Hey All,

If this is in the wrong forum, please move/delete/whatever you see fit

I've been on the hunt for an f56 to replace my r53 with 210000 miles. I came across a 2014 MCS with 6500 miles on it for 18600 at a dealer near me (non mini) and was wondering if I could get some opinions on what to look for/some issues I noticed. The two glaring issues that came to mind are:

1. When I ran the vin it said it had dynamic cruise control. Upon looking at the steering wheel, it definitely didn't. I couldnt care less about that option and would never use it. However, I found it odd that the options list associated with the vin would list an option that clearly isnt there. (For reference, its listed as: S544A Dynamic cruise control on BMWDecoder). Am I missing something? Is the dynamic cruise somewhere different if you have the jcw steering wheel?

2. The car has a service listed at 2000 miles on the carfax. I dont recall seeing such a low service on other cars I've looked at. Does anyone know if the car will request a break in oil change that low? Or is mini doing the low mileage yearly services still? I was considering going to the dealer where it was serviced and asking them to tell me what they did to the car. But I wasnt sure if they would give up that info.

I ran the oil on the computer and it was about 3/4 full which seemed a little odd to me. However, I have no clue if the cars are coming completely full or not. I wouldn't have a problem with it at that value unless people unanimously get the cars completely full.

The car felt great when driving. It rev matched even down to 2 to 1 which I thought was odd. I remember hearing that the 2014 cars would do 3 to 2 and the newer ones wouldnt. I have never heard of the cars rev matching to first. Also, the throttle was a little unresponsive when starting from a stop compared to my r53. I figured that was just a difference from model to model and could be sorted with a sprintbooster. Can anyone comment having driven both a r53 and a f56 in sport mode?

Other than that, can anyone think of anything to look for? It looks like it was titled in November of 2014 so it should be under warranty until November of 2018 (?) unless I hit the mileage first. The only thing that struck me as odd was such a low mileage car being that cheap at a dealer. KBB says the car should be 22k at a dealer. Nothing came glaring out as odd, though.

I'd appreciate any input on the car/purchase.

The VIN is WMWXM7C5XET969424 if anyone wants to run it on the weird cruise control thing/for value estimates

Thanks

 

I just moved from an R60 with a stage 1 Manic tune to the F56. So yeah, it feels a bit sluggish to me, but I was spoiled.

Only advise I have is get up with Mini and see if the car is listed on the campaign for the Carrier Bearings. During my three weeks of ownership, my car has been in the shop for two having the engine replaced. Free of course but kinda a drag..

Aside from that, if you like the car, buy it. Any car you get will have potential issues, for me personally, the above issues wouldn't scare me way.

 

dynamic cruise control just means that the cruise control will use the brake pedal to maintain the correct speed (ie downhill) as opposed to simply letting off the throttle.

there is no mini active "early service". if anyone did it, it would have been on their own. my only guess on the 2k service could have been the bearing recall. otherwise, like you said, visit the dealer and ask.

 

Thanks for that clarification. I was under the impression before that the braking cruise control was called out as something like "cruise control with brake assist" or something.

With regard to the bearing recall. I thought that only applied to the 15 MY cars. For reference, the car I'm looking at was built in march of 14

 

I forget the exact dates. I know it was originally from early '14 to MY '15, but there have been people posting about new engines with newer cars. Several threads about the subject. I got a new motor and mine was built 7/14.

 

There is also a SB on the AC evaporator replacement. The fix was replacing the old evaporator w/ a new one. This fix caused another SB to be issued also a fix to the cabin filter using glue pads to keep it out of the condensed water (Pooling water would soak the cabin filter causing a musty/mildew/old sweat socks smell when the AC is used).

 

Take the VIN (or key during test drive) to your local or nearest MINI service manager. They will have a complete service listing of what has been done (or not done) to the car including the bearing recall check. It takes about 30 seconds.

 

Called a dealer, local dealer didnt want to give me any information until I owned the car. Apparently it's had the crank bearing, oil filter housing, and airbag tsb/recalls done to it. Unfortunately, the dealer I talked to couldn't tell me if the bearings were replaced or the car checked out fine (obviously the engine was not replaced). Anyone have any concerns with a car getting the bearing inspection done at 2000 miles and just being sent on its way? If there was going to be an issue, is it possible that it could develop at a later mileage?

 

They checked my bearings (and even showed them to me) and replaced them anyway. The crank damage is the most important and they only replace engine if bearings and crank are worn (grooved etc.). Sounds like all of the recalls were done and at 6,500 miles it is a good deal if you have the warranty left IMO.

 

my car is a 2014 with the crank bearing recall done but no engine replacement and was done at low mileage. nothing to be concerned.

 

6500 miles on a 14 cooper S is not bad. From what I have seen . I work at a MINI dealer. The main concerns from what I have seen are the bearing issue and AC odor. Other then that there's a thermostat issue with some that require checking for rusting or corrosion . The lower control arm clunks. Aside from that a lot of engine issues are repaired by programming. The F56 is actually a big step forward in making a more reliable car. I didn't get one because I love the feel of the r56 jcw. I tell people its like comparing the an e30 m3 to a new f80 m3. At least that's my opinion on it. But I could see myself getting a fjcw in a few years. I couldn't pass on my 2012 JCW with 14k miles for under 20k.

 

Unfortunately, the salesman decided to take since Wednesday to give me the information I was asking for and sold the car to some random people today. Theres another one with 4000 miles that I'll probably try to make a move on....or I'll just break down and buy an r53 gp

 

If you do go newish I just recommend getting something with at least a little warranty on it.

 

Both the f56's I'm looking at right now are warrantied until the end of 2018. I dont think you can even find an f56 that is out of warranty (year wise. Certainly mileage wise you could). I have no interest in an r56 or a high enough mileage f56 to really worry that much about the warranty being expired.

 

3/4 full means 75%.

You are right that it is odd. Actually very odd according to my experience with my own F56 maintenance.
I've been doing oil changes on my Mini from the very beginning (as on any other vehicles that I've owned since 1979), and the dash computer check always shows 95-99% range whether it's right after the oil change or after 3000 miles later (and never had to add any to keep the level up). My F56 now has 60,000+ miles and still the same as for the oil level consistency.