Hello,

I am an active member on many forums and am joining in hopes of getting some advice/direction for an upcoming purchase.

My wife's 04 Chrysler Crossfire has been deemed totaled so we are looking to get her next car really soon. She has her mind set on the Mini. Were willing to spend up to 12k but are getting about 9 from Insurance.

I am hoping to get some words of wisdom from the wise that may be hard to gather before our purchase and looking to avoid a "I wish we would have known" moment. On E36 BMW forums I would be told to check for the Vanos, on the WRX forums I would be advised to stay away from the 08/09 WRX because it had a small turbo weak suspension etc., these are the types of things I am trying to learn quickly.

Are there particular years/models/options to avoid?

Are there things I need to look out for?

How do they hold up with miles over the years?

We are currently eyeing an 09 S with about 45k on it but tomorrow will be our first day out to test drive.

It will need to be a Auto because she doesn't drive Manual (I'm trying to teach her, at least for emergencies)

Thanks,

Morgan

 

09 MCS? Be sure to do a lot of reading on NAM, lots of good info on the different issues with the year and models. I would ask yourself, do you really need an S? The maintenance and repair costs are way higher than a non-S.

I have a 12 MCS, still under warranty. When the warranty is up, will either extend the warranty or give up the car.

 

You will want to get a print out of what all has been serviced on this MINI. Are you buying it from a MINI dealership? One of the things you want to check is make sure it has the updated timing chain tensioner. But really you do have to get a print out of whats all currently been done to it. Im sure there will be more chiming in to help!

 

I'm with Zippy. If that mini has been serviced and repaired at a mini dealer, they will have all the details given the last few digits of the VIN. I just did that the other day at North Scottsdale Mini.

 

+1

 

You are bound to get a lot of replies. My 12 MCS is an auto, with the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Is actually, my wifes car, she loves it. From what I've gathered, few problems reported on the 2nd gen auto, which includes your 09. What other options are this mini? With the VIN you can look up all options on it -

http://www.bmwarchive.org/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html

 

first things first:

its a bmw product. any repair that you pay for, is generally going to cost more than other makes. (at least in the aspect of parts pricing) if its under warranty and youre not modifying the car, you wont have to worry much about that, at least right away. personally, when i picked up my 03S 2 years ago, i knew it only had a 30 day warranty and i knew i was going to be modding it. now i have an 11 year old mini cooper with just over $20k into it. my friends that have some very nice late 90's - early 00's nissans, hondas, acuras, etc... all call me crazy, because had that money gone into one of those cars, itd be 2x faster than the mini is. then again... its a mini.

second:

i cant speak much on the 06+ models with the turbos, but from what ive read, the 02-early 03 might be something to avoid. i have an early 03 and ive had no issues. the 05-06 ive read are better. honestly its late and im tired lol, but i will elaborate more when i get the chance if someone else doesnt get to it before me.

 

my take on early gen 2 n14 equipped mini cooper s'

the bad:

1. get a good and trusted mechanic if you are not going to perform the work on your MINI;
2. parts are manageable in price as long as you find the right vendor/supplier;
3. 07-09 MCS' are notorious for the high pressure fuel pump to fail. that said, MINI as has extended its warranty to 100K. sounds good for now right? dealerships will skate around this issue until it's really obvious and necessary to replace it. to explain, the symptom of a failed hpfp is usually a hard cold start (mornings) but it will eventually start after a few attempts and it will idle violently at first. not to worry but it will settle down and safe to drive. it will SOMETIMES throw a CEL or when the car is warm enough, the problem will be camouflaged. This usually will happen AT THE DEALERSHIP therefore you will be advised to have other parts replaced before tackling the hpfp. best thing is to have the car sit overnight and have a service tech/advisor start it on the following day;
4. timing chain (and its components like the tensioner) and intake cam sensor to fail on or before 70-80K.. my opinion, a flaw in the french-made peugeot engines and way too soon compared to other car makers;
5. carbon build up… inevitable and very common on direct fuel injection engines. certain fuel additives are used to minimize it and diy seafoam treatment every 10K same time when the air filter is either replaced or cleaned;
6. it's like a jigsaw puzzle.

the good:

1. once it's in normal operating condition, it runs like a dream!
2. better ergonomics, in my opinion compared to the r53's…
3. you can average close to 40 mpg's if it's driven right…

from what i've read, the later gen 2 years 2010+ have been very low key on the forums. maybe it's too new or all issues have been resolved. read up more on the items 2 to 5 in his forum to gain more knowledge about the car.

i happen to have an '08 mcs and love driving it! hope you do not find this note abrasive but it's the truth that i know.

 

Yeah I have talked to her about not getting the S, but she does seem to prefer it.

She does like a little extra oomph but I know she also prefers the hood with the inlet. I think she'll see soon though for our price range choices will be high mileage.

The 09 Sold yesterday before we got a chance to check it out. If everything checked out it would have been an awesome score.

I fortunately do have an awesome BMW mechanic who is just amazing sometimes. Works for the local dealer and takes on lots of work on the side. He bleeds BMW oil haha

Thanks for the tips, I'm certainly hoping to get service records so I will be on the lookout for the fuel pump. Good to know they upped it to 100k,even if you have to fight a dealer for it.

Don't think we were going back to 02/03 but now we have more reason not to.

Thanks everyone

 

sorry to hear about not getting at the dealership on time. that same experience happened to me and I know exactly how that feels like. i was looking at an '08 mcs with 32k miles for $12.5k last spring. salesman felt sorry but still let me test drive the car… the car ran very tight!

take your time and you're bound to find something that will make you all happy.

good luck and happy MOTORING!