are mini coopers really as unreliable as they seem?

[supark]

I love the way minis drive and look, but every time I look into reliability, I find a laundry list of some pretty huge issues. For example; manual tranny gear rattle that is not cured by replacement of gearbox, in some cases valves getting burnt out (not sure why this would have happened), random electrical issues some of which lead to fires, and one of the scariest is that the shock towers balloon/deform in some cars from suspension loads.

An automatic isn't out of the question as this is going to be a daily driver that's going to sit in traffic a lot if that solves the gear box issues, but the shock tower issue freaks me out a bit. I'd probably go for the cooper s, but if the n/a is more reliable I wouldn't mind missing out on some horses for a more reliable car.

Thoughts?

[glwillia]

According to Consumer Reports, recently Mini has had better-than-average reliability.

[pup]

i've had zero issues. just regular maintenance.

[vdubkid]

Shadowed the Mini tech at the local dealer for a couple weeks. Watch out for the door cable, it tends to fall off the latch. Can't open the door from the inside.

[supark]

are the na vs "S" models more or less reliable? How about the auto vs manual gearbox?

[tenfifteen]

Had some flywheel issues with both of my R53s. '02 squeaked, '04 rattled a little. Neither car ever left me standing on the side of the road somewhere, nor gave me any appreciable trouble. Have heard of shock tower issues but believe these were sussed out by the '05 year model.

New ones are very well put together as far as I can tell. On the freeway, we're seeing 38+ MPG average in our S. My personal opinion, do not get the NA model. The new one has more horse than the last-gen, but the performance differential is still too much for me to forgo the turbo.

[NCMINIGUY]

I've had three including the two I have now.

The new (07 and newer) ones are very reliable with only a reported issue of some start up valvetrain noise on some cars. The non-turbo cars seem to have no issues at all.

The first gen cars do have a couple things to look out for.

The Cooper (non supercharged) cars have horrible automatic transmissions, that WILL die. The 02-04 five speed manuals aren't great either.

If you get a first gen, I'd go with an 05 or 06, there really aren't any issues with those cars. The strut tower thing does happen on some cars, mine are both okay (about 20,000 miles on each one) but to be safe you can add a strut tower brace from someplace like M7 tuning that will prevent the mushrooming.

My cars have been pretty good. My S had a transmission leak when I picked it up, but hasn't been back to the dealer since then (18 months, 20,000 miles). My wife's cooper has been in once for an issue with the central locking and is going in today for a check engine light.

In general, the three MINIs have been more reliable/less trips to the dealer than the 3 BMWs I bought new.

[catseye]

I'd have to say I've been impressed with the quality of my 58k mile '05 in the 6 months I've had it. It's not had any issues except for a motor mount, and the history is pretty clean as well.

The folks I talk to overall are impressed with their cars and I see a ton of repeat buying, and people who own more than one.

[Brad5161]

So far, other than the propensity to suck rocks into the windshield, the release for one of the rear seats came loose. Other than that and the occasssional interior squeak, my wife has put almost 30k trouble-free miles on our 2002 MCS in about two years.

She's been backed into twice but of course that doesn't count.
:cool

[supark]

I've had three including the two I have now.

The new (07 and newer) ones are very reliable with only a reported issue of some start up valvetrain noise on some cars. The non-turbo cars seem to have no issues at all.

The first gen cars do have a couple things to look out for.

The Cooper (non supercharged) cars have horrible automatic transmissions, that WILL die. The 02-04 five speed manuals aren't great either.

If you get a first gen, I'd go with an 05 or 06, there really aren't any issues with those cars. The strut tower thing does happen on some cars, mine are both okay (about 20,000 miles on each one) but to be safe you can add a strut tower brace from someplace like M7 tuning that will prevent the mushrooming.

My cars have been pretty good. My S had a transmission leak when I picked it up, but hasn't been back to the dealer since then (18 months, 20,000 miles). My wife's cooper has been in once for an issue with the central locking and is going in today for a check engine light.

In general, the three MINIs have been more reliable/less trips to the dealer than the 3 BMWs I bought new.

So a strut tower brace will definitely prevent the mushrooming? It's not just bad design and/or metallurgy?

Do the 05-up minis have a different transmission design?

[sprp85]

70k miles, very hard driven miles.
basic things just started to go (tie-rod, ball joitns, thermostats :confused, etc..)
other than the things listed above, its still rock solid.

[catseye]

So a strut tower brace will definitely prevent the mushrooming? It's not just bad design and/or metallurgy?

Do the 05-up minis have a different transmission design?
Read this buyers guide from MotoringFile (http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/). I found it helpful. As far as the mushrooming strut towers go, the strut brace seems to be a big plus. My understanding is that run-flats also aggravate the situation, but you'll probably want to dump them as well.

