Kansas City MINI Enthusiasts

Wonder what happened to those? It has been a while. If I had a garage and the tools I would definitely host one but I don't. Hey Dave, think you could do one before winter sets in? Those were always a good time to do a little work on your Mini and learn a little more about caring for your Mini.

Let me know what people need to do on their cars.....I've got a lot going on between now and the end of the year but I'll try and squeeze one in if people really need it......

I am due for an oil change, v-belt, and cabin filter. Also have a downpipe calling me. I can handle all these at home though (maybe not oil change - just don't like messing with it). Also will look at brake pads sometime soon. Mine squeal like no other and make a ton of dust even though they have life left in them.

I would be happy to lend a hand on others' vehicles as I am back in town now (was living in Albuquerque).

I would definitely be interested in a garage day. Just picked up my R50 a little over a month ago and I have several projects that I need to work on to get it to where I want it. Top priorities right now are probably rear brakes and an oil change.

Rear Brakes also needed here. Not sure what to buy for my Mini 2012 clubman, Brake light just came on about 2 weeks ago, and have been told I still have some time, but dummy lights and that lift drive me crazy. Help and suggestions Ideas?

CowboyCoop wrote:Rear Brakes also needed here. Not sure what to buy for my Mini 2012 clubman, Brake light just came on about 2 weeks ago, and have been told I still have some time, but dummy lights and that lift drive me crazy. Help and suggestions Ideas?

I brought my car in when the light came on and said the issue was with the front brakes. Turned out it just needed pads. Ordered some Akebono pads and a rear brake sensor on ebay. $60 or so. I accidentally got the rear sensor when I needed the front sensor and ordered an extra so I may even have the rear pad sensor lying around here.

CowboyCoop wrote:Rear Brakes also needed here. Not sure what to buy for my Mini 2012 clubman, Brake light just came on about 2 weeks ago, and have been told I still have some time, but dummy lights and that lift drive me crazy. Help and suggestions Ideas?

How many miles on your car?

If 60K or over you need pads and rotors and one sensor to turn off the light. If under 60K you might get away with just pads and the sensor.

I've been buying ceramic pads - no black dust! The last set I got from Autozone, much cheaper than OEM and they seem to work just fine. I put Akebono pads on my Audi and they are good too. YMMV.

Minidave wrote: I've been buying ceramic pads - no black dust! The last set I got from Autozone, much cheaper than OEM and they seem to work just fine. I put Akebono pads on my Audi and they are good too. YMMV.

On Dave's advice, I switched to Akebono pads on the front and rear and I have been pleased with them.

Garage Day sounds great. The next things I have on the plate that I have been intimidated by are to install a reduction pulley to supercharger and changing oil and gasket in the SC.

stan360 wrote:Garage Day sounds great. The next things I have on the plate that I have been intimidated by are to install a reduction pulley to supercharger and changing oil and gasket in the SC.

Does the oil need to be changed in the supercharger? i knew someone who went 255,000 on a Cooper S without ever changing the oil in the supercharger. Never had a problem. I went 95,000 before selling my old Cooper S and the current owner is still driving it on the original supercharger oil.

If you are going to do that though you probably should replace the water pump as well. I would talk to ksminiman on the forum. He changed the oil in his supercharger. Was a royal pain from what he has told me.

The car has only 25K on it. I doubt it needs anything done to the SC. The oil is supposed to be lifetime. Mini says don't touch it. But I have been replacing things and looking at everything rubber and gasket on the car since I bought it used and its 10 years old. If I put a reduction pulley on the car, I would probably feel better about replacing SC fluid/ gaskets if not at that time at least at some point near in the future with some driving. Not sure if the pulley puts any added significant stress on the SC to even require oil changing.

The water pump would be something to deal with maybe just for piece of mind, but yes, a pain in the ass. I heard the thermostat housings on 05 and 06 can be flaking though. I have pulled the front end apart on this thing a few times and so now I am not fearful of tearing into it. Now I need to get my mind around the 78 mini so I can start tearing it down.


