I've had Buddha now for 10 years...well on the 25th of July it will be exactly 10 years.

I love driving Buddha. He's an 06 JCW hard top with 71,000 miles.

But... I am absolutely not thrilled with everything that has gone wrong with him.

His power steering leaks, his oil pan gasket leaks, his thermostat started leaking, I've replaced motor mounts, the fly wheel (TSB for making Chewbacca noises which he STILL makes), control arm bushings, 02 sensors and much more.

When I took him in for the airbag recall, the dealership kindly gave me a list of all his "issues". Of course at stealership prices, when all was said and done I was looking at $1,400 for control arm bushings, $1,100 for the oil pan gasket, $950 for power steering hoses, $440 for the thermostat and I love the $55 it costs to change a marker bulb. (No, I didn't pay their prices)


Outrageous dealer pricing not withstanding, I have never owned a non-German car that had all these issues with such low mileage and at such a young age. Not even my POrSche has had leaks like this. It has it's own unique and stupid issues that only a drunk German engineer would design into a car. But I digress...

My 91 jeep with 226,000 has not had any issues other than replacing the alternator at 210,000 miles. My 2001 Lexus has yet to have any issues at 170,000 miles. Ok, the manifold rotted out on my 1999 Ford Truck at 140,000 miles and the fuel pump went out at 120,000 miles.

And reading through the threads, these are COMMON problems in these cars.

For all the touting about Fine German Engineering, I call BS.

Do you find these issues to be acceptable? I can't say I do....

 

Oh and BOTH my MINI badges have had the decals fall off...

 

At least Buddha is still running. My 04 engine just seized at 178,000k! Been sitting for two months. Will disect her when I get the chance. German engineering is good. My 911 turbo has 74k and no problem at all. I think it s the British DNA are the causes.

 

All of your issues aside from the flywheel I've had and then some. I'd say your list isn't bad at all.

 

I agree with bav. Normal stuff but it just hit you all at once. I've had all that done over the past 8 years and it's going in next week for new output shaft bellows. Nuthin' lasts forever. Only big difference is what was spent. All my work was done by an indie for a huge fraction of what the dealer quoted you.

 

Well, sure they are finicky. But I got 255k out of my first one. It still runs but needs a cylinder head. I look at all of your lists, and yes I am doing them all. Right now on my new to me 78k miles jcw. But I turn a wrench and after 13 years with my first mini, I don't need to learn what to do to fix stuff I just do it in half day bursts on a Sat am so the car is ready for Monday commute. I figure a few more weekends under my new car and ill be good for a few years. A lot of aftermarket parts solve the problems for a longer duration. Soon I won't have anything to fix and I can do some canyon carving.

 

Umm, welcome to the world of MINI ownership. My 03 R53 has had the oil pan gasket leak, PS pump fail, SC fail, thermostat leak, mushrooming shock towers, exhaust header to muffler weld break apart, coolant tank explode and other various issues. I like solving puzzles and using my hands so all of the items that failed, I fixed them on my own. 209855 miles later and BUG ETER is running just as good, after my maintenance work, as the day I got her in August of 05.

 

Something I learned a long time ago in a completely unrelated setting, a photography class, that of a relationship that applies to a lot more than just depth of field and stop action. It is this: For everything you gain, you have to give something up.
Put that alongside the fun driving experience that a MINI provides against a few maintenance inconveniences and you will fall in love with the zen of motoring.

 

Well, I also really, really love my jeep. And I haven't had to do anything serious on it until it hit 25 and 200,000+ miles. And they were hard miles that include lots of off-roading, rock crawling and hauling 1,000 lbs of horse feed in the back at highway speeds... Right now it needs a cat back (minus the cat) exhaust, new tires and new shocks.

Adding to the MINI List,
I forgot I had the exhaust weld break on mine, too.
Plus the screeching from the HVAC that they "fixed" and a week later it started again. The water pouring out of the rear hatch when you opened it.
Battery tray filling with water and corroding everything...

