Interesting how you checked the oil. I was taught to pull dipstick out and wipe it clean, then replace dipstick and pull it completely out and check the level on the indicator. Looks a nice little car and your enthusiasm is great to see.

fixes stereo so cant hear knocking.. problem solved.. lol.. good vid.dude

Every mini ever made had issues. The original minis were proper rust buckets, the modern minis are poor quality and the most recent minis are over-engineered money pits. Hardly a suprise that this one has issues. Nice video though. Keep up the good work!

All rubber bushes from 2002 to 2005 are all prone to fail, I replaced all mine with polly bushes, it’s a big job, but will never fail again.

Over here,me,hi yes i still use cd’s.Half of my collection of music is still on cd’s especially some of the older stuff.✌🏻

I love your editing, very informative thank you man...Im a fan, keep making vids. cheers from Mex.

When you uploading the astra with the wheels done

Great works mate! :) I just started rebuilding my R50 One :) This helps with the front and rear joints and stuff, that's next on my list to do. :) Love your videos!

Hi bud. The dsl light flashing is most likely a dirty abs sensor or reluctor ring. When you do you drop links just pop out the sensors (7mm hex I believe) and just give them a quick clean and make sure the rings on drive shaft and hub are clear of crud. Also check top shock mounts front and rear. Very common with the mini and bmw.

Just bought a mini one with the same issue mine was a worn top mounts on the front..mine is a 2001 so had the earlier top mounts which were more expensive also changed the Exhaust got the same one as you got for yours 👍🏻

cracking looking colour and looks awesome for the price you paid.. i wouldnt jet wash a car with the wipers up though can easily crack windscreen if you hit it with the jet of water.

The car is coming on great. That little whine from the powersteering pump reminded me of my 2001 mini. We sold it in 2006 and missed to so much we went out got our cooper d.

Another interesting video James.looking forward to you getting back on the mondeo though. Well done

Ahah I know the feeling, my dads Honda CBR 600 MK1 and that thing would not be complete fixed, after you fixed the fuel pump the battery went, keep up the work👌

Thanks for this series! As a fellow ‘02 BRG/white R50 owner, I suggest pulling the wheels and give a good clean and wax to the backside. It looks like they are caked black with brake dust. Seeing the white paint of the barrel thru the holes is one of the special treats of having these white wheels.

Hi James turn the steering wheel right and down should get better access to that drop link top bolt

Had the same problem - I just finished the rebuild of my cooper S R53. I have replaced the following: 1. Poly bushing front control arm (kick your front wheels - see if there's any movement) - cost $40 2. Inner and outer ball joint and sway bar end links (better do this if your doing the bushing) 3. Top mount - $73 After replacing those - I was surprise to still hear something and turns out it is the hydraulic engine mount - $91 My mini is driving like new again. I also drain the transmission fluid ✌

Another decent vid keep up the good work👍👍👍 Just a tip though if you've got the wheel off checking and think your going to do a job give the relevant nuts and bolts a good squirt of Wd40..saves time

Love the vids - laugh at the people that are surprised that old cars need fixing, if there are no issues then we'd have no content and what is the point of that? You also show all mistakes and for that i applaud you.

Your the only person I seen with a ford t shirt , I printed one off myself about 3 months ago. Lol good vid as usual 👍 a relative of mine has a mini says it burns alot of oil. You have to let us know on that score.

Love the videos! My wifes Cooper hada knocking, Like you I changed the roll bar drop links. Eventually it turned out to be that front wishbone bear bush, Look for signs of metal to metal contact which to me yours looked suspect.. I hope this helps, Keep up the great videos!

My wife's Mini Cooper was a complete nightmare, 2 consecutive MOT failures, many other issues and they get through windscreens like crazy. However bloody great to drive!

Nice thing about the mark 1 is that you can change out your stereo for any 1 din unit. Mark 2 onwards and you're pretty much stuck with what comes with the car, unless you have auto aircon where you can replace the panel below the Speedo and fit a 2 din.

James, when you check bushes, joints etc always do it with a load on them because that's when you hear the noise whilst driving. Buy a set of ramps so you can drive the car onto and then check the bushes and joints from there. Did you check the wheel bearings and ball joints with the wheel back on and grabbing the wheel 12 & 6 and 9 & 3 positions?

It looks like the Right floormat is on the left side of the car lol

Just a tip If you can get a hold of black enamel paint oil base ....I see that you have a power washer ,,,wash the under of the car and paint all you can reach.. This will also serve as an anti rust treatment and especially in England's weather. It will also look really clean. This is a secret in detailing ...makes a lot of difference and you'll be able to say there are clean cars and clean cars this is the latter, Nice video btw.

"mini cooper has issues". I'm shocked!

