First post here, ladies and gents, and I need your help as I'm not a MINI owner.......yet.
I'm looking (hard) at an '04 S with JCW.
Problem is the car is 600+ miles away.
I had the dealer take it to closest service center (at a MINI dealer) to have a pre-purchase inspection done. It came back with a few normal wear & tear items, such as belts, brakes, coolant flush, etc. What concerns me, though, is two items:
1) they said the power steering pump fan is inop and lines need replacing.
2) The front strut mounts are warped & cracked.
I'm waiting for the morning to request pics of the "cracks".
As for the PS, are those easy fixes? I'm not going to pay the dealer their rip-off prices (they want $400+ per axle for new brakes), so are these two fixes something that could be done over a weekend?
I've seen the strut mount reinforcement plates, so I'm hoping the mounts aren't beyond fixing with those, but with the mentioned cracks, we'll see.

I've done complete suspension swaps, brake jobs (complete replacement), wheel bearings, etc. so I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, and I've had positive success with all the stuff I've done.
Any suggestions on severity of these issues is welcomed.
Thanks!

 

The power steering pump is covered under an extended warranty, you probably will have to pay for the hoses.

 

Thank you for the reply. My understanding is that the pump itself is good, the fan and lines are not. I've never had a car with a ps pump fan, hoping its an easy fix. Since it seems to be a component of the ps system, could that fan be covered?

 

Picked it up and drove it 9+hours back home. It's a hoot!

 

You will have to post some pics. Well cared for R53s are always fun to look at.

 

 

Looks great.


I've got an '06 that I've loved and driven hard.


Coolant leaks have been my watch point. I've had two from two different causes. My local Mini guys have been great about it -- and I guess it saves on coolant flushes.

 

I believe it's the steering pump and fan covered under the extended warranty. I don't think the hoses are though. Nice mcs jcw..