Sorry, none of this should be accepted as "normal stuff" on a car with 70,000 miles. I have never encountered this muc

And while I do a lot of my own work, it is frustrating when a car that I've had fun with but taken very good care of has more issues than a car I drive daily with twice the mileage that never complains or causes problems even though I benignly neglect it aside from the rear door lock actuators intermittently not working (Lexus).

Never did I think I would sing the praises of a Japanese car...

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: as much as I love my MINI I wouldn't own one that didn't have a factory warranty.

 

So, I just get a call from my mechanic friend who I asked to check the car over after the stealership ripped Buddha a new one.

The dealership said my brakes failed inspection because the rotors were below spec. 3 people at my mechanics shop measured the brakes and they were not. very minor wear lip on the edge of the rotor but no where near "worn out"
The dealership said my control arm bushings were torn. Mechanic said, "I don't see anything wrong". Neither did his suspension/alignment tech.

Can't say I'm surprised. That's why they're called "stealerships".

 

I really hope I don't have all these problems! So far the new to me '05 R53 has needed a few oil gaskets to stop leaks it had when I bought it. I've also replaced the SC oil on the easy to access end.

Air-con has a leak somewhere too. Maybe if the front comes off to change the condenser I'll also pull the SC inlet pipe off and suck the oil out with a suringe.

 

Normal issues, but most not related to milage, but the age of the car. Its 10 years old. Ive had most of those issues too at that age, but was well on my way to 300k. You say you do a lot of your own work. If so do these repairs, looks like total parts would be less than $500.

Nik

 

I had a similar experience, I put my wife's Toyota in the dealership for new tires (they were having a special) and specifically declined the inspection, they still came out with a laundry list of things that needed to be done. One of them was brakes on all 4 corners and they wanted like $700 to do all of them. I politely refused, went home, looked at the brakes and decided they were fine. I did end up having to put new pads on, 2 years and 35,000 miles after they told me that I should probably go ahead and get it done.

 

I have had my 05 R53 about a year and my 07 R52 about 3 months. Neither have had any major issues, other than AC. Perhaps the newer cars had more of the kinks worked out.


Neither car cooled well in south Florida heat. The 05 compressor took a dump, so I replaced it and had it refilled to factory spec. Still not cooling well. After adding about 1/2 can of refrigerant to each car (had a manifold gauge to measure high and low side pressures), both cars seem to be doing fine. Even in the blistering heat of the last couple of weeks, I am seeing low 40's F in both cars. Perhaps the R134 spec is just not correct?


Regards,
Jerry

 

The first generation Bmw Minis don't really have that much German engineering in them.

The engine was designed by Chrysler. Maybe you missed it but one of the engine designers was posting on this forum for a while. Check out user unbreakablelump if you are curious. He also talks about how Rover designed the supercharger part of the engine.

The transmission is a Getrag, a German company, but it's is a quality part.

The rest of the car was built in the UK and even has a bunch of Rover parts in it.

Anyway, I've had mine for a much shorter time than you but I'm having the opposite reaction you are.

The first year I had the car it had all kinds of problems. Yes the same problems as everyone else. I thought the car was really poor. Stuff breaking that would never break on one of my Hondas.

Since then though, I've replaced every part myself and have found the car very easy to work on. This forum and modmini have made everything even easier. The amount of vendors we have also helps make it affordable.

Is the car as good as the 3 Hondas my wife and I put over 200k miles on? Of course not, but the longer I own my nameless Mini, the more I like it. It's been reliable enough and has never left me stranded.

