Mini Cooper Engine Removal Time Challenge - R53 2002-2006 Cooper S 

How fast can I de-engine a 2002-2006 MINI Cooper? Watch to find out! Think you can guess right? Ready, set, go! I time myself removing the engine and transmission from a first generation MINI Cooper S. This is the fourth or fifth time I've done this and I think I've figured out the fastest way. I show you how. **Note: It's a little quicker by leaving the harness on the engine and disconnecting the high amperage cables from the bottom of the fuse box, a ground wire connected directly under the fuse box, the round harness connection next to the AC charge port, and another ground cable right behind the round harness connection. Garage lift: www.ezcarlift.com Engine hoist: Harbor Freight MINI Cooper Tools: amzn.to/2Eb1S6C Gen 1 MINI Cooper Parts: amzn.to/2pOIPER Thanks for watching!

I started this job at the same time as you mate, but I'm still smoking and finishing my coffee

That was scarily impressive. You've obviously done this a few times, to remember everything that needs disconnecting. Mind you, it must help having such a corrosion free motor to work on. Living here in the rain-swept, salty-roaded UK, at 1 hour 16 minutes into the job, I'd probably still be wrestling with and swearing at the first rusted solid nut.

Who are the sad 6 viewers that gave this video a thumbs down? REALLY .....Thanks for all your videos, I respect your efficiency and love to watch a pro at work! I hope you to watch any r56 second gen videos.

You have helped me so much this week, removing two engines and installing one. I am now watching your engine rebuild videos... Thank you so much for these videos... Truly excellent.

I keep re-watching this, thinking that pulling the engine would make replacing the clutch and flyhweel so much easier than dropping the subframe. Not so much the number of things you disconnect, but avoiding all the time you spend getting the transmission splined back in place. And you can be sure to avoid needing a wheel alignment. But it seems like most people still prefer to leave the engine and drop the subframe instead.

Thankyou. This has been very useful! I used this video to aid me removing my sons engine to replace the clutch and oil seals. One useful tip though... It isn't necessary to remove any electrical connections from the engine, except the starter motor wires, just disconnect the 3 multi-plugs from the ECU, the fuse box and the right hand chassis rail.

You really know these Mins well don`t you, nice job! O and thanks you helped me out last year when replacing a Clutch for a customer me and another auto tech viewed your video before we started and we both believed it saved us a lot of time . Thanks Again!

You are very knowledgeable in what you do. We are so fortunate to have a gentleman to take his time to show us in detail how to perform such a complicated process, without guys like you, fake news would be king, and we would be the blind leading the blind!

Another great video ! combined, your videos have saved me a small fortune in labour with servicing and repairing my R50 and R53. Thanks again.

Love your videos, given me the confidence to do lots of different jobs on my R53 myself. Thank you!

Thanks, your videos are the best! R52/53 for the Win!!

Thank you so much Mr modmini for the patience of sharing your knowledge with us. We have 2 r50 's one with a bad 5 speed transmission and the other one with a knock on the engine. And your videos have given us the courage to start disassembling both. Thank you !

Great Job! You make this look easy, and I know it's not. I helped my dad for years on older cars and these little things are a beast.

This was awesome! I can't even imagine attempting to remove an engine, let alone do it in under two hours.

never seen anyone work some fast and so much knowledge of mini cars.....awesome...wish you were my mechanic in Australia!!!!!!!

Got my R53 last year and it threw a rod so finding this video was super informative for when I go to replace mine. Thank you!

Bravo! You really know the R53. Very illustrative. Thanks for the experience!

2023 and still goes strong! This is helping me a lot with my Mini S 2004

Having just replaced the gearbox on my R50 Cooper(Not an S) I now find myself having to change the engine.As No 4 cylinder has no compression.And being quoted silly amounts to do the repair.It seems cheaper for me to swap out the engine with another that i've sourced.I'm just hoping that with watching your step through i'll be able to do it.Obviously take me a bit longer than 1hr16 lol.

How on gods green earth do you remember all this!!!!????? And never mind putting it all back together...amazing job

Nice... R53 engine bay is very compact. I expect it is double the time in reverse. When I had my R53 engine (motor) taken out for a rebuild it was certainly messy. You have done a clean job.

Liked and subscribed! Mighty fine work you're doing there. I've been hankerin' for a Mini as of late and the used ones are starting to get in my price range. Videos like this are a great source of information for those of us that work on our own cars.

A joy to watch. I just got a R53 2004 with 53,000 miles on it. Love it to bits. As a boy in the 70s we used to do minis up and drive them to school aged 15. Different game now. I check your stuff as I know I will need it one day. If you could recommend anything to help the cars performance would be appreciated. Thanks

wow. thats awesome quick work. it'd probably take me a good day by myself to do all that lol. thanks for the instructional videos, its been very helpful in doing various work on my r53!

I am so amazed at the lack of rust on the bottom of this car. I have not seen an R53 this clean since 2006.

Buddy and I had this on loop for infotainment while pulling an R53 motor today.

