2005 Mini Cooper S Review: The Next Popular Budget Enthusiast Car? 

I've got the same mini, even the color with no stripes or white roof.. For some reason mine looks meaner though.. I'm pretty sure my father got every option available when he bought it. I know it was special ordered and took months and months to get here from over seas. It looks like it means business, like it's had a bunch of after market stuff installed, but it's all original from the factory. I get complements on it all the time. People even hanging out of drive through windows checking it out haha I've been thinking a lot about buying another R53 to do a bunch of playing around with. Fathers dead, this is all I've really got form him. I'd like to keep it the way he kept it. It's still only got 46k miles.. Nice little car.

My sister went to meet Jesus and left me her 05 r53. I would have never known how much fun a car could be. Ive had faster straight line cars but none that give you the smile factor this car does. I replaced the whole suspension,rebuilt the motor, 17% underpulley and miltech catback exhaust and now its fast enough to kill you. Love this car

I just picked up an R53 for $3500, 86K miles, 6-speed. I put about $1200 on new tires and various maintenance items and cosmetic fixes. Now it's a super fun solid little project car. The best surprise, is the previous owner already had Bilstein B6's with H&R springs, which saves me at least $1000 from having to upgrade the suspension. Super happy with this purchase, it's so fun to drive. I love how raw and real it feels. (Also I'll add my main car is a '22 Supra 3.0 with about $10K in mods. The super complete polar opposite of the Mini. But no matter how much money I can dump into the A90, the Mini feels way more connected and is just fun to drive in its own way. I feel like I got the best of two worlds with these cars)

I just picked up an emerald green 05 manual s with a timing chain issue for $1,000. Just got it home and in the garage this morning. Haven't even had time to start working on it yet. I spent a decade working as a shop mechanic when I was a bit younger, so there's nothing I can't fix even though the Minis are a pain to do engine work on. Pretty much have to pull the whole front clip. Super clean interior, needs a new paint job, clear is starting to peel in the usual areas. No major rust or damages anywhere though. I'm pretty pumped, all things considered.

I am in London "the other one" London Ontario. A friend of mine bought the 2005 from someone in Hamilton. It sat outside in the weather for 5 years with an occasional drive around the block and none in the last year with minimal rust. The inside however was in great shape. She was moving and just gave it to me. A friend of mine had all the equipment to tow it back to London. Before that I had a guy come by and made a key for me. I went to one garage and he quoted me 25 - 3 thousand to certify it. He said all the brakes needed to be replaced and some other stuff. I ended up taken to another mechanic and he said I needed new front brake lines a battery and a starter.Total cost for everything was around $1400.00 for a safety check. It even has the gear shifter on the steering wheel! I thought that was a first to see. I tried it out, and as I have driven many manual cars that it was a tad risky at this time to test it out. I do need a new muffler and the air conditioner fixed, all in all for never owning a mini cooper I was having a blast in it! I will get things done like all fluids changed and the oil and filter done with synthetic oil every 6 thousand kilometers. For a car that is almost 20 years old it runs great and being canary Yellow it is a head turner and I will always know where it is parked in a mall parking lot!

The 05-06 models are the best, with a manual of course. I wouldn't get any MINI but an 05-06.

Nice slicktop you have there! I picked up an '03 S with 51k miles from the original owner this summer. It needed some suspension and exhaust work, but it's almost sorted and I can't wait to shake it down properly.

Mine has the 11% reduced pulley and makes around 180 bph my 0-60 is nearly bang on 7 secs depending how I launch it 😂 the LSD helps a LOT

Love the video mate, over here in the uk they’re very cheap atm I’m off to look at one tomorrow for £1,200 and do it up, maybe to sell but most likely I’ll fall in love with it 😂

Prices are low at the moment grab one whilst they are still cheap.

I sure hope the r53s goes up as my 05 has over 20k in upgrades

how about the gas economy

mini coopers made by bmw are extremely unreliable and expensive to repair. if you want a fun cheap hatchback get a Honda fit instead.