[NCMINIGUY]

So a strut tower brace will definitely prevent the mushrooming? It's not just bad design and/or metallurgy?

Do the 05-up minis have a different transmission design?

I think that the strut area is probably a little bit weak, and then people run really stiff springs and super low profile tires, and that is a recipe for the mushrooming.

not all strut braces will work, though. the M7 Tuning brace is VERY heavy duty.

[supark]

70k miles, very hard driven miles.
basic things just started to go (tie-rod, ball joitns, thermostats :confused, etc..)
other than the things listed above, its still rock solid.

what year do you have?

[supark]

Read this buyers guide from MotoringFile (http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/). I found it helpful. As far as the mushrooming strut towers go, the strut brace seems to be a big plus. My understanding is that run-flats also aggravate the situation, but you'll probably want to dump them as well.

I actually just found these strut tower stiffeners on a mini performance site that claim to prevent mushrooming - basically like the ends of the strut brace with the brace removed.

[catseye]

I actually just found these strut tower stiffeners on a mini performance site that claim to prevent mushrooming - basically like the ends of the strut brace with the brace removed.
I bought the ones from M7, which prevent this problem, and for another 100, you have a strut bar....

http://www.catseyeweb.com/minicoop/images/m7bar.jpg

[supark]

^ nice! I was referring to these Cravenspeed "strut tower defenders" http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-cooper/mini_cooper_cravenspeed_strut_tower_defenders.html

Is it worth the extra money to get the 05 over the 04 for the newer getrag manual gearbox in the 05?

[rhogg]

I have a 2004 MCS that has been bombproof if not flawless. I think you would need to drive the 04 and 05 to compare. The 04 6 speed is well geared for the highway with 1st being pretty tall and bogging down at launch.

The 05s corrected this as they are geared for better off the line performance which also makes them a little easier to drive. You give up something in the other gears though.

Personally I prefer the 04 - it is a great highway car if a little balky downtown, mind you I have an E30 318i for that.

My 17 year old daughter loves to drive the 318 because of its easier gearing but avoids the MCS.

[TaylorL99]

I have a 2004 R53 MCS, only thing i've done is replace flywheel and clutch because of a rattling noise that few people would have noticed. It was completely cover by warranty. Other than that absolutely no problems with regular maintenance.

[supark]

you know, looking around craigslist - the 04 and 05 models are almost the same price so it looks like I'll probably be shooting to get an 05. The bug has definitely caught me hard... I was talking to a dealer here in SF and they're sneaky about the prices they have online when you build a car. Even though you can build a pretty sporty, well equipped new cooper S for under $25k, it doesn't include dealer markup, which I guess might be fairly big considering quite a few dealerships do not have enough minis in stock to keep up with demand (according to them that is).

[catseye]

^ nice! I was referring to these Cravenspeed "strut tower defenders" .....
I don't know if I'd want anything called STD's.......

Unless you already have some STD's, you ought to catch a few just to be safe....
but they look good.

[NCMINIGUY]

you know, looking around craigslist - the 04 and 05 models are almost the same price so it looks like I'll probably be shooting to get an 05. The bug has definitely caught me hard... I was talking to a dealer here in SF and they're sneaky about the prices they have online when you build a car. Even though you can build a pretty sporty, well equipped new cooper S for under $25k, it doesn't include dealer markup, which I guess might be fairly big considering quite a few dealerships do not have enough minis in stock to keep up with demand (according to them that is).

you can get cars for MSRP outside of california, and save enough to fly to the midwest and make a vacation of driving it back!

[supark]

ha um - any recommendations for dealers in the midwest?

[detroit635csi]

motorcity mini out here in detroit.. i picked up my used 02 mcs from them

its a blast. cai, exhaust and 15%pulley done to it... clean service history, just the necessary updates...very reliable car

[supark]

^ nice - good to hear. The more I read about poor owner's experiences, they seem to be mainly on cars that are standard non-S with either the CVT or 5-speed and have been driven on the run-flats their entire lives. Even the older Ss seem to be good buys.

[NJREDZ06]

I have an 04 MCS MC40 - no problems other than a rear taillight was getting condensation. Replaced under warranty. I have about 20K miles now and autox it regularly.

[kalbone]

i have an '02 MCS 110k hard driven miles... supercharger went out @100k

[supark]

i have an '02 MCS 110k hard driven miles... supercharger went out @100k

How much for a rebuild on the supercharger? Did you do a top end rebuild when you serviced the supercharger or are they pretty stout with over 100k miles?

[catseye]

How much for a rebuild on the supercharger? Did you do a top end rebuild when you serviced the supercharger or are they pretty stout with over 100k miles?
I'd also be curious what the top end looks like after 100k hard miles....