New Poster with a WWGRMD thread. Would you daily a cheap, high mileage R53 Mini?

Hey everyone, I've lurked here for awhile and decided to finally join the madness thinking that you crazies would be the perfect sounding board for my current problem. I apologize in advance for my long winded first post.

THE PROBLEM: I've got an 01 Ford Ranger for my daily driver (2.3l Duratec/5 spd manual). Long story short, it needs a new cylinder head due to previous owner's ineptitude. I don't really have the time, space or desire to replace the head myself.

OPTIONS: 1) Take it to the dealer. I'm assuming by the time the head, head gasket, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, front cover gasket, and new timing chain (might as well while it's apart) are done, I'll be looking at a substantial bill from the stealership that would probably be almost as much as the truck is worth. But, it would probably be good to go for another 100k or so of daily driving.

2) Sell the truck for as much as I can get, and put that money towards an 05 Mini Cooper S with 160k for a little under $4gs. It would get about the same fuel economy as the Ranger, but would require premium gas, and it has 50k more miles than the Ranger. The fun level goes up (significantly), but I'm sure the maintenance costs would too (significantly).

3) Save the money spent on fixing the Ranger, sell it, and buy another cheap, dependable vehicle to get decent mileage

4)???? Show me what you can come up with

SOME GENERAL BACKGROUND/ THINGS TO CONSIDER:

I drive 50 miles/day to and from work

Mrs STM317 is on board with either option, but likes the idea of a back seat to baby when the time comes.

I already have a sort-of-sporty, play thing to drive on weekends, nice days etc and I'm not sure I need another bad habit in the driveway to dump money into.

I live in Indiana, so it has to handle midwestern winters well enough.

Mrs STM317 and I are house hunting for something with more garage space where I will be able to really indulge my car problem, but current space is extremely limited.

So what say you? Pay a bunch to fix the truck and drive the wheels off it, pay a bunch several times to own the Mini and deal with the maintenance, cut bait and buy something else?

We had an 05' R53 as a DD with around 50k miles on it. I say "nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope "

WAY too many experiences with poor mechanical design, parts failures, high replacement parts cost, so-so fuel cost, and massive discomfort on the interstates here about. Was it fun? In town, hell yeah, as long as you were just playing around. As a utility car? uh-uh. Maybe as a race car or fun car if I had a big enough budget, but never as primary transport.

I'd have an independant shop fix the Ranger - find a reputable one that will install good used parts, then find the head in a junkyard. DD the heck out of it. Then if you want a fun car, save a little and get something cheap to buy, and cheap to run that's still fun.

I'm not sure "Mini" and "cheap, dependable vehicle" go together.

If you like the truck and it works for you take it to a good indipendent mechanic and get the head done. If you are ready for something else move on. If a hot hatch is your bag consider an SVT focus, or for more money and reliability a used mazda 3, or fiesta ST or focus ST.

Nope

Thanks for the advice. Deep down, I know the Mini is the wrong choice, but I'd heard this was the place to come for enablers

I'll have to do some searching for decent local shops because the 2 closest to me I wouldn't trust to change my oil. If anybody else has other ideas, don't hesitate to enlighten me.

Lot of other options in that general category. Acura RSX, Celica, possibly last-gen Prelude although pricing there seems to be usually stupid on anything that still runs. Mazda/Mazdaspeed 3 as previously mentioned. Focus. Potentially a GTi but there's so many bad stories about those cars being maintenance pits like the MINI so maybe not.

I bought some tires and wheels off of a guy parting a few MINIs. He asked me to help him with some stuff afterwards. They are surprisingly hard to work on.

I have a buddy that traded his 50k mile R53 in on a brand new Nissan Versa. The salesman thought he was insane.

It was the best decision he's ever made.

ultraclyde wrote: We had an 05' R53 as a DD with around 50k miles on it. I say "nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope "

Order the parts and seriously fix the truck at a independent. F' owning a R53 in any way shape or form.

+whatever it's up to for "nope".

I had an '03 R53, and got rid of it because of the increasing failures of expensive, apparently non-DIY, parts - BCM, headlight leveling module, ECU, etc. Plus, the engine E36 M3 the bed at 51k.

I have a cherry, low-mile '90 Integra sedan that's just what you need :)

RealMiniParker wrote: +whatever it's up to for "nope". I had an '03 R53, and got rid of it because of the increasing failures of expensive, apparently non-DIY, parts - BCM, headlight leveling module, ECU, etc. Plus, the engine E36 M3 the bed at 51k.

Did you say "Headlight leveling module"?

I thought that was called a "screw".

On a Mini headlight screws you!

tuna55 wrote: Did you say "Headlight leveling module"? I thought that was called a "screw".

