Good day,

My name is Jeff, I'm in GA, USA...I'm brand new here and just accidentally acquired a 2003 Cooper S straight from the zombie apocalypse for $200. Yes, $200. I need help and have questions.

First, a quick bit of story for context. I'm a car enthusiast and have built a bunch of cars, mostly imports. Most recent builds are a '01 Insight, an '01 Prelude, and my daily '15 Fiesta ST, all manual trannies. I've done turbos, exhaust, all the suspension stuff, mounts, rebuilt NiMH batteries for the hybrid, been through many custom tunes, feel generally well-versed in cars and modding. I have always respected Minis but never drove one and know nothing about them at all, except there is now one in my driveway.

Long story short, I've enjoyed my Prelude for a few years but decided to sell it and get something else to wrench on. I got top dollar for the Prelude which was amazing. Now, the buyer drove here from another city, and told me he was going to buy my car, dump his car at the salvage yard, and head home. So, he gets to my house (this all just happened a few days ago) in a Mini Cooper. The car is totally beat. But there is a gleam in my eye....hmmmmmmm. It did make it 100 miles from his town to mine. He says the salvage yard offered $350 over the phone. I do a 2 minute test drive, I offer him $200, he takes it, he drives away with my car and title and I now have a Mini in my driveway, with a clean title to boot.

Lots of questions, but it seems this is just someone who's done with one car and ready to wash his hands.

So, I have a Mini Cooper S. Could call the junkyard who will undoubtedly give me $200 or more for it. But maybe it can be restored. Here is a list of the good and bad. Keep in mind this all happened fast, I will learn much more about it when I take a look this weekend and drive it more.

THE GOOD
It only has 73,000 miles
It is black
It is a 6 speed
It was $200
It has pretty good Yoko S Drives all around
It pulls hard and revs easy
It was $200
It came with a stack of receipts for about $5000 of work in the last few years
It passed an autocheck report, no flood/stolen/salvage etc.

THE BAD
Somebody punched the hood pretty hard
It has rust (Maryland) on the hood and under taillights
It has some peeling paint
Exterior trim is shot...peeling...
It is filthy, and I mean filthy
The wipers (front) don't work
The seal between the windshield and roof is gone (leaking bad)
Sunroof gasket is compromised
Small bit of oil leaking
Oh, the rattles!!!
Interior smells due to leak mentioned above
The passenger window doesn't go down
The glove box latch is broken
There might be a coolant leak, the reservoir has coolant all over the exterior
CEL is on
SRS light is on
Lots of rubbing sounds while driving...sounds like a hub issue...
Drivers door isn't perfect...is slightly off but shuts/seals just fine...

I will surely discover many other issues with this car...but the point is it runs well enough for now.

I am pretty good at detailing (see pics, I already washed and waxed the rear hatch and rear driver 1/4 panel just for fun before dark) and can clean up the interior somewhat. I can clean up the paint, headlights, wheels, engine bay. I can change the fluids and plugs and filters and cheap easy stuff.

The question I need your help with is, having mentioned the issues above I'm aware of so far, do you the experts recommend:

A - Clean/fluids/wax and sell as is for ?$1000? or so, not dealing with any of the pricy issues
or
B - Spend some real money and make something out of this car?

Please inform, ask questions, keep in mind I know cars but I know zero about Minis and this one is a ZFG edition so it could be beyond hope. Keep in mind this all happened very fast...I didn't have time for a proper inspection and he didn't have time for me to do it. But for $200 I said what the heck I can't lose.

THANK YOU in advance for reading and replying!

A few pics:

 

With a few notable exceptions, it sounds like it’s mostly cosmetic stuff.

It’s worth a call to your local Novus (or who ever replaces windshields near you) to get an estimate for the windshield seal replacement. It could be a problem of major rust in the windshield channel, I’d find that out first. That could be an expensive fix.

Other than that, it sounds like the common problems that older Minis are facing. I’d recommend reading the codes and see what is stored, it may not be an expensive fix.

 

Thanks Dan. I went by a windshield shop I trust and have used before. He did not recommend replacing the windshield even though it has a few stars in it. He said the trim breaks when removing the windshield and is hard to get back on. $300 would have been the price. Since I'm not looking to put a lot of $$$ in this car, I'm going to skip that. He did replace the gasket for me for $20. But I'm not leaving the car out in the rain since the sunroof gasket is also failing/sinking.

The engine code is a 1477. I've read a few things about that one, mainly that it's a small hose leaking under the intercooler that causes this, but any more help/suggestions would be great.

