1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Resurrecting a salvaged 2002 R53

  1. Eric@Helix

    Eric@Helix New Member
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    #4 Eric@Helix, Sep 15, 2015
    Congrats! We just bought a '05 MCS with a salvage title. It had been abandoned, towed and left in an outdoor lot for 2 years. No major accident history, but it has it's bumps & bruises. With a new clutch, it now drives around the lot fine. It basically needs everything that these cars need. Bushings, pulleys, maintenance. Do I smell a Wildebeest 2 in the works???

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  2. Motoring Magic

    Motoring Magic New Member
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    Motoring Magic Owner, Ventura County's ONLY MINI s
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    #2 Motoring Magic, Sep 15, 2015
    you will also need both front seat belt buckles-they are pyrotechnic and deploy when both airbags deploy. after changing the buckles, the airbag control unit can be reset by someone with the proper equipment=the controller is good for 3 deployments in that car so assuming that was theonly one it is resetable. go ahead and plug them in, it wont hurt anything but you are not done......
     
  3. johncoops

    johncoops Member

    Feb 1, 2015
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    #5 johncoops, Sep 15, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2015
    Nice find as well! Wondering who would abandon it?? She's a beauT! People get so scared of buying salvage. I don't see why if you look it over well and have an idea what costs you are possibly in for. This is my daily driver and I've been fortunate enough that I could still drive it while I've been working on it for the last 6 months. I don't plan on reselling it anytime soon (if ever) and getting it cheap lets me save up for and justify tasteful mods for her. I call this reverse car payments. lol Eventually I will get it to look how I want it to. I've never been a car guy until I found this Mini and am having fun learning how to do the work myself. Guess you could say I caught the Mini spirit. Within the next few weeks I will be fixing the CV axle myself. Something I would have never attempted before this car. All it takes is a willing to learn, forums like MA, and watching tons of awesome DIY Youtube videos and I'm ready to give it a go. And if I run into trouble or in over my head, Way Motor Works is just 15 minutes away for piece of mind. They already have bailed me out of trouble when I didn't have a spare on board when I'm not running run flats. Learned that lesson the hard way. Was spending $ getting her maintenance up to speed since I had no history and thought I'd have time since I just put on new tires the month before. Didn't account for hitting a deep pothole and destroying a rim. Luckily Way was only 3 miles away when it happened.
     
  4. johncoops

    johncoops Member

    Feb 1, 2015
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    #3 johncoops, Sep 15, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2015
    Thank you for your insight. That is good to know. I'm also thinking of replacing both front seats with some nice Carbon Black Punch Lounge Leather seats I found for a good price from a parted out R56. Not much of a fan of the Panther Black (more Gray) Gravity Leather seats in there now. Think they take away from the classic styling I am going after inside my R53. Would it be possible to install some matching Carbon Black belts also from an R56? Will they fit and also work in another collision? God forbid that should happen.