I have a perfect, covered till 100K 09 justa clubman... Im itching for more power and am thinking of an older S..

Its this insanity, going from a covered, no problems car to a smaller potential bomb of a car?

I have read that the S/c S's are better than the turbo'd S's for reliability..

Am I right?

Is this nuts?

 

Test drive a gen1....
They are VERY different....and the tq is very different as well...provided at different rpms.
Not sure many would say a sc gen1 is quicker, but imo it is a much more raw, visceral, connected experance....something some folks like, some hate. Gen1 cars are generaly relilabe...a simpler motor, less mpg...but condition is king...and finding s nonabused gen1 is getting harder. Many of the cars forsale have been run hard, abused, etc....so a good prebuy, and maybe fiinding an unmodded car would be safer.....but comes down to risk vs $$. Warrenties are just prepaid repairs....so if you plan on getting a dealer to fix things, it gets $$ fast, but a decent diyer can do most repairs on a r53.
Either way, goodluck!!

 

Personally I would stay with the R55 and not go "backwards" to a R53. I know tons of folks here love the SCed MINI but I like the look of the gen 2 interior better as well as the features and overall newer look with the subtle exterior changes.

 

I can't say it's nuts because I did it. I had a perfectly good '09 Cooper, but I wanted...more? So I sold it and got an '03 Cooper S.

There was repairs to be made, and I did spend quite a bit of cash to get it to where it is now (There was a difference between how much I sold my car and how much I bought the used one for, so it wasn't too bad, I just used that money for the repairs)

But 20k miles and two years later, I couldn't be happier with the car!

I got this car as a sort of learning car, it's stick shift, and I learned to drive stick in it. Also learning to do my own repairs, and it is true, you can do most of the repairs on the car yourself, all it takes is a little patience.

I literally went through the exact same thing you're going through now. I like how the older cars drive a lot better than the newer cars, from the clutch, to the shifter, to the way it accelerates, and the s/c whine (addicting btw), so i'd suggest like the others have, to test drive the car and then decide which you like better.

 

If the wallet will allow (i.e. hit on resale/trade-in of the Clubman PLUS present/future work that may be needed for the older cooper S), then GIT R DONE.

 

Yeah, I have driven an 03 and an 04 S.. I love it.. thats why im thinkin of it... question... on the higher RPMS... it has a squeal like a belt was slipping at about 5500 - redline. is that normal? this was on an 03 with 80k at a local mini dealership.

 

Uhm, was it an S? I'd have to hear it...but I don't think that's normal... My car doesn't squeal. If it was at the dealership hopefully they'd have checked it, but if it is the belt slipping they should replace it before you buy the car if anything.

Make sure you check out the marketplace too! Tons of great used mini's for sale with low miles/good prices!

 

If you are going to get one, try getting an 05 or 06, they're better / have less issues.

 

that and i like that the 05-06 has some of the interior bits from the 2nd gen. We will see.. I just miss the tq of mt SAAB.

 

If you do it, kiss that 39.2 avg goodbye!

 

Yeah, they let me have it for a day, i got 35 on the highway. Not that bad, but not the 42 I get in the summer with the justa.

 

Squeel is not normal....most likly the sc belt.
100% go for an 05 or 06 if you can find one imo, even a slightly higher mile one to stay at you price point. Things like less rattle prone dash (reduced part count), coated sc, and revised gearing all make them better cars. The motoringfile.com yearby year review of the gen1 changes kinda sums it up, but i would not go ANY earlier than 04.....if you save enough, or find the righr unmodded car for a good price....it is best too look for unremovable mods like an aftermarket sc pulley to determine a cars true status....and an gen 1 s is atbest a 30 mph highway car if the speedo is right....so don't go by the obc (if equipped).
since you want a daily driver, rather than a garage queen/weekend car, the newer one with less age, and hopefully less wear should suit your needs......

 

I'd do it. Now that I've hit the point of diminishing returns regarding chasing power on the R50, I might make the lateral move to an R53 (maybe a cabrio...) soon.