Needs must so advice on Minis please

[Pastry]

Hi all

It looks like we will have to change the E89 for something more economical as my wife will be doing a lot of travelling next year. We already have an X3 and I drive a van so something small is fine and SWMBO fancies a newish Mini (post 2014 model change). Has anyone got any experience of them and advice on what to look out for/avoid would be most welcome. Bear in mind I'll drive it a little if its fun but Ill probably get and older E85 as I can't justify or afford to run an E89 as a third car!

Paul

 

[Smartbear]

Hi all

It looks like we will have to change the E89 for something more economical as my wife will be doing a lot of travelling next year. We already have an X3 and I drive a van so something small is fine and SWMBO fancies a newish Mini (post 2014 model change). Has anyone got any experience of them and advice on what to look out for/avoid would be most welcome. Bear in mind I'll drive it a little if its fun but Ill probably get and older E85 as I can't justify or afford to run an E89 as a third car!

Paul

Hi, can't really comment on the newish cars but the reliability on the previous models suffered on the forced induction versions (cooper S) the normally aspirated engines were much longer lived.
Shame you're moving on Paul but hope the change works out ok for you
Rob

 

[Pastry]

Hi, can't really comment on the newish cars but the reliability on the previous models suffered on the forced induction versions (cooper S) the normally aspirated engines were much longer lived.
Shame you're moving on Paul but hope the change works out ok for you
Rob

Cheers Rob, the car that immediately took my fancy was the cooper S
I can't complain as its promotion and more money, well I guess I can a little :wink: Im in no hurry as she can commute in either so if the car goes then great, and if it doesn't thats great too but i can assure you matey I won't be out of a Zed for long

 

[Nictrix]

Dont know what the new ones are like but the R56 models burn oil and it is accepted that up to 1 litre per thousand miles is normal.
Struggle to get over 40mpg which for such a small car is terrible.
The suspension is incredibly harsh and bangs over everything.
Any problems with oil leaks or clutch issues require the front end of the car removed and the engine and gearbox taken out to be split, lots of money.
Going from an E89 to a mini to me just seems bonkers as they seem very cheaply made compared to the Z.
On the plus side they handle really well and in the right colour with the right wheels can look quite cool.

 

[Pastry]

Dont know what the new ones are like but the R56 models burn oil and it is accepted that up to 1 litre per thousand miles is normal.
Struggle to get over 40mpg which for such a small car is terrible.
The suspension is incredibly harsh and bangs over everything.
Any problems with oil leaks or clutch issues require the front end of the car removed and the engine and gearbox taken out to be split, lots of money.
Going from an E89 to a mini to me just seems bonkers as they seem very cheaply made compared to the Z.
On the plus side they handle really well and in the right colour with the right wheels can look quite cool.

Wow, talk about second thoughts :? Ive got a loan mini cooper at the moment while I have a new roof put on the E89 under warranty. It seems a big improvement on the old one but it wouldn't be my choice. My wife normally drives the X3 and I drive a transit and the Zed is spare for weekends although she rarely drives it. Its more like her gaining another car than me changing my Zed for a mini as Id never do that. Food for thought though thank you

 

[MACK]

The old R56 Mini Cooper S had a Peugeot (joint project engine) in and ours was a pile of stink.
The new one uses the new BMW module engine design. The Cooper S has a B48 2.0 in it like a lot of the latest BMW's, haven't heard of any issues with them, but then again the engines are quite new.
The new car does feel a lot more spacious inside and definitely a lot classier in terms of material used. I haven't driven one but did sit in a few at a local dealer a few months back. You cant really call these things "Mini's" anymore!

 

[Nictrix]

Dont know what the new ones are like but the R56 models burn oil and it is accepted that up to 1 litre per thousand miles is normal.
Struggle to get over 40mpg which for such a small car is terrible.
The suspension is incredibly harsh and bangs over everything.
Any problems with oil leaks or clutch issues require the front end of the car removed and the engine and gearbox taken out to be split, lots of money.
Going from an E89 to a mini to me just seems bonkers as they seem very cheaply made compared to the Z.
On the plus side they handle really well and in the right colour with the right wheels can look quite cool.

Wow, talk about second thoughts :? Ive got a loan mini cooper at the moment while I have a new roof put on the E89 under warranty. It seems a big improvement on the old one but it wouldn't be my choice. My wife normally drives the X3 and I drive a transit and the Zed is spare for weekends although she rarely drives it. Its more like her gaining another car than me changing my Zed for a mini as Id never do that. Food for thought though thank you

Obviously it will be a different model with a different engine so could be completely different.
The R56 we had was just a Cooper also and I have heard that the S models would struggle reach 30mpg.
To us it was a cool little car to run around in, slightly cheaper running costs and less than half the tax cost of our old Hyundai Coupe.
Just as time went on things started going wrong and looking into it they were common problems.
Crank seal oil leak wrecked the clutch, £700+to fix.
Thermostat housing split twice.
Passenger door actuator for central locking stopped working.
Rear calipers seized and had to be replaced.
I would think that the newer ones are better but really cant imagine them being a patch on a Z.

