Tips for a possible new R53 owner?

[jeff323]

Hey everyone, I am sure this has been covered before, but I am seriously considering the purchase an R53 Cooper S. I just test drove one for the first time today and I really liked it a lot. It seems to fit my current needs for a sporty yet somewhat econmical commuter. The car in question is an '05 Chili Red "S" with only 32K miles. Its got a manual tranny and the factory OEM aero kit with I have always liked. Its also got a Dinan exhaust which sounds real nice too. Its a little pricey at the $16+K asking price, but its at a dealer and I am pretty sure I can talk them down to the low 14's or even less.

My question though is I would like to know of some specific things I should be looking at before I decide. As a long time BMW guy, I am pretty aware of these cars, but not really in the specifics to what tends to fail on them. Also what is their reliability like (I heard that the later ones tended to be better)? I have heard people say they take them in once a month for service and others say theirs never needed servicing other than maintance items. What is their cost of ownership really like?

Sorry to ask questions that have probably been asked a milion times on here, but I am just looking for the most up to date advice as possible. ;)

[Destro]

Lets see mileage sounds good.

Thinks to look at mushrooming strut towers. Rear control arms and you'll probably need to front control arm bushings soon. If it hasn't been changed recently you'll probably need a new belt so use this opportunity to change the SC pulley out for a 15-17% pulley.

Other than that put gas in it and go.

If way doesn't chime in soon contact him here http://www.waymotorworks.com/ he really is a mini guru

[beken]

I think any car that's tuned to its limits are not going to be as reliable as one that's tuned way below. There is always a fine balance between reliability and getting that last ounce of specialness out of anything.

As far as I'm concerned, my MINI, though not 100% super reliable, has achieved a great balance of performance, luxury, economy and reliability for my needs, and at a reasonable price. Last night while driving home I was thinking this car is probably the best car I have ever owned bar none, and I've owned a few cars in my day. Most of the things that have gone wrong have been due to me disrupting the balance by modding something. There have been a few things gone wrong and (at least where I am) the dealer support to fix the problem and make sure it doesn't happen again has been tremendous.

So, whatever Way said for the common issues and the risk that you don't really know how the previous owner might have disrupted that fine balance for the car, I think the MINI is a fine car.

One more thing I might add. My car is on its 6th windshield. 3 AMVIVs and lots of 1000+ mile motoring trips :D, construction of the 2010 Winter Olympic venues all over the Vancouver BC area, highways road work and other cars and trucks on the road that just don't care about keeping clean have conspired to sand and gravel storm my car. MINI's rather upright windshields can catch a lot of rocks. So if you're in an area where the economy appears to be going strong and there are lots of infrastructure projects going on, be awares you may need to replace your windshields quite a lot.

Good luck and when you do purchase your MINI, we'd like to see pictures of it. :D

[SilverBeam]

The price is awesome by California standards. 2005 was a great year for the Cooper, they solved the vast majority of the problems by that year.

[MINIGURU]

Check the control arm bushings, they are common to wear out about every 40k. On the 05+ the thermostats are common to leak too.

They really are pretty good cars.

[MiniDude824]

oil pan gaskets and dont buy a 2002.
RMW makes some killer performance parts for minis, ive hot rodded my car with their parts.