I did replace the lifetime manual trans fluid with some Redline 75W80 . But that was an easy one.

stan360 wrote:The car has only 25K on it. I doubt it needs anything. The oil is supposed to be lifetime. Mini says don't touch it. But I have been replacing things and looking at everything rubber and gasket on the car since I bought it used and its 10 years old. If I put a reduction pulley on the car, I would probably feel better about replacing SC fluid/ gaskets if not at that time at least at some point near in the future with some driving. Not sure if the pulley puts any added significant stress on the SC to even require oil changing.

The water pump would be something to deal with maybe just for piece of mind, but yes, a pain in the ass. I heard the thermostat housings on 05 and 06 can be flaking though. I have pulled the front end apart on this thing a few times and so now I am not fearful of tearing into it. Now I need to get my mind around the 78 mini so I can start tearing it down.


I did replace the lifetime manual trans fluid with some Redline 75W80 . But that was an easy one.

I put a 15% reduction in my old car. Only thing I replaced after that was spark plugs. You need cooler burning ones if I'm not mistaking. I can't remember which ones I used. But with such low mileage it was barely driven. I think the supercharger is perfectly fine and I personally wouldn't want to tear the car apart to take the supercharger apart. They have done pulley installs at garage days before so they have it down to a science, sort of. You'll also need a new belt with the new pulley as the old one won't have enough tension.

If you're going to change the pulley I'd recommend you get a kit like they sell at Way Motor Works, it has the pulley, plugs and belt all in it.

Pulling the supercharger is too much work for a shop day - I'm restricting shop days to things we can get done in a reasonable amount of time - normal maint. falls in this but not removing a s'charger/water pump job.

BTW, we have the pulley tool and the belt tool available to loan, anytime.

The only time you need to look at the supercharger oil is if you have it off the engine, otherwise I wouldn't worry about it. You have to remove it to check or change the oil.

BTW Cowboy Coop, I can show you how to turn that light off, but you have to replace the broken sensor first.

Thanks Dave, I didnt realize that there were some tools available to use here. The tools needed that I priced were as much as the pulley kits and something that wouldn't get much use.

You can see the list here.....

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2024

The first days I'll have available will be Dec 5th or 12th, weather permitting of course.....

I can do one of these days and install the reduction pulley . the better day for me to take off is the 12th.

You going to take any performance metrics before/after? Dyno run perhaps? Maybe race as quick as you can down Dave's street before/after?....wait, don't do that. It would end garage days for good.

Yes, up and down Dave's street.

I could use front brakes and rotors.

Is it typical to do rotors along with brakes on these cars or only as needed? I have fairly new rotors with about 15k on a set of pads that are awful. Thinking of doing pads only and leaving the rotors alone.

Also, are the sensors on the R56 salvageable if the pads are not worn down?

Thanks, Chris

Yes, and yes......

15K on the rotors they should not need to be replaced, and if the light's not on, the sensor is OK to reuse. However, it's not hard to break one when removing it from the pad, so I'd have a spare sensor on hand just in case.

If you go with EBC pads, they have a bedding material on the pad that helps break it in on used rotors - it's like coarse sandpaper that scuffs the glaze off the rotor and helps the pads/rotors bed into each other. You need to follow their bed-in procedure for it to work properly tho......

That said, I've not had a problem with putting new pads on used rotors - just bed them in according to the mfr's requirements.

Which date was chosen, Dec 5 or 12? I'm leaning towards Dec 12 as I have a couple of projects in the shop right now and the extra week would let me finish them first.

The 12th is the best day for me Dave.

Good? I know I would like ceramic pads but what about rotors?

Zimmerman rotors are good stuff.....I have them and Akebono pads on my Audi.

Last time I did mine, I bought rotors and pads at Autozone, they've been fine for over 10K now.....YMMV but I think I paid about $120 for everything.