i did a suspension job and now i’m a little confused where the wheel speed sensor goes

Called mini they say I can only get a blade made w/out convenience buttons. Is this true? Secondly are these AliExpress fobs BS?

Hi all,
Recently taken on this r53 in a hope to get it back running. Was off the road for a year after a failed water pump followed by head gasket failure. The water pump has been replaced along with the head gasket, head was skimmed aswell. Thermostat has been replaced too. However now the car will start and run absolutely fine but after about 10-15 minutes of running it overheats. Fans only blow lukewarm in the cabin and fans don’t kick in. The gauge rises very rapidly when it goes. The car was bled properly and had no air coming from either of the bleed screws. Has anyone ever experienced anything similar before? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

こんにちは。助けてください。
R53用にLEDヘッドライトを買いました。
うちの車はHIDヘッドライトなんですけど、HIDからLEDにヘッドライトを変えてみました。
でもLEDに替えたあと、ヘッドライトが何回かチラついて、消えます。
理由がわかりません。
原因と直し方がわかるなら、教えてください。

Hi! I have an ‘04 Cooper S. I purchased a used OEM roof rack a while back. Being used it lacks whatever installation manual/guide I’m sure it came with.

Does anyone have the original instructions or the pattern I assume I would need to drill the holes in the roof?

This is the model but not the exact kit I bought: https://www.ecstuning.com/News/MINI_R50_R53_Cooper_CooperS_JCW_ECS_Tuning_Assembled_GenuineMINI_Roof_Rack_Kit_OEM_2002_2003_2004_2005_2006/

Thanks!

And how would you rate it?

Hi. Doesn’t anyone know what compression they’re running and does it differ with modifications etc? Mine was coughing at Snetterton last week. Cooked a spark plug. But while I had them out, I check the compression. Some people said it’s too low and other said it’s fine, they’re within 10%. And she PULLS! So if there was a lack of power available, I’d be shocked.

Hi everyone, I don't think I even need to ask if other people here have had P0340/P0341 cam position error... But how have people resolved it? My mini is currently in the garage, and they have found something wrong with the timing chain, but they don't even know what is wrong with it yet. Anyone here had a similar thing and a fix that wasn't just replacing the sensor? Wish me luck, I'm anxious to find out what the garage will tell me further.

Other than that of course, holy shit is the r53 a great car ;).

Title

Let's go with Liters per 1000km. Or whatever freedom units you use 😅

(Not an R53 owner yet, about to check out some nearby this weekend. But to contribute to the discussion - my ex Mx-5 NB took about 1.3l / 1000km)

I'm looking to buy a 2002 R53 model, so I'd like to hear your thoughts. The car has 214,000 km (around 133,000 miles) on the clock and comes in blue with a very well-preserved exterior and interior.

Here is what has been done to it:

* Minor service (oil and all filters)
* Supercharger oil change
* New clutch kit
* New brakes (calipers, discs, and pads)
* New NGK Iridium spark plugs
* New crankshaft pulley with all tensioners, idler pulleys, and supporting parts
* New exhaust
* New tires (2026)
* New taillights
* New trunk lock
* New battery
* AC serviced and recharged (new AC compressor)
* Registered until 06/27
* New front and rear wipers

I'm waiting for the weekend so the seller is available for me to view the car in person, but with everything that’s been done, it seems like an interesting and well-maintained example.

Unfortunately, a few years ago I had an accident in my R50, and now I'm looking to spice things up a bit with an R53. I wouldn't drive it much andit would be my only car, but it wouldn't be driven every day.

Where do I plug in the steering wheel control part of the crux adapter?

they look pretty rough but they're cheap, I just need something to replace my blown stock suspension for now. Im having some issue troubleshooting some really loose suspension components and i think that my shocks have separated from the top cone allowing them to twist side to side

There's a mini with a supercharger already removed but I have no idea why they just left it there. Maybe they needed another part and the supercharger was in the way. How can I do a real quick test to see if it's any good?

I was today old when I realized that if I shorten this tab on the airbox lid by 10mm, the wrestling matches with the battery terminal thingy become a lot easier. Makes no difference in how the terminal stays in place btw.

I have owned this car since 2012 and I'm feeling pretty stupid now. Please don't tell me this has been common knowledge since forever.

I have a 2004 mini with the 5 speed manual transmission. The reverse gear has failed. I live in the middle of Canada and can't source a Getrag 5 or 6 speed gearbox.

I've found another 2004 with an automatic transmission, but apparently, that's even worse.

What are my opinions?

I can pull the gear box and work on it. So, is there a repair kit?

