Are Mini's that bad?
 

Friend of mine wants me to buy his 2005 Mini Cooper S. It has 186K on it so he wants very little for it. He bought it from the first owner, a friend (that I don't know) but a mutual friend said the first owner was always working on it.

It's not for me but am curious if Mini's really are that bad.

Yes, I've had two. They have a number of very common issues and are terrible to work on. Everything is cheap plastic and snaps together, and gets loose with age.

Back when I was in Porsche sales, we had a couple pre-owned ones on the used lot. I wanted to like them, but as already mentioned, eveyrthing had a cheap feel to it, as if all for show. Can't imagine what's left after 186k? I never worked on one, so just sharing my impressions of the cosmetics and fit/finish as I familiarized myself with the inevntory.

Yes, they really are that bad.

Avoid.

I had an 06 convertible S for about a year and a half. Had about 40k miles on when I bought it. Loved every minute with it. Top down was great, decent in the winter, even without snow tires. Spent a day at the track with it, which was a blast. Torque steer is pretty bad, but you can have fun with it.

As said, everything is plastic, and yes, feels cheap. The "brushed steel" dashboard was plastic, all the "chrome" is plastic, even on the exterior. Mine had no problems at all, other than a recurring airbag light, which I read was related to the sensor under the driver's chair. The solution, if you can believe it, is to clear it and not move the driver's chair forward or back while the car is running. Maybe ours was the pick of the litter but we had very few problems with it. The ONLY reason I got rid of it was that the kids hated the small back seat, especially in the winter with boots and snow pants. I definitely see another one in our future, once the back seat isn't required anymore.

Automatics of that period are problematic - stay with manual.

Yes mini's are that bad.
My 07 Cooper S is spread all over the garage right now recovering from a blown head gasket.

The whole effin front end has to come off (service mode) to do anything. and something else has to come off to get to what needs to come off. Mini Dealer wanted 2800 to start to fix. and it would possibly go up from there as things were discovered. I have 800 in it doing it myself with new t-stat H20 pump and head surface and all the gaskets. been 3 weeks and it sucks. will certainly be for sale when done. NEVER AGAIN.

With friends like those........

The young chick who lives in our block of units has a mini wagon and she looks pretty cool as she darts around in it. She is a girl driver and doesnt stress any of the mechanicals.

Was a huge surprise when the timing CHAIN let go and destroyed the engine.

She was fortunate to find a low mileage mini engine out of a wreck from Japan - the whole thing cost her over 8K.

If you can get the mini at a realistic price, it might be a fun car, but just be prepared to be the last owner.

At least the switches for the windows and fog lights are way cool.
I have worked on a pile of them and you couldn't run fast enough to give me one

Yep, thats right. The pulley on the Mk2 Mini is a press fit.

Lots of cost cutting in these cars.

Avoid!! Wife had an '08 Clubman S. Fun car to drive, terrible everything else.

These are probably worse but worth the effort:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1419206214.jpg

I had a 1965 COOPER S The most fun car ever. You could NOT break it.

it wasn't a real consideration but thanks for posting, good to know. I bought a set of used wheels and tires for my Tundra today on CL, 4 Toyo Open Countries 2 of which were new, 2 good, for $120 (LOVE CL!) and while driving was thinking that I haven't had a car break down for 3 years. Last time was my white E320 wagon axle snapping in half. Other than that, I've just done regular maintenance like the timing belt on the truck this summer. I can't imagine owning a car that needed things to be fixed all the time.

I had a JCW Clubman and hated every second of it.

I dunno, I'm on my second S model and haven't had a lick of trouble. I like it a lot. Sure, the fitments are a bit on the cheap side. What do you want for the price? They sure are a blast to drive, and way faster and more reliable than my SC was. Plus, it has AC that works, important here in SoCal.

Actually the classic Mini's are very reliable. They were hugely popular in Aus. When I was a teenager they were often a first car for many young people.
Even today there are many still being driven daily and we have a very active local club.

This is one variant that was a lot of fun to drive and again very popular locally.
There was even one featured in a Love Boat episode (filmed in Australia)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1419223591.jpg

We had two S's....there won't be a third.

Best thing was we could squeeze it into the garage with three other cars.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1419225879.jpg

A friend bought a convertible one used from somewhere in Maryland for his wife. It's probably about four years old and at this point I'm waiting to see what happens after reading a few Mini threads here and elsewhere. Should be interesting.

Ex GF had an 06 I believe, automatic. Cheap feeling car but would probably have been fun with a manual. The auto in that car was horrible. By 60k that car shaked and rattled like coins in a soup can.

My wife is on her second one. First was a base 5 speed. This one is a JCW 6 speed. No serious problems with either.

Had one... It was very reliable for me, a lot of fun to drive, retained its value very well, but the seats just killed my back for some reason! But at 185K miles, it almost doesn't matter what brand it is (other than an aircooled flat 6 with good compression), you are playing russian roulette...

I had an S model. I had nothing but trouble with it. In fact I even had trouble selling it. but man I was glad to see it go. It sure was a blast to drive though.

I would trade for one of the classics.

you can add W124s to the other than list.

I'm on the lucky so far list. 106K miles and it runs great and has had just maintenance. Lots of fun to drive. Bought it used, so maybe the previous owner sorted out problems. Of course I have the pokey 02 non S model. It is a manual. Perfect vehicle to practice momentum driving.

We bought a 2008 just out of warranty with 60,000km on it.

In 2.5 years I spent over 6k on stupid **** including a water pump AND $500.00 thermostat job...TWICE!!!

I've never worked on one but my buddy who's a nationally ranked racer and pretty good engine builder had his son's Mini top end apart and said it's a joke. By far the worst engine he's ever seen.

