Mini Cooper reliability?

Starting to give some serious consideration to a Mini Cooper as my new DD. It hits a lot of the key things I'm looking for...FWD, fun, great on gas, ~$15k for a nice used one, hatchback versitility. But the one big question mark to me that has always caused me to stay away from them is reliability.

Anyone have first hand knowledge/experience with them? Specifically the '08 or '09, but any Cooper reliability knowledge in general would be great. As long as I kept up with routine maintenance, can I expect a relatively trouble free experience?

Not a trouble free experience, but might still be worth it. I'll let the owners pile on.

The good news is that they're more practical than they look and can be super chuckable to drive. The bad news is that just about any other car that size will be cheaper to insure and maintain.

08 or 09 hatch? That's the R56 chassis code for the hatch, from 07+. Clubman version is nice too. Are you looking at a S model (turbo) or justa Cooper? Buddy of mine has an 07 Cooper with a 6 speed getrag. He averages high 40's in his daily commute of 60 miles or so. But his shift point is about 2500 or so, and he's easy on the throttle. He can get over 50 mpg on long trips (nyc to boston). He loves it. He's had power steering issues fixed under warranty.

Your best bet may be CPO from the dealership.

edited to correct the miles of commute

Great fun to drive. Is easily the best unmodified FWD drivetrain ever. It's not without its problems though.... spring for an extended warranty.

I think the first 2 or 3 years had marginal reliability, and higher than expected warranty claims. After that...not sure.

You might want to check Consumers Reports for historical info. (Yeah, I know that there are Cons Reports haters here, but I have found their data and insights to be pretty good.)

Rog

heyduard wrote: 08 or 09 hatch? That's the R56 chassis code for the hatch, from 07+. Clubman version is nice too. Are you looking at a S model (turbo) or justa Cooper? Buddy of mine has an 07 Cooper with a 6 speed getrag. He averages high 40's in his daily commute of 30 miles or so. But his shift point is about 2500 or so, and he's easy on the throttle. He can get over 50 mpg on long trips (nyc to boston). He loves it. He's had power steering issues fixed under warranty. Your best bet may be CPO from the dealership.

If I could swing it in the budget, I'd love to go with an S. From what I understand, you don't lose too much in fuel mileage when you don't stick your foot in it. I typically shift around 2500rpm too when I'm just trudging to work early in the morning, but it'd be nice to have the extra power when I feel like having some fun.

I work on a lot of the older chassis MINIs, lots of problems there. Haven't seen much of the R56, probably because they are going to the dealer under warranty, so I can't attest to their reliability. But getting a (good) extended warranty almost always pays off on the Euro cars.

My '05 JCW has been awesome since new. Pushing 80K now. Had a slave cylinder for the clutch go, and that's been about it. That was an easy fix. Mine has the LSD which is a must if you live where you get weather. Reliability has been great, and I absolutely CANE mine, WOT constantly, and it rides on the not so buttery smooth NM roads. I did bend an aftermarket rim once, also.

I have a bunch of "drivers cars" but the MINI is way up at the top of the "fun to drive" list.

I have an '06 S with about 70k miles. I've owned it for 3 months so far with no issues. My typical commute is around 70 miles a day.

Observations: It is fun to drive, very chuckable. There's a nice power band to work with, it gets decent fuel mileage (I average around 31 to 33mpg), and the seats are pretty decent too.

The not so good: crappy shifting feel (no worse than most fwd's though), and the flywheel is absurdly heavy at 29 pounds. You can feel every ounce. Motor mounts could be a bit firmer too. I'm going to upgrade those and change the flywheel pretty soon. I drove one with those mods done and it totally transforms the car.

Overall I'm pretty happy with it. If you are used to a Miata for instance, it could be a little bit of a letdown, but if you need a backseat for occassional use by people with no legs or small children, it's a great choice.

I absolutely love MCs but I too have never pulled the trigger due to all the reliability problems I have heard about them. I went to a showroom once to check them out and as I sat in the car the car locked itself and I couldn't get out. I hadn't touched any switches as both my hands were on the steering wheel when the doors locked. The salesman couldn't get the doors open, the key fob didn't work and the inside switches wouldn't unlock it either. I don't know what happened......if it was a malfunction or something else was going on but the was the final straw for me. I still think they are super cool though and occasionally think about giving them another try.

GRM had a buyers guide on the Mini Cooper. I had kinda entertained the idea of getting one until I read it. Too many little issues for me to put up with on a new-ish car.

I ran an '07 S from new to last year @ ~78K.

The good - nice grunty motor, super steering and sharp handling. Ergonomics were great and the steering/pedals & shifter were really well balanced. Seats were good and the odd controls everybody bitched about weren't bad at all. It was a car that begged you to accelerate into on-ramps. The car was a blast on the track too.

The bad - Couple problems under warranty; Vanos solenoid & thermostat heater/housing. Had to do another thermo housing out of warranty for the same problem (heater element). That was the only fix I paid for. Having to press the "sport" button every time I got in it was getting old, as was low gear torque steer. Biggest issue was the oil consumption was rising and I think it was starting to sludge up around 75K. A couple of times it misfired slightly under load and threw a blue puff out the exhaust. That's when it was time to go.I think BMW knew what was up & redesigned the PCV system in '08 or 09.