 

Know you know why with 10 years and a few months, I added up the $$ to keep my car another few years...and moved on...
I was not ready to commit to a gen3 car in the first few months of a new model year... unfortunately mini has a history of "issues" till the refresh, and I just don't trust the gen2 motors....
While I avoided many issues by luck, or by knowing what to do, o did look at many items, and say WTF!!
RUBBER items were all drying out and cracking, plastics items becoming brittle and faded outside, even though my car had spent 50+% of it time in a garage....
I had read on more than one occasion that since BMW changed to building cars since they started making parts "just good enough" rather than as good as possible, they sim for a 13-15 year, 150,000-200,000 mile life...
And seeing the rubber items perish, as opposed to looking like new on a 13 year old Toyota that it once shared a garage with (that had 3x the miles), it was time too sell...
That, and some basic parts were no longer locally stocked by the dealer....
I realized the r53 might be a good "hobby car" but the days as a daily driver were over unless I had a backup car....
While I understand the "F" SERIES cars are no r53, they can proved a bit of a fix, maybe being better than most cars, even if not what I consider it to be a true MINI feel....
Yes...I am find thinking I might get a newer ( used or new) gen3 cars....
Better than anything I have found...wish it was more r53 like, but crap....it is/was a once in a generation car...

 

And yes....
I have taken some crap for "anti" gen3 posts....
While I don't love the looks or size, it is an option when shopping for a new fun car....
The r53 was the right car for the right time....do I want it back, yes....
But will we ever...no...
MINI moved on...
No it's just find the next "right" car ....
As an interm step I bought a VW TDI... I figured I might tune it, have some fun if I kept it..or sell it fast.....but unless you have been under a rock, be is buying them back...so I bet the tuning scene will be dead, and I get my money back...the only question is...do I chance the pre LCI or "facelift" version on a MINI ....or get something else...

 

I also trash talk the f56 but they are starting to grow on me, I'd take a nice black one.

 

Very true for most auto companies from late 90s on. They market to the people who purchase a vehicle with the intent of trading it in when the warranty is up and getting a new one. They don't do any preventative maintenance, just any warranty work that is a result of a condition that got too bad. Easier way to say it, Mini is now marketing more so to the owners who think the Mini is "cute" rather than genuine motorsports. Doing the first two stops of MTTS 16 made that really evident.

Honda owners are a different breed. They do everything they can to make that car last 300,000 miles. Major fluid changes every 30,000 miles, starting at 15k. They do them at the dealership. As a tech there, there was no heavy line techs/repairs at Honda.

When I was at Ford, fluid changes were scheduled after 60k. When it came time to do them, owners declined. At some point in the near future, a Heavy Line tech or a transmission tech was pulling engines, transmissions, axles etc to be replaced.

 

To answer your question, no I am not disappointed with MINI problems.

 

Many folks understand that no fluid is lifetime....
But many items should be lifetime or near lifetime ...
When rubber door seals, and the moldings on a car(the ones with rubber that press up against the glass at the beltline) are a 7-10 year item, it is an annoying and $$ issue to change them... especially as the parts become hard to find.....

I forgive MINI for making choices on wear parts....cost vs performance...
But some items, just low quality rubber is used...plastic that fades and cracks...
In some ways, the gen1 cars are better than gen2....some plastic parts are certainly heavier, and stupid things like Incorporateing a PCV valve into the valve cover were not done....need a $15 part changed, here, buy a $150 part?!
Industry wide, these are changes, I understand....but some of the compromises are frustrating...maybe I expect a car to "work"...and be fun...but when stood things like sunroof drains costs folks $$$$ cause nobody ever told them to look, it gets me mad...a 15 minute job to toss new clamps on during a service visit would have fixed this on very car made...did mini do it..no...
They did do rolling fixes, the coolibg fans, and PS fan issues, even the pumps, and now the pressure mats on the seats....10+ years later, and issues that have been problems for 6+ years are finely getting fixed....
Maybe it more about my lack of trust for MINI right now....
Theu delayed PS pump fixes till most first owners were gone and the paperwork to get your $$ back gone, THEN THEY DO A RECALL. Same for the passangerside seat sensors...
It goes on and on...
If MINI corporate was a bit more responsive in fixes, maybe I might give them some slack...

 

^^^ well said.