*****
In the meantime since my original post I've done a good bit of work on the car. Here's a quick list:
- Got it on my buddy's lift and inspected
- Ordered new control arm bushings and front wheel hubs ($~150 Amazon)
- Sanded all the rusted paint and coated with rust remover
- Ordered/installed a front end bra to cover the dent/rust spots
- Ordered a car cover to protect it from further leaking
- Sanded the peeling exterior chrome and black trim and covered with vinyl trim tape
- Fixed the glovebox DIY, did more thorough cleaning, fixed the wipers by adding a ground wire, installed OEM all-weather floor mats, added an Amazon armrest ($44, quite nice)
- Ordered several new emblems, stickers, etc. to freshen it up (on the way from China....takes a lonnnnggggg time to ship)
- Fixed many other small things, addressed rattles, etc.

I also ordered and installed a $99 K&N CAI. I know it's a wasted of money, but I wanted to enjoy more of that supercharger noise.

I've read for too many hours about how to get rid of the airbag light. Seems like the only way is to get a new seat. I tried the 2.2. resistor method and it didn't help. As for the CEL, that is on my list of future things to address.

Once I get the suspension bits installed next week I'll have the car in a good place.

So I've spent about $500 on the above parts/fixes and $200 on the car itself bringing my total to $700 spent. I feel like all of the above were good/needed things to repair the car and give it a sense of freshness. The CAI was a splurge but it's nice. The armrest really makes the driving experience better. The fixes have made it feel less like a beater.

So once it's "done" and all the above parts/fixes are complete, I am likely to sell it quick. It's an amazing car but the more I read on this and other forums I feel like a nightmare could happen at any moment - an expensive one. If I ever want to make money on this car, now is probably the time. Wish I could trust it to enjoy it awhile but the more I read I feel like I need to dump it quick. It is a nice little car - so well designed, what a great engine, everything about it save reliability is top notch. It has only 73k miles and cold A/C. Will make a good car for someone who loves Minis and wants a cheap one with low miles.

OK nobody is likely caring or reading any of this but here are a few pics of it as it sits now after I've spent a good 40 hours on it:

 

It’s looking good Jeff!

About those control arm bushings; I bought a removal tool from Amazon and promptly destroyed the threaded shaft when the part of the tool that pushed on the bushing itself slipped and cocked sideways, bending the shaft as I tried to draw it through.

I had to lower the subframe and remove the bracket that holds the A-arm bushing, then put it in a hydraulic press. That beast was in there TIGHT.

If you bought the Delphi bushings, look at them carefully, I had to send a defective one back. I posted pictures of what I found in a thread here a few months back.

Hopefully you’ll have better luck with it than I did!

 

Looks like a good project you got super cheap, Congrats.

If you need we have several parts cars if you want used parts to make it even more cost effective to fix.

 

Hello there WayMotorWorks, I just sent you a PM.

Somehow missed you as a vendor.

 

Thank you sir, I will approach it with this in mind and report back.

Thank you, I PM'd you about something.

 

This car is really coming along. Congrats on the score and especially the de-filthification.

I'd forgotten how sharp our cars look in triple black; very few to none of them like that out here on the left coast. Have you inquired about the hood with a dent-pull guy? It actually doesn't look that bad through my laptop screen, what was the PO's story on how he got it anyway? Caught a home run pop-fly outside of Camden Yards?

 

Thanks, it's a good looking car and it's getting many compliments. These 1G Minis really were special. And are.

As to the dent, it's the sort of thing where I don't care enough to spend the money to pull it. Let's say it were $100...it has a bra on anyway that covers that area so I just can't justify spending the money to pull it. I know that sounds crazy since I blew $100 on an intake, but since the car was so cheap, I have a strange approach...don't want to invest $$$ in things I won't get return on. The car is far too beat to ever make "nice" or "perfect", so somehow the dent doesn't bother me.

As for the cause of the dent/PO, unknown. From the condition he left the car in I think he hated it. Maybe he put the dent there one day in anger and disdain for the car's many issues.

On another note, I was very happy to find the passenger's side sunroof drain clogged. Fixing that (compressed air) made me think there might be hopes to stop the leaking. However the driver's side is, I think, permanently clogged. I blew insane psi of compressed air in that one and nothing. There are chunks of plastic and rubber all in the sunroof channel. I think at some time in the past one or more of these chunks found its way into the sunroof drain and lodged permanently. I tried for a long time using many methods, no luck. Beyond that, the rear half of the sunroof gasket (I re-glued the front half) is sunk and seems inaccessible to repair without removing the roof itself. I tried to fish it out to work with it but no luck. Another thing I'm not going to invest in, which sucks because I was hoping I could DIY. So between those 2 issues the car will leak unless big money is invested. I'll just keep it covered and drive it when it's not raining.

