Mini Cooper S

[Rednine11]

think I am going to buy a Mini Cooper S with a 6 speed this Saturday
anybody have one? what is the general opinion of them?

[aigel]

New?

Too expensive used!

Yawn - IMHO. Chick car ...

How about a Mazdaspeed3?

G

[Tim Hancock]

I was looking at them too until a friend who works on euro cars told me they have lots of problems that are not cheap to repair for an avid DIY type such as myself. The automatics are definitely a no go as their transmissions will fail. They all can suffer electric power steering failures and other electrical issues that are difficult to DIY repair..... All that said, the S models feel like a racing go-cart and are a blast to drive.

[yellowperil]

Troublesome., is what I'm hearing. If you can get a 1275cc from '67 go for it!
They were a blast and fast. They were quite plentiful up here (Can)

[clutch-monkey]

^haha i have a 1275cc clubman GT, but the 4spd makes it a pain for any highway driving.. a dream in the city though.

[widgeon13]

I have a friend who has one and swears by it. He hasn't had any problems and puts snows all around in and it plows right through. He loves it. As for being a chick car, isn't that the rag top??

[mikeferg75]

the only auto's to avoid are the non "S" model cars, they have a cvt that is horrible.

I owned a 06 with the DSG paddleshift auto, wonderful car in my short ownership, wish I would not have sold it... 06 was the last year for the SC, the newer turbo's get better MPG.

Agree they are expensive on the used market, but I would buy another, about as much fun as Fwd can be IMO.

[jwhcars]

Great car and a blast to drive. I bought a 2002 cooper s when they first came out. I put 30k plus in just fun miles on it and sold it a little over 3 years later for what I had in it. The car gave me no problems.
I miss it and would buy another if I had a bigger garage.

[carreraken]

Avoid early CVT automatics, and 02-04 Midlands 5-speed manual.

[GothingNC]

I have an 06 MCS with 84,000 miles on it.

Prior owner had the water pump replaced at 70,000 miles, a month before I picked it up.

Only thing I had to replace was the upper motor mount $75

Weak spots for the R53 models are:
Power Steering Fan can fail-overheating the power steering motor
Leaking Power Steering Hoses
Front Lower Control Arms bushings are usually toast by 80,000 miles
Super Charger life span for the 05 and 06 is a bit more then 100,000 miles, replacement is only $1,500 and will outlast the car.
Strut Towers Mushrooming
Passenger Seat airbag sensor issue ($1,100 part)-can be bypassed
Check for rust in the rear hatch by the battery and the door sills under the gasket
Ditch the run-flat tires-use AAA


No timing belt to worry about.

Other than that I love driving the "Go-Kart" feel



Wayne has a list of Tech articles

Pelican Parts - MINI Cooper Technical Articles

[Nostril Cheese]

I'd avoid the Gen 2 cars. Lots of modules upon modules that require expensive software. You cant even change a battery in them without re-programming the computer.

The Gen 1 cars are neat, but parts can be expensive. Underdrive pulley on the supercharger and a thicker rear sway bar makes a very fun little car.

[David McLaughlin]

I love my non S six speed. There are times when more Power would be nice but most of the time I don't need it; just use the gearbox. No problems in 40k miles.

[dyusem]

I just purchased a pre-owned 2012 MCS (auto) for my daughter (which I get to babysit while she is away at school!) with 5k on the odometer (previous owner's wife got pregnant), turns-in like a go-cart, has plenty of power and it is a total blast to drive.

I'll be changing the oil every 7500 miles (instead of the recommended 15k) and I will most likely shop for an extended warranty.

Lots of good people and info at:
http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/r56-hatch-talk-2007-136/

[jwasbury]

'06 MCS here, 6 speed manual. Bought new, now approaching 80k miles. Other than tires and brakes, the car hasn't needed much. The only significant repair needed was a cracked thermostat housing (not uncommon, I understand). I did the serpentine belt replacement (60k mile service item) myself. Bought the tool to do this and the Bentley manual...much cheaper than the stealership wanted. The only other nit I have is the rear muffler hanger system is made of pot metal and has rusted through in multiple places, leaving the large and heavy rear section of the exhaust supported from only two locations, where it is supposed to be 4. I have subsequently broken 2 factory mounting brackets because they now carrying too much weight. Tired of the factory brackets failing, I have rigged up something using universal hanger bits from my FLAPS, but the muffler now rattles when the car rolls over our lovely NYC metro area bombed out streets. It's ok on the highway. I just can't bring myself to spend the $ on an entire factory hanger system, knowing that it will fall apart in 3 years.

[jsmithcds]

I had an hdpe instructor that drove one of these. He was a great instructor and had some very productive criticism for me while i was driving my porsche. he then told me he drives a mini. I laughed a bit. He then asked me to ride with him.

He drove the wheels of that thing. he was making high horsepowered cars look silly. The car handled unlike any car i have ridden in at road america. I had an absolute blast.

I do not know much about the car itself. I do know that it was a blast to ride in full tilt.

[Bill Douglas]

I drove one and I couldn't believe how fast it was for real world driving. Don't know about the track, but in the real world very fast.


AND if you are hooning about people don't phone the police like they would if you are driving a 911.

[TRE Cup]

03 CS, totally stock. 65k miles and only replaced a window switch. Did the services ourselves as the local dealer was a total rip. Rear hatch needed adjustment, got rid of the run flats asap. Loved every very hard driven mile of it.
Had to let it go as 35" at the shoulder pooches would not fit in the back ;-)

[MMARSH]

Have a 2011 Cooper S. Great little car. Drove it up the coast to Monterey a few weekends back and had blast. Some of the ergonomics take a little getting used to ie switchgear and seat adjustment placing, but so far the car has been without fault.

I will replace the runflats with something else when the time comes, the ride quality sucks.

[Rot 911]

Wife started off with a non-S 2006 Mini. Drove it for 5 years and moved up to a MCS with the John Cooper Works package. Both manuals.

Both cars seem to be fairly DIY and there is good support on the Mini forums.

[Christien]

I have a 2006 Cooper S convertible 6 speed and my entire family loves it. The back seat is a good size for young kids (6 and 4) and the storage space is adequate for a week's grocery shop. I can't believe how much fun this car is for the price. In fact, I can't think of a car in this price range that's as much fun. We've only had it since February. Bought it at 59000 miles, it now has 67 and the only thing I've done is change the oil (easy to DIY if you have a 36mm socket for the oil filter housing, which I do from my 915 rebuild). I've taken it to the track, where it proves that, at the end of the day, it's not in the same league as a Porsche, but I still had an awesome time understeering it around the corners.

The convertible top is nice and easy to operate, and it's one of the few cars whose lines aren't totally ruined by the convertible top - the lines with the top up are very similar to the coupe, and the opening is half the size (fold down tailgate). The only downside to the ragtop is you do lose some storage space in the back compared to the hatch. In a coupe, I can fit my entire guitar rig - 4x12 speaker cabinet, combo amp, 2 guitars and a bag full of cables and stuff. I can't do that in the convertible because the opening isn't as big.

Our 3rd car is always a temporary car - I buy a car through work, drive it for a year and sell it at a break even. When I sell this one in the spring, I'm most likely going shopping for another one, exactly the same. How's that for a ringing endorsement?