2009 R56 MINI Cooper S rehab - the revival of a neglected automotive obsession

I’ve had a thing for BMW’s version of the MINI ever since they first rolled out in 2001. The car’s retro styling  put a hook in me that I’ve never been able to dislodge. The MINI‘s quirkiness and personality AND the 2003 reboot of The Italian Job did me in for good. 

I’ve been on the prowl for an affordable project MINI for a couple of years now, and I finally hit the jackpot. 

Found this on Facebook Marketplace and got it home yesterday after the sun set.

I really wanted a Chili Red R53 with the huffer, but this one ticked enough boxes to make me go have a closer look.

It has a six speed manual transmission with dealer installed John Cooper Works Tuning Kit. 

Car has 116,000 km, and only 18,000 km on a new dealer-installed engine.It has pretty much every option available including fully adjustable heated leather seats, dual sunroof, automatic climate control, navigation, Harmon Kardon stereo, cruise control, power folding mirrors, fully articulated steering wheel, keyless entry, auto dimming rearview mirror, HomeLink, rain sensing wipers, backup sensors, xenon headlights, headlight washers, LSD and electronic stability control

For you folks that aren't fluent in metric, it has 72,500 miles with just over 11,000 miles of that on a dealer-installed replacement engine. Seller was asking CAD $7500, which was rather optimistic considering the work that the car needs to make it right.  

Now for the bad:

- windshield has two big rock chips

- pretty good scrape on the front bumper and one of the rims looks like it was attacked by an angry badger

- either the alternator, tensioner pulley or idler pulley has a bad bearing causing a loud RPM dependent whine/howl noise

- the paint is badly swirled and it needs a paint correction and new stripes

- brakes are shot & tires are 8 years old and to the wear bars

- hood release is broken

- rear wiper was broken and laying in the hatch and the mounting nut is MIA

- radio antenna is broken off

I took the seller's asking price and deducted $$ for everything that needed fixing and came up with a "comfortable for me, considering what needs to be done" offer of $3500. I wasn't surprised that I didn't hear back from the seller.

Four days later I get a reply saying he'd let the car go for CAD $4500. That's $3350 US, and I'm pretty happy that it's in my driveway  

It runs like a scalded cat and should brake and handle like a slot car with new brakes and tires on it. The broken stuff is more nuisance than anything and will just take time and some money to make right.  

My 19 year old son is pretty stoked too, because he's wanted to learn to drive stick since he got his driver's license. Oh yeah, and the wife says I should make sure there's a set of keys at home for her on her days off too because everybody loves Cooper  

Hey neighbor! I'm a Kitchener resident that grew up outside of New Dundee and went to W.O.D.S.S down the road.

Nice looking car, it looks like a really good base to start with with a lot of nice options. I've always been attracted to these but have steered clear of them so far.

Once it is sorted you should check out one of the semi local autocross series (or if there is still a Boxster in the garage go with that for now).

Adam

In reply to adam525i (Forum Supporter) :

Hi Adam,

It's pretty good, and getting better by the day. 
Spent the shady morning doing a deep clean wash, iron removal and clay bar. It was brutal. Don't think it had ever been done, given the amount of purple that came up.
Then I test polished a spot on the hood to see what results to expect. Ended needing to get a cutting compound, polishing compound and a polishing pad which wasn't in my inventory. 

Slid over to Import Auto Parts in Ayr for front & rear rotors and pads. 

Still needs an oil change. That will get done this evening after it cools off some. 
Going to Costco Waterloo this afternoon for new BFG G-Force tires.

I'd like to try autocross with the Boxster or the Cooper, never done it before. 
 

I hadn't heard of Import Auto Parts but they look decent, I'll keep them in mind especially for things like brake rotors that are expensive to ship.

For autocross there are a few series that aren't too far away from us.

PITL.ca moved to Mohawk raceway last year in the front parking lot which was great, Mohawk is closed right now so they have moved to Exhibition place in Toronto for this year but will hopefully be back next year. The series is $50-$55 and you don't need to join a club, they typically have 125-150 cars with 5 timed runs. I run with them when it works, with so many cars the competition is good and their courses tend to be pretty tight. I'll be at the PITL event tomorrow.

The BMW Trillium club runs in Brampton at the CAA centre. It's a very casual series with 5 timed runs and 15-30 entries depending on what else is going on. The cost is $40 but you need to be a member of the BMW club, the Porsche club or another CASC club. They usually do fun runs at the end that aren't timed  so you can 8-10 runs by the end of the day. The courses are longer and tend do go back on themselves, they also tend to be more open with room to try different lines. This is a good group to get started with a more relaxed vibe to it.

Lastly, there is W.O.S.C.A that runs at the airport in Centralia. I haven't run with them but their courses look good and I've heard good things. You don't need to be a member of any club to go with them but it is a bit cheaper if you belong to their club.

There's also fun stuff like open lapping at Grand Bend Motorplex and Toronto Motorsports Park too within an hour and a half of us. You can do schools at TMP as well with groups like Pinnacle Driving Academy if you'd like some instruction to help get you started. Finally, if you join the BMW Trillium club their Advanced Driving Schools at Mosport are the best. I'll be at TMP this Wednesday for the open lapping

All of these things are lots of fun if you have a Mini or a Boxster! Don't be afraid to reach out if you have any questions.

Adam, see you at PITL tomorrow!  I'll be there in a British Racing Green Miata.
 

BoxsterSteve, cool project hope to see you out at an autocross.

Thomas

exST165 (Forum Supporter) said:

BoxsterSteve, cool project hope to see you out at an autocross.

Thomas

Thanks for the kind words. Looking forward to getting this beast all sorted out.