Mini Cooper S
- Thread starter RickRob
- Start date
My wife had an R56 Cooper S from new and had 5/6 years reasonably trouble free motoring. Had the timing chain and tensioner changed a couple of times over the years because of rattling. In the end chain slipped a tooth (dodgy tensioner??) and pistons and valves collided!! After a painful process with BMW customer services they agreed to fix it even though the car was 3 years out of warranty. Bill was approx 5k. Then within a week Turbo went. BMW replaced for £500 as gesture of good will. Then within a week fuel pump went ( second time in 3 years ). BMW replaced for free. Then I just got rid...
Dipsticks and Rfts were awful!! Besides the above car was awesome!!
Dipsticks and Rfts were awful!! Besides the above car was awesome!!
Wow! Thanks for all the replies.
The words "fragile", "unreliable" and "death rattle" appear with a worrying frequency. In the short term I am going to think about whether a set of winter tyres (suggested by Steve84N) is the most sensible, and certainly the cheapest, option. It is true that we're unlikely to get 3 foot snowdrifts in West Sussex.
I shall also think about other options (e.g. Fiesta ST as suggested by Monkeydonkeyratmagic). don't hold your breath though - I'll probably still be thinking about this next autumn. Let's hope that Mrs R doesn't get involved - she's the one who a few years ago bought a new Ford Puma never having driven one or even seen one in the metal until she collected it! It was a great little car though.
Anyway, thanks again for all your thoughts and advice. If I ever make a decision I'll let you know.
The words "fragile", "unreliable" and "death rattle" appear with a worrying frequency. In the short term I am going to think about whether a set of winter tyres (suggested by Steve84N) is the most sensible, and certainly the cheapest, option. It is true that we're unlikely to get 3 foot snowdrifts in West Sussex.
I shall also think about other options (e.g. Fiesta ST as suggested by Monkeydonkeyratmagic). don't hold your breath though - I'll probably still be thinking about this next autumn. Let's hope that Mrs R doesn't get involved - she's the one who a few years ago bought a new Ford Puma never having driven one or even seen one in the metal until she collected it! It was a great little car though.
Anyway, thanks again for all your thoughts and advice. If I ever make a decision I'll let you know.
If you're thinking of the fiesta wait till March. They are destroying it with the next model being a 3 pot but on the plus side the prices of the 13/17 plates should drop a little. Depending on how bad the next one is. Rumor has it it's shockingly bad and will be way way over priced. Current new shape 1.0T in a half decent spec rolls out at 21k. My fully speccd ST2 in 2013 was snatched at 16.700. Last batches ended up being bloated to 21.5k.
I would only buy new and even then I think you would need to be prepared to use the warranty. Every MINI I've sat in has had dash rattles included the Cooper S I had which would simply put me off full stop these days. I think the BMW build quality is slightly perceived with MINIs especially for what they cost. I still slightly hanker after a new S Works but would be afraid of issues cropping up.
Tim.
Tim.
I really like the look of them, but having driven a few as loan cars, I was put off. The gearbox was "challenging" to say the least, with reverse the most challenging gear on all the ones I have driven.
Some years back though as I have not had them recently so don't know if that has been fixed.
Some years back though as I have not had them recently so don't know if that has been fixed.
Thanks again to all of you who offered advice. So it appears that Mrs R has been harbouring dreams of a Mini Cooper S for some while and her mind is made up. So with. no argument from me, as if I would dare, we went to see one today. And, surprise surprise, we bought it. Massively over budget in %age terms, but then so is Mrs R! 
I pick it up on Monday. The plan is that the Zed gets a rest during the week.
Anyway, there's a guy on here who consistently nags members for pics (can't recall his name
) so here are a couple:
I pick it up on Monday. The plan is that the Zed gets a rest during the week.
Anyway, there's a guy on here who consistently nags members for pics (can't recall his name
) so here are a couple:
