Some of you may know that I bought a 2005 MCS a month or so ago. Drove it a few times. Probably around 70 miles or so and then the transmission went out. Along with the tranny we decided to put in a new clutch since everything was already open. So along with the $6000 for car + TTL, I also spent $4200 for a used tranny and new clutch. Grand total for this car so far $10,200.

I finally get the car back on Thursday. Fire it up and I hear rattling coming from the Supercharger. Do some googling and it sounds like the PTO/water pump drive gears are shot. It's hot as hell in Texas in the summer so I wait until tonight to take it out on a ride. I do a 30 mile loop around the city. The temp gauge hovers around the mid-point most of the time, but as soon as I get back in the city it starts climbing. By the time I get to my driveway the damn thing is redlining.

So, I'm sure it's the water pump.

I'm guessing this is going to cost another $1500-2000 that I don't have. I'm currently selling off my guitars and camera gear to finish up paying on the LAST repairs.

When is enough, enough?

I ****ing HATE this car, but I've already sunk so much money into it I can't give up on it. I can't afford to take a $6000 loss on selling it.

I don't have a place to work on a car. I have some tools, but nothing specialty. I can climb all up in an American muscle car and wrench on parts all day, but I didn't buy an old muscle car because I don't want to wrench on my car. I wanted something that would be sporty, comfortable, and reliable. So far this car has been nothing but a VERY EXPENSIVE problem. I've never even got to take a proper drive in it. I'm afraid to look at the damn thing lest it explode.

Seriously, what should I do? Buy the PTO/ water pump rebuild kit and pay my mechanic to do it? Buy the kit and try to fix it myself in the driveway? I'm at the end of my rope here.

 

My suggestion would be to buy a rebuilt supercharger from way motor works. I would not repair just the PTO drive. It seems that given all the luck you’ve had with this car. It would be your luck you’d repair it then the front supercharger drive would crap the bed.

Make sure to replace the water pump while you’re in there. I have the same thoughts about my MINI, while I haven’t had any major problems. There are times where I wish I had just bought a Corolla or a Civic and been done with it.

 

I hear what you're saying but you do realize that this is a 9, possibly 10, year old car. Just about ANY car that old will have issues. I bought my 03 R50 in 2007 with 44K miles and it was rock solid until I got near 100K miles. Since then I've had a number of issues but nothing that has changed my opinion that the Mini is an awesome automobile!

If you just bought a 10 year old Toyota or Honda, my guess is that you would not be in much better shape. In general I think the difference is that if you use the Mini dealer for service you pay top $$$ for repairs and parts. In my case in 7 years of ownership, my first (and so far only) return visit to the dealer where I bought the thing used, was to have them replace the power steering pump under the extended warranty program for that item.

The only repair that I didn't do myself was to have a local import specialty repair shop replace my clutch at 105K when the throwout bearing failed. Of course I know now that I should have done that myself since a few thousand miles later my Midlands 5-speed failed a bearing and I decided I'd either fix it myself or junk the car. It turned out to be much easier than I expected and we're still going 26K miles later.

It sucks not having a place to work on the car though. Do you have any friends with a well equipped toolbox and a garage?

 

Sounds like you found the ultimate lemon mini....a rolling bucket of bolts!!
You can find e-bay rebuilds out to Florida (old town)...one company does them really cheap (quality wise too), but with a OK warrenty...if $$ is the only important thing and you are gonna diy it...you could try one of their $500-650 rebuilds... Some folks do OK...some need to get a second one under warrenty in a few months ...about $750-1000 will get you a fulley remanufactured unit from a good seller...even a OEM (Eaton) authorized rebuilder that knows what they are doing that is arguably better than new....
I would not just open up the PTO...and add oil...if it is rattling...the damage is done...and the seals are failed...just be a waste of time....
Most important thing with a mini...find a shop/buddy/club that knows THESE cars...doing the wrong repair or doing it wrong gets $$$ fast....
A mini, if properly treated is a reliable car....
Sounds like you bought somebody's track car that was run at redline all weekend for weeks on end...tranny failures on a gen1 s are VERY rare...then to have the sc fail...kinda points to lots of high rpm abuse...so I would pickup a water pump... Bet that is on the way out..it is bolted to the sc....

 

I’ll have to be the pot stirrer, but that’s pretty much the response you get from MINI owners with the rose colored glasses on. These cars are a hell of a lot of fun to drive and the styling is great. There is one caveat the drive train engineering and parts quality is pretty much substandard. I’d sooner trust a 30-year-old Corolla to drive cross-country vs. a 10 year old MINI.

 

I beg to differ. I've owned 20, 30, and 40 year old cars all of my life. Novas, Omegas, Camaros, Trans Ams, F-150s, F-250s and I've NEVER had this much trouble. Alternators, starters, a few belts here and there and once a rebuild on a tranny ($400). I've never paid more than $3000 for any old American car and they've run for years without issue. I bought an 8 year '99 Mercury Cougar for $5K and I never had a problem in the 4 years I owned it.

