Folks- new here to R53. Always wanted one, couldn't afford when they were new. Ended up picking up a car that's been sitting a couple of years with some minor damage= for my child as a fun little opportunity to play with it together.

After a clean up, new battery and oil service, it's purring as it should be. Needs brakes, strut bearings are cracked, very slight mushroom to the towers, I'll easily push that back once I've got the struts out.

What I am here asking all of you more experienced Cooper folks for= what should I do with the suspension and the calipers? I've got the nice Brembo cross drilled rotors and ceramic pads on the way, I put similar on my own toy a few years back and am very happy with how they have held up. I think I want to add in a new set of calipers, SS brake lines and then a new set of shocks to round it all out nicely.

1: Do I just replace the stock struts with a new set of loaded struts ORRRRRRR are ANY of the very reasonably priced coilover kits out there worth a shot?

• 1A: how about a strut tower bar or strut tower bracing plates?

2: As far as calipers goes, anything wrong with the red powder coated "Powerstop" brand stuff? I assume those are just remanufactured OE castings. All ears if there is something I should be looking at that is more appropriate.



I want to bring this thing back to driving spec while also complimenting the car. I.e. I am not looking for the cheapest solution, rather- the most sensible one. The car is really nice, I am really stoked about having it around and am pretty sure that when all is said and done, I'll be into this for less than any of the currently available turn-key cars listed and I'll have all new suspension, brakes, rubber...etc..