Currently, I am not a MINI owner... However, I'm more than certain that I will be within the next few months :D. My Father pilots an R55 Clubman, has been for some time now and after joining him for Minis In The Mountains (Eureka Springs, NC), I was HOOKED! Started researching, and my father actually pointed me here, as well as Motoring Alliance (he lurks around here and MA somewhere :P).

What I imagine I'd be looking for is a low-mileage (~80-100k) R56(s); however, beyond that point, I'm clueless as to the factory options available from '07 on

Hope i get the chance to find what I need. In the mean time, I'll keep everyone updated on how my hunting is going.

:h look, a market!::

See you all around!

 

Just as a note....for our cars 80-100K miles isn't exactly "low mileage"

 

Oh, I apologize. Maybe a more realistic suggestion to what's considered "low mileage"?

EDIT: I gather that I'd want to look lower than that.

 

No need to apologize! Just wanted to let you know so you have an idea. Low mileage would really stop at around 60K or so, obviously there is not a rule book for this but when considering how hard some people push these cars and with them only being 4 cylinders, they get abused more easily (depending on the driver, of course).

For example, I have an 2005 S, in the year I have owned it. I have put over $5,000 in repairs. I bought it at 81K miles and just passed 102,300 today. All cars can be different but around 100K things are more likely to start failing.

Do you have a price range in mind for what you would like to pay?

 

I probably wouldn't be interested in going anywhere north of $12k. It would most definitely be a daily driver with maybe 4-5 spirited club runs a year. I don't mind mods, considering I'll likely be modding anyway, just as long as the original owner didn't destroy something in the process (unfortunately common, as I'm sure you're aware).

Knowing a moderate deal about vehicles in general, I feel ok with looking around now. But learning about every aspect of these cars before dropping any $$$ is my objective at this point. (Before I really made the decision to scope in on a MINI, I was looking for an '05 BMW E46 :P)

 

In that price range, I would suggest looking into a 1st generation MINI - http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

2005-2006 are known as the best years of production. These cars, provided you are looking at an S, are supercharged. If you would prefer turbocharged, then you have to get a 2007 or newer MINI.