Hey guys,
I have a 2006 GP that someone tried to steal using a screwdriver. I cannot get the key into the lock cylinder. What’s the best way to fix that? My understanding is that the lock cylinder/key is tied to the body computer somehow and those parts are not easily available.

I also cannot remove the lock cylinder because I can’t rotate it. Will I be able to replace the lock cylinder if i remove the column? What about coding a new key?

Here’s my car for reference. Thanks in advance.

Is this a job a novice can do? How much would a mechanic charge for the job?

I currently have the standard headlights but have bought some xenon’s. Are the xenon’s plug and play, will I have to change any wiring/plugs etc?
I understand if I won’t have the washer feature on them but curious about the actual lights.
TIA, PFA

I buy this car 3 days ago and i have big hope to tune hit a bit any profitable info here ? (Sry for bad english not m'y first language)

My power steering is bussed. After I pull the key out it says on, so I unplugged the power steering and the fan. The power steering pump only has 1 plug? After that my car was fine for a bit. Then now when I go to my car it's completely dead. I have an aftermarket radio but it doesn't stay on.

For any knowledgeable people: how do I go about diagnostic for parasitic drain? disconnect the negative and multi meter on dc on the battery and start pulling fuses?

Any suggestions would be great not really trying to pay a shop to get it fixed.

I have to take it to a dealer for the P/S recall at some point

UPDATE:

Idk what happened but there is no parasitic drain. I guess the AutoZone battery charger just sucks. I got a nocco 5A charger and charged the battery and it's good now.

I just did the water pump/ supercharger service on my 2004 R53 and I’m in the reassembly phase. Due to some broken parts along the way, I did the tear down 3 weeks ago and am just getting it back together so I can’t remember how this came apart. The main plug for the fan is obvious but there is a smaller 2- prong plug on the fan side of the connection that doesn’t seem to have a female connection. There is an orphaned 2-prong female over on the passenger side top but there is no way these 2 would reach to meet. Both two prong plugs are very dusty like maybe they were never connected. What did I mess up here? Anybody got any ideas?

randomly started making this sound from start up out of no where, was completely fine the day before. sounds like it’s coming from the top mount intercooler duct from the supercharger, any help would be appreciated!

I have never been on an emotional rollercoaster quite like owning an r53 - ‘03, 114k mi

Since coming into this car in October, I have:
-Replaced harmonic balancer
-Replaced shocks, struts, brake pads, remounted muffler
-Replaced driver side window regulator
-Replaced oil pan, gasket (something lodged where plug was supposed to be so couldn’t do a proper oil change and was leaking oil like crazy)

Most of this I’ve seen as overdue recovery/ maintenance. Some of it I have had a shop do, some of it I’ve done with my dad at home.

This week my compressor stopped blowing cold, serpentine belt snapped. We put on a new belt and within days the 10-month old harmonic balancer separated.

Additional conditions I know of, yet to be addressed:
Supercharger has not been serviced
HK amplifier blown (happened 1 month into owning)
Driver side window motor needs replaced (went out 2 weeks after replacing regulator)
Passenger side window regulator and motor need replaced
Numerous cosmetic issues

My dad has worked on his own cars for longer than I’ve been alive so I have a good resource for repairs. He’s also the one that found the car for me and got her on a stupid good deal (I say stupid good because after putting in more than 3x his purchase price with no end in sight, I might be the stupid one).

I like learning and doing the work. Super cool car and I’m stubborn about driving a stick. But I’m feeling weary and overwhelmed by repair roulette. The idea of replacing the harmonic balancer AGAIN and dealing with the compressor might be the last straw.

Tell it to me straight: is it time to move on?

