As if the car isn’t cool enough. Love the theme of this build. I’m sure most average builds wouldn’t bother to source the upgrades from Europe. Money was obviously not an issue.

 

^^^ Agreed. Seller told me he had ~ $40k combined in 2006 currency valuation ($53k as of 2021) in this car. The agreed purchase price only partially covered the build expense and then I got a 2006 MCS with just 4k miles essentially free.

 

Sounds like you have R53 fever, normally I’d say hold on to your wallet, but with that mileage, and the high grade mods, I think you’re good to go until they take your license lol.

 

Nice purchase! That water-to-air intercooler looks like it's a stock intercooler modified with a water jacket. Looks mint. I'd be interested to see where the radiator is. Must've been crazy expensive, otherwise those would be more common.

Rear control arms look like these Eibach ones: https://www.lohen.co.uk/eibach-rear-control-arms-gen1

The strut braces might actually be carbon, such things have been made for the R53. The rear one is of course not really a brace, as those don't attach to anything solid enough.

 

I've been out of town awhile but my ordered Milltek Sport resonated exhaust was delayed in transit from the UK via DHL so I couldn't do much since last time. That finally arrived last week while, so project yesterday and completed this morning was R&R of the "racey/ricey" modded exhaust which was too loud for me. Pics show that removed plus the Milltek system partially then fully installed.Drove around town prox 30 mins for quick test impressions. Certainly not OEM quiet (which I didn't expect nor want) but I suspect it'll mellow with miles. I made a 30 sec video soundclip but don't see a way to attach or link that here.

While on jack stands, I determined that the springs and sway bars are likewise Eibach same as the rear lower control arms. I hoped to learn actual spring rates but seems Eibach doesn't market those springs for R53 fitment application any longer, but those will be swapped for WMW's TSW linear rate when back in stock. The F/R sway bars measure 25mm/19mm if I read my digi calipers correctly. With the track oriented performance mods on this car, choosing a personalized license plate was easy!

 

I love Looking at and hearing about this gem. You should toss a clear or red lense in center back fog/reverse location. it always gives the tail a little more detail, even if it’s not functional. I popped a clear in mine. Of course itself reversible. I always thought it looked odd with that plug. Clear would look sweet on your BEP.

 

Thanks for the complement and suggestion! An aspect I hadn't considered. Maybe a red lense to complement the tail lights? Plenty of time ahead to ponder.

 

Nice plate!

Usually in track oriented builds the front sway bar is swapped for a thinner one from a Mini One, or removed completely. Not sure what they were thinking at Eibach by doing a bigger one...

 

Good to hear that you're not going to use those runflats:

https://www.thedrive.com/article/518...rs-fatal-crash

 

Hadn't heard of that MINI One swap. I'm not new to sway bar mods by any means but all those were RWD vs FWD vehicles. OTOH, online searches suggest that other aftermarket suspension suppliers followed a similar approach as did Eibach, differing only by 1-2mm on F&R bar diameters (noting some are hollow tubing). While working underneath, I spotted 4-into-1 tubular headers plus a better view of the front bar. I'd sure like to know the "recipe" on specific engine components not visible within the engine bay and underneath. Not a drop of fluid showing or stains from that anywhere.

 

Interesting article - thanks for sharing. No runflats for me on this car (or former R56), however the Toyo Proxes RA1 (DOT competition compound, now discontinued) date to this car's build in early 2006. Even with less than 4k miles and kept in dry storage, they're suspect. Doubtful risk of catastrophic premature failure but I'll monitor wear and replace sooner than later. BTW, I carry a small air compressor and Safety Seal brand string plug kit in the boot.

 

Don't want to put a downer on this thread. That's a fantastic ride! I'm on my seats edge watching for updates and it's so nice to step back in time and see what these R53's were like straight off the showroom floor (4K miles not withstanding). You mentioned doing fluids etc. but if it were me, I'd also be putting new shoes on it too.
Thanks for sharing the journey with the rest of us envious owners

 

^^^ Not a downer on the tires aspect and I agree. There's an order of precedence though, on my planned projects. Having completed the exhaust R&R, my next project would be R&R of the track-oriented coil springs however my preferred choice (TSW linear from WMW) are out of stock with no indication when their supplier will ship. The R53 is pulling slightly to left on the highway, so wheel alignment is needed. OTOH, I don't want to do that until same time as new springs. No need nor desire for sticky compound tires for street/highway driving either, so I'll replace the Toyo Proxes RA1 with their Proxes Sport A/S (or equivalent) at that time. In the meantime, the car won't be driven much.

