A friend put the above question to me the other day. I was ashamed to say that I didnt really know for sure! Strange for me really given how long the car has been out and the fact that I am a massive car geek, well versed in the reviews of various vehicles, high and low points etc.

I have driven a couple of normal NA minis (One and a Cooper) and the latter I have done a service on, which I dimly remember being ok to work on, given that it is compact and German (which usually means you can't get to anything!)

Are they fun to drive? Easy to own? Better than the S2000?!?!?

 

Might as well have the same number of seats for all the use the back ones are. If you're unlucky to sit in the back, your feet get stuck under the rear bar of the front seats if there's someone nornak sized sat in them. I thought the ride was jittery although the cabin is nice enough inside.

 

I have a Cooper S. It's an R56 one (2007) so one of the newer shapes with the turbo (as opposed to the R53 ones which had the supercharger).

In summary, it's a great little car to drive. Quite nippy and a good bit of torque but the most appealing feature is the handling. It corners like it's on rails. Mine has the optional LSD which makes it even more grippy.

However, with the fun comes the pain. It's not been the most reliable and the R56 turbo Cooper S's and Cooper Works have been plagued by issues, namely the timing chain which works itself loose and can potentially end up jumping and ruining the engine. Mine's been back a few times now to sort this out, the second time resulting in a top-end engine rebuild as the camshafts were pitted. Thankfully all sorted under warranty.

I wouldn't like to own one without a warranty quite frankly. Oh, and the build quality (interior) is shocking!

 

Mum has the R56 and its a great car, properly quick, great handling and a fun car to drive. Never had any problems with the build quality, I don't know if Mini sorted this out on later ones as Mum's is a 2011?

 

^This^

Looked into it, before buying the 86. I think the early R56s were a typical european PoS (look at J D Power) and things might have improved somewhat by now. But the MINI boards have their share of woe.

 

Yes it is the early R56's which are the problem ones and they do appear to have sorted the issues on the later models.

TBF though, BMW/MINI have been excellent in terms of the warranty and have never quibbled with any of the issues which i've raised. If only all dealers treated people the same!

 

Sold my 2008 Cooper S after 54K miles, after 50k warranty I've check engine light and was told by Mini dealer my timing chain needs replace due to stretched too long, carbon build up in the intake and water pump leaks and Mini refused to cover the repair due to mileage exceed the the 50K by a few thousand miles. Have the intake carbon cleaned by Mini dealer and timing chain and water pump replaced and three week later a spark plug electrode broke and damaged the cylinder head and Mini dealer claimed the spark plugs look fine during carbon blast. Finally after spending $8k with a rebuild engine, sold it and got myself a 2006 S with less than 20k miles and could not be happier. Tall your friend don't do it, Mini build junk and they don't back their product.

 

Yes, I had a top of the range Works for a short period in parallel with a One

Fantastic little car - bit like a fast Clio to drive - an S2000 wouldn't see which way it went in the wet

Was a 2010 iirc and was put together better than anything outside of VAG products

Not great ride quality though so unlesss you want it almost exclusively for hooning I'd say look at something less sporty

 

Avoid the wheel "upgrades" too.

As usual, it totally destroys the car, by all accounts.

 

Dubious on-limit handling, and prone to spinning.

I would think it boring after your Onda.