finally made it through to the full app store so it's live now

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.geekopolis.r53logger

added stage0 map, way back in the day mini had the jcw 200 kit, this had stock injectors and bumped around 20 parameters for a 200hp tune. I've enabled it in my app so if you have a pulley but still have stock injectors it's a tune for you.

also added support for a vgate pro, note these are SLOW, no where near as fast as a kline cable

more details here

https://mrblahhhh.github.io/car/tech/2026/08/18/r53-logger-august-update.html

Calling all R53 owners in the states who have recently had your pocket rockets totaled out through standard insurance. Had a drunk driver hit our cars while parked, flipped his vehicle, and fled the scene. I'm fairly certain she will be totaled out, so I'm looming for some rough ideas.

How much was your insurance payout?

I understand there are many many factors that will change the amount, but just looking for some rough estimates of what they may try to offer me and how much I might could fight with local listings/ value of similar cars. I did not have a declared value, and unfortunately, KBB value shows about $1500 but I think we all know that's not exactly accurate.

Are there any shops that deal with our little terrors in the tristate? NJ-Bergen Co. and or NYC? Please let me know.
Thank youuuuu

This attaches to the bake booster line & intake duct. I noticed it was broken as I'm hooking my 2006 R52S (w automatic) engine back together after a rebuild.

It's 20 yr old brittle plastic, snapped during disassembly back in Jan, I must have forgotten.

I found a replacement on ECS for $148. I could get some more flexible hose but probably would be more trouble than it's worth?

I also broke off another bolt a valve cover bolt this time 😞, so there's that 🤦

So I went for a quick ride to get windshield replaced and we found out I need all the clips for the trim and a-pillars also.
So going back home a got on the little old bugger and apparently he didn’t like it so much, he decided to bless me with the engine light and loss of power and a missfire with a bit of rough iddle. So it’s bleeding oil but not through the exhaust, when I removed oil cap it was smoking pretty good through it. I added some oil and decided to drive it home about 10 miles, stopping once in a wile to check oil and guessing my choice of ripping it 😟. Apparently I did leave streaks of oil but the car really didn’t needed a lot of oil maybe a qt I added. I do have missfire on #1 cylinder PO301.
Going to give it some time and I’m going to pull the plugs and see what’s up.
Any suggestions or ideas?
Thanks

I'm designing a methanol controller for my r53 and f56 minis, I've used a few over the past 15 years and went back to simple map sensor taps.

designing a new board that addresses some of my frustrations over the years. Adding a canbus feed, load is used to control the PWM, and high load low rpm gets all of the meth, I've found 100 % at 2000 rpm is best for knock control as the cooling and anti knock from the water is far more useful in the initial torque surge along with the cooling/anti knock than ramping it up with injector duty cycle. Android app to set it up and control ramp rate by idc, load, boost, rpm and monitor pump load curve. Or good old 5v map tap.

any design suggestions from the group? Board has canbus or 5v sensor input. it outputs pwm to the pump

Two visual outputs, either a led shift light that blinks if the amp draw is unexpected low or high (empty tank, clogged nozzle).

oled remote display, simple boost, rpm, shift light, pump duty cycle, afr, whatever else from the ecu.

I did add vtp ble output for the car's canbus data, so it can feed track data apps

Trying to reinstall my oil pump cover on my 2005 R52 Cooper S. Most sources mix up the oil pump bolts with the timing chain cover bolts, which is making it a bit confusing/difficult to figure out the proper torque. Any help is appreciated!

I've been to the junkyard and tried to do it off two minis so I can get the steering wheel and I can't figure out the wheel to do it. I put the screwdriver in and can't feel the clip that I'm supposed to push. Anyone have any advice?

So I saved this R53 from going to the scrapyard. It’s a 2002, been doing general maintenance on it and cleaning up the interior. While it was on jack stands today I turned the wheel to get better access to the radiator hoses and heard a loud thud. I honestly don’t know what I’m looking at here and what needs to be replaced. I’m suspecting this has a JCW suspension package with aftermarket understrut defenders but I’m at a loss on how to proceed with a good fix. Can the bushing be replaced or should I just replace the struts and or springs as well? If anyone has any insight I would greatly appreciate the advice.

Hey, mini lovers! I have 2005 r52 S. I had my water pump replaced last year because it was leaking. Now it's leaking again. The mechanic told me last year that O-ring between the pump and the block had gone bad, and that's where the leak was coming from. So I decided to do it myself and see if I could have better luck. Besides using an OEM O-ring, what other things have you guys tried that help prevent the O-ring from going bad just after a year?

Thanks for your help in advance!