A 9 or 10 year old car should NOT be falling apart so rapidly. Hell I can't even touch a piece of plastic on the car without it breaking. Just yesterday the scoop cracked and the top of the oil dipstick broke off when I went to check it.

I'll have to agree with Nicefeet on this one. These cars are not built to quality specs. Especially not the quality I'd expect from a BMW-made automobile.

I do have a friend with tools and a garage. But he's a mechanic. I have to pay him. I despise when people ask me to photograph their weddings for cheap or free (although nobody seems to mind). His shop is always full so I can't just park it in there and much around on it.

 

To OP, sorry this car keeps giving you trouble. Did the mechanic who did the transmission go over the car? Would hate for you to do this work and then come back with another major component problem.


If you decide to fix it and you say you can work on an American car, you can do this job yourself and save a significant amount of money. You would need to buy a couple of tool (I'm sure there are no torx anythings on old American muscle cars) but it's doable and I would bet there are tons of DIY videos out there.


To illustrate, my 12 year old BMW 3 series is due for a cooling system refresh, as the cooling parts are known to be weak and prone to failure after a certain age / miles. I was quoted $1,500 parts and labor from a trusty independent. I looked up parts online and found dozens of DIY videos. I ended up sourcing better quality parts and even added a few that I'll take care of "while I'm in there", and I'm going to save $800. I have not done anything more involved than a brake job in years, but with the online info available on the older enthusiast owned cars, it becomes doable.


Good luck.

 

I called the shop and I spoke to one of the mechanics that worked on it (the shop has grown since I started going there, it's more than a two-man operation now) and he said nobody noticed any rattling on the car. I don't know how that's possible. I'm going to take it down Monday and no doubt get another quote on fixing this POS.

 

Sorry to hear about the trauma & ordeal your MINI subjected you to. Hope isn't all lost. If funds are low, don't replace the SC, just hook in an electric waterpump like Raven Mocker did here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...dded-hp-2.html

He used the Davies Craig EWP80 that Sprintex SC kits include & would set you back around $200. Wire it like how Sprintex does here:
http://www.minimania.com/pdfile/NME5200_INSTR.pdf

I got this one ready:
http://www.hrpworld.com/store/defaul...-pump-kit.html

The fix above is REVERSIBLE so you can go back to stock should you feel like it....but there won't be such need as this is a good upgrade. It squeezes the life left on your SC which I believe has plenty still left.

Or you can get a new SC from cooperke s over at minitorque or the alliance site that NAM blocks. He had last few brand new JCW SCs @ $915 shipped:
http://www.*********************/for...#axzz35B6QSmx5

 

Once issues are sorted & you get to know & be 'one' w/ the car, it can be very predictable & reliable. Hang in there.

 

One of the problems with used Minis versus Toyotas and the like is that Minis invite aggressive driving in a manner that most Toyotas don't. The relation between hard driving and repairs is not linear in my experience -- drive twice as hard and repairs show up more than twice as fast. And that's the catch with used cars; you don't know how the former owner(s) treated the vehicle.

Then, BMW itself doesn't have a particularly strong reputation for headache free ownership, and when things do break, repairs are expensive. No surprise that Mini follows in BMW's footsteps.

Our Clubman has been trouble-free so far, but it is a 2011 that hasn't broken 35K miles yet. In reading these forums, it does appear that Mini problems, compared to many other makes, are more likely to mount as the miles get closer to 100K, so that bounces around in the back of my mind. In contrast, my 2005 Volvo S40 at 115K miles has been the most trouble free car I've owned in 45 years.

Our Mini is a riot to drive, but I have no misconceptions about it. In the auto industry, the brand is not the standard bearer for reliable workhorses.

 

Not so sure if it is an ex track car....
I WOULD get an oil sample checked...give you an idea of the bearings...
The op said in another post he bought the car from a sketchy dealer he did not trust...
I kinda wonder how many hours the car spent on redline...
There are lemons in EVERY MAKE AND MODEL.....
sometimes it may be best to fix it and dump it...then again...with everything fixed...might be a great car for the next driver!! Feeling lucky?!

 

Sorry about your issues, but MINI is not strong on reliability. On my 2006 (original owner) with only 80K miles, I've had to spend thousands in the past year as parts started failing one after another.

 

If it was a track car I'd expect to see at least some mods done to it. It's 100% stock. The CarFax shows that it was driven nearly the same exact amount each year. While it has high miles it seems like the car was a daily driver for someone that didn't live very close to their job. And being that the car was from Houston that's pretty normal.

 

Not trying to be rude, and sorry about your bad mini, but before I bought my 2002 r53 in March I researched it online. From what I read I knew the s/c would need to be redone at some point. That should not have been a surprise you. There are thousands of posts detailing all of their other problems.

This car is not a Toyota or Honda. And if you think BMW means its going to be problem free and inexpensive to maintain, you haven't owned a BMW.

That being said though, they are supposed to have good transmissions, sounds like you were just unlucky with yours.