 

[D6GMB]

I certainly wouldn't recommend the new mini.
We changed from a 3 series coupe to a new F56 Cooper SD. Honestly can say it is one of the worst cars I have ever bought.

Here are a list of faults that we had in 16 months, 11k miles and most not rectified due to complete sh!t service.
Door jams rubbed through to bare metal by door seals ( repaired by repaint and film protection applied).
Road noise, allegedly untraceable clonks rumbles from rear of car.
Knackered shock absorbers!.
Excessively chipped bonnet and bumper that was suddenly painted by Mini once we had sold the car.
Mini connected system sold as the best thing since sliced bread, more Sh!te.

Now back in a BMW told the GM at the dealer how dissatisfied I was with the Mini and we finally managed to sort out a half decent deal on a new car. Just a wee bit of food for thought.

 

[Stark]

I bought this for my ex and it's still going strong and no issues

 

[original guvnor]

As others have said the new 2014 model has completely new engine line ups. Have you considered a Cooper rather than a Cooper S? It does 0-62 in 7.9 (130mph top speed) and has an official MPG of 63 (so real world should be mid to high 40's), £30 RFL. It's a 1.5 turbo. I'm looking at one for my O/H at the moment. Or a Cooper SD? It has 170hp, 0-62 in 7.3 (141mph top speed) and 71 MPG on the official figures.

Whichever car you buy you'll read horror stories from people about their experience because generally satisfied people don't take to the Internet. It's not the massive sales and residuals success it is for no reason.

 

[Pastry]

As others have said the new 2014 model has completely new engine line ups. Have you considered a Cooper rather than a Cooper S? It does 0-62 in 7.9 (130mph top speed) and has an official MPG of 63 (so real world should be mid to high 40's), £30 RFL. It's a 1.5 turbo. I'm looking at one for my O/H at the moment. Or a Cooper SD? It has 170hp, 0-62 in 7.3 (141mph top speed) and 71 MPG on the official figures.

Whichever car you buy you'll read horror stories from people about their experience because generally satisfied people don't take to the Internet. It's not the massive sales and residuals success it is for no reason.

We've got a cooper on loan at the moment and it's not bad at all, It's nippy and good fun cross country but at speed it's very noisy. My wife has got a couple of hundred motorway miles to do the end of this week and that will be the test but I'm already going off it and I don't think she'll be so keen after the trip. Maybe better trying to up the budget and get her in a BMW 120d or maybe seeing if my man maths can justify keeping the Zed

 

[Pastry]

I bought this for my ex and it's still going strong and no issues

That's a cracker

 

[tomscott]

There was a recall on the Cooper S engine between 64-65 because they blow them selves up. Our blew up after 6000 then again at 10,000 wouldn't touch another now the second engine was the newer replacement apparently!

When I say blow up they spin the crank shaft, ours snapped clean in half and destroyed the engine.

Fantastic car tho but just have no faith in it at all we were past the point of rejecting and when we said just take it back they offered £1000 compensation which meant we were in negative equity with the car. When it cost £26k fully loaded.

You do get the odd lemon but for it to happen twice before 12k? That's not normal.

 

[Ewazix]

As others have said the new 2014 model has completely new engine line ups. Have you considered a Cooper rather than a Cooper S? It does 0-62 in 7.9 (130mph top speed) and has an official MPG of 63 (so real world should be mid to high 40's), £30 RFL. It's a 1.5 turbo. I'm looking at one for my O/H at the moment. Or a Cooper SD? It has 170hp, 0-62 in 7.3 (141mph top speed) and 71 MPG on the official figures.

Whichever car you buy you'll read horror stories from people about their experience because generally satisfied people don't take to the Internet. It's not the massive sales and residuals success it is for no reason.

+1 on all the advice so far. I had pretty much the first Cooper convertible in the UK in 2004, then a previous gen Cooper S Coupe. Both great cars but suffered with trim rattles and the S used oil and needed a fuel pump, timing chain and various seals all before 25k miles thankfully under warranty.

I've now have the new model Cooper 1.5 twin-scroll turbo as recommended by the 'guvnor for two years 20k miles. No faults. It's got the Chillie pack and pricey but worthwhile big sunroof and has been great on the whole. The interior is a big step-up, it goes very well but only once 'Sport' is engaged which unlike the E85/6 does actually change mapping and opens the exhaust flap for a bit more rasp n'pop Without the sport engaged it can be a bit flat and with economy engaged it's bloody sluggish! I keep meaning to find out if it can be coded to default to sport actually.

Performance of the new Cooper is closer to the old S than it feels because it's actually had a lot of BMW'ness engineered in to the controls and is more refined and stable on the road. The only downside for me is that I bought the 5 door hatch hoping to use it for family duties but it's not really a Golf/Focus/A3 package and is short of room for multiple passengers and luggage. All in all I think the new Cooper is the sweet spot of the range