Bought a car from dealer via text message

[Jims5543]

This is actually the second time I have done this. The first time was the i3, I test drove the car, the salesman made the mistake of texting me the next day. I offered a close to insulting offer out the door price. He declined, I said fine.

24 hours later he accepted. I did all the paperwork via email. Walked in signed my name about 20 times and left in 15 minutes.

This time I purchased sight unseen, based off a Car Guru ad. A 2005 Mini Cooper S with 40K miles on it. A Florida car I am the 3rd owner. No haggle price at a boutique car lot that handles mostly collectible cars and unique cars.

I was trying to get away Monday to see it, I am just too busy but did not want this low mile car to get away. I told him to work up the numbers and wire transferred the sales price to him after docusigning the paperwork.

I am leaving work early Friday to drive 20 miles to go get it. Everything is signed this time, the offered to deliver the car, we are going to drive down to Jupiter get it and go out to dinner.

[vash]

beautiful car!!

i cant even get my wife to pull some fish out of the freezer to defrost for dinner, via text message.

well done!!

[Norm K]

Cool little ride in a looks-great-on-that-car color.

_

[Jims5543]

Its my 3rd R53 Mini, first non JCW. I cannot find an R53 JCW anywhere for sale.

When I saw 40K miles on this, I knew I could get over the non JCW pedigree.

I will toss a few bolt on upgrades to make it as quick as a JCW. Cat-Back, intake and pulley should do the trick. I still have oil filters on the shelf I never got rid of and the tool to change the SC belt.

Wife unit already informed me the rims need to go. LOL!!

[Steve Carlton]

Nice!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by vash

beautiful car!!

I cant even get my wife to pull some fish out of the freezer to defrost for dinner, via text message.

well done!!

roflmao

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

Its my 3rd R53 Mini, first non JCW. I cannot find an R53 JCW anywhere for sale.

When I saw 40K miles on this, I knew I could get over the non JCW pedigree.

I will toss a few bolt on upgrades to make it as quick as a JCW. Cat-Back, intake and pulley should do the trick. I still have oil filters on the shelf I never got rid of and the tool to change the SC belt.

Wife unit already informed me the rims need to go. LOL!!

Nice! Looks like those are trying to be a modern take on a minilite, but they aren't pulling it off. Fortunately, the wife is OK with spending money on an upgrade.

I like that original style mini. What I can't get behind are the newer minis. I call them maxis, because they are even bigger and (to me) lost the appeal of the original.

Have fun!

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by masraum

Nice! Looks like those are trying to be a modern take on a minilite, but they aren't pulling it off. Fortunately, the wife is OK with spending money on an upgrade.

I like that original style mini. What I can't get behind are the newer minis. I call them maxis, because they are even bigger and (to me) lost the appeal of the original.

Have fun!

I honestly do not like any Bini model beyond the R53 (1`st Gen of the new Mini) they kept growing and growing. The R53 looks tiny on todays roads.

And it looks like a giant next to my Classic Mini.

[Baz]

NICE score Jim....an '05 with only 40K miles....that's fantastic!

Congrats and please keep us posted on the journey......

[berettafan]

I really like that color!

The F250 i just bought was done entirely via email. Options, pricing and trade in valuation. Honestly the dealers seem to like this method. Had one truck i was working via text (sharp salesman remembered me from a year ago and texted me when he saw my inquiry) but that one sold almost immediately. Crazy how easily we throw around money these days.

[Rot 911]

That is my favorite color! And the 05-06 R53s are the most reliable out of all the Minis. Also the last two years of the supercharged engine.

[Jims5543]

Thanks guys, yes, the R53 is my favorite and the only Bini I will consider purchasing.

LOL - A JCW style intake and 19% pulley have already been ordered. I will see if that makes me happy for now. Since this is not a JCW, I feel more inclined to mod it some.

When I had my JCW's I tried to not mess with them under the hood, they really did not need it.

[Steve Carlton]

I factory ordered a 2003 for my wife. As soon as she saw the car, she was all-in. Picked Silk Green with a matching roof and it had nav, the minilite type wheels, and nav. Fun car, but the non-turbo CVT sucked. Paid $3,000 over MSRP at the time, then got King Kong money for it a couple of years later. Like this, except the wheels:

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

I factory ordered a 2003 for my wife. As soon as she saw the car, she was all-in. Picked Silk Green with a matching roof and it had nav, the minilite type wheels, and nav. Fun car, but the non-turbo CVT sucked. Paid $3,000 over MSRP at the time, then got King Kong money for it a couple of years later. Like this, except the wheels:

I read a Car and Driver article about the new Bini in 2002-03 and drove to the nearest dealership to check them out, test drive one.

I ended up putting a deposit on a 2003 JCW that was built to my exact specs. No sunroof, and whatever other options I chose back then, not much. I wanted a simple car that was light and nimble. I remember I ordered the checkered roof vinyl.

I took delivery of a Mini Cooper S (not JCW) and had ordered the JCW kit (dealer installed) so I had to wait a couple of months to get the kit installed. I got to drive that car as a MCS then as a JCW and see / feel transformation.

I have to be honest, the best transformation was losing the S-Lite Rims and run flats, then putting on a set of lightweight rims and performance summer tires.

