Glad to hear your daughter made it through that crash relatively unscathed!

About to put ours (08 turbocharged S with 6 speed manual and LSD) on the market after 5+ years and 80k, a real blast to drive but alas we have outgrown it since it is a pain to get our infant daughter in and out of the back of a 2 door. Not sure what fair market value is these days, will have to figure that out soon as we got our replacement vehicle (a cx-9) earlier this week.

We had the carbon build up issue addressed about 5k ago, otherwise these are pretty solid vehicles and it is hard to beat the go kart feel!

Glad to hear your daughter is OK.

If you are going to get one for yourself, 05-06 R53 arguably have the stoutest drivetrains and are most amenable to modification. Beware of the MINI aftermarket though, its not large and there are a lot of hucksters out there.

Having owned two Cooper S cars an 04 and now an 07 as well as all sorts of sprint racing karts. I can tell you that yes the mini is fun and corners like a dream They are NOT Go karts.

Bang for the buck? heck yea, always capable of bringing a giggle out of me in a corner and sometime a squeel from the wife as a passenger.

Also Pelican has all the MINI parts you need.

I have an 06S, just hit 93,000 and still going strong and is my DD, about 60 miles per day.

Just keep an eye for any odd noises from the supercharger.

Also, there is an extended warranty for the power steering pump and fan for 2002 through early 2005.

MotoringFile » Archive » R50/R53 MINI Power Steering Warranty Extension

Sometimes the PS fan fuse blows and it causes the electric pump to overheat.

Another issue is the low speed radiator fan resister craps out, there are ways to modify it on the NA Mini Cooper forums.

Have fun:cool:

glad your daughter is ok.

we have an '06S...bought new, now 83k on the odo. its been a good car, but not without issues. front strut mounts had to be replaced and a number of front suspension bushings were toast in the last year - but bear in mind our Mini has done a large proportion of its miles in NYC metro urban assault duty - roads here are pretty bombed out.

A few weeks back, the Mini stranded my wife for the first time...went into limp mode. turned out to be the crank pulley failed. still wrapping my brain around the idea that the crank pulley fails...apparently somewhat common at this age and mileage, but I can't help thinking "how hard is it to make a crank pulley that won't fail"? I guess that's modern plastic car parts for you.

Anyway, wife likes MINI a lot, so she's trading the '06 on a '13 with the JCW package.

The OEM damper contains a rubber donut that can fail over time. Same thing happened to me a while back at ~100k miles. I replaced it with a fluid dampner type so I will never have that issue again.

Love the MCS. Very reliable and a blast to drive - as you say. I had an 06S new, put 150K miles on it = no issues. Drove it hard all the time but never abused it. Enjoy it!

Very thankful that your daughter is OK after that crash!

And yes, Cooper S's are absolutely wonderful. I just sold my '82 SC and do not plan to ever go down that road again. In its place is a British Racing Green MCS Clubman. This is the second MCS I've owned and you're right, they're the most fun of anything I've ever driven. Also comfortable, reliable, quiet and with the full array of safety equipment, something my SC of course did not have, which worried me greatly as it was my daily driver. I'll never go back.

Good to hear your daughter is fine. Nasty accident.

Loved my MCS, felt fast even when driving slow.