I'd still buy another one. A great drivers car.

I wonder if the issues are only with the S models, or if the base cars have similar problems too? If I got one, I'd prefer the S, but I'm used to "momentum" cars, and I've heard people have gotten crazy good mpg numbers out of them. Guess I'll have to really start poking around. I'll certainly give extra attention to a car that's CPO, though they're expensive, or one that the buyer bought a transferrable extended warranty.

We've had an 05 S for several years. You can probably find many of my other posts ranting about the problems we've had.

Short answer - the older chassis has a LOT of minor engineering issues and quality problems. I love ours to death, but can't really recommend buying one either, unless you are enough of a fan that you're willing to put up with a fair level of BS. The good news is the newer 07+ are supposed to be MUCH better.

and, holy crap, they are fun. And comfortable. and useful.

I just bought one. My advice- lease it. You have a British car, with a French engine, and German engineering. I would never want to own one, or any luxury car these days, out of warranty. They seem to either be totally reliable or a nightmare with no in between.

I paid something like $1500 down and it's $260/mo with 15k/yr. You can get a base with no options for $1k and $250/mo. Yes leasing is "throwing your money away" but I looked at it as a hedge against expensive repairs. Insurance I thought was cheap....$700/yr and that's with the increased coverage you're required to have.

FWIW, the auto is FUN. I only had my choice of 4 and the two sticks had odd options and one didn't have heated seats, which I HIGHLY recommend since the vinyl is COLD. When put in sport mode, it totally changes the trans. It holds the gears and downshifts just like a manual..and it's quick. My only complaint is it doesn't have proper paddle shifters. Up is backwards on both, and down is forward on both. I'd rather have up right and down left.

Klayfish wrote: I wonder if the issues are only with the S models, or if the base cars have similar problems too? If I got one, I'd prefer the S, but I'm used to "momentum" cars, and I've heard people have gotten crazy good mpg numbers out of them. Guess I'll have to really start poking around. I'll certainly give extra attention to a car that's CPO, though they're expensive, or one that the buyer bought a transferrable extended warranty.

Mostly - yes. Consumer Reports will bear that out too. Assume that many S drivers bought the car for performance vs cute/economical/different for the standard version.

Direct injection + forced induction may have taken a generation to work out the bugs. '07 was the 1st year of the new design, but still wasn't bad. As is usually the case, later cars of either generation will be better than early examples.

I've never been a lease kind of person. I can understand the rationale here in hedging bets against expensive repairs, but I still cringe at the idea of paying every month and walking away with no equity.

I'll have to try to drive a base model and see what I think of it.

If you own a used MINI, you will pay every month for no equity. They are a hoot...and if you are a mechanically-skilled enthusiast, the maintenance needs shouldn't scare you off.

But it WILL break and it will cost you to keep it 100%, even if you do all your own work.

You have to decide if it is worth it. It was worth it to me for a while, but I quickly got to the point where I wasn't willing to keep spending $200-300 a month on average fixing petty stuff.

Oh...and 3 windshields in as many months sealed the deal. I literally got one bullseyed on the way to work the day after I had it replaced.

I've got an '04 MCS, got it with ~50K, it's sitting at about 79-80K right now, other than a torn strut mount (still can't quite explain that one) I haven't had any troubles with it

The good - see Dashpot's post, everything he said about the '07 is true on my '04 (despite the two generations sharing virtually nothing except the wheel bolt patterns and some misc other components)

The bad - typical BMW window regulator issues; thin sheetmetal on the front end plus weakish front strut mounts can lead to the strut towers deforming under heavy loads/bumps; stock BMW/MINI wheels are boat anchors; DEFINITELY needs a LSD (unless all of your roads are just-paved-yesterday, perpetually dry, always swept off); noticeable torque steer when shifting hard from 1st to 2nd; on a hard 1->2 shift with TCS on, regardless of conditions, the TCS hits so hard it feels like you hit a brick wall, and if you keep your foot in it, the TCS light will keep blinking and won't let you accelerate for about 2-4 seconds; mine tends to eat front tires (although I tend to hoon the thing at any opportunity...); typical drive-by-wire throttle lag; minor thing, but rear wiper does not have a continuous function even though it DESPERATELY needs one in the wet; rear wiper blade mounting is unique to MINIs, so despite the rear wiper blade sucking horribly, you're stuck with the OEM wiper blade; coil packs have steel plugs instead of copper, so the #3 plug wire arcs and corrodes the terminals, best fix is an aftermarket coil pack/wires with brass terminals; while it is true you can get good mileage, you have to be really careful with the throttle, and it is oh so much fun to have a good romp of the loud pedal in 2nd or 3rd

I've got a '07 S automatic (R56) that I've owned since new. Got about 60k miles on it now.

The strut tower issue is a known problem on the earlier cars, but was fixed on the R56.

