Hello everyone! I've been wanting a mini since day one of them coming to America. Years upon years upon years later, I am finally part of the mini family. I just bought my first mini last week. She's a 2005 Mini Cooper S Convertible with only 96xxx miles for only $4500! I absolutely love love love my car. She's needing a little TLC here and there but nothing major from what I can tell. I'm going to take her to a mini mechanic near me sometime this week and have them do a complete walk over to see if there's any issues mechanically.

Anyone can tell me what I need to look for to make sure she has a long happy life with me?

 

Hi and welcome to the nam family Zing.
You have a nice looking 05 R52. You need to do good maintenance on your mini, if you want to keep it tip top.
A must is to change oil and filter and use ONLY full synthetic oil 5-30, like Castrol (or other similar synthetics). You did not state if it was automactic or manual. If it is manual, you should change the trans oil with redline MTL synthetic 2 quarts. It will shift better and last a long time.
Spark plugs are due for changing and I highly recommend iridium NGK spark plugs. Wires don't like to be pulled off, so you might want to invest in NGK wires also.
Brakes: It most likely needs these now, check the thickness and if there are gouges in the rotors, I would replace them and bleed the system and add new fluid.
If it has run flat tires, ditch them for conventional non runflats and carry a patch kit (stab in type) and mini compressor. The runflats are hard on the suspension and your butt!
Then get out there and see what you have been missing!

 

Great looking R52... '05 is a good year for Mini. Do the maintenance suggested by Wayne... excellent advice. Hope you are enjoying some good top down weather in Charlotte. Seems to always be nice in that region, especially compared to here in Maine this time of year.

Let us know how it goes!

 

Welcome to NAM! Take a look at our tech articles (link in signature - DIY help) as there is a lot of great extensive info on common issues that arise with the first gen MINI. There is also great info on mileage/time intervals for routine maintenance items. If you have any questions or ever need anything please don't hesitate to shoot me a PM.

 

Welcome to the forum, looks great!

 

Thanks for the welcomes guys! I'm going to do the above recommendations... yesterday I replaced the AMP due to having no sound when I got her.. now the radio is working and I can cruse with some music! :D Still trying to get to the Mini shop so I can get a walk over. After all that is done, I'll get the oil, filter, spark plus and wires... which I plan on doing myself. I'm just wanting the shop to make sure the motor is good and the timing chain is fine. I know I need brakes which if everything checks out, I'll apply the fee the shop charges on doing the breaks.

 

Congrats and Welcome Looks like a nice MINI. Since you're in NC you're always welcome to bring it down.

 

@waymotorworks was actually thinking of moving to Georgia if I could find work there. I'm might be tripping but at times I hear my motor making a knocking nosie after driving for a while... Not majorly loud but very noticable difference... Tonight it did it at start up and seems louder when I went to a gas station... After restarting to go back home it was quite again until I got closer home and could hear the faint knock again

 

At those miles your supercharger, crank pulley/harmonic balancer and the belt tensioner have all seen their better days (unless you have records that they were changed by a previous owner). Unless the previous owners neglected oil changes (engine bearings shot), the three items above may be your answer.

Suggest you do some research in the Gen1 section as the balancer and belt tensioner just cam up in threads recently.

 

Update, relocated to Geneva, NY and this is my mini now

 

Looks great! Hope you enjoying the New York thing!
Is it a wrap?

 

New York is definitely different and I'm terrified of the winters they keep talking about up here and every car I see has rust. but now the car is hand-painted by a buddy of mine back in North Carolina before I left

 

I really like the parking lot shot .. she really pops out compare to the rest

 

That is really great work!! It looks terrific, your guy has crazy skills!

 

So they airbrushed over the factory paint? Wow that looks like it took some time. Never seen that before.

 

I moved the other way, from Ontario to the Carolinas. You might want to keep that in the garage over the winter

 

Great looking and very artful Mini, but don't use it in the Winter. I grew up just down the road in Penn Yan, NY. Northeast Winters will eat your car. The salt and slurry they slather on the roads causes damage that can't be undone once it takes hold. In just a Winter or two, the rust starts growing on everything, brakes, suspension and anything else metal. Up top, sand and small rocks will pit and blast the car's paint, wheels and windshield. The soft top will deteriorate at a faster rate as well.

Garage your Mini when it snows. Buy an old, preferably cheap, beater and put some good snow tires on it. Buy something you don't like. That way, as it rusts away, you won't feel so bad about it. Our Mini doesn't go on the roads from the first snow when they sand and salt to the end of the snow season. The Mini goes out only after the roads are cleaned off in the Spring.

 

Shades of Janis Joplin's Porsche 356 Convertible! If you want to keep that car, do what MINIRoadstah recommends. Otherwise, you're in for a real shock! Keep in mind, a MINI's front spoiler acts like a snowplow...albeit a very inefficient one!

 

Thats what i was thinking looks like the Joplin's Porsche I saw in person before they sold it.