Hello all,
I don't currently own a Mini but my mother drives her Clubman and I'm planning on selling my 1983 533i BMW in the hopes of buying an R53 Cooper S. I have two that I'm looking at a 2006 Cooper S with the JCW package, 214bhp, larger brakes, etc. for $5200 and a 2005 Cooper S (no JCW package obviously) for $5000. However, the 2005 has some rust on the bottom of the drivers side door (not the sill) and "a little on the trunk". I bring this up because I'm thinking that I could probably haggle the 2006 down to $5000 but I could probably haggle the 2005 down to $4500 but I wouldn't want a car full of rust. Is there any way to fix the rust issues besides bringing it to a dealer under warranty? Which would you guys recommend and why?

I really appreciate any help

Craigslist ads for both
2006 with JCW package

2005 base model Cooper S

 

The 2006 doesn't look like a JCW since it looks like it has a stock S exhaust with the beer can tips. Also, JCW was only 210hp that year (200 for about 2004 and earlier). They both should have included engine pics in the ad. The '06 has been listed for over 2 weeks so it's probably not a great deal, or somethings wrong with it. You would have already missed out on it if it was.

Whatever you do, make sure you get a pre purchase inspection done before you buy one, unless you really know your MINI's and can do one yourself. Also, see if the "JCW" seller will send you pics of the engine.

Good luck with your search and post any more info you can get.

 

I forgot, they're regular Cooper S's, no Clubmans until 2008.

 

Whoops! I had my mom's car on my mind I guess. Thanks for catching that

 

I will. I was planning on calling the '06 owner tomorrow to ask for some more info and what not. I'll give the '05 owner a call as well, though, I'm a bit more hesitant about that one because of the rust. Now that I'm typing this out, I'm realizing that the '06 owner could also have found rust but not included that info. Hmmm... I'll give a call tomorrow (it's 12:15 am here in NY. Way past my bedtime ) and I'll let you guys know what I find

 

2005+ cars were delivered with a 10 year rust warrenty....
If the rust didn't get fixed, it's cause they are lazy.... doesn't bode well...
That and as said, the "JCW" looks like a bunch of stuff bolted onto a car too look like one... anybody can do that with a few $ in salvage parts to rip people off....
You gotta look...but remember, there will be more.
The non JCW car looks like it's blacked out, and the sc scoop doesn't match....
But the mechanics stuff is what you pay for...with 150,000+ miles....that's getting up there...some mini's are end if life unless well taken care of...well taken care of, yes they do go 2x or more as far, but the neglected ones are about done....so he careful.

 

Lots of good info, thanks guys. What would constitute "well taken care of"? Just keeping up with routine maintenance?

 

Well...getting a free rust repair under warrenty before it ran out is a bit if a pain, but free in most cases...
Yes, routine maintenance is important....many just do oil changes, thinking that's mostly it, then neglect things like coolant changes (3-4 years) or simple things like lubing hinges....all of which can come back to bite you with $$$ repairs...
Record of regular servicing is a plus, or at least if an owner says they diy'd it, they should be knowledgeable ....saying 3000 mile oil changes sounds almost excessive with the REQUIRED full synthetic oil....I usually went 7500 or even 5000....3000 was fine for Dino oils in most other cars, but regular dino oil in a MINI is a bad thing, just like 87 octane...it destroys the motor.
Till you see the car...touch them and feel them, maybe get the vibe, then drive them, you don't know much.
Imo go to a couple dealers...drive a couple MINI cars, r53 cars, so you can compare it to something. Yes...the r53 vary lots, but a driver should FEEL a JCW or modded cars HP....the the bolted on cosmetic parts should be obvious.
My car was the same blue....black roof and silver rims...white ones look ok if you are into that, but can be a pain to clean and turn yellowish with age and brake dust. Just one thing to do sider, but rims are easy to swap, especially on a gen1 (tpms is built into the CAR, NOT the rims).

 

Okay, very good to know. The seller of the '06 seems to be really proud of how clean and well taken care of the car is. I'm interested by what you said about the 87 octane, I use nothing but 91 ethanol free but most people just schlep along in life using the cheapest fuel at the pump, I would think that manufacturers would have realized and accounted for this, no? What kind of/how extensive damage can it do?

 

I just spoke on the phone with the seller of the 06 and the seller of the 05 (separately of course) and they're both going to be sending me engine bay pictures. I have some photos of the rust on the 05 that apparently developed last winter, just after the warranty ran out.







The 05 seller said that he hadn't changed the coolant in the 2 or so years that he's had it but it was topped off because there was a small leak from the top radiator hose (has since been fixed). He said that you could tell that it was flowing well through all the pipes and hoses. He does oil changes every 3000 miles with full synthetic.

