So the wife's bmw got stuck in a hail storm two days ago. Fairly sure it's totaled. (2002 bmw 330i).
In the interest of curiosity I asked her what she wanted. "a Mini!"
Looking at used 1st gens. Told her it had to be manual and an S. Which I think means the supercharged one. Is this a really bad idea? Are they parts hogs? or is all of that "well my neighbors friends ex boyfriend had one and it was always broken!" type of gibberish?
Looking to spend <$5k.
It's a bit of a crap-shoot. I'm partial to the R53 because I know them better. I'd rather work on one of these than just about any other classic or modern car. I know of a few guys who traded in their R53 for a R56 and then went back to the R53 a few years later.
What I like to say about the R50/52/53 MINI: It's both British and German. You get both the good and the bad from both. Sometimes you'll love the car. Sometimes you'll want to push it off a cliff.
Buy the newest, cleanest one you can find. An '05 or '06.
Lots of threads on this, but a 2005 or 2006 S manual that has already had the lower control arm bushings and front strut bearings replaced, PS fan replaced, new struts, no rust on the tail lights, no oil pan leaks, rad fan working on both high and low speed, non rusty exhaust and good supercharger is a pretty decent car. Oh yeah, the front strut mounts will likely be mushroomed, but its an easy fix if they are not too far gone.
Jesus. now I'm wondering if a gen 2 is any better or just as bad.
There are known issues with 1st or 2nd gen MINIs. I've had a 2003 CooperS (supercharged) for 9 years now. It has about 125K on it currently. I've had to replace the supercharger, front control arm bushings, thermostat housing, and serpentine belt tensioner. Those are all known weak points. In addition ,I needed a new exhaust cat back, because the original rotted out. The original systems are not stainless. I drove through a flood on I-75 one time and started have trouble with the shifter cables and E-brake cables. They're not typical problems.
The specialty shop where I get the work done will tell you that they make their livings from the 2nd generation cars though, and the staff drive 1st gen cars. If you want carefree, low cost ownership look elsewhere, but if you want a fun car get one with these issues already looked after, if possible. With any supercharged MINI pay close attention to how the engine sounds from outside the car. My wife noticed a different sound and it turned out it was the PTO gears on the charger going south. It was caught before total failure, but still cost $1500 to replace.
Edit: I changed to a 15% smaller pulley when the supercharger was changed and the replacement exhaust is stainless and burbly. The little scary car does put a smile on my face. 
It doesn't apply within the $5 range, but if I $25K to spend and wanted a quick Mini, I'd head to go fast Minis in Georgia and get a restored original Mini with a Honda powerplant for a the reliability aspect when compared against modern Minis. The additional performance would merely be a bonus.
Goal is a reliable car. Potentially some shens autocrossing at a later date. She's pretty heart broken about some of the comments. Especially when I told her that "if GRM guys say it's too much work, then you KNOW it needs tons of work. These guys buy AMG cars and rebuild them to save money."
We have two kids in child seats. (3 and 1) No rear facing. Should probably mention that.
In reply to Mad_Ratel:
The rear seat of a 1st gen MINI Cooper is reserved for legless Capuchin monkees only. No child seat would fit (that's just an opinion, I should test fit my grandson's car seat).
Maybe look for a MINI S Countryman instead.
One of my best friends was a mini dealership tech for a few years.
He would say buy the 1st Gen sans supercharger, but if you need an 's', get the first gen.
I've owned a 3 in the past. in fact had the first 2004 sold in charlotte... in nov of 2003.
If no mini she wants an e46 again though. (the 3's dash hurts my legs.) Wife's 5ft 3in so in teh e46 tehre is a foot of space between my son's booster seat and her seat. front facing other kid would be behind passenger seat. (moved up).
If you get a first gen, 2004-2006 are the better years. 2010+ for the second gen. Beware of the 50K mile clutch life with 10 hours of shop time to replace. Most of the other problems are covered in other posts. When they work, they are great.
Well... the thing is any R53 is going to be a 10+ year old car. Condition of cars you find will be all over the place as will pricing. A E46 won't really be any different. Nor would I consider a E46 (or any BMW, for that matter) to be inherently any more reliable than a MINI. And having spent time working on both, I wouldn't consider a MINI any more difficult to work on either.
