Most liked posts in thread: Time to bid farewell to another Mini soul :(

If he really wants to sell it to you he will wait for you to get back in the states.

Take it out for a test drive and maybe stick it up on a lift and look it over really well.

You should really find out who "tuned" the car or if it's just dealer flashed with the JCW tune to run the larger JCW injectors.

10 K tops and that's as high as I would go but I would start at 8K and let him work me up to his final #. It may be below 10K. :ihih: but 10 would be the highest walk away price. People will lower the price after you walk away and they even call you back and make a deal.

Never is a modded MINI worth what the owner put into it. Except to themselves.

If he really wants to move it he will take 10K because only a hand full of people are in the market for a R53 MINI that has been already modded by some else.

 

Justa adding my 2 donuts worth to your post. :donut1::donut1:

 

^^^^ Yup I have learned from many others SC "Rebuilds". The simple facts are Eaton the maker of the M45 SC does not make a rebuild kit for it. Companies and people have tried for years to market rebuild kits and services but they are not Eaton M45 parts.

That's why I will only buy a factory re-manufactured unit with a warranty or a "take off" unit from a trusted source. (I have a few sources :ihih

I don't need a new SC at all but by the time I do I may upgrade to a TVS or a Rotex unit with a Vipec ECU. That combo will do everything the OEM ECU does without the stupid limits and BMW adaptive software and Siemens code garage.
The new Vipec will be ODB2 enabled so it will even pass emissions. :ihih: Not to mention 300 + WHP easily with the TVS or Rotex without Meth. :devil:

See you are never done modding.

 

I don't think the F56 will affect R53 prices. Too many years in between.

Still, some will try to always shoot for the moon on prices. There are plenty of internet resources like this place to check to see if you are getting a decent deal.

Really, an 06 R53 is 8 model years old at this point. Most big banks won't loan money on vehicles older than 2008. Credit unions are a different story.

There has been some great advice from a mechanical point already stated.

 

The one thing that scares me is the unknown tuner.

A bad tune will kill any car no matter how good the installed parts are.

 

I do not claim to be a crash expert .....But looking at the pictures of the car and knowing about where the crash sensors are ...I can see why the airbags didnt go off....It's almost like the roll over was so perfect it missed the sensors.....Again I am not a crash expert nor do I know why the airbags did not go off....But with the damage from the pictures, the sensors were not hit......

 

Well at least you are not hurt and you can always find a new (R53) MINI.

 

Well at least you are free and clear and not paying for a car you don't have anymore.

 

Time to buy a MINI & start a new payment book, seems like the only thing to do. You were very smart to have gap insurance.

 

Is it possible you did a lot of sliding on the side and roof and didn't have a sudden impact that didn't trigger the airbag sensor?

 

Wow! Looks like you took a pretty serious hit there, the whole engine bay looks shifted a couple of inches over! (that might just be the picture though)

Count your blessings my friend, you walked away, and that's the best part of this story.

 

Heck of a ride looks like.. So much so that you don't remember being upside down!!!! I agree with the thinking that the air bags should have gone off at some point.. In the 2nd Gen Cabrio's the roll bar "pops up" if the car gets tilted at 30 degrees or something like that. Air bags should as well, though they don't as we see here..

 

Very glad you are OK.

As far as air bombs go I'd guess your MINI didn't hit the magic G number that makes them go off.

 

Wow...appears that your car did the donut dance! While I'm happy your external and internal injuries were few, I'm sad your psyche was damaged. The best way to get over your MINI loss and to soothe your psyche is to get another MINI, especially since you know it will keep you safe.

Changing the subject some, I didn't know they had ice in Houston!

 

I believe the sensors in the airbag systems in the "older" cars respond more to high-impact, straight-on frontal hits - but I guess I would have expected more airbag inflation from an R56. It looks like you tried to take the corners off the car with glancing blows, which wouldn't necessarily trigger the airbags. I'd sure contact MINI and ask, though, because it looks like you did everything you could to set off the bags. :crazy:

Glad you're OK ...

 

Whatever the force was to flip the car should trip the air bags.. Atleast it should be that way in every car made.. I know they have to not deploy for a minor fender bender but when the car is upside down they are probably needed..

 

I had this happen to me in a volvo 940 turbo no less. I got smacked on the freeway pretty darn hard and no deployment.

Always wondered what it would take to actually deploy them. Bodyshop just said that it was cause the sensors didn't take a hit.

Glad you are ok.