Im Back to the MINI brand after almost 7 years! Needless to say I haven't posted in a LONG time So here is my question for you all….

I'm ordering a new Countryman which still comes with the Prince 1.6T S engine. I know there is an all new BMW developed engine for the new hardtops. So which would you choose given the choice, the new first year BMW S engine, or the end of lifecycle Prince S engine? The fist year engine could have issues that need to be sorted out, on the flip side the Prince engine has gone through several updates throughout it lifecycle hopefully addressing any reliability issues.

Could anybody walk me through the major changes the Turbo 1.6 Prince has gone through up through the current version? Thanks!

 

No replies all day…did I post this in the wrong section?

 

No, you're good. I guess its an unknown. You know what you're getting into with the Prince engine, updated or not. But on the other hand you don't know what to expect with the BMW engine.

 

If it was me I'd go for the developed engine - most new designs seem to need modifications of some description.

 

Try this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...olding-up.html

 

I would stay away from Prince engines - new (N18) or old (N14). Too many issues to list.

BMW is renown for building engines, and at least will stand behind their product if anything should come up. MINI's support for Prince has been the opposite, but then again, they haven't had much leverage over Peugeot once they decided to ditch their engines.

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Try telling that to the owners of N47 or M52 engines

 

We know that the Prince-based engine has some troubles. They are pretty well understood, and have been partially addressed. But they do not seem to have been completely fixed so they never come back.

On the other hand, we know pretty much nothing at all about the new engine family. I think those have only been on the road for a few months now, and not in really huge numbers yet.

So on one hand, we have a model with known imperfections. And on the other hand, we have a complete unknown. That's a tough choice...