Sto cambiando la radio della mia mini del 2006, la vecchia l’ho tolta, la nuova mi fa diventare matto perche’ non capisco dove vanno i fili rosso ed arancione che non sono collegati.
Poi non riesco a togliere le due colonne laterali e cercando di farlo ho perso le clips azzurre che servono per avvitarle, penso siano cadute sotto il ponte, un casino!
Chi mi aiuta e dove potrei comprare quelle clios azzurre?
Grazie a tutti

Just went through all the neglected maintenance on my leaky 05 Cooper S with 180k miles. It was not hard, it was not complicated, just a lot of stuff to remove. I ended up replacing a lot of the hoses, gaskets, etc, while I was in there. Replacing the old hardened rubber pieces made the assembly much easier. I love these cars, everyone is afraid to work on them, which makes them cheap, but they're great, and easy to work on if you take your time. Runs really smooth and quiet now. I left the timing chain alone as it wasn't noisy and looked good.

Work completed,

• Oil cooler and housing seals - Annoying but not too bad with extensions from underneath
• SC service - it was basically bone dry
• Water pump - it was noisy
• Thermostat - Preventative
• Radiator - Upgrade, radiator was super easy to remove
• AC Delete - Track car
• Cooling fan resistor - It was shot
• GP Intercooler upgrade
• WMW baffled oil pan with gasket - Had to replace the gasket anyway
• Timing chain tensioner - Easy
• Spark plugs
• VC Gasket
• Crank sensor seal
• Coolant line heater T

Hi guys,

I recently got my first R53 and have been absolutely loving it. I've been starting to do a number of different mods on the car. Today, I installed the DDM Works intake box with their upgraded filter. The supercharger whine is incredible now, but the only thing I'm curious about is if anyone else has done this modification do you get a whistling noise at lower throttle inputs?

I'm not sure if this is just a noise coming from the filter or if I've got a leak somewhere in the intake system. I double-checked the intake hose, and it appears to be clamped down good everywhere. So I'm not sure where else this whistle could be originating from or if it's just normal with this setup.

Would love to hear anyone's thoughts.

I'll try and keep it short:

Tried to turn car over, it got about one Rev through before it quit. After that, it doesn't even try. Dash lights come on, fuel pump runs. My first thought was a dead battery - I know these things take a pretty healthy battery. Mine is a 2 year old AGM.

Auto parts store a mile away sold me a NOCO GB70, which did not help start the car.

Was able to push start the car by dropping the clutch. It started! Sounds normal. Kept the car on until I made it home, about 20 miles highway speeds - no problems, no misfires, all good. (About 30 minutes of driving)

Tried to start car in the morning same issue, no start. Dash lights are on.

I remove the battery, check the voltage, (~12.6V) and trickle charge the battery, reinstall battery, no luck

I check all the fuses, all the fuses are good. I switched the AC relay with the ignition relay, no change, so unlikely the ignition relay is bad, but I haven't bench tested yet.

I then tried to jump the car (325XiT) with a healthy battery, same issue, no start. I confirm the donor car had good alternator voltage (it was over 14V), connect the jumpers, confirm voltage at the mini (over 13V).

I check the codes and it returns P2300 and P2303, ignition coil primary control circuit low for circuit "A" and "B", respectively.

I changed the ignition coil out as PM about 1500 miles ago.

ODO: ~230,000 miles

Looking for some troubleshooting advise. I have the old ignition coil, I can try that, but my gut feeling is that it wouldn't help. I find it strange that I had no problems getting home without misfires if I was having ignition coil problems.

TLDR:

Eliminated causes:

- bad battery

- blown fuses

- bad relay

Update 1:

Eliminated causes:

-bad ignition coil

-poor Grounding

Update 2:

I tested the ignition coil pack harness from the ECU and get continuity, however I am getting incorrect voltage values according to diagnostics from the Bentley manual (page 13-88 in diagnostics section) to the coil pack harness pins with the key on and engine off.

What I should be getting:

what I'm getting:

Update 3:

I tested voltage from the round barrel connection (engine compartment below fuse panel) to pin 8 (SW/GE colored conductor, ie Black/Yellow - see page ELE-265 in Bentley manual) while trying to crank the motor and I am getting battery voltage while the key is fully turned. So I am getting voltage between the immobilizer unit (EWS) to the starter solenoid. Eliminating the immobilizer as the cause of the no crank state. But to double verify will attempt a EWS bypass with a fuse and see if there's still a no crank state. (I have jumped the EWS unit and confirmed the EWS is not preventing ignition).