If I needed to remove my engine I would challenge your time haha. I am sure I would finish in three times the time it took you. That is if I'm watching your video otherwise I would probably never figure it out! You are a total pro.

Ottimo lavoro, I tuoi video mi stanno aiutando tanto per la mia Mini r53, grazie. Saluti dall'Italia.

Awesome, You do a great job and so relaxed too the rest of us are like- oh crap,oh crap.

You are crazy man ! Nice Job ! 👍👍👌

Ahhh..so scary fast. Love your videos. Taught me so much. Thanks from Scotland.

This is a complete class of mecanic, thanks for the video, very helpful.

Thanks for posting such a detailed engine removal . Lots to learn from your videos !

One of the best videos I've ever seen.

I watch these MINI repair videos and am so happy I don't own one or have to work on it. What a PITA!!!!!

Seems like the best way to do a bunch of things on the car at the same time like redoing most of the seals, new clutch, new pulleys and tensioner.

I followed this video and got my engine out. it took me three days. impact wrench would have been nice. I'm glad I only broke a couple of things. without a video like this it would never have been done.

Pleasure watching you work.

Very nice! You did it quickly, but did not compromise the quality of your work! Well done.

Very impressive, every tool ready to go and you don't even need the shop manual. Nice work.

This guy is really good! I am very impressed! Very well done. Thanks for posting this.

I must say that is impressive. Mini is next VW cult, and I am hooked, thanks to you !

U know everything about minis great job master

Perfect in depth video of removing my *hit engine. I do believe I can do this. I don't think I could put it back together the way I took it apart though. This would be my first engine pull

Great job brudda anyone that gives a thumbs down is not are our level and can't accomplish what you did 👍

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR MINI VIDEOS!!!!!!

Probably quicker than most mini dealerships

Thanks again for another awesome video. Keep up the great work!!!!

master plug on the electrics allows you to leave all the spaghetti wiring in place. Finding the bolts launched across the floor takes longer too

you make it look easy.

Excellent video, lots of useful information, many thanks. Keep the videos coming, I totally enjoy them...cheers, Wolfie

Excellent video ...great work!

Massively impressive. You make it seem faster to get to the clutch by taking the engine out... But I think the time saved will be spent refilling fluids and bleeding air. Going to go rewatch your clutch video now. Lol.

Awesome video, liked and subscribed🙂, also the best head camera video footage that I have watched on youtube. Looking forward to watch all your videos on your channel and thank you for sharing your knowledge

Your proficiency in doing this is astounding. You put most professional mechanics to shame. Will you put a LSD in my 05 Mini if I pay for your trouble? I know it is your hobby.

You did it great job

oh to have you as a neighbor...i'm very good mechanically, but very slow. wiring harnesses are intimidating because i always think i'm going to forget where two similar things went or things won't go in smoothly as they came out. i've done two 1970s vintage bmw 3.0 motors, a volvo 242gt, and by far my volkswagen tdi beetle is the biggest pain to work on - but wait, there's more...i just bought a 2005 cooper s convertible and after seeing what's involved, i hope it never breaks!

Wow this is a gem video for mini owner thanks a lot

Awesome lift! And thanks for this vid.

Proper feeling ur vids, thnx 4 posting this one. Love the BMW R53 Cooper S & of course the JCW which I now have. Only thing with Minis the engine is so "compact together" u have to move 5 or more things, just to get to do a job on 1 particular part. Anyway I'm Now a Subscriber keep up the Good Work. Well since u done this u might as well go all the way & do a Reversal ? Putting the engine together from scratch - on the clock ! Now that I would love to see bro... Spk 2 u soon.

Nice work. Very impressive.

After recently following your clutch change video, I'm going to say, you make it look alot easier to pull the engine and box in one, and swap the clutch off the car. Anyway great vids, thanks alot for uploading.

I can't even change my wheels with those gloves on and you pulled a whole motor!

At some point I have to do clutch/flywheel/crank seal and timing chain so I’m probably just going to whip the entire engine out, thanks to your vid it seems the most sensible option. While I’m there I can check for oil leaks and sort where necessary

you are the man .. impressive sir.

Interesting, so Mini Coopers are like giant watches. How many times have you gone through the removal and reinstall cycle? Obviously a lot. My takeaway? -- cordless impact drivers are priceless. Is the 2002-2006 series drive train acceptably reliable in your opinion? This is the ideal reason RU-vid exists - *thank you* for documenting all of this. Subscribed.

great job buddy fast hands

Damn, well done and very detailed. Definitely helps me out lol.

Ya I could do this no problem - putting it all back together is another question

That was quick!

Good work there, did you know you don't need to undress the engine harness whilst it's still in the car? You can remove the associated plugs from the bottom of the fuse box and the twist connector and earth point on the lh chassis leg, all the fuse box plugs only go back where they came from so no chance of refitting wrong

Very impressed

Damnit man. You are awesome.

Great job

About to tackle this task and replace it with a new built engine. May the Mini Gods look upon me 🙏

Was this the same Cooper that had the head gasket replaced ? Enjoy your videos, I feel more confident working on my own Mini after watching your videos. Just wondering about the engine removed if it was the same car as the head gasket job or what the reason for removing the engine.

