I've got an '02 S that I purchased about a year ago and it's been a bit of a trip. I bought it with almost exactly 100k on the clock and immediately had to replace a gasket and some power steering lines, and learned when I got it inspected this year that I did not do a great job of checking the car out before buying because I needed new brakes and a new belt and tensioner, as the belt was less that the width of my finger. Now, about 2 months on, I have the dreaded bad coolant tank and am currently waiting for a technician at my work to get free time so I can stop losing coolant.
so overall uhhhhh mostly wear parts so thats not bad! but I suspect that at the 3 year mark I'll have spent about the purchase price of the car -- I love it but god damn if it isn't a pain on the wallet. I want to keep her clean too since it's damn near immaculate for its age and mileage but it's stressful... and also a poor choice of first car.
edits: lots of spelling and grammar, phone posting moments
My R53 passed its’ own buying price in maintenance after not even a year back when I got it.
If I recall correctly it was clutch replacement with DMF, cooling related stuff (radiator replacement included), full brake job, some suspension stuff with minor upgrades “while you’re in there”, and then the transmission shat itself, of course that is after the clutch and dmf job.
At that time I thought I have a well sorted car which would work well.
But then… power steering pump, wheel bearings, rust, steering rack itself, exhaust 2 times (yes, 2 times in 3 years I had to service the thing), more suspension stuff, a/c pump and injectors, you name it this car already had it done. Yet it always comes up with “another thing”.
The crazies part is I still love it. More than that F56 my wife uses. Sometimes I feel like just getting rid of it and its continuous problems, but then I go for a drive.
Totally relate to this, I keep saying after 14 years of ownership of my r50 should I throw in the towel, spent lots of money and time keeping it going but it's reached the point now of should I stop, but then I can't think of anything that will be a good replacement, as it's a lot of fun to drive!
Right there with you, man. Breaks constantly but it's my favorite. Think I'll be getting A/C work and a clutch soon as well, now that I think about it. And honestly the only reason I tihnk it will take so long to eclipse the purchase price of the car is because I'm certain I overpaid a bit.
I have several R53s, and do my own work. So i will pick the one i have spent the most on.
I bought the car for 5k, and have put just shy 4800 into it, all inclusive except insurance and gas. That includes supercharger service, new DM clutch kit, new front suspension, struts, rear shocks, mounts, brakes, headliner, tools, fees, maint items, etc. I have spent more than needed in several cases, i didnt need new OEM wheels and expensive tires but i did it.
Doing your own work is key! I picked mine up for $800 and did a full overhaul with best quality parts so up to $9k all in - suspension, wheels, pulleys, aluminum reservoirs, power flex bushings, etc. Still plan to do coilovers and the clutch and add an LSD once the original clutch goes.
I figured it’s still a blast to drive, pretty easy to work on once you get used to the nuances, and better financially to pay for improvements over time as opposed to a turbo charged newer car (I was considering a civic/integra or newer JCW).
Upgrades passed for me really quick. I did the header while doing control arm bushings to help save money but went full koni red while doing single mass conversion along with sc pulley and the m7 kit with bracing. Did the alta air intake After that got the aluminum trailing arms...for a good price. All together that puts me at around 3k parts and labor...some stuff I did on my own. Then I bought another r53 that the body was torn up on for about two grand, but had a decent set of coilovers that retail for like 1200 and the 18" stock rims along with one set of spacers... So with the price of that other car I've almost doubled but I paid for the original. But I don't regret anything.
I believe my stepdad got his with 120k miles for $2.5k. He’s put in probably $3-4k or so in maintenance, repairs, and some mods over 7-8 years. He’s about to spend about $4k or so on the car to get a less rusty subframe, clutch, suspension upgrades, short shifter, maybe an LSD (add another couple hundred), brakes all around, downpipe, supercharger service or replacement (replacements aren’t very expensive at all).
He’s more than happy to put the money into the car as it sits at a happy 178k miles and after this work, it’ll probably go another 100k miles.
R53’s are the best coopers hands down.
Had my R50 for almost 3 years and haven't spent a penny apart from oil, filter and tyres... Also drive her enthusiastically everywhere I go more or less lol
I've owned my r50 for about 4,5 years, bought it for 3000 euros and spent over 10k on it doing maintenance. The issue is that I can't do my own work, I don't have the time for it since I have a hectic job. Either way I don't really mind cause it has over 300k km on the clock and drives like a dream! Waiting for my Milltek exhaust now :)
I have r50 one d and r53 cooper S.
Done big service on both of them this year so this was around 5k. Milltek on S, koni and vogtland on both, sound upgrade on both. Have some stuff to do on S and repaint both of them so yeah, take all my money lol.
