One old fart's opinion..... The oem crank pulley very well may come apart stopping your car dead in it's tracks. The reason for the ATI is durability & doing a better job of smoothing things out. Call Eric at Helix & ask him about them. Heck your oem damper may go on for another 50K or it may decide to disintegrate next week. I'm not a gambler that's why I changed mine out at 95k along with all the other parts on the front of the engine. IMO this is money not wasted. Why do you think your crank bearings are worn? If the oil have been changed every 5K or so they should be fine.
I put one on my 02 because the stock one was getting cracks in the rubber. I did not want it to fail on me. Sense it needed replacing I decided on the ATI because it is better than stock. Your right if the crank bearings are bad then it’s too late.
Ok, will inspect the pulley and then decide. Regarding bearings, I thought one of the reasons to get the ATI was to protect them. Fortunately the prior owner kept meticulous records for this car going back 10 years. The oil was changed every 5k miles. Lastly, I’ll get a compression test done prior to replacing the head and supercharger. Also, UPS man just delivered the new Miltek header
John, Even if everything comes back ok for the compression check I would absolutely have the crank pulley changed for the ATI one. Just get the same OEM stock size. The OEM one will only last so long and when it fails your car is dead. Marzo had his go on the Dragon at night 2 years ago and we had to go out and rescue him. He went back and installed a new one the next morning. It’s worth the piece of mind at 180,000 + miles you have on that R53.
I'm amazed a stock crank pulley lasted to 180k! My first died around 80k. My new R53 project is at 83k and I've got the new ATI out in the garage, waiting for some time off to do the work. When that pulley goes, the car is dead on the side of the road.
Will make the pulley a priority. The car is at 193k miles on the original one. My first “high mileage†MINI, so still learning after all these years.
I'm usually for anything branded "Yale", but I think I'll pass! BTW: I know a few folks recommended doing the timing chain guide rails. I just pulled 'em from my '05 MCS (83k miles) and they were moderately worn (and one was broken off at the bottom). I've got 90% of a draft for the how-to article done over on my "Rufus Refresh" thread.