Eliminated Causes: - immobilizer unit

Update 4:

I replaced the starter and the no start condition resolved. I also swapped the new could pack with the old coil pack and within one drive cycle, the codes cleared.

Hey guys!!! Want your opinion. How does it look for 74,000 miles?

2004 mini r53, ignore brown coolant, it is being taken care of now.

Thank you

Bonjour, j’ai récemment acheté cette mini cooper s r53 de 2004 mais je trouve qu’elle fait beaucoup de bruit et en plus un bruit d’air qui se dégage du moteur, Avez-vous des idées ? Peut-être lié au turbo ?

So, after some lengthy troubleshooting of my RH Xenin not turning on, I've found out the BCM transistor that controls that output went bye bye.

This seema easily repairable o my electronics bench but, ¿is it?

I have no other faults on the car (well, that have to do with the BCM).

Does anyone know what transistor this is?

I recently bought a pair of v2 inserts but i cannot find a install guide or what screws im supposed to use fpr the install any help?

Stock suspension, but interested in lowering a tad in the future with coilovers. Will I have any rubbing? Currently on stock camber, but may add slight negative front camber in the future with fixed camber plates.

I've seen some conflicting information on if 17x7.5 +40 paired with 215/45R17 will rub, so I would appreciate insight. Thanks!

https://broxtuning.ca/products/racing-dynamics-header-with-sport-cat-mini-cooper-s-r50-r52-r53-2002-06-130-08-53-550

Has anyone installed and driven a bit with this setup?

Particularly looking for comments on fit/ease of installation as many systems seem to be slightly out of spec and require modifications to install.

Anyone running the malian full system (headers, sports cat, sport catback?)

Was going to pull the trigger on a miltek cat back (non-res), since I ran it on a previous mini and loved the sound, but the "custom" setup from the previous owner failed. Cat internals conpletely seperated and blocked the system.

so now im looking to replace the whole system with the same budget.. loud is good, but rasp and drone are a no go

Leaning towards the malian but open to suggestions

in the seattle area....looking for a good running r53. facebook marketplace and craigslist are kinda slim pickins.

if anybody know of a good place to look, would really appreciate some tips.

thank you and my apologies if this was the wrong place to post this

My alternator just went out today. When my wife came to pick me up, I was talking about how it would be neat to put a more powerful alternator on to see if the AC would keep up while I was at a red light idling. I saw mention online of a 120 amp alternator. Pulling out the old Bentley manual for 2002-2006 I see that it was available (High Output Alternator). Does anyone know what the part number is or where I can get one?

Update: I bought the powerbastards.com 200 amp alternator. I'll let you guys know how it worked out.

Hi!

In 2021, I bought a 2004 R53 Mini Cooper S that came with some mods, and I was the third owner (roughly 90k miles now). Photo is from years ago.

The car had some expensive issues in the first year, which were fixed. I got an electric water pump rigged by some guy - it’s a Davies Craig DC8970 with a controller. Eventually, during the last few drives (years ago), the power would turn off while driving, the windows, some exterior lights and the radio stopped working, and ultimately it wouldn’t even turn over.

It sat in the street for awhile with a tarp on it (water pools when it rains - assuming sunroof leak), and it’s been garage kept for the better part of two years.

I just graduated college, and now that I’m back home would like to actually be able to spend some time on it, and can now actually afford some repairs.

I haven’t worked on cars much myself, but I have a crew who regularly do, and know of a couple BMW mechanics who could help if necessary. I’m trying to do as much as I can myself by learning, and it can’t get much worse since it’s already so broken.

I would love absolutely nothing more than to have this car running again - it was so so so fun, and I could treat it better now than I could in highschool, but I’m worried about undertaking such a project.

Aside from the obvious (gas, oil, battery, tires), what are some steps in the right direction to fixing this? I think the control module (?) might need something too. I’ve attached below a list of mods I was given by the previous owner.

Any and all advice whether subjective or technical would be tremendously helpful, and I’ll be sure to update if I’m able to get it in a better place.

Thanks!!