Not on ones equipped with the Xenon headlights.

No, Niet, Nine, Hell Nah=my answer. Say it with me...Fix Ranger. If you really want to dump it, look for a Mazda 3. Same amount of fun to drive with less headaches.

tuna55 wrote:

RealMiniParker wrote: +whatever it's up to for "nope". I had an '03 R53, and got rid of it because of the increasing failures of expensive, apparently non-DIY, parts - BCM, headlight leveling module, ECU, etc. Plus, the engine E36 M3 the bed at 51k.

Did you say "Headlight leveling module"? I thought that was called a "screw".

HID headlights have motorized self-levers. On the MINI they break and cost the moon. People will instead try to unplug the module when it gets to more or less the correct alignment.

The R53 is not about saving money. It is fun, but you have to be really careful about used ones.

In reply to tuna55:

Oh, there's a screw. But there's also a stupid servo that moves the whole headlight assembly, to compensate for cargo load. Berking module that controls the servo was about 500 clams, IIRC, and it needed to be "programmed". berkeley that! So, I would have to periodically force them into the highest position, after having turned the manual adjusting screw to the minimum height.

junkyard engine - indy mechanic for the swap. Keep the existing - replace head/rebuild at your leisure.

I'm at the same point right now with my '08 R56 MINI JustaCooper, continue to pay for the fun drive or trade it for something more mundane yet reliable. My commute is similar 60km (40 miles) each way, all highway, no fun roads. The only Mini to look at is the late '05 and '06's of the first generation, but parts are still expensive. Later models of the R56's (after 2011) seem to have lots of issues fixed.

I love R53 MINI's and know them well - been wrenching on them since 2003. There is NO WAY IN HELL I'd have one as a daily driver right now. Even my ex's car - a 2003 she bought new, was recently retired from DD status for a new ND Miata. She loves the car and will never sell it, but it has basically become part of her "classic car" fleet.

Fix the truck. It'll be far, far cheaper and way more reliable in the long run.

RealMiniParker wrote: In reply to tuna55: Oh, there's a screw. But there's also a stupid servo that moves the whole headlight assembly, to compensate for cargo load. Berking module that controls the servo was about 500 clams, IIRC, and it needed to be "programmed". berkeley that! So, I would have to periodically force them into the highest position, after having turned the manual adjusting screw to the minimum height.

Wait, cargo load!?

This is a compact hatchback with stiff springs. I don't even understand.

See, again I had a totally different experience. Mine was an '06 R53. I sold it to a friend earlier this year with 100k miles. No real failures at all. It had a leaking thermostat housing that I replaced, and I changed the timing chain tensioner as preventative maintenance. Other than routine oil changes and a set of front pads, nothing. One of the best cars I ever had.

The friend I sold it to has put another 15k miles on it as his wife drives it everywhere. No additional failures.

I have another friend that bought a non-S new in '09, and again, has been VERY reliable. It too has only needed tires, brakes and oil changes. It has 90k miles on it now.

I had an R50 with 85K miles on it and liked it, but it had the typical little problems that nickel and dimed. Then a R53 came up for sale with 85K miles and the price was right, so I bought it with plans to sell the R50. 300 miles after I bought the R53 it threw a rod and holed the block and oil pan. I went back to the R50 and about a week later the transaxle went. I took the transaxle out of the R53 and fixed the R50, sold the R50 for $6K, took a big hit on the R53 (sold the shell for $2.5K). I replaced them with a $7K 2008 Civic Si with 200K miles that has been trouble free for a year and 10K miles. I'm done with MINIs too.

tuna55 wrote:

RealMiniParker wrote: In reply to tuna55: Oh, there's a screw. But there's also a stupid servo that moves the whole headlight assembly, to compensate for cargo load. Berking module that controls the servo was about 500 clams, IIRC, and it needed to be "programmed". berkeley that! So, I would have to periodically force them into the highest position, after having turned the manual adjusting screw to the minimum height.

Wait, cargo load!? This is a compact hatchback with stiff springs. I don't even understand.

German engineering. Go figure.

oldtin wrote: junkyard engine - indy mechanic for the swap. Keep the existing - replace head/rebuild at your leisure.

I've considered this route as well, because I thought it might actually be faster to just swap the entire engine and would require fewer specialized tools, but all of the engines I've found have higher miles than the stock engine, and they cost $1000+. I haven't ever seen a Duratec Ranger in the yards around here either, so a "U Pull" style option probably isn't realistic.

So, it sounds like the overwhelming opinion is to avoid high mileage R53s. This aligns nicely with my long standing policy of never owning a German vehicle out of warranty. Not sure why this particular Mini called out to me so strongly, but I'll take everyone's advice and save the headaches for my other vehicles.