Thanks for the video! Ordered the same kit and cleaner. Working on BMW M62 v8 with aluminum pistons. Wanted to know if yours came out a bit chalky. This process cleaned mine up really well. I only did 40 min total per piston. Basically 10 min, agitate, rotate and 3 more rounds. Ring lands and rings came out looking brand new. Amazing how easy they cleaned up. Again, not sure what to make of the chalky appearance. I ended up coating them with lube while they wait to be reinstalled.

Looks great thanks

My pinch bolt head snapped today. I’m just watching how much you have to suffer before I suffer myself

My Mini specialist claims that the heat shields under the car are next to useless and can be removed if you also want to consider that option. It’d be much less of a hassle to heat wrap the exhaust from my understanding

That was special!❤

man watching your videos i can definitely relate. i have a 2006 MCS and i have now rebuilt the motor 2 times and i am having low compression right now. So this will be my final and 3rd time. But i think the problem with the 2nd rebuild was i went up a size to 77.5mm and i used JE pistons with total seal rings. but when i had the block machined i dont think they accounted for my pistons expanding up to 15%. Also i broked off all 4 of the oil squrters. When i assembled the motors i BARALY had enoght clerance between the piston and the crank but maybe when it heated up it just snapped of the squrters. Any ways. i can feel your pain. buy something about these minis are so special haha i just cant give up on it

Which track are you at ?

I’m late to the party, but just about to do this. Really good video. #scotland

All in all a great video 👍

Silly question but why didn't you buy metric heim joints of the correct diameter?

What’s the thread pattern

man you was doing so well until you turned up with the baseball cap on back to front!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where did you get the front sway bar to buy?

Just found your channel since I'm about to upgrade my brakes and rear trailing arms (on my daily). So far i'm loving your content and how you explain everything. I just wanted to add those screws holding the rotors on are basically to hold them from falling off on the assembly line before the calipers get put on. I Never put them back in unless it's giving me a hard time setting the pads, sometimes the rotors are heavy and keep pushing them out, but 9 out of 10 times I throw them out.

What did you do for the ball joints

3 years ago a 1999 Volkswagen Passat was purchased and at the time of purchase it had a dual mass flywheel and a clutch disc with springs. When I replaced the clutch a few weeks ago, I finally figured out why the car tended to jump like a frog when accelerating hard and immediately after suddenly releasing the gas pedal. I changed to a regular disc without springs and the jumping frog problem disappeared, the start and gear changes are also much smoother now.

GRIND IT!

Grind it. It'll be fine. 👍

make sure its not a sticky weight inside the wheel first..

Send it. They'll clearance themselves 😂😂

Im about to tackle the trailing arm conversion, good motivation right here. Cant wait to go racing

Hi, are the trailing bush brackets the samebetween the old and new one?

Heads up those rear calipers need to be twisted in as theyre compressed, the tool looks correct but maybe they twist the opposite direction? I tapped mine with a hammer and that broke it loose, probably something tight in the ebrake mechanism

We use white vinegar, works well

Thanks for sharing, I need to tackle this project as well so its great to see everything you experienced in this project.

Yes, I still have to fix my driver side tail light rust on 2005 R53 so I have taken notes. Overall, I find these BMW bodies are super strong underneath and came with a ten year rust warranty. I had my two doors and hatch replaced under warranty in 2011. Its been 13 years and not a speck of rust in 2024.

Five years later, what brake pads are you running with these days ?

I was just wondering what book you were using to clock the pistons. I have the Bentley publisher service manual and it doesn't seem to be in it.

What obd reader are you using?

oh man that whining sound is addictive

Been watching your channel for ova a year and truly helped me 2 understand how 2 get around things and 2 buy the right parts, I own a 2006 R52 JCW, gotta admit is a luv n hate relationship with this cars. Wanna ask, You did replace the radiator right? Did u get the stock one or the aluminium double row, if it was the second, which brand did u go 4? cheers mate

I have the cheap plastic harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner that I use for pistons and whatever engine parts I can fit in. The best cleaner I found as far as cheap goes is “Awesome Cleaner” from the dollar store it’s not corrosive. I can put a piston in for 8 minute cycle and it looks like new. If I used just soap and water would take idk an hour. The worst cheap cleaners are the purple power type ones not only do they not work that great they are corrosive. Literally didn’t clean pistons any faster than soap and water. They don’t even work good for cleaning the floor any my repair shop I use zep brand it’s far better. Plus all those degreasers are corrosive they are terrible for aluminum, they will accelerate rust and corrosion on other metals if not washed off very well soon as ur done. The funny thing is people talk about how great these degreasers are but have to scrub them too. Can you tell I hate these products? lol!!

Agh I wish it would clean it faster. I don't got 30 minutes to spare to clean pistons :(

THANK YOU. Many times during all the work and filming, you probably said “will this truly help anyone or am I wasting my time?”. Having a ton of wrenching experience but being completely new to the R53 platform, your channel is a godsend. I’m gonna binge the fire out of it. You rock man!

This is a great series. I love the emotional highs and lows that you share with the viewers. Well done. I landed here, looking at potentially jumping into a rusty tail light R53 purchase. How was the frame and undercarriage on yours? Amy structural issues? Any issues removing/replacing any components u der there do to locked up rusty bolts, etc... or your your rust issues mainly only body panel related? Again, thanks for putting this together, its very helpful for the handy but non-mechanic DIYers out here in the world.

Just found your vids today. Great job and thank you for the motivation. I‘ve got a r53 waiting for restauration as well. And i‘m starting by learning from your vids ;-).

What would be wrong with my 2003 mini cooper it will not go into 5th or reverse? Do we not have the cables right or what

Nice ok. Guess id rather my clutch surphace slip/wear than be shocking on the crank- as the dual mass MAY allow occasionally.

I’ll be doing that but the audio will probably have a lot of beep beeps! LOL😅

Ring Lands.

Dmf cuts the gear rattle. What if we use light flywheel with single plate and use sprung clutch? Can we reduce or remove gear noise this way? What is your opinion?

Wire brush and 5min a piece would rather go old s😢

So what was the tool you used to get the broken screw out with??

OLÁ. Voce poderia iniciar de forma diferente. Para comessar deveria primeiro aprender. Voce não sabe nem desmontar um motor. ABRAÇOS...

Glad you figured it out.. I’ve been watching your videos out of order, so I already knew you dialed it in.. maybe I’ll see you out on the track once I’m done with mine. Cheers 🍻

Real Mechanics always get a bad rap for tiny things but those little things that can lead to high costly mistakes. What kind of break in oil did you use? synthetic, blend, mineral oil blend? etc?

Why would a company make dual disc unsprung clutches with single mass flywheel to be used on the street? Like the McLeod RST which has many reports of floater plate chatter under 2000 rpm.

I found this video recently and am hooked. I am working my way through all the videos from the start. It’s fantastic. It’s great to see a normal person working on his car with limited space and not a mechanic. Just like I would be.

You could have tried hand-polishing the journal. It is easy to in the car/block, it just takes time. After doing that you can measure to see if the crank journal is in spec. If so, put it together and you are done. If not, then you were going to pull the crank and have it turned anyway.

Wow, simply amazing to finally see you on the track........ almost every part of this Mini has been removed then cleaned or replaced.... From a man without any mechanical knowledge at first, this is so cool..... My bet is 90% of people would have burned or throught away this car after 6-12 months...... but 4 years later you're on a racetrack, even with all the problems you encountered..... Patience and determination, you'll have to go to give seminars in school to talk about it !!