Lots of apples and oranges here. You can't compare the '05 to anything outside of '02-'06. Past '06, MINIs are entirely different cars, particularly the drivetrain.

My '06S daily driver is at 150K and I just replaced the clutch/pressure plate/flywheel. Stuff that is guaranteed to need periodic replacement includes the (plastic) thermostat, the water pump, and the front control arm bushings. At 186K the crank dampener and supercharger might need some love too.

If it checks out mechanically and the price is good, it would be a fun weekend car because they are a blast. But as a daily driver, there will be repair in your future.

A few months prior to my buying the '13 Fiat Abarth, I was looking at used Mini's...I went online to some Mini forums to see what others were saying.
Well...........

06 MCS owner here with 110,000 miles.

I picked it up 3 years ago with 65,000 miles.

Only issues was replacing the Harmonic Crank Pulley, Idler pulley, belt and tensioner at 94,000 miles and the LCA bushings are soon to be replaced.

Stick with the 05-06 1st generation or the 2011 to 2013 with the upgraded engine for the second generation.

Love the sound of the SC

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Shaun,

Our courtesy car at Turn3 is a 2006 Cooper S JCW. Finish on it is cheap and certainly not up to German Standards at all. It only has about 50K miles on it now, but it has been quite reliable. It gets the crap driven out of it by clients and the only repairs we have done is to replace the power steering pump (common) and one engine mount.

I don't care for it, and would never buy one as the ride is not great, power only adequate (even JCW) and ours has POS runflats (which are great for a courtesy car). But, it has been a good car.

We service quite a few of them, and contrary to what others have said, they are easy to work on, quite straight forward and simple.

Cheers

Hmmn, quite the mixed bag of responses. My wife is on Mini #2. The first was an '06 S model, final year of the supercharger. Fun car, had a few small issues but only once left her needing assistance (when the harmonic balancer/pulley failed). I'm still not sure how a pulley fails, but its apparently common on these. Car had run 80k+ miles when she traded it for a '13 JCW model, many of them abusive city miles in and around the greater NYC metro area. Many of the bu$hings in the front end had been replaced, and the front shock tower bushings were just about to fail and were replaced as well. Muffler hanger hardware in the rear was the bane of my existence...I replaced multiple parts back there, but it seemed like every few months something else failed. Eventually I rigged up something using universal muffler hanger parts from my FLAPS and that seemed to put a stop to my semi annual ritual. I HATED working on the car and my feeling was cemented when I tried to bleed the clutch. I could not bleed that clutch to save my life. I can successfully rebuild a 911 engine from the crank out, but I can't bleed a clutch on an '06 Mini...even the dealer took over 4 hours to do the job!

I didn't want another Mini, but I left the decision up to my wife 100%. Her car, her choice. I won't lay a finger on the '13 JCW other than to drive it. If it needs any mechanical attention, she takes it to the dealer, I want nothing to do with it.

The pulley is a two piece design with a rubber core holding it together. The rubber dries out and cracks, causing the two halves to separate. I change them often. More damage occurs when people put solid underdrive pulleys on.

There's a trick to bleeding the clutch on these. You need to remove and compress the slave cylinder fully, then bleed. BMW has a special tool for this, but a steering wheel puller works fine.

We have owned three MINIs - 2 Coopers and one S. The Coopers were driven by my wife which she enjoyed immensely but they were always in for service - Trannies in both, always needed a new flash, the seats fell apart, the headlights wouldn't work, power steering failure (both at least twice!). The first one we had trouble with the front suspension - all of a sudden the wheels were going in different directions. The S was just as much trouble - ate front tires constantly, two trannies in one year. The S/C had to be replaced A lot of interior bits kept falling out/off. Electrical issues were a constant. Once I showed up at the dealer everything worked. I don't remember how many letters I got from MINI regarding a new flash for the S... Great to drive and so much fun... I did not track any of the MINIs as I was afraid if something broke. We are back with VWs now...

We picked up a 2014 Cooper (the new model). It has a nice little 3 cylinder turbo.

We test drove the old model and the new model and the difference was significant in terms of ride quality, interior finish, etc.

We only have 10,000 miles on her but all good so far. It gets great mileage and has lots of get up and go when you stomp it. Got my fingers crossed they got it right with the redesign.

I did end up leasing it though (4 years) in case the gremlins start coming out we can give her back.

I did the "trick" and compressed the slave cylinder...it still wouldn't bleed. No matter though, I have no plans to ever try again.

I was chatting with a guy who runs an indy bmw/mini repair shop. He said the mini engines are all Peugeot POS. Maybe that explains things....

Not true. 2002-2006 are Tritec's, originally a joint venture between Chrysler and the Rover Group. The Peugeot "Prince" powerplants are in cars from 2007-2013.

Not the 2014-On. They went to the 1 series all BMW motor I believe. That's why the platform size increased. Supposedly a better motor.

We bought a '10 MCS HT and the coking issue cropped up right on cue at 30k. Luckily we sprung for the 6 yr extended warranty up front. Have had two water pumps replaced, thermostat, the heads de-coked, the HP fuel pump replaced and had it re-flashed which addresses the coking problem but, I doubt it will keep it from coking up in the future.

I love driving it as a DD commuter through the Santa Cruz Mtns into the Valley, gets great gas mileage but, have been disappointed with the initial reliability. On my second set of tires and I rotate them contrary to the service instructions.

I really, really dig the small platform, the retro styling and the go cart handling and like others, I would suggest the supercharged GenI, though the interior finish is inferior to the GenII. In the GenII I'd look to the '11-14.

I really want to like the new Mini as I hear great thinks about its drive train but, I'm rightfully gun shy. I'm also a bit ambivalent on some of the new face lift. Currently I'm on the fence on either trading it in on another type of mountain carver or keeping it and going a light weight GP coup sleeper concept.