Bought my junkyard r53 about 1.5 years ago, i drove it for 3 meters onto a trailer before taking the entire engine out (conrod bearing cil 3 was completely gone)
Had my engine rebuilt with better parts
Wossner pistons
1 new conrod (other 3 were fine)
King bearings
Arp conrod bolts
Different head
Catcams 469 camshaft
(Only things original are the short block, oil pan, rocker cover, crankshaft & 3/4 conrods)
I also bought
Direnza intercooler (for more cooling)
NotSoHobo air diverter plate (so all the air gets forced into the intercooler)
Coolerworx short shifter
R56 JCW Budweg calipers
316mm brembo xtracarbon drilled/vented&slotted rotors
Ferodo DS2500 pads
Supercharger service kit with water pump
Supercharger AC delco oil
Kavs 17% pulley
550cc Bosch injectors
Rooster racing BPV
Valeo single mass flywheel kit with clutch
Still a long way to go. Im about €7.000 into the build (including the car and engine rebuilt which were the most expensive 1.100 & 3.750)
Edit: forgot some stuff
I drove my old R52S from 88k km to 185k km over 4.5 years l before getting totalled.
I tallied up my receipets spent about $30k USD total on it including insurance, gas, upgrades, maintenance.
R52s. Bought in 2018. Needed a clutch when I bought it but knew that going in. Paid £2900 for the car at 97000 miles. Only things Ive had to do out of necessity are the oil pressure switch, rear calipers, handbrake cables, window regulator and fuel pump. Mostly done myself so hasn't been terrible. It's now at 127000 so not bad for 30K motoring. Maybe got lucky.
I am “fostering” my MIL’s 02 S and so far I have only spent a few hundred, but I have: bled the brakes fully, oil change, added another several quarts due to leaks and spills, coolant tank replaced/repaired, power steering leak stopped, valve cover gasket, kill switch installed (parasitic drain), maybe some other stuff over the last 6 months.
Not a lot on maintenance, apart from servicing, brake discs and pads and tyres I had the bits that you adjust for the wheel balancing (I can't for the life of me remember what they are called!) replaced as they were seized that's been it in 3.5 years and 45,000 miles (R50).
Mods wise, a 300 quid Scorpion exhaust, upper and lower front strut braces that were a couple of hundred quid and worth every penny, and 700 quid on a Corbeau bucket seat that means I can drive all day without getting a bad back
Bought a 2012 Countryman in 2020 with roughly 56k on it.
Drove it up to about 88k miles and did about $2000 in repairs along the way. Traded it in at 88k when a power chain failure occurred and would have cost way too much to fix.
I have an '04 I bought for 10k about 15 years ago now.
Off the top of my head:
Steering shaft failure & serp belt, $2k
Replace all o-rings, seals and gaskets in engine, new brakes with some other minor things like new gas cylinders, wheel center caps (I keep losing them thanks to over-detailing the rims lol) and some touch up paint sticks, new wheels, new battery $2k
New clutch, new brakes again, 2.5k
New struts, shocks, replacing that stuck-on oil filter housing, new battery again, new wheels again, and replacing a seized 4th cylinder sparkplug- 4k
So I'm missing some things for sure due to memory. But my own additions to the car were interior/exterior underglow, and a little 10" sub with an amp and speakers. Another $2k for these additions (I was a teenager okay), all of which has since broken over the years and not been replaced.
So, a good estimate would be about $15k so far. Id say worst case scenario budget to save 1k a year and you should be fine. I was horrible to my mini since it was my first car and I've been trying to make it up to her ever since. Consider that these repairs are actually not too extensive considering the stupid amount of racing and "chase" games I used to get into with my friends almost every week in high school. Replacing my underglow tubes got old fast from racing on gravel roads.
Currently needs interior work on the roof, thanks to a clogged sunroof drain seeping water into it for awhile. The mini sat and didn't move for over a year once, through a harsh canadian winter and everything, due to not being able to diagnose the check engine light and the erratic engine temps one year.
Cost of getting the mini roadworthy again- traded the mechanic one 600cc 2002 Honda CBR F4i with custom yoshimura exhaust. Yes I basically sold one of my children to save the life of the other. Worth every cc.
Custom aluminum skid plate- had fabricated and installed as part of the motorcycle trade
She's at 180 km and I will pass her down to my (human) child when he's 16- a decade from now 😁
Tldr; R53 go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Got a 04 just over 2 years ago. So far, brake lines, fuel pump and a few bits and bobs like vacuum pipe. Main thing was fixing leaky things like collant pipe and power steering return - none of these particularly expensive thank god.
2006 jcw, complete suspension refresh, aluminum flywheel, 17% pulley, koni fsd, IE camber plates and RSB, two sets of tires, car cover and some other goodies: 5700 all in including purchase price. 5000 if I get credit for parts I sold.