I had a bad dash rattle and a software upgrade fixed under warranty. When I bought my car BMW was offering 36 month free maintenance. I think they have extended that to 60 months. That's a good thing, as any work or parts done on the car are expensive, including oil changes and brake jobs (the latter can be $1000+ for all pads and rotors). Essentially, you've got an economy car that gets fixed at BMW labor and parts prices.

I had to replace the thermostat housing, which I did myself for about $120. Not a particularly easy job, but doable at home if you are used to working on cars and pay attention to all the electrical wiring disconnects you have to do. If MINI does it, it is $500 to $600. This is a known weakness on the car. It is a plastic housing attached to the engine block (how stupid is that). Eventually the heat/cool cycle splits the seam on the housing and you find your coolant on the floor.

The water pump is also a known problem, but MINI has finally been forced to recall the cars for it. It became a safety issue, since an engine fire could result.

There have been lots of reports of timing chain issues. Great if your problem appears during warranty period, but, if not, too bad$$$.

The direct injection causes buildup on the valves and some rough running. This is easily fixed with a Seafoam treatment.

And, yes, the windshields take a beating. I've got the original on mine and it is badly sandblasted and has several bullseyes. It hasn't cracked, though, and I'm loathe to replace it any time soon because I know the next one will take a beating, too.

The runflats are horribly expensive and ride like wooden wagon wheels. I replaced mine with regular tires and I keep a Dynaplug kit and a tiny air compressor in the car. I've had to use them several times. You can buy the space saver spare (included with the non-S cars), but have to store it in the cabin.

Honestly, I love to drive the car. It is great fun and does the scalded ape impression pretty well. However, my commute is about to get much, much longer and more bump and grind and I'm loathe to put a high mileage on the Cooper. I was going to sell it and buy something more bulletproof, like a Mazda3 or Ford Focus, but my wife likes it so much we've decided to keep it for her. She stays at home and just drives to the grocery store and the like. But I get to drive the appliance Toyota Highlander that we got for her a couple of years ago. Somehow I knew I would get stuck driving a friggin' SUV only because I hate them with a passion [sigh].

Thanks for the in depth write up guys! The more I read, the more I understand the common issues the Cooper S has. It makes the decision that much harder. Obviously, the S is the car the enthusiast in me (and my wife) really wants. It seems like an awesome car. But the potential for trouble is, well, troubling. Logically, the non-turbo is less expensive to buy, has less mechanical issues, can handle just as well, and gets better fuel mileage. It just doesn't have the look of the S and is much slower in a straight line.

I just bought an 06 S convertible (R52). My research indicated a few other things to consider. The 07 turbo motors have a BIG problem with the timing chain/valve train and it has not been fixed by BMW. I did not want to take a chance on that. It would be OK if you had a warrantee I suppose, but then you have to service it at BMW prices or they will wiggle out of the claim. The earlier cars have more reliable motors (Tritec) but they have less reliable PS pumps, engine mounts, water pumps and thermostat housings. The strut mushrooming is indeed a very common problem but can be avoided/corrected with $100 of reinforcements from Mini Madness. This is mainly a car for my wife so it had to had an automatic. The earlier cars had CVT transmissions that also fail very often due to lack of fluid changes. This left me to consider a low power new non-S vs. a more fun 05-08 supercharged S. the new one gets way better mileage but also costs a lot more. I chosed the fun factor plus HID lights and leather seats for cheap $$. I also like the interior of the gen 1 better.

It's hard for to type up all of my thoughts about these cars on a driod, so I'll stick to some highlights. I know the R50/52/53 models best and have a fair amount of experience tearing them apart and putting them back together.

It has been argued the tower mushrooming was NOT fixed with the R56. Craven sells top plates for it.

The Tritec motor has started to develop the tell tale signs of aging timing chain issues. Personally, I wish they'd gone with a belt. At least that is a known service interval whereas a chain is a crap shoot.

Early Cooper Midlands manuals can be iffy. The later Getrags are better, but not as good as the 6 spd used in the S. Conversions can be done, but its not a trivial matter.

My biggest complaint about the Tritec is the fuel mileage. A 1.6l engine should do better. They seem to tuned to run rich. The R56 motor is more efficient. Many R56 S owners often report easily getting R50 Cooper mpg. Plus, many have surmised the factory hp is underrated on the S.

All that said, I may be looking for an R50 in the future to serve as a back up DD and autox car. Mainly because I want to build a STF car.

Klayfish wrote: It just doesn't have the look of the S and is much slower in a straight line.

Off the line they're pretty much the same. It's above 45mph where the turbo really helps. If I have a complaint about the base is that it has no torque. Driving into the wind I get 20mpg, and you can see the MPG's drop and feel the engine strain when going up any type of hill. (according to the readout which my or may not be 100% accurate) Aside from that, I don't see a need for buying the S for DD duty aside from looks...it's kind of like a Miata hatchback, a slow car that's made fast with amazing handling. If you track or autox, then get the S.

You can make a base look pretty good. Mine is orange (rare on the base) black roof, and has the black S wheels ($750!!) so aside from actually knowing what to look for, looks similar to the S. I've had a few car guys look surprised when I tell them it's not the turbo.