I love more mini content! with my gf's car the bootlid still wont open I still don't know how to get the boot door to open there's no pull chord under the back seat either. stupid electrics and that it still has battery drain. scratching my head. check the top strut bearing cap thing. used to have a knocking sound in mine and pulled the hair out of myself because nothing was loose until I pulled the whole suspension out and found the problem. no more knocking.

another gr8 video keep up the good work

Look at top mounts on suspension?

I'd be tidying up the wiring on the back of the smaller headunit. Dont know what's under the electrical tape but heat shrink gives a far more professional finish. Just looks tidier/neater

Great video 👍👍 The stereo can drown the knocks out for now.

Get yourself some 303 Aerospace Protectant and spray it on ALL of the rubber bushings (and anything else that's rubber). It won't magically repair defective bushings, but it will make the others last a very long. It is expensive here in the UK at approx. £30 for 946ml, but it's damn good stuff.

Needs cooper s flaired side skirts they make s big difference to the look at cost about 40 quid and clear side indicators give it a clean look.

A handy hint for finding suspension component play is to reach under and cup the joint in your hand and get an assistant to rock the car. (Check you won't get fingers trapped!) You can feel the tiny amounts of play really easily. You may need to park the car on some concrete blocks to reach under for tight ground clearances. You've probably binned it by now, but on the Sony stereo, the aerial plug was barely in. ABS/traction issues, you need to be looking at live data on the scan tool to see if there's a blip in the speed reading for a particular wheel. Keith at New Level Auto has just done a video on this.

I bought a British Racing Green Cooper S JCW last summer after looking on and off for ages. It has the white roof and mirrors which is my favourite colour combo. I bought it just for a bit of fun and as a project. Ive been doing lots of maintenance and working through it. This spring I'll be swapping a lot of front suspension and steering parts. They don't look bad but I really feel like dropping the subframe and getting stuck in. I also plan to do a S/C service and swap the 11% pulley for a 17%. First thing though is a set of tyres which will be the biggest expense. I have a few other plans further down the line if I hang on to the car. Ive owned about or so cars and several big bikes. Plenty of stuff ive had has been much more powerful and faster than the Mini, and it will never be the fastest thing in the world, but it is just so much fun for blasting around on B roads and country lanes..50 feels like 990, the S/C whine is a hoot, great steering and handling, and the exhaust burbles and pops constantly...They're a riot these little things.

James, I suggest that you fit the purple Powerflex bushes. It will tighten things up and they will probably outlast the rest of the car. A quick search on eBay will turn some up.

Nice A new vid about the Mini !

The front drop link could have come loose. It happened to me on a Corsa C I had and wondered what the knocking noise was. It only appeared a few weeks after replacing them. Tip push done to undo the wheels. Dont pull up

kick the tire it forward and back wards this is the best way to check lower control arm bushing. you can also check strut tower mount for mushrooming.

Who calls it an A-U-X port? Its not an acronym, Its short for auxiliary. Just say aux.

lucky girl ... keep up the great work chap

It sounds like a topmount bearing went bad. Inexpensive fix.

Have you reviewed a machine polisher at all if not what do you recommend and would a £50 one from argos or toolstation do the job?

Good job mate!

Love the British racing car green!😊

I find it best using ramps when looking for suspension issues as the issue will usually show better when you have weight on the suspension.

yep, when i had the mini from when i got it the rear swaybar bushings were shot.

Poly bushes are probably a good idea with the state of the roads

I Googled coolant for r50 and it told me blue 2yr stuff I see you've got long life g12 pink in there. Should I be using this instead? Thanks

That's why you use Din pins to remove a stereo so you don't have to take the car apart, also thought your meant to wipe the dipstick and replace to check level

Awesome color by the way 😁

Thanks for sharing all this good content. Is this you wife's car? Kind regards

You can also get the Torque App on android and its free or you can pay £2 for more features. Just need a Bluetooth OBD connector.

Tighten the steering rack bolts/ nuts - the ones which go onto the chassis, even if a bit loose they can cause a noise to travel far up the suspension and the shock mount, that warning light is also the steering angle sensor like on BMW’s, oh and that engine is a Chrysler unit ;) best to sell it and get a 2007 up R56 Mini , the difference is night and day or 20 years advancement in technology ,bigger in size. and about £800 more in price

The traction control is either abs rings or sensors

Lovely Jubbly, but you should check your fluids on a flat surface.

I have a Mini Cooper S ... I also do powder coating and chroming and I'm in the UK ;-) ... Could make your Mini look great when you remove the wheel ;-)

If not the linkages it could be a shock absorber showing wear?

