Morning all,
Thought I'd sign up as I've found a few threads helpful on here already! Recently bought a 2007 Mini Cooper S as a run around for me and when I've finished working on my other cars it'll replace the wife's Fiesta.
Got to say, I like it a lot more than I was expecting, very fun little car with lots of character! Took a while to find one in the spec me and the wife could agree on as on the "must have's" list was black or very dark bodywork, heated seats, heated front window, xenons and cruise control.
It definitely needs some loving, came with a host of issues and very short mot, but it was also cheap, so can't complain!
Gear linkage bush gone at the selector - Fixed the bush back in place with glue...Not sure how long this will last, but so far so good.
Return spring for selector not raising the selector, so the gear stick doesn't centre - Haven't had a chance to pull this part out the box yet, but access looks good.
Thermostat stuck closed or near closed - Replacement should be arriving today.
Bonnet latches not working - Needed a new cable, release lever and much cleaning of the latches so they return properly, now fixed.
Broken grill fixings - Fixed with plast-aid.
NSR caliper handbrake mech seized - Fixed.
Sunroof stuck and will not raise properly - Not looked into this yet!
So the car gets quite warm with the thermostat not working correctly. I am driving it to work as it's only 2.5 miles each way and keeping an eye on the coolant temp to avoid any issues (Much thanks to the thread detailing how to access the hidden menu to view coolant temp!). I am also suspicious it might have overheated prior to my ownership and need a head gasket, but I'll do the thermostat first and go from there! I pressure tested the cooling system and all seemed fine, but it does smoke a bit on start-up.. Could just be condensation evaporating off, but it seems to be quite a bit of steam...Haven't done the sniff test to see if it smells sweet yet.. Time will tell.
I also noticed a slight rattle on startup when cold this morning, so will order up a timing chain. The car has done 103k miles and I cant see any record in the history of it being done yet. I've read broken top guides are common on these engines.
I noticed some minor oil leaks around the valve cover and oil cooler housing, so some new gaskets are in order.
Alloys could do with painting.
Oh and she needs a good service.
So all in all, in need of some good mechanical TLC. The bodywork and interior are very tidy though, so very happy with that.
She came with an aftermarket intake and 3" cat-back exhaust, which is getting swapped back to oem as it's all bit a droney and whooshy for us at the moment
. But all in all I'm very pleased with how it drives and looks.
Anyway, enough blabbering, here are some pics!
That's all I can think of for now!
Other cars in the household are:
2014 1.25 Fiesta (Mini will be replacing this when the Phaeton is fixed)
2002 RX-7 Spirit R - Coolant seal failure, the engine currently in bits in the shed waiting for me to have more spare time!
2004 VW Phaeton 5.0 V10 TDI LWB - Engine rebuild with new turbos etc, currently in bits also! Hoping to have this one back together within a month or two.
Cheers
Tom.
do you have stickers on engine bay saying forge,, would be funny if it has as someone would of spent a good grand on motor in the past, when you do chain could drop sump and have a look at bottom of pistons and rods, i would always fit a genuine chain tensioner latyest version is longer and spring more progressive than after market ones are very hard as such, £53 from ocean bmw , FAI or febi bilsteen good chain kits, thats said genuine complete kit is under £300 for latest update one, below link one i done from a blow up 
