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2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - Fixing creaking interior panels


Peter C

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Love the anti rattle tip for the boot catch.  

Love the wiper arm lift devices for the repaint.  

Your Garage man, Kinell that’s smart.  The only thing I would do differently is go for deeper skirting.

Very methodical work through the oil leak issue and subsequent ‘burn off’.

£40 quid for a Rocket Box Gasket, I remember the days when a Mini RB gasket was 99p.  Although the were cork as opposed to some moulded fancy rubber job.

i couldn’t live with your Matt repair though.  Very good thinking, but the mere sight of a one of those coach head bolts anywhere near a car has me gagging like a good lateral flow swabbing and reaching for the paper bag.

 

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  • Peter C changed the title to 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - Day 5, Seat repair, great result!

The Cooper's interior is fairly tidy but the driver's seat bolster was very worn.

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I bought a bottle of dark grey leather dye from Amazon for less than £8.

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I treated the worn bolster and whilst it looked much better, the dark grey was clearly not as dark as the original seat colour.

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Undeterred, I proceed to dye both front seats and I am really pleased with the results. The job took 2.5 hours and wasn't particularly difficult.

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7 hours ago, Isaac Hunt said:

Love the anti rattle tip for the boot catch.  

Love the wiper arm lift devices for the repaint.  

Your Garage man, Kinell that’s smart.  The only thing I would do differently is go for deeper skirting.

Very methodical work through the oil leak issue and subsequent ‘burn off’.

£40 quid for a Rocket Box Gasket, I remember the days when a Mini RB gasket was 99p.  Although the were cork as opposed to some moulded fancy rubber job.

i couldn’t live with your Matt repair though.  Very good thinking, but the mere sight of a one of those coach head bolts anywhere near a car has me gagging like a good lateral flow swabbing and reaching for the paper bag.

 

Thanks dude.

I like easy fixes, especially when they don't cost anything.

We bought the house because it had a double integrated garage, however once we moved in, I soon realised that the garage is only good for storing cars, not working on them. The house came with enough land to the side to build the workshop, which, apart from the concrete base, I did myself. That was 8 years ago. I've since spent many happy and some unhappy hours in there.

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  • Peter C changed the title to 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - Day 6, Seat repair, great result!
  • Peter C changed the title to 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - Road test & photos

The 4.5 hour drive home from North Wales last Sunday was not fun, especially with knackered air con and what at the time was the hottest day of the year. Today I had an opportunity to take the Cooper for an A-road cruise to Aldbury and back. 

I'll start by saying that I absolutely love this car. It looks amazing and despite there being a Mini on every street in the UK, I can't help thinking that mine looks special. The gloss black painted trim really sets of the gleaming paintwork, the previous previous owner did well to spend £1,650 on having that done (as well as other paint related mods). 

The performance is superb and best of all the engine does not have to be revved hard to get it moving. On route between Beaconsfield and Amersham, a tractor was towing a large trailer at 30MPH and was followed by a van and a car, neither of which were preparing to overtake the slow moving agricultural vehicle. There was a gap in oncoming traffic so I pulled out, in third gear, with just over 2k revs and in no time the Cooper shot forward into the distance, well ahead of the oncoming bus and in the process the exhaust hummed and the supercharger whined - brilliant!

The handling is great, the Cooper corners flat, however my driving style is very relaxed and I will not be making much use of the Cooper's agility. The ride is absolutely fine, not crashy, quite firm but comfortable. The steering is nicely weighted and the two spoke wheel feels great to hold. I was planning on changing the steering wheel and fitting the optional three spoke wheel but I'm not going to bother now. The gearchange is quite heavy but precise. The clutch is also heavy and has a low biting point, just how I like it. The brakes work well but the pedal feels soft, typical R50.

I'm a big bloke but there is plenty of space up front. The dashboard design is retro cool, I love the large speedo in the centre and the sound system is impressive. 

Overall, I'd happily give it 8.5/10. 

Unfortunately, I'm still getting bad smells from the dashboard vents. Pressing the recirculate button solves the problem, however something is not right under the bonnet. I am starting to think that there might be a problem with the engine's breather system. I shall investigate and report back soon.

Tell me it's not pretty.

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Popular place for filming. The Dirty Dozen had scenes there - also Crossplot which was a  low budget 1969 Bond-esque vehicle for Roger Moore before 007. I saw Crossplot being made there and even have  some autographs of the cast.

It also turned up more recently in Killing Eve.

It's photogenic and nearish to the film studios so is in lots of stuff.

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  • Peter C changed the title to 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - Gonna need to fix more stuff :o(

Good news first, I bought a little Matchbox model of a grey 2003 R53 Cooper S.

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Jim advised me that he removed a sub and amp from the boot, installed by a previous owner, which he very kindly offered to send me. When the ICE arrived, I re-installed all necessary cabling and plugged in the amp and sub and... not a sausage, it didn't work. I removed the amp and sub from my W124 and fitted them instead and bingo, we have music. A lot of music! The Pioneer head unit is decent and the speakers must have been upgraded at some point because together with my amp and sub, the system sounds superb. And I still have half a boot left.

I know someone who is willing to take a look at the defective amp, it might be fixable. 

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The bad news is that replacement of the rocker cover gasket has not solved the oil leak problem. I'm still seeing a fair amount of oil dripping from behind the engine onto my garage (carpeted) floor (now protected with cardboard). Looks like the oil filter housing or associated pipework is leaking, quite badly. However, by stuffing a rag into a duct that extends between the engine bay and the bulkhead space through which air enters the cabin, I've managed to reduce the smelly air problem by 99%.