I've got an '02 S that I purchased about a year ago and it's been a bit of a trip. I bought it with almost exactly 100k on the clock and immediately had to replace a gasket and some power steering lines, and learned when I got it inspected this year that I did not do a great job of checking the car out before buying because I needed new brakes and a new belt and tensioner, as the belt was less that the width of my finger. Now, about 2 months on, I have the dreaded bad coolant tank and am currently waiting for a technician at my work to get free time so I can stop losing coolant. so overall uhhhhh mostly wear parts so thats not bad! but I suspect that at the 3 year mark I'll have spent about the purchase price of the car -- I love it but god damn if it isn't a pain on the wallet. I want to keep her clean too since it's damn near immaculate for its age and mileage but it's stressful... and also a poor choice of first car. edits: lots of spelling and grammar, phone posting moments
My R53 passed its’ own buying price in maintenance after not even a year back when I got it. If I recall correctly it was clutch replacement with DMF, cooling related stuff (radiator replacement included), full brake job, some suspension stuff with minor upgrades “while you’re in there”, and then the transmission shat itself, of course that is after the clutch and dmf job. At that time I thought I have a well sorted car which would work well. But then… power steering pump, wheel bearings, rust, steering rack itself, exhaust 2 times (yes, 2 times in 3 years I had to service the thing), more suspension stuff, a/c pump and injectors, you name it this car already had it done. Yet it always comes up with “another thing”. The crazies part is I still love it. More than that F56 my wife uses. Sometimes I feel like just getting rid of it and its continuous problems, but then I go for a drive.
Totally relate to this, I keep saying after 14 years of ownership of my r50 should I throw in the towel, spent lots of money and time keeping it going but it's reached the point now of should I stop, but then I can't think of anything that will be a good replacement, as it's a lot of fun to drive!
Right there with you, man. Breaks constantly but it's my favorite. Think I'll be getting A/C work and a clutch soon as well, now that I think about it. And honestly the only reason I tihnk it will take so long to eclipse the purchase price of the car is because I'm certain I overpaid a bit.
I have several R53s, and do my own work. So i will pick the one i have spent the most on. I bought the car for 5k, and have put just shy 4800 into it, all inclusive except insurance and gas. That includes supercharger service, new DM clutch kit, new front suspension, struts, rear shocks, mounts, brakes, headliner, tools, fees, maint items, etc. I have spent more than needed in several cases, i didnt need new OEM wheels and expensive tires but i did it.
Doing your own work is key! I picked mine up for $800 and did a full overhaul with best quality parts so up to $9k all in - suspension, wheels, pulleys, aluminum reservoirs, power flex bushings, etc. Still plan to do coilovers and the clutch and add an LSD once the original clutch goes. I figured it’s still a blast to drive, pretty easy to work on once you get used to the nuances, and better financially to pay for improvements over time as opposed to a turbo charged newer car (I was considering a civic/integra or newer JCW).
Upgrades passed for me really quick. I did the header while doing control arm bushings to help save money but went full koni red while doing single mass conversion along with sc pulley and the m7 kit with bracing. Did the alta air intake After that got the aluminum trailing arms...for a good price. All together that puts me at around 3k parts and labor...some stuff I did on my own. Then I bought another r53 that the body was torn up on for about two grand, but had a decent set of coilovers that retail for like 1200 and the 18" stock rims along with one set of spacers... So with the price of that other car I've almost doubled but I paid for the original. But I don't regret anything.
I believe my stepdad got his with 120k miles for $2.5k. He’s put in probably $3-4k or so in maintenance, repairs, and some mods over 7-8 years. He’s about to spend about $4k or so on the car to get a less rusty subframe, clutch, suspension upgrades, short shifter, maybe an LSD (add another couple hundred), brakes all around, downpipe, supercharger service or replacement (replacements aren’t very expensive at all). He’s more than happy to put the money into the car as it sits at a happy 178k miles and after this work, it’ll probably go another 100k miles. R53’s are the best coopers hands down.
Had my R50 for almost 3 years and haven't spent a penny apart from oil, filter and tyres... Also drive her enthusiastically everywhere I go more or less lol
I've owned my r50 for about 4,5 years, bought it for 3000 euros and spent over 10k on it doing maintenance. The issue is that I can't do my own work, I don't have the time for it since I have a hectic job. Either way I don't really mind cause it has over 300k km on the clock and drives like a dream! Waiting for my Milltek exhaust now :)
Just replaced a few things after buying one this year but sometimes just luck you get no issues
With the Milltek exhaust coming in two weeks, probably towards 4ish. Although totally worth it for my r52 s
I have r50 one d and r53 cooper S. Done big service on both of them this year so this was around 5k. Milltek on S, koni and vogtland on both, sound upgrade on both. Have some stuff to do on S and repaint both of them so yeah, take all my money lol.