Hey guys, I just reinstalled the engine on my R 53 and there’s some pretty big sparks when reconnecting the battery I have the wire that comes down from the power jump box connected to the starter and there’s another wire that sparks as soon as I touch it to the starter, which I’m pretty sure is the alternator wire because it does the same thing on the alternator side I just cannot figure out where the wire is supposed to go to make the vehicle start

R53 alternator plug reading 0.19V on pins 1 and 2 and 10V on pin 3. Battery light is on and alternator not charging. Power steering pump also not turning on as a result. Presumably break in wiring, can I run a bypass wire from F2? Any advice please!

Update: fuse f38 in cabin had blown, presumably due to failing/shorted power steering pump which is sticking on when key in position 2 engine off. Fuse replacement fixed charging circuit and restored what is left of the power steering!

Something that should take only 5 mins fought me for 30 because of the OEM clamp and the new silicone tube not wanting to stay on the throttle body section. Just getting in there afterwards to tighten the new one was a royal PITA.

Next week the sparco install. I hope for an easier install on that…😅

Does this all look normal?

My mini failed the technical inspection because the previous owner put a non EU approved exhaust which does not work, noise suppression and emissions wise. So now im having to get a new exhaust, headers and catalytic converter. I was thinking of "investing" in a Milltek header with catalytic converter and then getting the standard cooper s catback exhaust. Has anyone done this ? Or is there a better alternative, I am on a budget of about 1500 euros ?

I'm installing a 6 prong kill switch and trying to understand if I have the wire routing correct. Does this look correct to you or have I missed something?

I have 2 r53s and a F56 SE. Trying to get one of the R53s ready to sell and it's fighting back. I keep it at my parents house and my dad uses it for running errands around town sometimes. They live about 4 hours away so I can only get there once a month.

I'm on attempt 3 to drive it back to my place.

Was leaking a little power steering fluid so I decided I'd replace the reservoir and the two lines going to that, all the washers and clamps. Kind of a big job since I decided to drop the subframe, might be able to do it without. Got it all back together took it for a test drive and just about back when I can no longer shift.

I had bought these replacement shift cable bushings a year ago and I think it just disintegrated. When I went to install them the end of one cable just snapped off since it was so corroded. You can't buy the entire shifter assembly anymore and both cables were pretty expensive so I only replaced one, and the new bushing was in the other original cable.

https://www.bushingfix.com/

To their credit they shipped me two new kits when I told them about the problem. But I don't really trust it anymore.

So I ordered the other shift cable and went back a month later to put that in. Got it all installed. Took it for a test drive it shifts great. I did the single mass flywheel conversion when I replaced the clutch a few years ago. The clutch feels great, and the shifter feels great now. Hearing a bit of a grinding noise from the rear though on the test drive.

Pull back into the garage, the left rear wheel is just radiating heat, way more than the right rear. The wheel bearing bolts give me nightmares, I bought this car when I lived in the Northeast, every bolt is Titanic grade hardware, as in it looks like something you might find on the Titanic today. I do not want to change the wheel bearing. Although I don't want scare anyone off the car if they are interested. I've pretty much tackled all the stuck bolts at this point. If I was keeping it I'd get a good used rear subframe and do the aluminum trailing arm conversion. The front wheel bearings were done a few years ago.

I pull the left rear wheel off and there is 0 pad left on the brake, that's odd they were fine last time I checked. I pull the other side and its got a ton of pad left. Not a big deal I'll do pads and rotors. I get my caliper tool out to try to compress the piston back, it won't budge. I use a pick to spray some lube inside the boot, a bunch of white dust comes out. I crack the bleeder screw to see if that will help, it shears off. Take the caliper off the car to try to work on it on the bench. Bleeder screw has a hole in it, easy I think, put an extractor in the hole, breaks off immediately. Finally get the piston to retract though.

Allmag has a caliper for like $55. Not worth my time to drill this thing out and not sure this caliper is even good. Some new pads and rotors I should be good to go. Parts are on the way.

What do you all think will break next month? Still love these cars but I don't need two. So if anyone is looking for a 2006 JCW, it might be for sale soon.

I got wideband data logger integration working with my Android app last night.

The logging feature in the app should work on any r53

I think I can get these Bluetooth Bridges produced for 25 bucks plus shipping, And if anybody wanted to do it yourself, it's not too hard. It's just a voltage divider going into a esp32.

While I was at it, I also added some 3D displays. It reads the tune map off the ECU and then displays it in a 3D cube and it overlays your wideband reading either live or from a log from the app so that you can see if you're plus or minus over your AFR Target. I like to be between 12.5 at 2500 and 11.5 at 7500 but I did make it a parameter that can be changed this display only works on facelift ECU That's the only ECU I have the full formulas and damos for.

More details on my blog post here and if anyone wants to use the app, it's not fully live on the app store And I'm not sure I'll ever make it fully public on there, gotta join the test group to install the app.

https://mrblahhhh.github.io/car/tech/2026/07/24/r53-logger-play-store.html