 

Some ruminations:

The final BaT selling price on the super nice 2006 R53 with 3600 miles that sold for $23.5K plus 5% buyer fee today got me thinking about differences between that one and mine. That one nicely factory equipped and seeming totally OEM stock with no blemishes disclosed and mine with just the chrono and LSD factory options, a few blemishes from years of storage plus highly modified when new at total 2006 P&L costs exceeding what I paid for the entire car in 2021 funds. Comparative values will be subjective with "unmolested" OEM stock being more desirable to some and tastefully modded for performance (so-stated to well exceed factory JCW specs) being more desirable to others. Both aspects highly appeal to me, with the low mileage and condition being of paramount importance.

Performance mods on mine have been described and shown as I know them at this point. OTOH, I haven't covered the few blemishes in any detail. As stated before, this car was dry-stored in the original owner's huge metal outbuilding which contains multiple large parking bays plus a full machine shop. During all those years, seems the car "got in the way" a few times. Being stored indoors in east Phoenix suburbs, no weather exposure and obviously no rust. No door dings or or stone rash to the front end whatsoever. No collision body damage, however a couple areas needed the paintless dent repair (PDR) method. So, I did complete DIY detailing and then hired a mobile PDR guy to address those, of which 2 came out completely using combo of glue sticks and spoon tools. The 3rd one on the bonnet adjacent to passenger side headlight bucket was a small ding but too much metal stretch (something dropped on it) to remove completely without risking paint cracking, so the PDR guy and I agreed to leave that as-is. Since I can't make that go away without bodywork to the bonnet, repaint plus new stripes, I decided to hide that with a simple coverup. It's a contoured surface which made it tricky but I found a USA manufacturer that makes flexible polyurethane emblems in several nationality flag themes. You can see what I chose as best reasonable solution. Yeah, I know. The emblem isn't quite level but hey, I bought a pack of 4!

The only other blemish areas were interior; i.e., a small dent in the aluminum "COOPER S" driver side door sill replaced today with new one ordered online and the other an impression dent on the driver door panel which greatly bugs me. Since this car is too pristine otherwise to leave that as-is, I ordered an OEM replacement which arrived but had been opened and blemished at some point (though much less than what's on my car now). Anyone priced door panel replacements for facelift models? Yikes, US $1254 MSRP plus shipping and tax where applicable! I returned that one and I'm shopping a "deal" on another now with concerns NOS replacements might become unobtainium on 15+ yr old R53 cars before long. Nonetheless, I'll have much less total $$ in mine when done. Life is full of little compromises along the way...

Having used the term "unobtainium", I'm editing to add a link to a MF article written 4 years ago for perspective regarding 1st gen OEM parts going "NLA". As it was then, what about now midway through 2021? The OEM door panel part number for my car is now quoted as NLA by online authorized retailers within the USA when pressed to confirm availability before placing my replacement order (blemished panel I returned being perhaps the only one remaining). One parts manager checked and determined that just (4) were showing in all of BMW Germany warehouse locations. When gone (panther black/anthracite), seems these might be NLA Worldwide. So, I did place my order (thank you, Outmotoring's Aaron). For those procrastinating buying genuine OEM resto parts, the time truly seems now or never.

R50 & R53 MINI Parts Are Becoming Scarce (Motoring File, circa 2017)

 

Such a beautiful car and great find! The only thing that stands out as odd is the PO's choice in exhaust. Given the money spent elsewhere and the quality of the parts used, the cat back it came with is....sub-standard? Excellent choice in a replacement though. Your thread is a good read too. I look forward to following along as you progress.

 

^^^ Thanks for the complements and agreed on that modded exhaust, which since has been trashed. Owner's comment when I told him I'd be replacing that sooner than later was that there might be power loss. IMO, doubtful for "real world" driving with perhaps a very small amount of peak power lost likely offset by increased mid-range torque. So much nicer on my ears, too!

 

Did the right thing removing that home brew exhaust.

 

^^^ Agreed! I'll be putting it back on jack stands again when the ordered Milltek no-res front pipe arrives from ECS. Turned out the performance 4-into-1 header with flex pipe and hi-flow cat (shown in post #35) located the mating flange such that the res silencer contacts the tunnel above plus adjacent hard parts at certain rpms and resonant frequencies. I even tried dropping the hanger support plate down using combo of 3/8" thick nylon spacers and longer SS screws/washers which did help but still insufficient clearance to eliminate completely. Seemed the simplest solution was just to replace that pipe section with this one:




Another pic taken same time showing larger OD of the res canister (than the cat just ahead) with top of that contacting the tunnel above at certain RPMs plus engaging 1st gear from dead stop, which Milltek's non-res pipe should eliminate.