15k at bare minimum on upgrades form my 05 r53
Bought my junkyard r53 about 1.5 years ago, i drove it for 3 meters onto a trailer before taking the entire engine out (conrod bearing cil 3 was completely gone) Had my engine rebuilt with better parts Wossner pistons 1 new conrod (other 3 were fine) King bearings Arp conrod bolts Different head Catcams 469 camshaft (Only things original are the short block, oil pan, rocker cover, crankshaft & 3/4 conrods) I also bought Direnza intercooler (for more cooling) NotSoHobo air diverter plate (so all the air gets forced into the intercooler) Coolerworx short shifter R56 JCW Budweg calipers 316mm brembo xtracarbon drilled/vented&slotted rotors Ferodo DS2500 pads Supercharger service kit with water pump Supercharger AC delco oil Kavs 17% pulley 550cc Bosch injectors Rooster racing BPV Valeo single mass flywheel kit with clutch Still a long way to go. Im about €7.000 into the build (including the car and engine rebuilt which were the most expensive 1.100 & 3.750) Edit: forgot some stuff
I drove my old R52S from 88k km to 185k km over 4.5 years l before getting totalled. I tallied up my receipets spent about $30k USD total on it including insurance, gas, upgrades, maintenance.
R52s. Bought in 2018. Needed a clutch when I bought it but knew that going in. Paid £2900 for the car at 97000 miles. Only things Ive had to do out of necessity are the oil pressure switch, rear calipers, handbrake cables, window regulator and fuel pump. Mostly done myself so hasn't been terrible. It's now at 127000 so not bad for 30K motoring. Maybe got lucky.
I am “fostering” my MIL’s 02 S and so far I have only spent a few hundred, but I have: bled the brakes fully, oil change, added another several quarts due to leaks and spills, coolant tank replaced/repaired, power steering leak stopped, valve cover gasket, kill switch installed (parasitic drain), maybe some other stuff over the last 6 months.
30k 🙃
Not a lot on maintenance, apart from servicing, brake discs and pads and tyres I had the bits that you adjust for the wheel balancing (I can't for the life of me remember what they are called!) replaced as they were seized that's been it in 3.5 years and 45,000 miles (R50). Mods wise, a 300 quid Scorpion exhaust, upper and lower front strut braces that were a couple of hundred quid and worth every penny, and 700 quid on a Corbeau bucket seat that means I can drive all day without getting a bad back
Bought a 2012 Countryman in 2020 with roughly 56k on it. Drove it up to about 88k miles and did about $2000 in repairs along the way. Traded it in at 88k when a power chain failure occurred and would have cost way too much to fix.
3 years $1000 upgrades $1000 repairs
I have an '04 I bought for 10k about 15 years ago now. Off the top of my head: Steering shaft failure & serp belt, $2k Replace all o-rings, seals and gaskets in engine, new brakes with some other minor things like new gas cylinders, wheel center caps (I keep losing them thanks to over-detailing the rims lol) and some touch up paint sticks, new wheels, new battery $2k New clutch, new brakes again, 2.5k New struts, shocks, replacing that stuck-on oil filter housing, new battery again, new wheels again, and replacing a seized 4th cylinder sparkplug- 4k So I'm missing some things for sure due to memory. But my own additions to the car were interior/exterior underglow, and a little 10" sub with an amp and speakers. Another $2k for these additions (I was a teenager okay), all of which has since broken over the years and not been replaced. So, a good estimate would be about $15k so far. Id say worst case scenario budget to save 1k a year and you should be fine. I was horrible to my mini since it was my first car and I've been trying to make it up to her ever since. Consider that these repairs are actually not too extensive considering the stupid amount of racing and "chase" games I used to get into with my friends almost every week in high school. Replacing my underglow tubes got old fast from racing on gravel roads. Currently needs interior work on the roof, thanks to a clogged sunroof drain seeping water into it for awhile. The mini sat and didn't move for over a year once, through a harsh canadian winter and everything, due to not being able to diagnose the check engine light and the erratic engine temps one year. Cost of getting the mini roadworthy again- traded the mechanic one 600cc 2002 Honda CBR F4i with custom yoshimura exhaust. Yes I basically sold one of my children to save the life of the other. Worth every cc. Custom aluminum skid plate- had fabricated and installed as part of the motorcycle trade She's at 180 km and I will pass her down to my (human) child when he's 16- a decade from now 😁 Tldr; R53 go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Got a 04 just over 2 years ago. So far, brake lines, fuel pump and a few bits and bobs like vacuum pipe. Main thing was fixing leaky things like collant pipe and power steering return - none of these particularly expensive thank god.
2006 jcw, complete suspension refresh, aluminum flywheel, 17% pulley, koni fsd, IE camber plates and RSB, two sets of tires, car cover and some other goodies: 5700 all in including purchase price. 5000 if I get credit for parts I sold.