Mini Cooper S R53 initial review and drive - Supercharged fun! Is now the time to buy? | OVERTAKE 

A true enthusiast would never call other versions of his car rubbish and his a 'classic". Only fanboys do that.

@@larsbjrnson3101 I still think they are rubbish.

@@IamMagPie Well, at least all the others are british made and can be driven daily. It depends on everyones perspective i guess :)

The 1st gen mini are for sure as reliable than the newer generation of minis and I regret selling my mini cooper s convertible than I have few good mods on it, and now I'm getting another mini S Convertible that will not thinking of selling it again

It is fun man , indeed.

Totally agree with you ! As a 30 y/o Guy who had the chance to drive several expensive and high performance machines (Porsche 996, Z4 3.0is, Jaguar F type…). I hav recently discovered that nothing is better than cheep fun, and I don’t care anymore about what people think about me… Who needs a car to impress ? That is just nonsense… Anyway, I bought a 2005 R53 for cheep winter fun to store my Z3 in a dry garage… What a car ! It is honestly the most fun allarounder that I have. It even hapens that I want to take it for a spin during Summer… Bought for 5k€ and under the psychologic barrier of 100 000 kms, I would not be surprises to see prices going up. Cheers

Enjoy it!

Thank you so much!!

Thank you so much! They are really affordable at the moment and I think a great buy, enjoy your R53!

The whine certainly is great fun! There's quite a diverse range of options in the sub 5k market, but plenty of stuff seems to be creeping up into more expensive categories, like Type R's.

Good to see some fellow Mini owners, it's a great car with real character! Thanks for watching and your support! I'll look to get the R53 out on film again soon.

Awesome! Thank you and welcome back! I'm really pleased you picked up on the effort that goes into producing videos like these, it means a lot. Plan is to be much more active filming this year, stay tuned...

They're certainly great fun!

@@OvertakeFilms I just wish my R53 was right hand drive like yours

The US needs more diesel cars, you're so lucky to have a diesel Mini... too bad that time has passed over here :(

Brilliant! It's certainly fun and the Supercharger really adds to the character. Thanks for watching.

I wouldn't worry, a lovely N/A V6 has more than enough charm! It's funny, when they were new in the 2000's I wasn't a particular fan of the then 'new Mini', but as the years passed and cars grew in size, the R50/53 gen Mini's look the most resolved and pure in design to me. For the money in the UK there is a lot of fun to be had!

Amazing! Hope you enjoy it!!

@@OvertakeFilms its now written off. but was fun

@@finnmarsh396 what happened??

@@ImperialGaming met a tree on the way to work , backwards.

It was thirstier than I expected! Good fun nonetheless!

Glad you enjoyed it!

It is proving to be very tempting! Amazing bang for buck too!

Don't forget to upgrade the I/C though. A -11% pulley is okay but anything smaller will cause a few problems.

@@simonlloyd7557 I want to upgrade the 11% pulley + direnza + intercooler and panel filter without upgrading. Just under 200cv is more than enough for me .... Does it make sense? Or I have to do an flashing ECU and put an 17% ? Tnx in advance

@@b.o.rt.a5806 intercooler is a waste of money unless you can find an affordable GP intercooler (unlikely) or you go front mounted (unaffordable). If you can't keep temps down with the stock cooler and a diverter, I'd go straight to meth injection. I run a 17% pulley using a stock JCW belt with a stock intercooler and have had zero issues for 60,000 km. To answer your question, you could add a jcw pulley (11%) and be fine without a ECU flash. I'd consider at that point going to 1 step colder plugs. Anything more, I'd look into bigger injectors, as well as a tune. And for what it's worth, it's never enough. I started with a 210 hp JCW and I'm at 245 now... need more.

Wow sounds like you found a real keeper! And I thought I'd found a low miler! I'll definitely get the R53 back out on film again soon, just hope for some dry weather....Thanks for watching, you can always get me on Instagram/overtakefilms

'lady owner'... usually that means neglected. Maintenance left to someone lese, wahser bottle not topped up, kerbed wheels, oil and tyres never checked, interior scratched by rings etc and greasy lotions on the touch surfaces, not to mention numerous scratches from stuff being thrown in and out. I'd rather buy an enthusiast owned vehicle that the owner knows inside out and has cherished.

when purchased it she done nothing like that and hardly used it so was lucky but I know what you mean about some lady owners and poor ownership