 

I think that 4-1 header would hurt your street driving performance more than changing from a cobbled cat back to one with some of the highest reviews in the entire Mini community. A whole lot more gos into exhaust than just "restrictions" (ie cats, bends, mufflers, etc.). For a street car you might want to do some research into a 4-2-1 header. The one that came on your car looks just like the what I put on my R50, which is a cheap ebay header (my entire build is low budget diy just for fun). It is stainless but the fit is terrible, particularly where it lines up to the cat back. As I understand it a 4-1 is better in the upper rpm limits and a 4-2-1 helps with scavenging and makes more torque, better on the street. Might be worth looking into as long as your working on the exhaust....

 

^^^ While I don't disagree that a 4-1 header is better suited to tracking than a 4-2-1 for normal driving, it seems doubtful what was installed on mine in 2006 is of poor construction quality. Any tubular header will struggle to maintain equivalent fitment dimensions to that of an OEM manifold, even when using precision welding jigs. Further, choices made by the PO back then (with exception of that cobbled-up cat-back) were likely constrained by then-currently available offerings by the same aftermarket retailers used to obtain the other performance components. For example, the header installed on mine resembles Milltek's design as shown on WMW's site. When I get it back up on jack stands, I'll take a closer look with my work lamp and take more pics at that time. Unlikely at this point that I'll replace it. Fitment orientation at the flange isn't terrible - just not quite enough clearance to completely avoid the res can touching slightly under certain conditions.
Milltek Header Manifold pipe from WMW

BTW, I've been installing performance tubular headers on my cars going all the way back to my first-ever new car (1968 Camaro SS/RS - OK, so I'm an old guy) with which I did a bunch of bracket racing at most local SoCal drag strips. Several other tubular header installs subsequently followed, so this topic is not new to me.

 

Yeah it's impossible to tell exactly what it is from the pictures and if it's that old, I don't think there were many cheap knock offs available yet back then. Mine is a (Chinese?) copy of a name brand header. It's not terrible quality for the price but it's also new. I fully suspect the flex portion to fail within the first year lol. The rest of the welds? Time will tell. I guess I assumed wrong based on a picture that didn't show much, the comment about fitment, and the cat back. I'm going to crawl back in my hole now and quietly watch from a distance lol. Motor on my friend 😁

 

The Milltek non-resonated pipe ordered from @ECS Tuning arrived yesterday, so my project completed just now was swapping that for the resonated version as stated I'd be doing in post #43 on 8July. Objective of additional clearance without interference or resonance vibrations was fully accomplished! Yes, a bit louder as anticipated but not obnoxious. Doing that allowed me to remove the longer screws and nylon spacers between unibody and center support bracket and restore position on that using the shorter OEM screws.

While underneath, took some additional pics of the (unknown brand) header, which IMO clearly illustrates high quality build construction with clean welds and tidy mandrel bent tubing. I didn't attempt to measure individual header pipe OD but those don't appear excessively large nor overly long from the cylinder head mounting flange while retaining the OEM heat shields within the engine bay.

 

^^^^
Yup. much nicer than mine LMAO. My guess would be that my header is a cheap copy of yours.

I had a question about your sway bars if you don't mind. I notice you have Eibach at both ends. Did/does Eibach offer a 20mm rear? I have the 19mm on the rear and factory front. I didn't know they made a 20mm rear. Is that a euro spec part? Also how does the overall balance of the car feel with a 25mm front? I was under the impression that on FWD you'd want more rear bias and the opposite on a RWD. I'm asking mostly out of curiosity but on my R50 I wish it had just a tiny bit less understeer.

 

Well, I'm reasonably certain those sway bars are Eibach but I haven't yet spotted markings to confirm as I have with the coil springs. In any case, diameters might actually be 26mm front / 19mm rear as indicated by one of very few online retailers still listing Eibach bars for R53. I attempted to measure bar sizes in place with my digi calipers, which must be fully perpendicular to the measured area and viewed directly while doing so for accurate readings. I couldn't do either on the rear and "assumed" 20mm. At the front, sufficient access for perpendicularity but not for direct readings. I saw over 25mm but actual might have been 26mm.

Pretty clearly, the track-oriented components the PO chose in early 2006 aren't practical for streets and highways. Combo of Eibach coil springs and sway bars result in little ground clearance and harsh ride. I'm waiting for WMW to get their TSW linear springs back in stock, since those seem the best choice for my objectives vs progressively wound offerings from other brands and should substantially improve both aspects. At that time, I'll assess whether the front bar needs to be changed to smaller diameter. Hoping not but suspecting so...

 

Ah that makes sense. If springs AND sway bars are Eibach they may be a kit or at least spec-ed to work together. I have the 19mm rear bar and it felt way too soft until I installed the Tein lowering springs (I got them cheap second hand) . The rear spring rate is much stiffer than OEM and it greatly reduced understeer. Its still there but very close to what I would call perfect and probably very good for a street car from a safety perspective. Snap oversteer is a non concern for me.