I want to start out and say its good to be back at this forum. I sold my 63 vtec mini 5 years ago and haven't been on here since. I just purchased a new house that is going to be a bit of a drive, so I am looking for a fun fuel efficient car to make the drive a little less boring. I though a mini s would fit the bill. I will be putting a ton of miles on the car, so I will basically just be a daily driver. I have been looking at several 2003 mini s for sale near me with about 100000 miles for about 5k. My question is what do I need to worry about with a higher mileage mini s? At what point have things been known to start falling apart?

My other options were focus s or vw gti.

Thanks in advance for the advice. Please keep that battering to a minimum.

 

Hey congrats! just buy it and get ready to do some work. so worth it... to hell with a vw or focus. Bought my r53 2 years ago for 10k... I have 162k on it now. I've done a lot of work on it (supercharger rebuild,
brakes, door actuator, stainless exhaust, CAI, plugs... soon a new clutch. But at the end of the day as long as you don't buying a Bentley manual and getting dirty, you are resurecting possibly the baddest fng front wheel drive on earth. My motto... "eventually it will be all new parts and run for another 100k"
never selling mine ever ever ever

 

Thanks for the feedback. Only things major I saw on your list was possibly the supercharge rebuild. What did that run you?

 

feel free to throw out other suggestions as well.

 

I did the work myself... I think from way motor works I bought a rebuild for 899$? I also swapped the motor mounts, water pump, a few lines and a thermostat. One of those... well while I'm in here I might as we'll knock this out.. lol. but hell... Beats a new car payment and the cheek to cheek smile you have every time you get ONTO the hwy in 3rd gear doing 90 makes it all worth it. lol

 

Any suggestions on things I should be looking at when view potential vehicles?

 

No one else?

 

These were bad when I bought my 03 at 120k:
Strut mounts (both were cracked)
All engine mounts (all torn)

And these died between 120k and 135k:
Clutch
Power steering (warranty repair)
Seat height adjusters
Crank pulley

I've replaced other things while I was in there, but those are the major hits.

 

thanks keep them coming.

 

I have 225k on my 2003 r53. I do all my own wrenching too. Just did my first clutch. I hope to get another 100k out of my engine. I'm restoring my car this year. New paint, no dents , new interior 2012 r56 leather and new plastic trim will make it look and feel like new. The car is super easy to work on.

 

That's great to hear. I am not scared to work on cars. I initially joined this forum with my 63 vtec mini. Below is my current project.

 

It really depends on the condition of the vehicle... what maintenance/repair the owner has done to it.

But I would consider the following items...

-Suspension refresh (dampers/bushings/mounts). Front strut mounts and Lower Control Arm bushings are weak on Minis. My first set of LCA bushings went at 33k, strut mounts cracked at 45k. Soft rubber bushing is part of BMW suspension design philosophy.

-Replace Supercharger oil along with coolant pump & thermostat, belt tensioner & idler pulley, spark plugs & wires.

-Set $ aside for: PS pump, Supercharger, clutch, harmonic pulley, motor mounts,

If you do your own work, expense is manageable.

 

sounds good. Thanks for all of the feedback.

 

I would definitely pull the timing cover and replace the chain, chain guided and tensioner unless you know for sure it was done. I would carefully inspect the oil pump at this time or simply replace.

 

I thought that you said high mileage. Shoot, I'm at 250k miles.

 

It's hard to tell from the small picture, but is that an LS7 without the stupid plastic valve canopies? If it is, very nice, amazing engine except for one little correctable valve train issue.

I bought my 05 MCS to bury in miles. It rally seems like these guys can see some incredibly high miles with the right preventative maintenance, you just need to take care or certain things before they break.

 

Are you referring to the Pontiac or the big wheel?

Great lookin 'Bird

 

If you found one that you like, have you taken the 2003 mini s to an good Inde Mini mechanic for a pre-purchase check?

Are you going to be doing your own mechanic work?

 

I don't worry to much about high mileage, I just turned 351,000 miles on my 03s. Don't be afraid to do a little wrenching now and then. They are actually fun cars to work on and honestly not too complicated. I've done all my own maintenance and work on it. Bushings, brakes, super charger etc. I replaced the ac at 191,000 miles because I was nervous, but it was fine and still had oil in the water pump gears. As it gets older little things go, door hand cables, window regulators ect. I am still on my original clutch, follow the OBC recommended oil change interval (usually around 21,000 miles), still have great cylinder compression numbers, uses very little oil between changes, and it much more fun to drive than the Honda Civic I drove before it.

Nik

 

With the biggest worry on older/higher mileage cars many of the former owners had gotten to the point where the car needed a few things done to them to keep them up but didn't want to continue to invest into them. (control arm bushing, engine mounts, etc) in some cases you will find little things like the climate control back lighting bulbs burnt out... a major expense if taken to a MINI shop for repair, but can be done in about 20 minutes with a few basic tools and a pair of replacement bulbs (about $1.00).

And no doubt you will find things that you just don't have the tools or the touch to do as well as you would like (recovering the headliner) a new one runs up around the $500.00 mark having a local shop recover the one you have is about $100.00 if you are will to pull it out and put it in yourself.

It is still rather fun to find the "Mechanic's Special" MINI out there for $2999.99 dropping $2000.00 for parts and wheeling a great car with a long life left to it.

Motor on!