My Wife has wanted a mini for at least a year at this point, and I've always been a little fond of the first/second gen reboot Minis. We looked at one rusty R52 before I told her I'd be interested if we could find a manual Cooper S, hoping to find a first gen/supercharged car.
Fast forward 6 months of halfassedly browsing kijiji/FB marketplace and she sends me a 2008 MCS (Pre-LCI R56).
We go test drive it and it drives nice, has a decent amount of power but there are dozens of trim bits broken, the engine (N14B16) has the chain/tensioner death rattle, and there's at least one decent rust bubble on each panel. The dealer thinks it's made of gold and has no interest of budging on price. So we move on and make a pact to not buy what is essentially a fourth vehicle.
While we were looking at that 2008 R56, I sent my wife another ad from a 2012 LCI car ~300KM away on Prince Edward Island almost as an "If this were closer and we could just spend another $1500, I think this would be the one we'd want" Two days after we agree we don't need one, she texts me out of the blue and told me she had been negotiating with this dealer and was down to drive up this weekend and pick it up. Long story short, that's what we did last Friday night.
The car:
2012 Mini Cooper S (R56 LCI)
Production Date: 2011-11-04
160 000 KM
Eclipse Grey Metallic (B24) on Carbon Black
Slicktop.
6 speed manual
N18B16 - Turbo, Dual Vanos/Valvetronic
R108 Multi-Spoke Wheels ( 17x7 ET48 @ 22.9 lbs )
Options List:
Biggest disappointments were that it came with a single key, it wasn't optioned with Xenons (the halogens are terrible), and it doesn't have comfort access (but meh)
Issues:
Fog lights look nasty, either need a polish or complete replacement.
Paint/light has a lot of scratches, some small dents. Would be nice to get it PDR'd and polished as much as I can.
Both sun visors have the mirror covers ripped off (who does this?)
Has some amount of aftermarket exhaust that drones badly at highway speeds. Likely will add a muffler.
Battery cover is missing, as apparently every other car.
Hood release handle in the cabin is messed up somehow
Driver door is stiff and has issues latching.
Rear fog is full of water.
The dipstick is impossible to read.
Misfire at high load/high RPM, maybe also upon first start when settling into idle. Coils seem hilariously cheap on rockauto. After the first day I couldn't make it misfire up top again.
Missing the tiny flap under the car in front of the DS wheel.
Initial observations:
Engine seems to be happy, no death rattle (yet???).
180hp feels way stronger than I would've thought.
DME seems to blip throttle itself when clutch engages. I even basically dumped the clutch (I apparently can't wear dress shoes in this car because they don't fit) and it didn't stall out.
Exhaust is unbearable on the highway.
I wish it had native bluetooth, but it's not shocking that it doesn't.
Halogen lights are useless at night.
Would be an absolute riot with ~225 hp.
Tons of headroom without the sunroof.
Sport mode makes throttle response respectable (yay), makes pOpS aNd BaNgs from the exhaust (boo), and steering heavier (meh).
Basic Plans:
Oil Change
Fix Broken Shit™
Intercooler upgrade
Add a muffler
Downpipe if it doesn't already have one
Figure out how to read/write/edit the DME
Lightweight 17x8 wheels, summer tires
Maybe retrofit some better headlights once I'm more confident that they're PNP or can be successfully coded.
Pictures:
At the dealer:
Heading home:
Pit stop for gas (for the outback lol) and coffee.
Stopping at the Homeless Despot for plumbing supplies
At the DMV, unintentionally ft. the Vitamin O distro plant
Dirty Engine bay with some rusty fasteners and missing battery cover.
Interior from ad:
Fast forward 6 months of halfassedly browsing kijiji/FB marketplace and she sends me a 2008 MCS (Pre-LCI R56).
We go test drive it and it drives nice, has a decent amount of power but there are dozens of trim bits broken, the engine (N14B16) has the chain/tensioner death rattle, and there's at least one decent rust bubble on each panel. The dealer thinks it's made of gold and has no interest of budging on price. So we move on and make a pact to not buy what is essentially a fourth vehicle.
While we were looking at that 2008 R56, I sent my wife another ad from a 2012 LCI car ~300KM away on Prince Edward Island almost as an "If this were closer and we could just spend another $1500, I think this would be the one we'd want" Two days after we agree we don't need one, she texts me out of the blue and told me she had been negotiating with this dealer and was down to drive up this weekend and pick it up. Long story short, that's what we did last Friday night.
The car:
2012 Mini Cooper S (R56 LCI)
Production Date: 2011-11-04
160 000 KM
Eclipse Grey Metallic (B24) on Carbon Black
Slicktop.
