanks...
It would seem that BMW fixed the "justa" first and in 2009, it had major improvements and got better mpg as well. They only brought some of the things done to the justa, to the "S" in 2011. I'm just guessing here, but by 2012 or 13 they will have it all worked out, or possibly just do "band-aids" until the next generation hits the street. Hard to say. Jim
252 miles so far and counting :grin:. My R53 had 40,000 on the clock at the time of his demise. I had him 5 years and 4 months, so averaged 625 miles per month. Sheesh, I need to drive more. On the R53 vs R56 thing, I was all prepared not to love my new MINI as much as El Kabong, but I succumbed. Guess we'll see on the reliability issue, but car vs car, there is much to love in both I now see. Annette
Annette since you have a new 2011 with all the latest engine changes (if there are any). If you wouldn't mind you should report back every 10,000 miles or so. Maybe if you have an issue & I hope you don't, report back sooner. I wish you many trouble free miles of motoring enjoyment.
Our 08 Launch Edition Clubman has 29,825 miles on it. Tensioner was replaced about a month ago. Clutch blew apart last summer, same day we got it back from the dealer after having Stage 1 JCW kit installed:devil:. Sunroof has been tweaked numerous times(never fixing it:mad2 Had an air lock in the coolant system. All issues fixed under warranty. My 03 justa has 117,500 or so miles on it, coming up on 9 years of being together. First 3 years motored around 600 miles a week, since then about 100 a week. Still goes like snot Mark
Oh man I did not know there was a lunch edition. Man I'd have gobbled that up. I'm not too worried about sunroofs & clutches, the prince of an engine is what worries this old guy. Nice to hear that your R50 still produces snot. Replacement snot is available if ever needed.
Crashton.....the block on the R53 has been shown to be just about as bullet-proof a block as any. The only real major problem parts are the PS pump and the SC. Both can be replaced in less than a day. The rest of the car should only req the "regular" long term maintenance which I can deal with (most times) myself. I was able to keep my previous car for 25 yrs with this plan.
Yep that iron lump born in Brazil is a good one. The only Achilles heel does appear to be the PS & Supercharger. Although not all R53s appear to be so affected. Thanks for helping me see the big R53 picture. Although I still want to know more about the prince of an engine.
I want to know if any MCS Prince upgrades have made for good long term longevity. A Roadster may be an option in a couple of years, and I will be looking for a long term of ownership. If/when Poco is replaced, it's going to need to last. Mark
I know this is sacrilegious on a MINI site, but a Miata is a lot better roadster than that MINI roadster is ever going to be. My 95 is more fun that a barrel of flying monkey's.
Yeah, I know a Miata would be fun, a TR6 would be more fun, and a Austin Healey would be the bee's knees but alas, I'm thinking new Mark