Hello all. I am reding quite a bit, but I am still not sure.... So here it is:
How reliable is a Mini Cooper S?
Which one is better?
R50<R53<R56?
Who owned one or more of these and can honestly tell what goes wrong with which model? Is the R56 waaaay better than its predecessor, the R53?
After the warranty is done, how much $$$ do you think you will sink in her each year or monthly (estimate as close as you can).
Which part goes kaputt on a regular basis? What can you expect (known) to go wrong? (i.e. the cooling system on a e39 will fail after 60k miles. The shocks will fail after 60 k miles, Oxygen sensors will go bad before the 100 k mark etc). How reliable is the supercharger (or turbo)? What to do to keep her in tip-top shape? (I am not looking at dealer / warranty fixes)

Thanks all

 

I know the R50 had electrical problems. I know of someone who has one, he had to take it back several times to have the problems sorted. It was mainly with the power windows.

My R56 is too new to say. However the window has a nasty habbit of picking up nicks from rocks. I've never had a car that attracts so many nicks before! I hear from message board ppl that the windows on MINIs in general have to be replaced often..... great...... :/

I would have gotten the S version had it not been for all of the sludge problems my mother had with her VW Passat. It sounds like the Cooper S has less problems but still problems just the same with sludge so I guess I made the right choice to get the regular engine.

 

"I would have gotten the S version had it not been for all of the sludge problems my mother had with her VW Passat."

?????

 

The latest consumer reports 09 car guide currently at news stands has predicted reliability of the MC and MCS for all years. I know alot of people don't like CR on this forum, but it is good for establishing general trends as long as you don't take it as absolute.

General trends are :MC better reliability than MCS, R56 generally better than R50/53, although the 06 R50 MC (manual tranny) scored much better than average in all categories in the 07 issue. In a previous issue they had some ratings on convertibles and they were to be avoided, scoring worse than average (MC) and much worse than average (MCS).

My R56 MC has been rock solid.

 

I've got a 6 month old 2008 Clubman S with about 7,000 miles on it. No significant problems as of yet. No return trips to the dealer. All very minor issues that will be addressed at its first oil change @ 7500 miles. (loose piece of trim, etc). Very satisfied and happy so far. Plus, it's an absolute blast to drive!

 

Wife's got just over 10k on her daily-commuter '08 Cooper S. No issues whatsoever.

FWIW, I have given it two oil changes (2k and 10k), however, not that this practice is going to remedy any short-term issues.

 

Only problem I have had is a fuel pump. 31,000 miles and going at it. Very reliable car.

"I would have gotten the S version had it not been for all of the sludge problems my mother had with her VW Passat."

OK. I think I am missing a puzzle piece here.

 

The missing puzzle peice as you say is the "Turbo Engine". Right, I failed to mention this. The Passat had a turbo engine with lots of mechanical problems and Sludge, the R56S has a turbo engine.

Turbo engines have a bad rep. Didn't want to take the risk of getting one on my new car.

 

Thanks.
Keep it coming

 

Seems like - beyond the Passat lawsuit - the recommendations are for the factory recommended synthetic oils (I imagine other synthetics that meet or exceed that recommendation as well) and letting the car idle upon arrival at your destination for a bit to let the turbo cool down.

That said, haven't heard about sludge being a problem with the R56 but will definitely do some research now to be forewarned. Still going to get one, just want to go in with good preventative knowledge in hand

 

The VAG 1.8T engine that was in the Passat really had a pretty low rate of failure but enough to warrant some service actions. I had three cars with that engine that were all trouble free. Also had an Audi A3 with the newer 2.0T engine, also trouble-free. Turbo engines DO NOT have a bad rep in general, don't know where you're getting that from.

 

My 2005 S, while a blast to drive, had lots of mechanical issues, esp with the clutch and flywheel and steering.

My 2009 S, so far, has been problem-free.

 

Turbochargers do not present any issues in and of themselves. If you get a bad one, of course they're going to be problematic; but that's an indictment of a specific car or manufacturer, not the tech in general. It's a little like opting for an old, carbureted car because you had a early-80s Camaro with Cross-Fire, and are since of the opinion that fuel injection is risky.

Turbochargers (especially of the type in the R56 S) offer a number of advantages, namely increased performance without the hit on fuel economy associated with superchargers. No reason to avoid the technology altogether, just manufacturers with shoddy quality.

If you're concerned about sludge, change the oil more frequently. There's no way I'd leave the oil in my car for 15,000 miles, turbocharged or not.

 

+ 1,000,000

What about the cold chatter issue? There is a looong post about that, I am at first 1/4 of the story though. Are the later R56 affected? Is this a "by purpose" manufacturing issue?

The moonroof - problems only in warm weather (like southern states) or are there reports in the northern states as well?

