cfoster

Has anyone got any experience in Mini's? Missus is looking at buying one. Not the Cooper S or anything just the 1.6 or boggo Cooper. She has about £2500 to spend so will be the lower end. Are they safe to buy with 100k on the clock or are they prone to breaking with high miles? She's not fussed on it being stupidly quick etc....

Cheers

rhinopower

I know the earlier ones have problems with power steering racks.

Haston

gearbox can be an issue if thrashed

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

This ^^, but this should have been resolved a long time ago, as it was a recall on the electric power steering.

Apart from the derv I think the only option is the 1600, the Mini One has slightly less power on paper, whilst the S is supercharged or turbocharged depending on the year.

Martin

CrOwSoN15

Mum is on her second Cooper, and they go really well for what they are, they corner on rails too.

phil_focus

If the engine is similar to the turbo'd S version (engines changed when they swapped from supercharger to turbo) I wouldn't bother as they drink oil and snap cam chains regularly and thats a £1600 repair from memory!

brad

We bought a mini one as a company demonstrator in 2003 and promptly got through 3 clutches and 2 gearboxes within 3 years. Admittedly that might point more towards our style of driving at the time. However, one clutch only lasted 4 months (fitted under warranty by chandlers BMW maindealer) and only the ex missus had been driving it in that time.
We upgraded to a cooper s and although we only had one clutch failure we did have the electric power steering problem (not funny when the steering virtually locks up mid corner) and head gasket went twice in 2 years ownership.

I have heard the later ones are built slightly better and still retain the go kart like handling but at your set budget you will be looking at the older models so check to make sure its all been dealt with.
I believe the power steering issue is still being sorted under warranty as an act of good faith by BMW.

Ebonycossie4x4

iTrader: (4)

gearbox headgaskets and power steering problems at 100k.

SiZT

Gearbox mostly, the one's are easy to get up to cooper power with a remap as it just needs the throttle map changing

rallycross

I've had a few with over 100k that were fine.
They drive better on 15 inch wheels and are great fun to throw around with the smaller wheels and non run flats.

Gearbox on pre 2006 cars can suffer from noisy bearings but easy to spot you will here it straight away.

Elec pas common fail will show up when car gets hot BBA reman do them for around £250.

Also check for rear exhaust hanger rusting through.

ABS light is usually the connector under the seats.

Check for rusty rear disks, cheap to replace.

Also check for sticking door locks that do not unlock of the key fob these are expensive to replace £110 per side.

cfoster

Great thanks chaps, definitely worth looking into, it would have to be an early 1.6 non-supercharged one for £2500 budget. Also looking at Fiesta ST's, could be a cheaper car to maintain?

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Fiesta will be easier to work on.The mini cooper s superchared minis are a quick car.

matts1

My sister had a 51 pate (cat c) cooper, to be honest it caused her no bother with 80k odd on the clock other than a snapped spring on the front.

I think most issues have been covered, main one is as said the gearbox on the early models and the steering.

They do seem to be a car that can either be fine, or be a total shite with lots of niggles.

If you could get an ST, or Zetec S it would be where i would put my money as they do tend to be a more reliable car but then I can also appreciate that the mini is liked by girls as they have that girly factor.

gingeRS

They have a ridiculously bone shakingly stiff ride, I wouldn't mistake that for cornering ability!!

CrOwSoN15

I'll be honest, I wouldn't want to do many miles in it!
I took her first one round the back roads here and it was ace, didn't feel too stiff IMO

B16 Will

My wife has got a 2007 cooper cabriolet with 25k on it. Drives well, but slow. I'm not over keen on them. Great birds car lol

Mister G

I've got a cooper s, very happy with it. For me it's best hammering down a country lane, I've not driven
much that handles the way the Mini does (and I have driven a lot of cars).

Expect plenty of rattles from interior trim, lower arm bushes can perish, as can top mounts. Power steering pumps give up. Early models had problems with weak gearbox failure, switched with the 04 facelift. S models have a Getrag box. The engines seem pretty strong it not too refined. Servicing is expensive.

Edit: I guess I'm seconding what rallycross says here!

FasterFords

The wife has had a facelift one (54 plate) for 5 years now and the only issue was the powersteering last year, fixed for free even though the warranty had run out

I've found they feel like they should handle well, until you get near the limit and then just want to understeer unless your completely off the power.

The Works exhaust sounds great and reminds me of my old Racing Puma.

Seats are terrible though, unless you do short miles.

She loves it though and wants a coupe.

220tel

we have a 54 plate cooper s for 2 years and it has been pretty reliable
straight through the first ticket no problem
needed two tyres and a 1/2 litre of oil in the time we have had it
drive around town is bumpy even without the runflats but once out in the open they are a hoot to drive especially we a nice exhaust and reduced pulley

phil_rs

iTrader: (3)

I would take the fiesta st any day over a mini one or cooper

cfoster

Thanks chaps, I acually picked her up a really clean 2005 Fiesta ST in Racing Blue yesterday, beautiful condition, got an awful loud Mongoose exhaust on so will stick a standard one back on there!! Was great fun driving it home, handles surprisingly really well!

gingeRS

good choice....