We picked up a 2006 Hot Orange R52 S this month with the manual transmission for our daughter. It has about 158k miles. We towed it back from IL to MI and set about correcting a couple of small items before putting it on the road.

My daughter helped me replace the Left and Right rear hard brake lines. We used copper/nickel lines instead of steel and replacement stainless brake line fittings. I was really surprised to learn that Minis use steel brake lines, as I hadn't encountered that in any of the other European cars I own or have owned (I only ran into that on US domestics, previously). Then we bled the brakes and everything is working great. We also replaced the parking brake cables, and another item I fixed was a broken ground wire at the connector pin inside the Left Rear side marker light - the wire broke off right at the pin, but I was able to disassmble the connector and locate a suitable connector contact from my stash of parts (I have worked in automotive Tier2's for many years...so I've acquired bits & pieces that come in handy now and again...like various connector pins/contacts).

Here's a pic of it parked on its first cruise into our local downtown - we let our daughter do the driving - she's thrilled with it!

 

Welcome to the site, and to Mini! I have an 05 R52S in Hot Orange as well, its a fun little car.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of MINI topless motoring.
Just be aware, these are NOT drive 'em and forget 'em little critters. They do appreciate regular attention and service.
She will want to locate a wind deflector for it. One sometimes shows up on ebay. It has to be specific to the R52.

 

@Fly'n Brick , thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to keep an eye on it with her. The Mini is my first BMW since a 1980 320i I had years ago, and that required a lot of attention, too - but so did most vehicles from that era I've had VWs mostly since then, and have kept them maintained, so I have some practice. Also, thanks for the tip on the wind deflector - I'll keep an eye out for one.

 

Welcome! I picked up an 06 R52 JCW for my daughter this year as well. She too does all the work.
question regarding wind deflectors and golf clubs. Compatible or exclusive?

 

I put the driver and 3 wood in behind the seats then the bag across the seat. I also use a pull type bag trolley that goes on top of all that. I wouldn't mess with the deflector if you're heading out to the club. Putting it on and taking it off at each place would just be a PITA.

 

That's what I thought. She plays for her high school and has practice or matches every day so I think Ill skip the deflector or just put in for soccer season. Sorry for the derail OP , enjoy the car.

 

Looks great! I'm sure she's thrilled to have such a great car.

How was the parking brake cable replacement? I just purchased a R53 and need to do this project as well.

 

@tcbrady , sorry that I missed replying to this earlier. The parking brake cable replacement is a little tricky, as the gas tank is in the way (if I recall correctly). All in all, it wasn't too bad (they took a couple of hours altogether). It would have gone faster had I already had my lift installed when I replaced them, but the cables were installed in June and I didn't finish my lift install until September.

 

No worries! I actually just finished this the other week and went smoothly. Onto the next projects! On another note - what kind of lift did you go with?

 

I went with a Mohawk A-7. The floor-to-ceiling clearance in my shop garage is 11'3", so the Mohawk columns fit. I also like the narrower layout it offers. I ran the hydraulic lines between the columns through the attic. My A-7 was originally in a GM Powertrain facility in Flint, MI, but passed through 2 other owners (who never figured out how to install it) before I picked it up. The biggest challange was re-wiring the controls from using the 3-phase 440V supply in the GM plant to the 2-pole, single-phase 220V here at the house. It's great to finally have a lift!