I owned a new '03 MCS years ago and loved it. After 4 years I sold it when I got the itch for something new. I moved to a Lotus Elise, which I loved. I had that for 5 years but am now back in the market for something I can drive every day and not worry about. The R56 MCS looks like the ticket, however when I read through the forums here everything I see is all kinds of problems. Now, I realize that forums are the place to come and discuss problems and how to fix them. I also remember that was the way it was back in the day (2003), but reading the forums leads one to believe that all of the cars have problems and the '07's should be avoided since they are a new model year. I never had any issues with my '03; it was a great car. Am I reading too much into the issues? Anything in particular about the '07 MCS I should be wary of? I searched but couldn't find a buyer's guide. I know about PPI, etc., just looking for advice. I found a nice '07 MCS with only 35K miles on it.

 

Buying a used 07 MCS, I have 2 words of advice:
Service Records.

It's a used car that has some known issues, make sure the previous owner has taken care of them.
At 35K miles, they might not have seen a carbon build up issues causing problems yet, or they might not have had the thermostat housing leak yet, or their timing chain might not be rattling yet.

That means those known issues that will, at some point, come up, are yours to discover.

Also, go test drive it on a cooler day or early morning if at all possible, and if the car is already to temp. before you get there, come back another time or walk away. If the timing chain is going to rattle, it's on a cold start up and probably wont rattle again all day. If the owner has it warmed up already, no matter what the car, it tells me there's something to hide on start up or warm up. On these cars especially.

On any car that is fun and sporty to drive, you should expect a bit of trade off. It's not going to be 300K miles of worry free driving or dirt cheap parts like a Civic or Corolla. You might have to put more money in and I guess we justify it as a trade off to have more fun than a Civic or Corolla has to offer. Timing chain set/tensioner, thermostat housing(not that hard or expensive in the grand scheme if you do it yourself), High Pressure Fuel Pump which I believe they gave a 10yr/100K mile warranty on, so you're safe till 2017 on that, a potential for a leaky turbo oil inlet line(not the simplest line to replace, but doesn't look too bad either, and at 91K miles on my 07, it's not leaking, so maybe it's hit or miss). Those are the "major" known-issues I can think of.


All and all, if the price is REALLY right, and there are service records and a carfax provided, I'd negotiate on an 07 again. My concern is, some people hold R56 values so high, even with it being a finicky maintenance hungry car, I doubt I'd buy one again because I doubt I'd find the deal on one again lol.

 

A couple of thoughts. One, forums seem to attract a lot of messages about problems. Granted, on the mini I see a lot of chatter about timing chains, thermostat housing, walnut blasting, etc. You should see the comments on the mustang forum I follow. Second, these cars are european sports cars. Maintenance and repair is going to be right up there on par with bmw, audi, etc. If you're looking for a DD that is cheap to maintain and repair, look more towards a honda or toyota..

 

Having bought an 07 MCS last January, i may be able to lend some advice....don't do it. To be clear, i love driving the car and hate owning it. Since purchase it has been nothing but trouble. It had 97000 miles on it, and within the first 30 days needed a new engine- excessive oil burning lead due to a bad exhaust valve caused a score in the cylinder wall. After the new engine, i replaced the front suspension (front sway bar bushings, sway bar end links, struts) because of a constant clunk - still isn't fixed (i'm on to ball joints and the tranny mount next).

Now the car isn't starting due to the high pressure fuel pump. Oh, and it also sounds like a diesel, which i'm assuming is the timing chain tensioner.

This is my first Mini, and granted i should have known by the very low price that there was something wrong, but i won't buy one again.

My previous car was an 06 Civic SI, which was a lot of fun and 120k miles with no issues.

I'm sure there are plenty of other people with a positive experience, but mine has been bad enough to take 5 minutes and write about it. The kicker is that after all this crap, replacing the suspension made it fun enough to keep....

 

Just some food for thought, schwac: You replaced rubber and gas filled suspension components at almost 100K miles. That's maintenance.....on anything... The fuel pump should be covered,go get a free one put in. **edit: you said HAD 97K. Assuming it's past 100 now?

 

Up to 106k now. I do realize that there is some inherent maintenance, but these are parts are failing, not wearing.

I'm comparing this to my Civic, which only needed shocks after 100k, not a new fuel pump, timing chain, walnut blasting, engine, etc.

Like I said, I love driving it but hate owning it

 

very well said, I also have a blown motor bought an 09 used and had no idea about these problems. My fault but having driven a Toyota for years trouble free this took me totally by surprise. I just wish I had read the mini forum earlier the guys on here have been great. I hate to say don't buy one but be selective and keep an ear and eye's on it and keep up with the maintenance it is essential.

 

The diesel sound is the hpfp that causes a lot of noise. Most direct injection gas engines have that noise now.

On a separate note...I bought an 07 last feb with 55k on it. Ive put 10k trouble free miles on it. I drive it in a fun/spirited manner. On the flip side, before I purchased the car, I looked at the service history. Hpfp replaced once, carbon cleaning twice, timing chain twice and one new engine before I bought it. I got what I feel to be a good price at 11.5k.

I would definately buy another mini. But I would think twice about owning one out of warranty.

 

You're comparing the entry level sport model of Honda to the entry level sport model of BMW..... There's the problem with your maintenance expectations lol.

Also, the walnut blasting is not at all a MINI-specific or even BMW-specific concern. When everyone started jumping the gun to release direct injection engines, it was a byproduct that there would be increased carbon build up on the valves. It just is. The valves need periodic cleaning because the fuel no longer is constantly flowing over them.

 

So after due diligence regarding a pre owned mini, I decided to purchase a 07 with a couple of caveats.

1. The car needed to be well maintained, with a thorough pre purchase examination. I think if more people would do this (particularly with cars like mini's) the headaches and damage to ones bank account would be considerably lessened.

2. The dealer I purchased it from had to offer a solid and reputable extended warranty for the car, as well as a no charge warranty for at least thirty days. I realized that by going this route I'd pay more, but you'll understand why in a few moments. My extended covers me for 100k.

I purchased the car with 37 k miles on it, and within ten days of driving it noticed a few potential issues. I had to take it in twice, but the end result is the timing chain issue was fixed, as well as an issue with the car surging at idle. The total cost had it been out of pocket would have been close to 2k.Oh, and all work was done via the mini dealer. This is the SOP for this particular auto dealer I purchased through.

So my advice is to make sure you get it thoroughly checked out at your local and trusted independent mini shop, or mini dealer. If purchasing from a private party you then may have some need for discussion regarding price.

Cheers,

Sam