I have a 2011 r56 and the girlfriend wants a countryman. I haven’t been keeping up to date with all things mini the past few years and I haven’t been on this forum in a few years. I found a few 2012 mini s countryman autos (she wants auto) near me that I wanted to go look at for my girlfriend. Just curious what things I need to look out for with these? Are they the same things basically as my r56 as I believe it’s still the same n18 motor? My biggest concern is timing chain or was that not a issue with these? Is the 2012 not a good year? Any advice would be great. I really need to get up to date on all things mini again.

 

Let me start of by saying how much fun my 2012 R60 is. It’s quick and very comfortable. With that said, I’ve done more to this car because it required it as opposed to a fun upgrade. Bought it in October 2021 for 15k and it only had 53k miles. Now I have new stainless steel brake lines, rotors, pads on all 4 wheels, new brake wear sensor, plugs, ignition coils, air filter and last but not least a new turbo with the assorted accessories. I bought this as my daily driver to keep miles low on my other car which has 107k miles. So unlike you I did some network searching on my new car after purchase and discovered the Mini Countryman S All4 2011-2013 years were not recommended buys. DOH! Unless you know the car or owner, buyer beware.

 

Turbo wastegate is the biggest worry on these as it's expensive to replace the whole turbo. There is an extended warrsnty on the turbo for that reason for 120k miles and 10 years, I believe, so you are likely just past that on any 2012 models.
The rest quoted quoted above seems like maintenance items.

The orher issues floating around are electrical gremlins related to faulty FRM modules, so have any candidates scanned and check all electronics for proper function.

 

Yes, the R60 Countryman is basically a large R56. I would suggest the newest year in your price range, with mileage to reflect 10-12,000 miles per year. You definitely do not want a garage queen. As many issues as these cars have, they like to be driven, not sit around. The cars that sit around and are not driven seem to have more issues than the cars that are driven every day.

 

Funny thing about my radio. It reboots every 1 3/4 hours. I know this because my commute is usually 2 hours. Weird, right?