Looking to buy a Cooper S in the near future.

[AlexHochbmw]

I'm in the process of selling my bmw and looking for a cooper S. I just read the buyers guide in this section. What do you guys think about these ones that I found?

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-2004-MINI-COOPER-S-129-000-km-9-995-00-HST-W0QQAdIdZ326591320

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-2004-MINI-COOPER-S-PANORAMIC-ROOF-BRITISH-GREEN-ON-WHITE-W0QQAdIdZ379733206

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-2004-MINI-Mini-Cooper-S-Hatchback-W0QQAdIdZ360269782

I do not want to spend more than 10k before taxes

[SilverBeam]

It's hard to offer a good opinion since the red and blue one only have two photos. But the green one is really well optioned with both sport and premium package (i.e. the three spoke wheel). I don't think the red of blue one have sport package, which come with the S line wheels.

[beaner06]

all three are "similar". have you looked at any 05 or 06's? there were several impoertant upgrades that happend with this "facelift". just take a look before pulling the trigger. good luck with your search. it seems as if you are doing your homework. let us know on what you decide.

beaner

[Partsman109]

The BRG/W one is an odd duck because it has the pre-facelift(up to 7/2004) head and tail lamps, but has the smooth front grille surround and three spoke steering wheel(7/2004 and later). The statement is correct for US spec cars...maybe Canada production was different or the car was built right on the production date break, or maybe someone just retrofitted those items.

The car does have manual HVAC controls which should be taken into consideration. The replacement cost for the automatic control head is somewhat expensive compared to the manual one.
Thanks to the guy that posted right above me, I didn't have to worry about it.

[AlexHochbmw]

What are all the things that MINI changed for the 'facelift'

I've seen the red one in person as it was pretty close to my house. It has the 3 spoke steering wheel. I know about the gearing revision in the 05 and 06's so my first choice would be one of those if my budget allows. I think i might have more luck finding a nice 2004 that is in my price range though. In which case I will make sure it has the updates over the 2003 model.

If I sell my car soon I'll most likely go for the 04' BRG if everything checks out and I can negotiate a better price.

Thanks for the replies everyone

[beaner06]

Partsman is much smarter than me. i will let him answer your questions. good luck with the search. take as much time as you need to get the right car.

[Partsman109]

What are all the things that MINI changed for the 'facelift'
For the R53, mainly the things I mentioned above...the head and tail lamps, front grille surround, 3 spoke steering wheel, and I think the head unit will play CD's that contain MP3s.
Also, if you need to remove the "down tubes" from the dash, they don't just pull up and out like the earlier ones do. You will have to remove the entire center console and pull them out from the bottom.

For the R50, completely different front and rear bumpers as well as everything mentioned above.

[AlexHochbmw]

Nice, Thanks for the info. I have a person coming to look at my 330ci right now. So hopefully he likes it and buys it. Then I can start to get the ball rolling on this thing.