Is the rust problem solved in the R56?

thanks guys

 

05 MCS with JCW.

Starts everyday with no major mechanical issues whatsoever. Had a check engine light go off at about 30K miles (Have 33K on odo) which was a vacuum hose leak that was replaced under warranty at the dealership. Glad that I got the S though, so much more fun to drive!

 

This comparing apples to oranges. Two completely different animals here.

The turbo won't keep me from buying an R56 MCS. The cold start rattling & the lack of a fix will. I sure hope BMW/MINI find a workable fix for that.

 

So the cold start rattle has no fix yet? (I live N of the border - cold is an issue).
How about the door sills rust? Is this issue fixed? Or was this only up to the R53 an issue?
Same with the sunroof? Nobodt mentioned any issues with it. The less issues the better it is (although the cold start rattling bugs me)

Thanks again and Happy New Year everybody

 

My former '08 MCSa did have some problems with it early on but were fixed under warranty.The big issue was the constant heat in the driver footwell area that they couldn't fix after 4 attempts so the Dealership and MINI USA did a trade assist for me into a brand new '09 MCSa.Zero problems and absolutely love the car

I live in South Florida and neither sunroofs are a problem in the 90+ degree heat during the summer nor the engine knock/rattle on start up.

I can't answer the cost of replacement parts or repair cost question after the warranty expires since I am far from the mileage and/or months expiration right now.

 

Terrible! Cars have problems in general period.

I have gotten great advice from the experiences from other MINI owners through friendship, events, rallies, clubs, or NAM. You buy a MINI because you love the MINI.

My wife has gotten 23,000 miles on her 07 PW/B MCSa and has no issues including the hood scoop or cold weather start-ups.

The 08 Clubman has 8000 miles and no issues.

My boring experiences: 76 Chevy Caprice, 76 Camaro, 83 Civic, 87 Spectrum, 87 Subaru, 88 Sentra, 90 Subaru, 93 Subaru, 93 Chevy Full Size Van, 96 Accord, 98 RAV4, 07 VW New Beetle Convertible.

My FUN experiences: 57 Vette, 80 Chevy Shortside Pick Up, 07 PW/B MCSa MINI, & 08 LiB Clubman.

 

Door sill rust was an exclusive R53/R50 issue. Door sill design is different in R56. It sounds like reliability is a big issue with you, it was with me. If so, get a R56 MC (or clubman MC), in the long run that will be your best bet. I did, for one reliability but also fuel economy, it is about 3-4 mpg better rated than the MCS. But I won't let that stop me from some day buying my dream car. I can retire in 5 years, I plan to take my unused leave payment (about 3 months) and go buy a JCW mini at that time, assuming something similar to what is currently in production is available. I won't let the turbo or perceived reliability stop me. But today the cold start issue would stop me from buying MCS particularly if I lived in a northern climate.

 

62k on my 8/07 build R56 with oil changes every 5k and not a problem to speak of.

 

I have never had a real problem with my MCS, apart from a battery that I accidentally drained! The mpg is awesome, since every other car in the garage gets 9mpg I live in Las Vegas and have no problem with the winter/ HOT summer, with the turbo, or the interior climate. There was one time that I BELIEVE I expirienced the dreaded 'cold start', but after a whole 3 sec of that Coop ran just fine, so I dont really count that.

 

Great car & no issues at 13K miles in Northeast US

 

02S, lapis leather and premium package, S-lites.:
- fan assmbly replaced twice, once under warranty, and again this past summer for the failure of the fan control unit
- one window motor replaced in 97 out of warranty
- a/c compressor replaced last summer out of warranty; replaced belt at that time
- running EBC greens since year two...I do my own brakes and rotors now and average 30k plus to a set or pads. Changed rotors at 75k just for the heck of it.
- oil changed per the computer
- on the third set of tires now. Dropped runflats (Pir' Eupf") after 25k because of replacement cost but had no complaints about them. I LIKE a hard ride....
- no significant change to MPG since new
- 4 windscreens...but it was a good sized rock every time
- 3 coolant recovery tanks....
seems reasonable for a car approaching 8 years old; especially since many would expect the first year to be problematic. But it has cost more than my Miata had up to year 12.

07S, tuscan leather, premium package, woodgrain
- has been to the dealer once since purchase for 12 month oil change and has 4500 miles yet to go for first computer driven service.
- front pads swapped out for EBC green at 2 months and rotors show no significant wear at this time.
- cold start issues? I live in Florida
- no melting hood scoop etc ....
I like the ride of my 02 a lot better....this one reminds me of my 75 Cutlass.

I presume the 79 is not of concern......

 

I'm at 20000 kms on my sept 07 build MCS. So far problems have been :

Sunroof not working on hot days.
Throttle body froze on cold day causing limp mode and trip to dealer.
Cold Start noise developed last week and sounds nasty until engine is warm.

Otherwise car is a blast!! lets hope Mini pulls their finger out and fixes the cold start issues.