Oh... a MINI clutch does NOT take 10 hrs to replace. I know a guy who can do it in about 4, if not less. Hell - he replaced a clutch in a parking lot at the Dragon in about half a day. Granted, pretty much all he's done every day for the last 10 years is work on MINI's. He's pretty good at it.
Ian, That's what I'm trying to find out. So far everything to fix on the e46 has been very straight forward. (it's got 215k miles on it.) It's 15 years old, has one squeak from the back parcel shelf and up until the hail looked brand new. No cuts in any of the leather, speakers all work, sounds great etc...
$5k buys a lot of RSX Type S, a platform that is vastly under appreciated and that I see holding it's value, if not appreciating some, in the next 5-10 years.
Why not keep the golf balled e46, pocket the money, turn some interest on it, and hold out for the unicorn?
captdownshift wrote: It doesn't apply within the $5 range, but if I $25K to spend and wanted a quick Mini, I'd head to go fast Minis in Georgia and get a restored original Mini with a Honda powerplant for a the reliability aspect when compared against modern Minis. The additional performance would merely be a bonus.
Classic Minis are unreliable in lots of ways, not just the powerplant 
It's part of the LBC Experience (TM).
In reply to Keith Tanner:
A simple electrical rewire on something with ammenties as spare as a classic Mini isn't too difficult and that in conjunction with the Honda swap would cure 90+% of the potential issues. That 10% of rust is a tough devil to dance with though.
Keith Tanner wrote:captdownshift wrote: It doesn't apply within the $5 range, but if I $25K to spend and wanted a quick Mini, I'd head to go fast Minis in Georgia and get a restored original Mini with a Honda powerplant for a the reliability aspect when compared against modern Minis. The additional performance would merely be a bonus.Classic Minis are unreliable in lots of ways, not just the powerplant
Quoted for truth.
The only car ever where a mechanic told me "your battery needs a new car" was a Mini 1275GT...
Lets talk about the hail damaged BMW.
Is it in good shape? Is it a manual?
Keep an eye on where it goes and what auction house it goes to if totaled.
The villainous side of me recommends some sabotage after it is appraised but before it is towed away.
Maybe, pull the fuse to the fuel pump, now the car will be auctioned as a non-runner too making it even that cheaper. Maybe spill some oil down the side of the valve cover being sure to get some onto the manifold. Now if it does get inspected it may look to leak oil and smell of oil while running. Or throw some coolant everywhere so the noticeable green liquid then resides in multiple valleys adding additional fears.
Keeping all these potential buyers away there buy back your dented but trusty car cheap! 
Sure, ethically questionable.
Less ethically questionable... what will they charge you to keep the BMW?
captdownshift wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: A simple electrical rewire on something with ammenties as spare as a classic Mini isn't too difficult and that in conjunction with the Honda swap would cure 90+% of the potential issues. That 10% of rust is a tough devil to dance with though.
Then there's the suspension and the steering...
I own one, I'm not just making random fun of it. I love the thing, but it would require dedication to make it a daily driver.
To answer the original question, I'd be tempted to buy back the BMW and keep driving it dinged up. Hail damage is about the best way to total a car from a future use point of view. If that is acceptable to SWMBO, of course.
The $900 Challenge Infiniti Q45 with 69k miles was hail damaged. The car had been stored and had no brakes. It was auction off as having hail damage and mechanical damage. The listing did not tell you what "mechanical" meant. In conversations with the seller I had figured it to be dried master cylinder seals (a $42 part).
He was paid over $5k by State Farm.
State Farm wanted $2,800 if he kept the Q45. More than I wanted to spend and he wanted it gone.
He told me when it was towed away and where it went; which aution lot.
I had the winning bid at auction of $500 but State Farm wouldn't let it go that cheap so we agreed to $900.
Super bargain!
If you think a 215kmi E46 presented a reasonable ownership experience, then you'll be fine with the MINI. I've owned and enjoyed both, and they're both turdbuckets by most benchmarks of automotive reliability.
As others have said, the 05-06 S are regarded as the best years. Personally, I'd shop for low miles and lots of receipts.
Budget for $1500/year in repairs (not including windshields.)
In reply to John Welsh :
If it's totaled, why would you need to go to an auction to buy your own car back and pull all those stunts? The insurance company will sell it to you directly for under $500 if you just tell them you want the carcass.
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