R55 purchased

[irocfan]

well I've done it and bought myself what seems to be (reading all the tales of woe) the worst/most unreliable car ever to see the light of day! That's right I am now the proud owner of a Mini R55.

Loved the spec (heated seats and windscreen, satnav, leather, steering wheel controls, flappy paddle box) and colour, one owner from new






I'll chuck some more pics up later this weekend. Poor bloody car's not going to know what's going on since it's only done 52k from new and we'll be putting c.350 miles on this weekend

[Dave.]

How many of those 350miles will be on the back of a truck?

What year is it? N14 or N18?

[irocfan]

Dave. said:

How many of those 350miles will be on the back of a truck?

What year is it? N14 or N18?

I did say that most worst/unreliable it's a '57 so that makes it the grenade special N14

[Dave.]

Say hi to Rodney for me...

[vikingaero]

There's a guy called Bimmer Dude who has a videos on YT. It's about his N14 R56 but applies to the R55:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6NlRwL4qHa2-1FpH...

Being handy with spanners will help.

It's a really Jekyll & Hyde car. I love it for being that bit special and being able to turn from a B-Road blatter to a supreme motorway muncher. The bad is the constant worry of problems which I've finally got most on top of:

New timing chain/guides/pulleys.
New valve cover
Oil/Coolant seals

To do:
Reseal oil sump & AT sump

Parts prices have dropped. Plastic valve covers used to be main stealer only at £300 now £100 for OEM.

Edited by vikingaero on Saturday 7th September 13:16

[mikeswagon]

I like that, hot chocolate is one of my favourites for a clubby, suits the character of the car.

[irocfan]

mikeswagon said:

I like that, hot chocolate is one of my favourites for a clubby, suits the character of the car.

cheers


Car's only done 52k - I just gave it a little run out this weekend, car must've wondered WTF was going on when it was suddenly asked to do 360/370 miles all at once! All in all though I was quite impressed, bit more wind-noise than I expected but on a nice surface it's a lovely thing to be in, rougher roads do produce quite a bit of tyre noise but nothing worth worryin g about.Satnav and the sunroofs worked as did the a/c and cruise - though it has blown a brake light.

[mikeswagon]

irocfan said:

cheers


Car's only done 52k - I just gave it a little run out this weekend, car must've wondered WTF was going on when it was suddenly asked to do 360/370 miles all at once! All in all though I was quite impressed, bit more wind-noise than I expected but on a nice surface it's a lovely thing to be in, rougher roads do produce quite a bit of tyre noise but nothing worth worryin g about.Satnav and the sunroofs worked as did the a/c and cruise - though it has blown a brake light.

I've a similar situation, 2010 JCW which had 34k when I got it, now sitting at 43k. I tilt the sunroof pretty much every time I'm out - shame they don't have a counter thing like the convertibles to record how much it's open. Are you running on run-flats? I found it a good bit quieter with normal tyres.

[irocfan]

mikeswagon said:

I've a similar situation, 2010 JCW which had 34k when I got it, now sitting at 43k. I tilt the sunroof pretty much every time I'm out - shame they don't have a counter thing like the convertibles to record how much it's open. Are you running on run-flats? I found it a good bit quieter with normal tyres.

think they may be run-flats - however they're all new at the mo so I'll bear the noise for now

[Dave.]

Sounds like a pretty good shakedown.

Any plans for it?

[irocfan]

Dave. said:

Sounds like a pretty good shakedown.

Any plans for it?

Tbh the intention was was to buy a shed+. Then I looked at a couple over-budget and then another over them and then this

I'm happy with it as it is, my Camaro fills my other needs - I did think I'd look at an oil-pressure gauge and oil temp. Then I found out how much they were

[mikeswagon]

irocfan said:

think they may be run-flats - however they're all new at the mo so I'll bear the noise for now

Fair enough, turn the radio up a notch and you'll never notice.

As for temp gauges, something like an ultragauge would do the job, or any of those cheaper OBD gauges on ebay. It's on my Christmas list, along with an oil catch can.

[irocfan]

mikeswagon said:

As for temp gauges, something like an ultragauge would do the job, or any of those cheaper OBD gauges on ebay. It's on my Christmas list, along with an oil catch can.

that's not a bad shout.

Another mod would be to try and get my phone paired with it to enable blue-tooth streaming (I understand this can be done - just need to look into the hows)

[mikeswagon]

irocfan said:

that's not a bad shout.

Another mod would be to try and get my phone paired with it to enable blue-tooth streaming (I understand this can be done - just need to look into the hows)

If you're Android the Torque app is all you'll need, and the little Bluetooth dongle for the OBD. I should really investigate if there's something similar for iPhones.

[R55 Blue]

irocfan said:

well I've done it and bought myself what seems to be (reading all the tales of woe) the worst/most unreliable car ever to see the light of day! That's right I am now the proud owner of a Mini R55.

Loved the spec (heated seats and windscreen, satnav, leather, steering wheel controls, flappy paddle box) and colour, one owner from new






I'll chuck some more pics up later this weekend. Poor bloody car's not going to know what's going on since it's only done 52k from new and we'll be putting c.350 miles on this weekend

I've got an R55 Hampton model, I've done 104K in it and all its needed (except tyres and servicing) was a clutch and fly wheel at 98k.

It's been a great little car mate. Enjoy!