I'm currently looking at two MINI's..

One's and 05 MCS with 46,000 Miles for $14,500
The other's a 08 MCS with 30,000 Miles for $16,950

They both share most of the same features:
Grey/Black
Manual
The 08 has the sunroof
The 05 has the heated seats and better rims and Cold air intake
I prefer the interior of the 05

I know it mostly boils down to personal preference, but..
As I have no experience with these cars, I figured I'd ask y'all

 

I'll add what I know. Pre 2007 the MCS is supercharged and 2007 on is turbocharged. 2007 on I believe the length of the car grew about 2.5 inches. Headlights are fixed to the body on 07 and up. Grill is different. 07 up has ambient interior lighting. More back seat leg room on 07 and up and the 07 up is direct fuel injection with I believe is suppose to give it better gas mileage. From what I know from other Mini owner many love the prior to 07's and others are into the post 07 models. They're probably all pretty much the same as far as fun.
You should gets lots of feedback on this topic.
Oh, that's a good price on the 08. Paid 17K for my 07 with 57K. It's still like brand new, however. Well, it used to be until I change wheels, tires, CIA, etc.

 

Thanks! I'm hoping to get as much feedback as possible. As of right now I prefer the 05. Cheaper, Has a few mods already on it, and prefer the interior of the 05..
But I also want to make the best decision, and get insight from all the knowledgable people here.

 

You'll get a better value from the '08. It may be a little more, but sounds like you're getting a lot more value for the money (newer model plus fewer miles and sunroof is a win-win-win in my book). Also, for what it's worth, the 08 models get a little better reliability rating overall from consumer reports.

Remember also that the '08 will have greater resale value if you expect to sell the car someday. Also, I have a pana-roof and absolutely love it.

So if it were me, I'd go with the 08.

But no matter what, you gotta love what you drive and you won't be making a huge mistake with the '05 either, so follow your heart (lets face it, few of us buy a MINI for purely intellectual reasons anyway).

 

If you're a car enthusiast and put your foot down in the R53, you'll get an addictive dose of supercharger whine... especially if it has an air intake. Granted, it's a -5mpg addiction versus an R56, but don't remind me :D

My '05 has about 48k on it, so the mileage isn't too high...

 

I'm a huge car enthusiast! Have loved the Mini's since they first came out. I'm going to test drive both tomorrow and see. Thanks for all the comments so far, keep them coming!

 

I'd get the '05, the first gen cars have a better track record as far as anecdotal evidence is concerned. The early R56 seems to have some inherent engine troubles and the 05/06 S is a favorite around here. Also, I personally prefer the appearance of the first gen, but that's totally subjective.

 

We all prefer what we prefer. For the minimal difference in price, I would prefer the '08. But since you prefer the '05, that's what you should get.

 

Depending on what you want to do with the car (daily vs. lots of track time) and how you adjust to the differences in the type of blown vehicle. Both are fun. My wife's is an 08 MCS and I love it. There's a difference in mentality (albeit slight) in how to use the turbo vs. a supercharger. Turbo's take a bit of extra exhaust to get wound up and provide you that boost, where a supercharger feeds of the engine belts and you get instant response when you push down the throttle.

In my opinion, for the price, go with the 08. For track time, I would go with the 05 (but have no qualms taking my wife's MCS for a spin on the tracks). If you daily, either as you'll have fun in both. Now, mind you, I drive a Challenger as my daily and track car. I'd probably find more fun with the 05 because I'm use to instant power (and the slight delay irritates me in the turbos). My Challenger is not blown and most likely won't be until I get into the Extreme classes for the tour racing and such.

 

If you like the 05 interior better, I think I'd go with that. The interior is where you'll be spending the most quality time with the car, after all.

 

I vote r53. don't join the dark side!





but again i'm bias as 2002 owner!

you forgot to mention the colors. some colors are faster then others.

 

Told ya, you'd get looks of responses on this.
To each his own. You gotta go with what feels right.
If resale, etc. is not an issue go with the 05 if you like it best.
Have you driven both yet? That may give you a better idea of what to do.

 

I vote for the 2005, but believe it to be over-priced. Try to negotiate a better deal.

 

This is a tough comparison.

I've owned both a 2005 MCS and now my 2012 MCS. Love both cars but find my 2012 has a more refined interior, fit and finish over my 2005. Since my 2012 isn't supercharged I can get good mpg easily. The supercharger is always dragging on the motor where the turbo requires RPMs to spool.

 

It seems that most of the opinions here seem to be more self affirming rather than providing good advice...

The truth here is that if you were to go with the '05 you had better want it real bad because the value equation heavily favors the '08.

Consider that if both cars are in very good to excellent condition, the FMV for the '05 is 12-13K and the FMV for the '08 is 17-18k. Depending on the original sale date the 08 may still have some warranty coverage remaining. The R56 turbo motor is more powerful, the R56 brakes are much better, etc, etc, etc!

Also think of the fact that 2 years down the road with the '05 you would have a 10 year old car with over 60k miles that is 2 generations removed from the current model. With the '08 model you'll have a 6+ year old, previous generation car with about 45K. Consider the resale at that point.

BTW, the sunroof is a very big resale item. People who want the sunroof will not buy a car without but the buyer who doesn't want it will not usually "not buy" a car with one.

If you care about the value of what you buy, the decision here is pretty simple.

Either way you go, Good Luck

 

I drove them today. Just affirmed my love for MINI. I think I preferred the 08 for the value, it was just cleaner, and seemed to be in better shape. My only concern with the 08 is the "Death Rattle" I seem to hear about so much. It also seems like there are more maintenance issues with the 08's than the 05's.. Is this true?

 

I have the 07 MCS and it's the only one I've ever owned so don't know too much. The death rattle thing will sound like a diesel or a can of rocks thrusting around in the engine (to the left side). Mine has 62,300 miles and only had the thermostat replaced, never an issue with the chain tensioner. All turbos (at least most) will tend to use a little oil so you need to check that often and always keep it at level (don't overfill). I think the amount of issues with the chain tensioner is small compared to the total amount of MCS's on the road.

 

I was after an R53 but wound up with my 07 as it just tugged at my heartstrings and I also got the right deal on it. I had an R53 that I REEEEEALY wanted but we just couldn't get the right deal on it. And the deal wasn't really on the purchase of the car, rather the deal on my trade in. I had a bank check so it was easy to work the deal and see the angles. I ended up with a good price on the R56 and the best deal offered on my trade in.

I'm not going to be self affirming at all here. Well, maybe a little. Mine came with some mods so that was a nice deal and I'd say the 05 sounds pretty good to me as it's coming with mods for you as well. If you like the mods then great. My wheels were dead on what I'd have put on the car if I had bought one without so that was a huge bonus.

As noted, that supercharger whine is something else and makes me grin when I hear it. However, my turbo Mini has the CAI and cold intake pipe. This produces some fantastic induction noise and I never grow tired of hearing the wastegate open up. Makes me want to turn down the radio when I'm on the gas.

Based on all you'd said originally I would have said to go with the 05 if you like the interior better. However, based on your recent comments perhaps the 08 is good for you. Like I said before, see what your total deal is and which one makes you grin the most.

Oh yea, and one final thing to consider. If you are a car audio guy, depending on what stereo system is installed in these, it seems the R53 is more mod friendly. It's doable on the R56 but the older model is more along the lines of what you'd be used to working with and require the least amount of modification.