The 06 seller also hadn't changed the coolant in the 2-3 years that he's had it but he's close friends with the previous owner that he bought it from and he changed the coolant just prior to selling it. He does oil changes every 5000 miles with full synthetic and there is absolutely no rust on the car.

Both owners are using premium fuel with accordance to the owners manual.


I'm thinking I like the 06 better just because it's completely rust free and coming from upstate NY, I know how rare that is. (I also like the blue better). I'll be posing engine bay pics as soon as I get them. I also should be getting a service record from the owner of the 06 and I can post that as well

 

Rust like that takes YEARS to grow....I'd run. That car is a rolling piece of scrap metal...will fail a simple state inspection within a year....too many good ones around unless it was a $1500 car....
These motors are high compression, with a hot intake charge due to the sc...yes, there is a intercooler, but when the car is sitting for a few moments at a stop, lots of heat, and ZERO airflow...the car can reduce the timing and ennrichen the mixture but it can only do so much.
The factory REQUIREMENT Is 90+ octane on ALL GEN1 (R50,R52,R53 CARS)
RUNNING less makes the valves run very hot...they then soften, and wear very fast...net result is the car needs a valve job due to lack of compression best case, worse case, has a pistion or head crack from knock....
Some folks claim 87 is ok...driven gently it can sometimes be ok for a bit...but the bill will be big....lots if cars have threads where the owner does plugs, wires, coil..and says I still have a misfire?! it rapidly gets worse...and becomes underivable. Sometimes the new parts help long enough to sell the car to an unsuspecting buyer....

 

Interesting, I think I'm going to (politely) abandon the 05. The owner of the 06 only ever runs 93 from Sunoco and I can definitely speak for the high quality fuel that Sunoco sells.

 

Not sure if the 06 ad was different earlier but it was updated today and now makes no reference to JCW, though still claims a "214 hp" engine. Fishy, but might just be a clueless owner.

 

I'm not sure. He was adamant that it was the 214 bhp engine. I didn't try to correct him, he was one excited dude. I will say that he was the type to buy oil, buy a filter, and bring it to a garage to have them change it

 

Bet he is reading this thread....
Wonder what mods got the car to "214" hp?
He seems to be trying to downplay the "modded" car angle....it usually reduces value...so understandable.
But the link he provided to see the Carfax is to a document saved ON HIS COMPUTER, so nobody can see it...it has to be saved onto a public server.....
Oh well...maybe he will see this and fix it...
Maybe he will list who tuned it, the injectors and maybe pulley size....

 

That's an interesting point of view, I'm currently waiting for a car history report. I also spoke with him on the phone and he's 65 and selling the car to buy a C4 corvette. He sounds nice enough but among learning more through the kind and knowledgeable people of NAM, I'm thinking that it's less "stock" than I originally thought

 

Since the vin is in the CL ad car fax link, you can use a vin decoder to find out all the factory options the car was built with

 

You are a genius. Why did I not think of this earlier?

 

Interestingly enough, I ran the VIN through a number of vin decoders and didn't get any power ratings until I ran it through a BMW vin decoder and I was given a number of different things, most of them are in German, except I think you'll notice the power rating. 125, now I'm assuming this is kW because those wacky Germans would use such a strange measuring system (no offense to anyone on here who does use kW). 125 kW = 167.6 BHP (near as makes no difference to 168). Now, this gets someone like myself wondering how you A. misspelled 168 bhp as 214 bhp or B. Modified the car enough to the point that it makes that power yet you failed to say so in your CL ad...interesting. I'm going to call again tomorrow and ask for engine bay pictures. I asked on the phone today and the reason I didn't get any was because he took pictures before but the lighting under the hood was too dark and supposedly was going to take some more tomorrow. We shall see

 

I used this one on mine and its pretty good. Showed all the packages and has english translation:

http://myminivin.com/

 

I don't know what the JCW package entails but the only thing on there that looks like it was a selected option is the Harmon Kardon stereo system. It also says "Sport Suspension Settings Plus" but I don't know what that means; code S228A

 

Not sure what JCW entails on the 2006 but my 2015 does have the JCW package and it clearly shows up on that vin decoder so my guess is that 2006 doesnt have any JCW package, at least not from the factory.

 

The John Cooper Works Kit would show up as option 3AL on the VIN decoder, unless it was not originally ordered, then added after production and dealer installed.

 

I guess that is a possibility but as pointed out before, it would have a better exhaust with different tips

 

It's also missing the JCW emblem. Definitely not factory JCW, and if dealer-installed it's incomplete. Could be an awesome car, just no reason to think it's in any way JCW'd (or engine modded at all for that matter) until you get some engine pics.

Now that I think about it, wasn't the 2006 GP model rated for exactly 214hp? Might be where that number came from.

EDIT - yes GP was 214hp.