These sort of things are why this car was only $200. I imagine with the leaks water was pouring into the car during a recent rainstorm, the PO then tried the wipers, they didn't work, and he called the junkyard and made his plan. Until I came along.

That said, a "full restoration" as I've done with several other old cars just isn't cost effective. However I will say that this has me wondering if I'd enjoy finding a cared-for G1 Cooper S in the future to purchase and enjoy.



One more thought, if anyone is still reading....I don't plan to keep this car long but I can't stop myself from reading about the 17% pulley/belt/plug upgrade. For the money it seems like a no brainer. Might just pull the plug on that, I feel if I'm owning a Cooper S even for a short time I should get to experience the "first and best" mod....

 

If you really want to get out of it without losing money, I’d avoid running more boost.

You are asking for more problems IMO. But yes, it’s a great mod for the money.

 

Question...I know I'll never get return on the pulley, so it's ~$200 wasted on fun. But everything I've read says there are no side effects/problems....please explain what you mean by what you advised.

 

I’m just saying it’s asking for trouble. You are spinning the supercharger faster, and in turn, the water pump. If one or both of those are already getting tired, it could push them over the edge.

You are pushing more boost through the system, so boost leaks that aren’t bad, can get bad enough to cause running issues.

With more power and torque, the clutch is asked to do a little bit more as well.

Back in the day, people bought these new or a couple years old, and immediately did the pulley upgrade. Not too big a deal as far as reliability. But older cars have gremlins waiting to show themselves. Take it from someone replacing the supercharger on an 86k mile 03 MCS. A $1000+ repair can pop up in several ways.

 

Just read this thread with interest, and I immediately agree with @Errk as far as the pulley, not because I am a MINI expert though, just makes sense. Also, you would need to change or at least check you have the right temperature plugs in there.

For me, it sounds like the kind of car I would drive and enjoy for fun till it truly departs this world and Zombieland. I don't know if I would sell it on to anyone else as I know I am passing on a bucket of potential issues, even if it is all disclosed. I am currently debating the fate of a $1400 experiment with a friend, that is now running up a $2600 tab and now has a blown clutch. Wondering if it is time to double tap mine sadly.

 

Thanks, I know all of this but in the moment I forget. You are 100% correct, and especially the way this car seems to be neglected/beat, I am asking for trouble if I push it. Sad though, the motor is so strong. I know the PO beat on it because it got a motor mount (mounts? see pic below...) recently. But you're right. Plus I have a Fiesta ST that I've modified conservatively to 304whp/337wtq on the dyno. I already have a fast car. Why do I want to make the Mini faster? Mod addiction.....

Man this is so helpful thanks for posting. I'm so torn between selling for ~$3800 once all fixed and just keeping and enjoying. The thing is, one one hand, I feel I need to sell it before it needs a high-cost repair like your story...make some money on it while I can. On the other hand, the car has so many new parts, just look at the pic of the stack of receipts and corresponding repair log I created below...it's insane. Not mentioned in the receipts is what looks like a brand new tensioner (see pics). So there's this feeling of "no it's beat but many parts are new and you're good to go for a while!". I just don't know, the car is so nice, and the attraction of the "experiment" as you call it, in my case $200 plus $500 on repairs/mods, makes it sort of fun.

 

@justjeff - I dare say you've been around cars and projects enough to know you're pulling on the tail of a sleeping tiger. She could turn around and lick your face and turn out to be nothing more than a kitty that needed attention or she could bite your face off! HAH! I think we have all been there, done that or will one day.

I looked at your list, and none of the stuff is really "new" so to speak, we are going back to 2018-ish. I tell you what though, from my limited time in MINI World, seems these cars developed issues early in life, like blown clutches around 80K, some still under warranty when they went out. Looks like your guy had his replaced at around 49K - maybe still under warranty. And if it was denied, that starts to explain why he had enough of the car. Seems he might be the first owner? And boy oh boy, what a tale at under 100K miles. The CSI part of me wonders not only how the car was maintained (might have been a regular dealer sight under warranty), but also how it was driven - brake replacements, tire replacements and alignment, wheel damage, etc?

On the flip side, maybe the typical issues have now been resolved?

 

I’d like to know more about how you got that much torque and HP out of your Fiesta ST!

I’m generally a Ford guy, although I like a lot of other makes.

These Mini Coopers are a lot of fun to drive, and our first gen’s are like over-engined go carts. Easy to park, too.

I’ve yet to read anything bad about the TriTec engines, and they’ve earned the nickname “the Unbreakable Lump”. The Getrag 6 speed is the most reliable of the transmissions, as well.