This was my 03 JCW



*edit* Found a pic with the Kosei K-1 rims on it.



A few years ago, I found a 06 JCW with 80K miles on it for $8K. I purchased it but was uneasy as it was a rust belt car. The rear brake lines ended up rusting out. I had to replace them. Then I noticed one day while washing waxing that there were rust bubbles working their way up from down low. We decided to get an i3 at the time so I just sold it for what I paid for it after driving 2 years and 10K miles.

I really liked this shade of blue. I remember the guy that bought it taking it for a test drive, he was mind blown how quick it was. That is my concern with this one, I feel like it will be underwhelming with 42 less HP than the JCW.

[ToySnakePMC]

Love the R52/R53 versions! This is my wife’s 2008 MCS Sidewalk edition we bought used about 5 yrs ago with 60k. Immediately did full cooling refresh, crank sensor, belts, water pump, and oil change in the supercharger - among normal consumables to make it rather bulletproof for the wifey. Our second one. First one was an ordered ‘03 pepper white, black roof, and red interior... cutie pie.

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

Its my 3rd R53 Mini, first non JCW. I cannot find an R53 JCW anywhere for sale.

When I saw 40K miles on this, I knew I could get over the non JCW pedigree.

I will toss a few bolt on upgrades to make it as quick as a JCW. Cat-Back, intake and pulley should do the trick. I still have oil filters on the shelf I never got rid of and the tool to change the SC belt.

Wife unit already informed me the rims need to go. LOL!!

Nice score!

BTW, Mrs. Jim sounds pretty cool . . . .

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by Flat Six

Nice score!

BTW, Mrs. Jim sounds pretty cool . . . .

Yeah she is a keeper for sure. She is not as much as a car nut as I am but I am slowly turning her into one.

She ordered a set of rims and tires for it last night. LOL!! I think she is a little excited. We do not even have the car yet! I am not 100% sure I like the rims, but the Mini is going to be her DD so its her choice.

She texted her niece who has a newer Maxi Cooper and told her. The niece is a car nut too, she has formed a Mini group on FB and organizes meets and cruises. She demanded we join her now.

This was her DD before we got the i3. It has a E46 2.8 mated to a E46 M3 6 speed swapped in. We just drove it across Florida and back 2 weekends ago.

[Starless]

Great color!!!!
Enjoy!

[Jims5543]

Yeah... never buy a car sight unseen.

The stealership did a masterful job of taking pictures of the car from angles that concealed the fact that the car had spent its entire life outdoors in the sun. It started its life in Hawaii with the 1st owner, then migrated to Jupiter Florida with the second owner. Then ended up at this lot.

I am working 80-100 hour weeks the mere fact that I had time to find it and purchase it is something that should be regarded as a miracle.

When we arrived to pick up the car, I just started laughing, I was duped.. So be it, it does indeed have 40K miles on it, it just sat outdoors its entire life... but it has 40K miles...

The paint was shot, along with most of the exterior plastic.. fortunately for me, I know a guy...

We struck a deal for a full re-spray. He did my sons E30 and did a fantastic job, except this time he was worried and wanted better than perfect.

So lets go on to the story.

See the problem here? The car, due to sun damage is 3 shades of Electric Blue.. Kudo's to the Stealership for their photography skillz that made that disappear.

Also kudo's to the salesman for not being forthright - Caveat emptor.


As I said I laughed, I had a 40K mile 2005 car, try to find one, I dare you!!

This was a hiccup, I got this....

First a picture of how it REALLY looks.



We decided to black out all the chrome as we replaced a lot of the parts on the car.

So here we go.. time tear it down and paint it....





The sun did some amazing damage, a lot of exterior parts had to be ordered, some were backordered dragging this ordeal out much longer than anticipated. I also went above and beyond and ordered a lot of blacked out parts as well as some 3M black vinyl so I could black out what could not be purchased.

I would like to point out, this has been going on for weeks, all while working 80+ hours many time ordering parts in the middle of the night and only sleeping 4-5 hours a night.

The poor girl showed a lot of battle scars from what I am assuming is a life in Condo or apartment parking lot life.




The paint / body guy had his work cut out for him. Just for me, he ordered a bouncy house paint booth, before this, he used to jut put up a plastic sheet paint booth. I was flattered by his effort, furthermore, he called in a favor from a friend who works in a high end restoration shop to spray the car.





What do we have here?


I cannot even begin to express how deep this paint cam out, IIRC 3 coats of paint 2 coats of clear. Fantastic results the paint POPS!!





Starting to come together, hopefully next week it will finally be done, delays from suppliers made this draw out much longer than anticipated.

As mentioned we are blacking out all the chrome the headlights are next.

[Jims5543]

The stock tail lights were done even falling apart. I ordered some replacements. I also ordered some flat black replacements for the wings around the Mini in the middle of the hood and boot. I also have a black "Cooper S" for the back we will wait until the paint cures to put that on.



Doing my research, I found out that the side Scuttle on the 2002 Mini was black and you could still purchase them, I replaced our chrome units with black units.



Next weekend the upgraded intercooler will be installed and possibly the 19% pulley.


I have a cat back ordered and a rear sway bar. Then I am done, this should be a fun little car.
If you never drove an R53 Mini, the supercharger begs you to just wail on it, it is such a fun car to drive hard.