Anyone drive a MINI?

[shiftbmw]

Just curious about how these things are to maintain. I assume the S's cost quite a bit more to maintain as well. Are the S's worth the added headaches?

Any majorly expensive failure points on the car? Easy to work on?

Anyone have any experience? Thanks gents.

[Erik]

I have heard mixed things about them. But this was a few years ago when I was more into them and they were s/c'd. I'm getting the sense that since they made the swap to turbo they have become much less of a hassle to maintain and much more fun to own/mod.

Btw, Real men can admit to owning a Mini. They are and always have been badass cars.

[joshh]

I hear working on them pretty much sucks. No space for anything. But otherwise good cars.

[Stephen]

[HarryPotter]

That's a cool show car.

[Bavarian3]

Lets see. I have an 09 non-s. All I have done is an oil change, change out the front sway-bar links and adjust the rear toe. All of the above is super simple. While the engine bay is somewhat packed (and even more so on the S) it is not that bad. I'm sure I'll be doing the brakes in a couple thousand miles, but it looks quite similar to a BMW brake system...

I'd check out NAM (northamericanmotoring).com

and here's a video for the hell of it:

http://vimeo.com/7133916

[Roz]

The fluid filled engine mount will or already has failed on all used ones. Some people with first gen S's have experienced failures of the gears in the back end of the supercharger that run the water pump. They are not setup to be serviced, so when the oil leaks out or gets sucked into the supercharger, the gears get chewed up, and the whole unit needs to be replaced. From what I understand, MINI figures the life of the supercharger is around 100000 miles.

[quickervicar]

My sister has an '06 S. Great driving little car. Incredibly responsive & sharp. Makes great noises. I have 3 complaints/reservations about it thought:

-they are built down to a price. Don't expect E30 build-quality or materials expense to be in these cars. They are "premium" economy cars.

-shifter feel is terrible. There are kits to improve this

-every time I open the hood I wince. To service anything you have to remove everything.

I'll probably own one some day. They are that good to drive.

[N2MYE30]

I just test drove an 2010...both base and S. Id take a stripped down version. It has plenty of pep without all the bells and whistles ( just more shiat to fail). The S is of course faster but in the end, ill prolly take it in the end when tring to sevice it. Mini did offer me a pretty good warrantee and service pkg (for a small fee).

The only thing I didnt like was the push start. Why complicate a simple system!

My only options would be dual sunroof and cloth sports seats.

[nbio]

I have an '04 cooper s, and it is one of the coolest cars I have ever owned. The thing with the supercharger/water pump failure is not very common, and I haven't had any problems with it at 62k miles. Other common problems include strut tower "mushrooming" because the suspension is too firm in the early coopers. If you have a choice, do not get a 2002 or 2003 cooper, the 5 speed midlands transmission is garbage and problematic. After 2004 they used a getrag trans. The cooper s has a 6 speed getrag, and was replaced with a closer ratio trans for the 05 model refresh. (I have driven an 05 and it's fun, but not a big deal.)

If you do get a cooper s, most people in the enthusiast community choose to get a 15% reduction pulley for the s/c. I did this to my car about 4 months ago, and WOW it makes the car even more fun than I possible thought it could be.
check out northamericanmotoring.com for more info

[mikeedler]

I am a service tech at a BMW/Mini dealer--- they really arent that bad to work on-- they are just built with a different mentality than a BMW. The complete front subframe comes out on a lift in under 45 min.
I have done quite a few transmissions on the older as well as the newer models. Timing chain noise is a big problem on the newer ones!

As stated before- the build quality and materials are not that of BMW!!! all of the fasteners rust in 2 years.
def. buy an S!!! its not anymore in maint. and alot more fun.

[StereoInstaller1]

Hey Mike, how about them power steering pumps?

[mikeedler]

Hey Mike, how about them power steering pumps?

actually I have changed a few burned up fans though

and the weakest point on all minis is the thermostat housing-- IT WILL LEAK!

[quickervicar]

The complete front subframe comes out on a lift in under 45 min.

As in engine, trans, front clip, etc? Or just suspension & steering?

[mikeedler]

the frame, front bumper/lights, steering rack-- but its really only another 30 min or so to drop the trans too