My son's 05 R53 is broken down in West Palm Beach and I'm looking for recommendations to get it repaired. It appears to be either a belt and tensioner or maybe the harmonic balancer. Any suggestions for an independent shop?
Mark call Ian Stewart at Maitland Imports in Orlando (407) 425-0545 He drives Jan's RMW race car and is excellent with MINI's. He has a shop in Orlando Florida but should be able to point you in the right direction for West Palm Beach repair shop. Maitland Importers : Volvo and Mini Cooper Service and Maintenance in Orlando, FL
Thanks Dave. I talked with Ian a little while ago. he too thinks its the crank pulley. We will know tomorrow.
He didn't know of anyone closer than him and he is 100 mile away. I found an Indy shop that does MINI's and BMW's and it's getting towed there this morning. When I talked to the owner and explained the problem he immediately said that it was probably the crank pulley. That made me feel like he knew what he was doing.
...an update. The culprit was the crank pulley plus a broken right side motor mount. Cupelli Automotive who works exclusively on Mercedes, BMW's and MINI's in Lake Worth is repairing it. So far so good dealing with Frank Cupelli. They appear to know MINI's pretty well and have been fair with their pricing. If all finishes well with them I will definitely give my recommendation.