What are you doing with that old stereo. I need the plastic surround for mine if it’s going spare ?

hi nice video and I heard you going to buy them from eurocarpart they are so expensive tray mister auto or 4cheap car part and good luck with repair mate

Check the bushes and CV Axles. They love to go on the R50 mini's

Yeah its still worth to check for codes cos on focus i had a oxygen sensor fault but somehow no check engine light despite that and it was noticeable in driving nearly stall under low speed deceleration just as the code said something about deceleration oxygen sensor and clearing the codes it came back to confirm that was the issue and never got cel still see it on the ignition but not when engine running so the light hasnt been took out or blown weird that it never shows cel

Hello!please!how much does one cost? which engine does it use? how many liters is this?

Probably an ABS ring on the rear causing your light to flash. Instead of teeth, they have cut outs in the ring which either rust or get full of crap. Best thing to do is change them, I have sold a few of those as they are also common to the BMW 1 series.

Just replace the 4 ball joints the two drop links and the two body bushings and the sway bar bushings then put the screw back in the hold the rotor on.

Does the scanner pick up wheel sensors.

Get some gtechniq c4 permanent trim restorer for the black plastics, you’ll be amazed. plus it’s more content for the channel

I was glad something else was wrong with the mini i like seeing work done on the mini.

Ayy it’s a money pit mini

Exhaust sounds awesome

not sure smell should be the reason you use a car shampoo... love the vids!

Wicked job looking cool m8

@thesavagegarage The knocking noise may be one of the tires balancing weights that have come off slightly on the wheel and knocking against the body of the car. I had the same issue when I'd just had a tire replaced and the garage had not secured the balancing weight properly.

That's great a car where you can easily fit the stereo of your own choice, a miracle ! 😃😂😃

Looks good mate needs some back to black on the plastic trim, it’ll look brand new

Hi Always great videos, Did you get the ST on the dyno, Have you a video coming for that, as it will be good to see, as i have a Volvo S60 D5 , so it is a oil burner, Thanks Dave

Do you have plans to change the wheels?

Body work looks better. I do think that a black respray on the faded trim will make it look like new.

Hopefully I get my insta request accepted soon. I've been keeping up with your videos on holiday in Egypt. Another great video, thank you for uploading them

Really do admire your enthusiasm for repairing these minor issues with cars, and the way you present your vlogs. Crystal clear in your explanation of the process you are going through. It is definitely a good skill to be able to do that. But.............please.............why is a good Englishman using American phrases willy nilly!! Be proud to be an Englishman!

just fyi - aux = auxiliary (cable). The headphone to headphone lead with 3.5mm socket on each end .

What was your favourite car you worked on??

It looks like it needs a really good detail too. Nice colour tho

I assume you meant going left round that corner shifts weight to right . Not left corner weight on left !!!! Basic science dude. Plus shocks can knock when worn, had it several times over the years

If u ever need to change those lower control arm bushings please go with poly bushings same with your away bar. Mini original bushings are rubbish. You don't want to be replacing the lower control arm bushings more then once as u have to drop the whole subframe to access the bolts

maybe not found the reason for the knocking but finding perished and worn bushings then planning of replacing them is always good. Hopefully that is where the knocking is coming from? Just done most of the front suspension of my daughters TD4 due to worn bushings and track rod ends..Still a slight knock, the hunt continues but the front shocks and springs have had their day and will be replaced soon anyway. If it doesn't solve the problem...there are two bushings under the car which looked okay, they will be done also..'parts changing' I guess in their case. Usually with knocking noises, if you turn up the volume on the stereo (a good one) the knocking goes away.. Finds pressure washer in shed..'Didn't even realise I had it'...Been there...done that.... Also if James sees this, you would be better starting your own Facebook 'Savage Garage' page from you own account James...Then you can upload content and it separates your personal account from your 'Garage' account...doing it the 'personal way' could get overwhelming

maybe drive shaft uj especially when turning 😕

Any info on your impact gun?

Can I ask what do u do with all your old car parts like disc pads exhaust etc do u just pin them or take them to a yard to be weaighted

You already said it, but I am going to say it anyway, I Love Love Love that colour! One lucky lady! 💚

Sorry to say James, but I'd be lost without my CD player lol. Keeps me going to and from work.

Think wheeler dealers have the right idea repairs with improvements together with some cheap where possible visual enhancements.

Had a 03 Mini....loved every minute of driving it - WHEN it worked...had to get rid in the end. Got sick of having to take it to mechanics every single month with something wrong - and you need a mortgage to keep fixing the pieces of crap

I find tapping with a rubber mallet tends to hi-lite any problems

My missus has had 3 minis all have been knackered

Shock top mount ?

Still pending on Instagram. Can i just ask why its private, we following to support the cause. Have you had issues with accepting people before?

Top mount?

Shonky cheap drop links - common problem with Rover 75's. Probably the same with Minis. They wear out in a few 1000 miles.