6 speed manual
N18B16 - Turbo, Dual Vanos/Valvetronic
R108 Multi-Spoke Wheels ( 17x7 ET48 @ 22.9 lbs )
Options List:
| 1CA | Selection Cop Relevant Vehicles | Selektion Cop Relevanter Fahrzeuge |
| 210 | Dynamic Stability Control (dsc) | Dynamische Stab. Control (dsc) |
| 249 | Multi-function For Steering Wheel | Multifunktion Fuer Lenkrad |
| 255 | Sports Leather Steering Wheel | Sport-lederlenkrad |
| 258 | Runflat Tyres | Bereifung Mit Notlaufeigenschaften |
| 2P6 | Light Alloy Wheels Rip Spoke | Lm Raeder Rip Spoke |
| 314 | Heated Windscreen Washer Nozzles | Frontscheibenwaschduesen Beheizt |
| 359 | Visibility Pack | Sichtpaket |
| 381 | Roof In Body Colour | Dach In Wagenfarbe |
| 3AB | Body Coloured Mirror Caps | Spiegelkappen In Wagenfarbe |
| 450 | Height Adjustment F Front Passenger Seat | Beifahrersitz Hoehenverstellung |
| 481 | Sport Seats F Driver/front Passenger | Sportsitze Fuer Fahrer/beifahrer |
| 493 | Storage Compartment Package | Ablagenpaket |
| 494 | Seat Heating F Driver/front Passenger | Sitzheizung Fuer Fahrer/beifahrer |
| 4AU | Additional Decor Rings | Erweiterte Dekorumfaenge |
| 4C1 | Colour Line Carbon Black | Colour Line Carbon Black |
| 4CU | Interior World Carbon Black | Interieurfarbe Carbon Black |
| 4UF | Sport Button | Sport Button |
| 520 | Foglights | Nebelscheinwerfer |
| 521 | Rain Sensor | Regensensor |
| 534 | Automatic Air Conditioning | Klimaautomatik |
| 548 | Speedometer With Kilometer Reading | Kilometertacho |
| 550 | On-board Computer | Bordcomputer |
| 563 | Lights Package | Lichtpaket |
| 5AA | Rear Fog Lamp | Nebelschlussleuchte |
| 5DD | Car Jack | Wagenheber |
| 5DT | Dynamic Traction Control | Dynamic Traction Control |
| 645 | Radio Control Us | Radio-steuerung Us |
| 653 | High Definition Radio | High Definition Radio |
| 693 | Satellite Tuner Preparation | Satellitentuner Vorbereitung |
| 6FC | Radio Mini Boost Cd | Radio Mini Boost Cd |
| 736 | Second Radio Remote Control Key | 2. Funkfernbedienungsschluessel |
| 785 | White Direction Indicator Lights | Weisse Blinkleuchten |
| 823 | Hot Climate Version | Heissland-ausfuehrung |
| 838 | Canadian Version | Kanada-ausfuehrung |
| 842 | Cold Climate Version | Kaltland-ausfuehrung |
| 845 | Acoustic Belt Warning | Akustische Gurtwarnung |
| 853 | Language Version English | Sprachversion Englisch |
| 876 | Radio Frequency 315 Mhz | Funkfrequenz 315 Mhz |
| 8SM | Vin, Visible From Outside | Fahrgestellnummer,v.aussen Sichtbar |
| 8SP | Cop Control | Cop Steuerung |
| 925 | Shipping Protection Package | Versandschutzpaket |
| 927 | All Season Tires | All Season Bereifung |
Issues:
Fog lights look nasty, either need a polish or complete replacement.
Paint/light has a lot of scratches, some small dents. Would be nice to get it PDR'd and polished as much as I can.
Both sun visors have the mirror covers ripped off (who does this?)
Has some amount of aftermarket exhaust that drones badly at highway speeds. Likely will add a muffler.
Battery cover is missing, as apparently every other car.
Hood release handle in the cabin is messed up somehow
Driver door is stiff and has issues latching.
Rear fog is full of water.
The dipstick is impossible to read.
Misfire at high load/high RPM, maybe also upon first start when settling into idle. Coils seem hilariously cheap on rockauto. After the first day I couldn't make it misfire up top again.
Missing the tiny flap under the car in front of the DS wheel.
Initial observations:
Engine seems to be happy, no death rattle (yet???).
180hp feels way stronger than I would've thought.
DME seems to blip throttle itself when clutch engages. I even basically dumped the clutch (I apparently can't wear dress shoes in this car because they don't fit) and it didn't stall out.
Exhaust is unbearable on the highway.
I wish it had native bluetooth, but it's not shocking that it doesn't.
Halogen lights are useless at night.
Would be an absolute riot with ~225 hp.
Tons of headroom without the sunroof.
Sport mode makes throttle response respectable (yay), makes pOpS aNd BaNgs from the exhaust (boo), and steering heavier (meh).
Basic Plans:
Oil Change
Fix Broken Shit™
Intercooler upgrade
Add a muffler
Downpipe if it doesn't already have one
Figure out how to read/write/edit the DME
Lightweight 17x8 wheels, summer tires
Maybe retrofit some better headlights once I'm more confident that they're PNP or can be successfully coded.
Pictures:
At the dealer:
Heading home:
Pit stop for gas (for the outback lol) and coffee.
Stopping at the Homeless Despot for plumbing supplies
At the DMV, unintentionally ft. the Vitamin O distro plant
Dirty Engine bay with some rusty fasteners and missing battery cover.
Interior from ad:
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