 

I don't know these cars but you guys tell me from the pic above, does that not appear to be a brand new tensioner?

Yep, it's a mystery. Honestly I bought it about 2 weeks ago and I still can't believe I got a running car for $200. Best I can tell the OP knew very little about cars...he was struggling to remove the license plate after I bought it. I think, from the receipts, that he just kept pouring money into it and racking up the bills. I also know the car sat for long periods of time while he travelled. It has service records from Hawaii, Maryland, and Georgia. He seemed like the sort of guy that treated cars as disposable and drove them as such. I mean, the car is beat guys, totally neglected. That being the case, the Mini just had too many problems so he decided to dispose of it and get something else. That's the best I can figure. Doesn't make since since I am the exact opposite - I baby my cars and enjoy every mile.

But back to your point...who knows. Could blow up tomorrow or could drive 50,000 more miles without issues. My gut tells me to keep it awhile and enjoy it. Maybe 6-12 months. I typically sell my project every 12-18 months anyway and get another, then start over restoring something. Just did a Corolla, then a Civic, then a G1 Insight, then a Prelude, now the Mini, which was unexpected.

Tuesday is a big install day - that will tell alot. I'm putting in all the suspension bits. I have a feeling the car might drive alot different afterward. Those hubs and bushings make a big difference. I might totally fall in love with the car once it's riding right.

Thanks for this. I'm an import guy (Honda), but I read so much about the Fiestas I had to have one, and have owned it now for 5 years, it's my "keeper" car for daily/trips. Short version is all bolt ons + hybrid turbo + ethanol + custom tune. It's a beast. I'll post one of my videos on it from my YouTube channel below, if you like it check out the channel, I have 30+ Fiesta build videos on there and also a bunch of other cars, and recently a few Mini videos. I fact I'll post the most recent Mini vid below as well.

Thanks again all for the great conversation, it is very encouraging to have you chime in.

FIESTA:

MINI:

 

Yesterday I did a job I'd equate with the 9th level of hell - replacing the control arm bushings. Actually I did front wheel hubs too. Hubs were easy, one hour. A few rusty bolts but everything worked. But the control arm bushings - geez what a pita. But all is well. Car is much tighter and all the scraping noises are gone. I've spent right at $1000 now including the cost of the car. About done. Wish I could get rid of the AIRBAG light...I read the codes and it says both front seats have a seat belt tensioner issue. Interesting because just a few thousand miles ago the PO had those replaced. I'm realizing that's just gonna stay on. That and the CEL...it's a 1477....the car runs fine, not sure what trips that code but I'll look into it later. Any intel would be helpful, I did see one YouTube video about a leaky vacuum hose under the TMIC, maybe I'll look into that later.

Interestingly, I got cleaned up last night after doing the work and guess what popped up on my YouTube feed? "How to replace the control arm bushings without lowering the subframe". In that video the dude simply removed the control arms and then sawzall'd the old bushings out and then replaced with Powerflex bushings (which I've used on other cars, fantastic). Man that would have saved me like 3 hours. Oh well, it's done.

Here are a few pics...last one is after I got home, I polished him the other day so I am a very proud Mini owner.:

 

Looking so clean 🧼

say inpa might be able to reset that airbag code...

I have a post on the topic, title “inpa”.

 

Thanks a ton, I pulled up 4 threads and will read later when I have time. In short, can you explain (a) cost (b) time involved in this fix? I need to decided if it's worth it just to make a light disappear.

 

yes sir. It depends on what the issue is...that’s what inpa can help with, will give you the error code...

it might just need to be reset and the light will go out. Airbag lights are not “self healing”

 

So I've read for about an hour so far. Please verify that this is correct, it's a ton of info:

1. Buy cable interface you linked
2. Download software
3. Attach to car and attempt to clear code

Is it truly that simple? Would you happen to be in the southeast USA? If so I'll drive over and buy your lunch if you hook your setup up to my car and attempt the code clear.

 

im in houston

yes it’s that simple at a high level.

in my thread titled “inpa” I summarized everything needed in one post towards the end of the thread. Did u find my thread?

 

Yes, thank you. Found it, it's in my cue to read. I've wrenched on so many cars to be honest I'm just tired of learning new and more about this one, but if it is truly only a $21 expense and then downloading some programs I'm going to give it a shot.

So, aside from the device you linked on Amazon for $21 there are no other costs involved?

Again, I haven't read it all yet, just trying to gather preliminary data before I jump into hours of work to make a light disappear.

 

That’s it for expenses if you already have a laptop