The other bad news is that the power steering has started to creak. It only does it when the engine is hot but regardless whether the engine is running or not. The steering rack fan is working ok. I wonder whether I have sprayed water (whilst pressure washing the underside of the engine) onto something and washed out a lubricant. I need to investigate further....

 

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I've been looking into what is causing the steering to creak. 

The grommet located in the bulkhead, through which the steering column passes through was a bit dry and making a noise but it's not the creak that concerns me.

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I have exposed and greased up the steering column bearing, a common problem, apparently.

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I have a horrible suspicion that the noise is coming from the rack itself.  Time will tell.

Every time I pull the Cooper out of the garage I see a new oily spot on the carboard. Something is definitely leaking oil!

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  • Peter C changed the title to 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - One problem fixed, hopefully

Good news. I drove the Cooper for 60 miles today, a mixture of town driving, A-roads and a short motorway blast. The creaking steering is no more. I wonder whether the noise I could hear coming from the rack whilst I was tinkering last weekend was just the normal sound of a rack and greasing up of the bearing and column grommet fixed whatever issue existed. 

In other news, I filled up the tank today and according to my calculations, I am getting 34 MPG, which is not bad, considering that a fair chunk of the miles were clocked up around town.

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  • Peter C changed the title to 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - Making it smell better

Although my Cooper's interior is not in bad condition, one of the previous owners evidently had a dog and it left a lasting stench. @SiC would NOT have bought this car! I've already given the interior a good clean, twice but the smell was still there. I leave the windows open whilst the Cooper is parked up and just stepping into the garage was enough to smell mutt.

I gave the interior a third clean today but this time I removed the rear seats and stripped the boot trim from the backrests, which were covered in dog hair.

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I hoovered and wiped every surface, hard and soft, twice. I used up 500ml of disinfectant and the job took almost four hours. 

First impressions are good, I can no longer smell mutt and the interior gleams.

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Bit of research revealed that baking soda absorbs smells. I've left a container of the stuff inside the car and I'm looking forward to giving the interior a good sniff in a couple of days.

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Is the black around the dials stock or has someone sprayed it? The silver plastic in mine is on good condition but does look a bit fisher price nowadays.

Jealous of the climate control! Apart from my classics (which I tend to drive with the window open anyway), it's been a long while since I've owned a car without it. 🤣

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Just now, SiC said:

Is the black around the dials stock or has someone sprayed it? The silver plastic in mine is on good condition but does look a bit fisher price nowadays.

There's a receipt in the service history for £1,650, which relates to colour coding of the wheels, spraying of the outside trim gloss black and ditto the interior panels. It looks ok for now but I may change it to dark grey.

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  • Peter C changed the title to 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - 750 miles later...

I've done about 750 miles in the Cooper since I bought it back in July.

The good news is that nothing has broken and my efforts to remove the mongrel smells from the interior have paid off. The bad news is that the oil leak is still there, probably getting worse. I intend to remedy whatever issues exist over the Christmas break.

I bought a rear wiper delete blanking off plate from EBay (for £4.50) which was a complete con, considering that all I got is a round piece of plastic backed with adhesive. I was under the impression that there will be more to it. The rear wiper doesn't work and as I will never use the Cooper in the rain, it won't be missed. I also bought a special 36mm spanner for removal of the oil filter.

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It's fair to say that I have fallen in love with the Cooper. The styling, performance, driving experience, noise, interior and sound system all make me very happy. 

I visited the Beaulieu autojumble yesterday and got three Bini related books:

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And a few Autocar and CAR magazines from the early 2000s, which contain various articles about R50s and R53s, including Autocar's full road test of a Cooper S. They loved in back in 2002, it scored 9/10.

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  • Peter C changed the title to 2003 Mini Cooper S (R53) - Squeaks rattles and more squeaks

I think I might have an engine oil leak.

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I drove the Cooper during the week and amongst many rattles and squeaks, the gear stick was squeaking when changing into 1st and 2nd gears. The gaiter comes off easily to enable access to the base of the gear stick. I sprayed some 3 in 1 oil, let's see if that helps with the noise.

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And the squeaking steering has come back to play. Research on the internet revealed that the strut top mounts might be the cause of the squeaks. I've given both strut tops a squirt of 3 in 1 oil, let's see if it helps. The good news is that the strut top mounts are all solid, with no evidence of any cracks.

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I think when it comes to oil leaks on these, one should maybe spend the day doing every seal and gasket (bar the crank end, flywheel side) and be done with it!  That's my plan anyway.

I know you did the cam cover; that leak pattern looks like it's coming from the entire width of the engine- maybe the sump gasket?

Only other things I can think of is, oil filter housing, oil cooler and crank sensor O ring.

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16 hours ago, djoptix said:

You should sell it on (to me). 

No chance. Despite it's faults, I still love it.

I drove the Cooper to London and back yesterday evening. Both the steering and gear shift were silent. Perhaps my simple fix did the trick.

15 hours ago, Rusty_Rocket said:

I think when it comes to oil leaks on these, one should maybe spend the day doing every seal and gasket (bar the crank end, flywheel side) and be done with it!  That's my plan anyway.

I know you did the cam cover; that leak pattern looks like it's coming from the entire width of the engine- maybe the sump gasket?

Only other things I can think of is, oil filter housing, oil cooler and crank sensor O ring.

That's pretty much the plan, however I need to find time to take the Cooper off the road. At the moment I still make regular use of it and I enjoy driving it too much to hide it away in the garage for any length of time.

I am pretty sure that the oil filter housing gasket is the main culprit of the oil leak. After pressure cleaning the engine when I first bought the Cooper, I quickly saw oil accumulate along the rear of the engine, way above sump gasket level. 

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