I only really got into minis when i purchased an R56 there about 2 years back. I'm still learning all the mechanical bits as i'm better at polishing cars than fixing them, but i bought an R53 to add to the collection there about 4 weeks back.
It's a lovely example with full Aero Kit, updated Kenwood stereo system and built in phone kit. So far i have replaced the rusty spots at the front with four new ones, had some leather covers made and got some nice cooper racing logos onto them. I also refinished the trim around the grill in black (will be replacing with a JCW Grill eventually) and well given it a good solid clean up as it was filthy and hadnt been cleaned inside or out in a long long time.
The car so far is in great nick mechanically but needed freshening up and well now its pretty much done. I got a great deal on it so all in all i'm happy. I'm not really into mods so this is about all i will be doing to the car bar updating the grill, adding some black stripes and getting the wheels refinished eventually.
I'm very happy with the car anyway, it drives completely differently to the R56 and feels a lot more like a little racing car. Its fantastic that both models are so different from eachother with the R56 being more torquey and the R53 being an all round nicer car to drive on a daily basis as it sticks to the ground better. Hope to speak to more R53 owners on here to see what they will be doing with their cars as it definately feels like a classic to me and is the perfect car to have a tinker with and ad a bit of personality to.