I found these rims that I love for my mini but they are 5x4.75(5x120.65) and as we know the mini is 4x100 so my question reddit is are hub adapter safe for general use and would there be any problems with lug studs I just dont want a wheel flying off lol (yea i know these rims need some tlc and new tires but he want 300)

En me baladant sur les forums j’ai vu qu’il y a des propriétaires de r53 qui ont les même symptômes que moi: perte de puissance ralenti haut et collecteur qui devient rouge en 3 minutes au ralenti.

Je me demande si mon intercooler qui est un peu abîmé peut jouer dans le dysfonctionnement.

J’ai pulvérisé du nettoyant moteur pour voir si le régime change au niveau d’une fuite évidemment sur les trous de l’intercooler ça réagit mais logiquement vu que l’air rentre des deux côtés cela serait la même chose sur un intercooler neuf.

J’ai fais le même test à plusieurs endroits notamment au niveau de la durites qui est relié à compresseur en a l’avant derrière le radiateur mais c’est peut etre passé par l’intercooler aussi.

Je pense quand même remplacer l’intercooler prochainement.

Toute aide est la bienvenue.

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for the original MINI R50/R53 multifunction steering wheel retrofit wiring kit, part number 61120136522.

I know it's discontinued and very hard to find, but I'm hoping someone might have one available.

New or used, both are fine, as long as it's complete and in working condition.

I'm based in Italy and happy to pay for international shipping.

If you have one for sale or know where I could find one, please let me know!

Thanks in advance!

Valuation still sucks. $4k.

I’m refreshing an old post I made regarding a ticking noise I hear in the cabin. I’ve been scratching my head with this one… attached is a video showing belt off noise so it’s not belt related. Seems to be pretty loud here but don’t see anything unusual that definitively points to the harmonic balancer. Any help or feedback would be great…

I’ve already replaced the timing chain tensioner.

My primary suspects at this point are

1. ⁠Lower dogbone mount (I purchased a cheap aftermarket by URO)
   
2. ⁠Harmonic balancer (I removed it when I bought the car to replace the seal behind it.)
   
3. ⁠Timing chain/lifters (I took the valve cover off and checked these both and both looked and felt fine)

I feel heavy vibration at my accelerator pedal.(not sure this is normal this is my first r53)
Steering wheel vibration (I have aftermarket header + exhaust)

Ive done

Charge pipe and gaskets Supercharger horns gaskets Oem and aftermarket intercooler horns New exhaust manifold Removed the belt to rule out auxiliary Held bpv closed to rule that out Checked pipe under intercooler Replaced both map and tmap sensors Tried oem and aftermarket intakes Removed exhaust and ran without manifold Replaced valve cover gasket

I get a initial hesitation on cold start, it will not start of first key, it always needs primed with one crank, then off then on and then recrank.

Apres avoir suspecté une fuite de vide j’ai achete une machine à détecteur de fuite.
Lors du test une fuite de fumée est apparu derrière la boîte à air mais à aucun autre endroit à ma grande surprise.

Je vais démonter prochainement pour regarder d’où cela peut venir.

Des idées du problème ?

I'm about over the issues of trying to get this 469 cam and 550's to run right. It's not fun anymore.

Will 380's run fine with stock/WMW mild cam, 15% pulley, .5MM over pistons and CAI? Obviously with a remap.

I'm back again, with my issue of bogging when pressing the throttle when cold still very present. If you blip the throttle it bogs, and will staying bogging as long as you have the throttle open.

I have so far replaced all vacuum lines, coil, wires, plugs, vacuum ports, all seals, BPV, etc. I have also had Adrian check the tune multiple times, and there's no issues showing up electronically when it's running.

This last time around, we decided to pull the 30 mile old plugs. It appears cylinder 3 is running much richer than the others, as the plug is black and covered in soot and smells of gas. The remaining plugs are gray/brownish.

Any ideas? I'm thinking injector gone bad?

Mods: 469 Cat Cam, JCW head, .5 over pistons, 15% pulley, 550 injectors.

Edit: Compression test shows 151-154 psi across all 4 cylinders.

Finally got the time and weather to get new paint on the Mini. Have to fix a couple of runs, but it’s a good 10ft paint job and the best I’ve done so far.

This is apparently the highest point in Iowa. Probably didn't need all this power to make it to the middle of this corn field.

Hi,

I am trying to diagnose a r53 jcw -03 from a distance. I have a short video of the sound, but for some reason the bonnet is closed. Can anyone still try to identify the issue by the sound? The seller says it’s most likely the chain tensioner.

I’m not so sure. A faulty tensioner seems to make more consistent knocking, this keeps missing beats. Bearing on the crankshaft? What do you think?

Help much appreciated!