Mines mint, 2003 , 15% pulley, Airtec intercooler, Colder plugs. 59000 miles , Full Service history main dealers. Garaged. R53 Jet Black Rare OEM Factory fitted aero kit OEM factory fitted JCW wheels Red enameled calipers Factory Tinted rear windows Miltek Sports exhaust system. Electric sun roof full panoramic Reduced pulley wheel 15% Colder running NGK plugs. BCR8ES Aircon ASC +T Cruise control Zenon headlights with washers Upgraded Airtec intercooler and boots. OEM Extra dials, oil temp, battery. SERVICE March 2019 Full All fluids and filters. BMW M Macedonia. Surface Rust. Sills under rubber ..done Jan 2020 BMW Bushes control arm Done March 2020. BMW.UK Front wheel bearings .Done March 2020.BMW.UK Plugs - done Nov 18 Belt and 15% - done March19 Intercooler - done Dec 18 Engine oil / done March 19 Còolant / done March19 Brake fluid /-done March19 Air filter /done March 19 Micro filter/done March 19 Fuel Filter done March 19 .

Thanks, will do!

Coming soon! If it ever stops raining...

Thanks for your support and thanks for the tips! I'll definitely look into the bushes.

I have mine for over 12years. My wife knows she will always come 2nd... after the MINI. lol

I think the runflats are great, I still have them on mine 19 years after I bought the car. People don't like the price and try to justify that position by inventing things about road feel. But trust me, when you've had a puncture in this car you'll love the runflats. I've had three punctures in my time owning my R53 and I just check the tyre isn't slashed to shreds or punctured in the sidewall, and then get back in a continue my journey at reduced speed.

​@@owensmith7530 Runflats' weight and rigidity cause NVH. Doesn't help handling either. Try some proper tyres, you might be surprised.

@@JussiKoukku What is NVH? And if I got rid of the runflats how am I supposed to get a spare wheel into the car? No spare turns a puncture from a shrug of the shoulders to a pain in the neck.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! The roads are outside Reading, in Berkshire.

@@OvertakeFilms oh wow not even far from me and I didn't know this! Thanks alot matey

I'll check it out! Thanks!

It's very tempting to do, maybe once lockdown lifts....

It's plenty of fun without doing any of those. And reducing the pulley will increase engine wear, not a good idea at the age these cars are now.

What's a CAI?

I traded my NA Miata (MX-5) for my R53. Mostly because I am very tall and fit much better in the Mini. The Miata has a tighter shifter, is overall easier to work on, and obviously is rear wheel drive. The Mini is much faster, and handles very well for FWD, and I like the pedal box more, but I miss the feel of the throttle cable, the mini is drive by wire. I miss my Miata, but the R53 is much more practical. I drove mine 2600 miles across America and it was amazing having the supercharger to cross the mountain passes!

@@aaronredbaron brilliant review, I'm holding onto my Miata MX-5 until it's beyond my means to repair.

Turboing a R50 Cooper (no turbo/supercharger) will cost you as much as buying an R56 Cooper S (has a turbo), if not more. It is possible, just it's better to purchase the later model series that has it factory, of which you know, you can upgrade it. On a side note, I love my R53 Cooper S, but unless you've always wanted one or it's your dream car, tinkering being "fun" is a very long stretch if you just want something to do, there are other cars that are fun that aren't BMW-difficult to work on, especially these Minis, that are sandwiched together, unlike its Austin/Morris predecessors designed to be for the common man/woman/creature to work on, and easy to do at that. As an example, to change the radiator, you need to remove the whole front-end (bumper, crash bar, crash bars) of the car to do something that is as easy as 1 step on almost every other car. That's one thing, now apply that process to about 60-70% of the work you'll be doing under the hood. So, like I said, unless you love the idea of owning Mini, it's not worth the hassle otherwise, especially the premium of buying BMW parts when they fail (because they will fail). I love my R53 Mini, and the my Morris Mini restoration project (Both my dream cars), but I can't recommend it as a car "you just own", it's BMW pain and suffering on a great car that doesn't deserve crappy German-over-engineering. If the R53 wasn't my dream car, I would've sold it a long time ago. All I can conclude with, is if you have an abundance of money that you want to experiment with, then go for it, it's a fun car.

I will check it out, thanks!

It must have been on the car when I got it, maybe from new!?

Oops sorry, that's why I included the caveat of 'initial', I'll be doing a more thorough review once I've lived with the car for longer.