They were not designed to last! I have 110,000 Miles on my early 2003 MCS and so far here is what I have done or in Process of Doing:

#1, Replaced the Headers about 55,000 miles. They Broke at the Catalytic Converter! I first got a set of Stock replacement and then a set from Auto X Cooper (Megan) and the bought a 300 Hole Metallic Spun Cat and welded it into the Bolt on section. I also had an o2 Sensor welded in at the Collector.

#2, The Muffler broke at about 75,000 and I first replaced it with a Magna-Flow which Droned inside and so I put in an extra Muffler but it was still too loud. I bought a Stratmosphere exhaust from one of this sites supporters in Georgia and it is Perfect!

#3, After several Expansion Tanks, I finally bought a Polished Aluminum one and no more problems since with the water tank.

#4, At about 90,000 it developed the "Christine Condition" where the Windows would go up and down by themselves and the Hatch would open and roll back. Reading around on this site I figured that the keyless entry unit in the Drivers door was the Problem and it was so I bought a new one and replaced it and that resolved that problem.

#5, between 85,000 to 95,000 it started throwing Codes and would not meet emissions testing, After compression Tests and more reading I found that this car has a Chrysler Neon Engine Built in Brazil. The engine has short Valve guides and the valves start to wobble and lose their seal. I found a guy on E-Bay that had made some Pins for $35 that the Dealer sells for $150 to slide out the Modular Front end and along with the Cam tool was able to remove the head. I installed ARP Studs, a Cometic Head Gasket and a used head with about 10,000 miles for about $500 and replaced the entire Head.

#6, Water under the Back seat on the passenger side took the car to Passport Mini in Alexanderia Virginia to have the Sun Roof Drains cleaned and check the Drain Hoses and fix the loud noise in the Sun Roof! After being lied to about "Waiting on a special Part from Germany" (No part was on the Bill) I got the car back. I later found that the Hatch was leaking and adjusted it in-ward but they cut an Axle Boot and left the Under tray down while checking the car, Broke the Oil DIp Stick got the headliner Filthy and messed up the Wubber Sun Roof Edging. No more dealers for me.

#7, I am now in the process of Replacing the Control Arm Bushings

#8, Replacing the Upper Shock mount plates

#9, Replacing the Steering Rack

#10, The Left and Right side Axles

#11, the low speed does not work on the cooling fan so I bought a now one

#12, Replacing the Lower rear arms so the Alignment can actually be changed to 1 degree of Negative Camber

For a Reference, I also have a 1982 BMW 320I which I paid $100 for 11 years ago that now has ALL Original Engine parts with 250,000 miles (I did replace the Water Pump and timing and Oil Pump chains. Gets 30 Mpg on the road and 20+ in town.

Between This Board, Stratmosphere Exhaust, TSW, Auto X Cooper (Has a Neat Program to replace the Control Arm Bushings with Purple "PowerFlex" Bushings with an "Exchange" of your Mounting plates ) and E-Bay, there is simply no way I could afford to own this car. If my wife did not like it so much it would have been gone long ago!

 

What's wrong with a neon engine? It's actually a pretty good motor. If you want horrid motors I would look at this, it's a fun read actually: http://jalopnik.com/5614834/ten-famo...gines/gallery/

Your the first person I have ever mention the valve guides a being an issue. Doesn't mean they weren't I just haven't heard of it.　What made you sure it was that particular item giving you grief?

 

Reading your post makes me want to sell my '06 and buy a VW GTI.

 

Then dont talk to my buddy about all the crap he replaced on his 07 GTI compared to my 04 Mini.

 

Understand that the Neon Engine made good Power! One of the way it made the power was the Good flowing head. One of the best ways to flow more air is to use small Stem Valves and / or do not have much of the Guide protruding into the Ports.

Most people do not know what the problem are when it starts to throw Codes and when it is repaired the dealer has Usually replaced the head but does not state and some do not know why it needed replacement. If you ever get a chance, look at the 2002 to 2006 Head and you will see what I mean.

I KNEW the run flats would be hard on the car so I replaced them with Toyo tires that gave the car a much smoother ride at the cost of some of the Razor edge handling.

A lot of the problems are there but not looked at! I Never noticed the cracks in the Rubber around the top of the Shocks or even knew about the Control Arm Bushing problems until I saw them for myself! I could not Feel these problems when operating the car.

I KNEW there was a problem with the Steering because it was losing oil and I could not see where (It was inside the Boots on the rack!

The dealer damaged the Boot on the right side drive shaft so that was not the cars fault.

Yes it is a neat car but not one built for longevety like my 1982 BMW 320I!

I wrote this so everyone would take a serious look around their car if they had about 100,000 miles and start fixing things before the things fixed them!

 

Sorry but your buddy bought the 1st year production model. And even though the Mk5 GTI was assembled in Germany instead of Mexico, it had a few expensive bugs (ie. High Pressure Fuel Pump, DSG transmission)

My rule is to buy the 3rd production year or later. For example, my chipped '01 1.8T Beetle (4th yr model) currently has 175k. The 1.8T engine was first introduced in '96 used in the Audi A4. With the tires (4th set, incl. OEM), timing belt/H20 pump (3rd set), and brakes (3rd set) all recently replaced, I've spent a total of $6114 ($625/yr) for EVERYTHING except insurance, registration and gas. By everything, I mean... $5 vacuum hose, $1 distilled H20 and tools were all recorded.

Now with my '06 MCSc, there's ~$2000 worth of warranty work done in the last 35k miles. Some of those parts have not been improved by Mini despite the fact that they know these parts are junk for many years... motor mount, LCA bushings, thermostat housing, PS pump & fan to name a few.

 

I hope the Prince engine doesn't make jalopnik's top 10 list.

 

#1. What in the world are you talking about? Dealers replacing the heads? This has NEVER been a problem with Minis.

#2. Most people replace their runflats with non-runflats and get both, a better ride and better handling. You need to research more, check out "Tire Rack".

#3. Yes the upper front mounts do crack and the control arm bushings do go out, but there is a price to a high performance handling. And they are fairly cheap and easy to replace.

#4. Ask my wife about longevity of a BMW. She had a 05 BMW 330CI that was in the shop 15 times in 1 year! We forced the dealer to take it back and luckily they were a MINI dealer and now drives a 09 MCS.

#5. You could go and buy a boring Toyota and be good for 100k miles.......oops maybe not

 

It may not surprise you then that Mini is last in JD Power & Associates list for quality.

 

As was Mercedes during the Chrysler years ('95-'05); they were down there in the basement having tea with Kia and Daewoo. Supposedly quality has improved in recent years. The quality issue has allowed BMW to overtake MB as the #1 luxury brand and Audi is gaining ground at an amazing speed.

Last summer, I and a few relatives tried to talk my aunt out of buying a 1st production year 2010 E350 but she wouldn't listen. Since she's never owned anything but (very reliable) Toyotas, we said that a 3-yr lease would be a good idea in case the car becomes unreliable or the cost of ownership is too high. What happened? She handed over $50k+ IN CASH for the damn thing... and it doesn't even have leather and HID headlights! We'll see how it goes when the warranty is over.