If you were able to work on your old muscle cars, doing the supercharger yourself will not be a problem. It's really pretty easy to do. I did mine last month and the only problem i had was figuring out how to work the belt tensioner pulley. Felt kind of dumb afterwords because it's not that complicated Only tools you might not have are a couple different size torx.

Cost around $1000. Had mine rebuilt for $795, oem waterpump was about $120, and needed some other various gaskets.

If you decide to do it here is a very helpful link. Don't just change the oil though.

http://www.minicooperspeed.com/how-t...ercharger-oil/

And another one

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ght-diy-2.html

 

RiverCityRocker,
I'm wishing you all the luck in the world and just hang in there.
My husband likes to say I'm driving a brand new MINI and he's got the da** receipts to prove it !!

 

I love it when people say they're not trying to be rude, but they are. I did research. My ex-gf has owned 3 Minis with no problems.

In my research I didn't see anything about the superchargers until the rattling began and I looked for it.

As I said before if I wanted to be wrenching on cars I would have bought another muscle car.

 

I'm baffled by the bad tranny. It's a Getrag manual. What could go wrong with it? Unless of course it was abused and I mean severely abused and/or neglected. And that would have to be blamed on the previous owner/s and not MINI in general.

How many miles are on it?

 

I don't know what was wrong with it. It turned out the clutch was OK, but we replaced it just because. You'd think that the clutch would go before the tranny. I'm going to the mechanic tomorrow. I'll find out what was wrong with the tranny.

It's got 186K on it. That's a lot of miles but considering I've put almost 500K miles on my Ford F-250 with nothing major happening I didn't think that 186K was too bad. I knew I'd have some things to replace, but I didn't expect to replace every major component.

The guy who has my Ford said he just put in $1200 in repairs and it's running like new. On a Mini $1200 might replace the cupholder.

 

As far as I see it, my best option is to buy the PTO/Gear replacement kit and try to fix it myself.

So how often do the actual superchargers go bad or is it typically just the PTO/pump that's the issue?

 

I'm going to be blunt here. It's getting harder and harder to feel empathetic. Just cuz you're ticked off that the sleazy dealer screwed you and sold you a bad car and that the mechanic did not point out other problems after you handed over a ton of money does not mean you should be rude to people who are actually trying to provide you advice and options. We got it, you coulda / woulda / shoulda bought another muscle car. You didn't, time to be a grown up and quit whining about it.


To peeps looking at this thread when doing research, not all MINI's are bad. The lesson learned is to take your prospective car to a mechanic familiar with MINI's BEFORE any money changes hands. All the issues here would have been discovered as part of a proper pre-purchase inspection. Your buddy who lifted his Jeep or put an intake / stereo on a Camaro or LED's / exhaust on a Civic is not the right guy. As old as the cars are now, something is bound to come up during the inspection and the $150 you spend will return $500 to $1,000 in negotiation or better yet, save you from buying a basket case.

 

I'll be blunt too. You are being a *****. My mechanic has been working on my cars for 15 years. He happens to own 3 shops and has 20 employees. He is NOT just some dude who put a ****ing stereo in a Camaro or lifted a Jeep. Don't presume to know who I deal with. My mechanic said there was NO WAY that the dealer could have known the tranny was bad. The clutch, which was the initial diagnosis was fine. Tell me exactly how the pre-inspection could have diagnosed a bad transmission? It would have required taking the whole thing apart. More than a $150 inspection don't you think?

If your idea of providing advice is to start with trying to tell me I didn't do research then you're wrong. You're just being a ****. "grow up and quit whining?" I'm just trying to figure out a solution and your knowledge about my situation is nil, so STFU and stay out of it if you're going to be an *******.

 

When you said in your other posts the dealer could not wait to give you the car...
Sounded like he was hoping it would make it out of the parking lot before failing...
The SC issue....
You can usually hear it on a cold start for a long time before damage starts....
And the learning curve is do steep with mini's, many PRO mechsnics from other makes DO have Issues...enough to check in cussing when working on their mini daily drivers...till you know the tricks..and what to watch out for....
Your gal who has had mini's with no issues proves there ARE good ones around...
You got screwed...short of commuting a felony and lighting you car on fire, it needs to get fixed...
Issue is if you just change the gears, you must take the sc apart to change the seals...the REASONY WHY THE OIL IS LOW......THEN IT MUST BE REASSEMBLED, and the hard part...retiming the rotors.....even the ¢500 place in fl skips this step... Too hard for all but Best pro shops to do...only MINI'S HAVE THE PTO...it makes it a unique part with unique issues...
Just adding oil with new gears will get you a couple months at best.....

 

P.S.
Random other posts in other threads saying "my minibsucks", etc means you are whining...not offering YOUR HELP AND EXPERIENCE... Just bitching and moaning....

 

I expected a venomous response from you and it's exactly what I got. Just be aware that starring out insults does not make it any more acceptable and compliant with rules of engagement on this forum. Others might report your post, I'm going to do the mature thing and simply no longer respond to your posts after this one.

I was sincere in my previous responses to this thread and your earlier ones wishing you good luck, so again, good luck with the car.