Great job!

wow , your energy ,, your a mini master ,, im impressed ,, nice job ,, your hired ,, lol

I replaced the transmission on my R50 with a six-speed from an R53 after removing the subframe with the engine in the car so I appreciate what it takes to do this kind of work. If I'm replacing a bad engine on with a good one is this method the easiest for Gen1 S models? I'd keep the existing transmission.

Great video , super detailed, thank you.

Bravo. Great ! Thanks !

I'm currently taking the engine out of my mini r52. I'm 2 days in and only about half as far as you are! I'm hoping that slow and steady will reduce the risk of breakages. Currently doing battle with one of the lower ball joints - its not budging. I've tried a ball joint clamp tool and then a good old lump hammer. No joy. Tomorrow's another day though...

Brilliant video, it is so nice to see components come apart from a very cluttered engine compartment. As a fellow RU-vid author I know how difficult that can be, and I am amazed at how quickly you work. I've been searching for the cause of a short to ground on the D-bus of a 2005 R50, and to my surprise it persists even after disconnecting all the modules. I'm left with the challenge of tracing all those wires to try and find a central Diagnostic Bus splice that is shown schematically but not labelled or described in the dealers repair manual. Presumably it is behind the dash, although I wonder if it is in the middle of the 'octopus' you show in this video. You wouldn't happen to know where that central Diagnostic Bus splice is, would you?

amazing skills,weld one from the uk👍🏻

You rock! Wish you were my neighbor!

I need my timing chain fixed. Mini: That'll be 1 bajillion dollars. It's a lot of hours and specialty tools. Me: I just saw a guy on RU-vid take the entire engine out in an hour, in his garage, using the drill I use for drywall screws. lol

Mad skill sets but what I like is after all these years you still film working on your back with 4 jack stands just like a typical DIYer. My only problem is as I get older and don't move as well, the 18" under the car seems to get smaller and smaller.I need a bigger jack (or that floor lift you have in the notes). Not withstanding your 2014 build of the 244 hp beast this is not my daily driver but I know eventually it will no longer be cost effective even as a toy. I need move on to a newer one but like me the newer models seem to just keep getting bigger losing that go-cart feel and the whine of a supercharger.

I owe you at least a case of beer. Thanks for all the effort you put into these vids. I have an R53 that has had most of the common issues accumulate, so I bit the bullet and pulled the motor to tackle all the items in one shot. Clutch, pan gasket, oil filter housing gasket, crank sensor o-ring, supercharger oil change and pulley upgrade, I did the works. Bought all the tools and parts you recommended. Back on the road and loving it. Offer for you - I purchased a front control arm bushing replacement tool kit to press out the old and install the polyurethane replacements (worked great, seemed less fiddly than thread all). Would you like it? I will never use it again, and would be happy to ship it to you if its a tool you'd like for your arsenal. Just reply if you'd like it and I will send it on. Many thanks and great work! Keep on posting!

Hi Mod, what camera do you use on your head for recording this?

All info is great! I have also watched cows being butchered and it almost sounds the same 😜

Cool. seems more involved than my 08 clubman would be. Knock on wood that i just hit 100000 with having only a thermostat , mechanical water pump and turbo oil feed line replaced on it. Probably will start having to replace stuff I'm guessing. Was hoping to get 150000 before i rebuild the engine and changed the clutch. Always informative. Thanks.

Man, now I really want a cordless impact.

Incredible!!

Sorry this was my comment not the other person's lol Having just replaced the gearbox on my R50 Cooper(Not an S) I now find myself having to change the engine.As No 4 cylinder has no compression.And being quoted silly amounts to do the repair.It seems cheaper for me to swap out the engine with another that i've sourced.I'm just hoping that with watching your step through i'll be able to do it.Obviously take me a bit longer than 1hr16

Great job my friend.

Really an awesome collection of r53 videos! I'm getting ready to switch (with the help of your video) a donor motor from a 2003 s to a 2005 s, is there anything I should expect that won't cross over smoothly?

Hey man great videos, all of them have helped me get through things on my 02 cooper s. But I was wondering if you have ever planned on doing a timing chain replacement video? My car is making that death rattle and I have been looking for all kinds of videos to kind of help me get through this before I actually do anything to the car. Like, is it easier to remove the engine to to the timing chain? Or would it be better to leave the engine inside and take off the fender on that side of the car?

What a pro. I think you've probably done this so many times that you remember every connection and bolts on top of your head. I did the control arm bushings myself and it was a PIA. How do you keep track of all the bolts? My mini needs some servicing (clutch, seals, pulley upgrade) when I have time. While I'm at, it I'll change all the fluids, new brakes and whatever suspension upgrades I can think of. Pulling the engine does make everything easier. The cost of parts and tools will cost me over a thousand dollars, but it's much better than the price I am expected to pay at the stealer of at least 5K.

I think it took you longer to replace a clutch? Would it save time to pull the engine when doing a clutch?