Hi all -

Hope you all are doing well !
I own a 2009 JCW, bought new. I've absolutely loved this car over the years, however as I inch closer to 100k, I feel like this car will need a lot of work to keep it on the road and I am now questioning my love for it. I can't stand the new body styles, and this would be the ONLY one for me if I were to stay in the Mini family. This post will be a bit of a rant, but I'm hoping others can chime in and instill some confidence in me, or side with the devil and assist my decision to pull the plug and sell...

I've kept up with maintenance for the most part over the years, but so many little things are compiling up now that I'm losing my nerve as I'm constantly having to baby the car until I have time to work on it. Bypass valve tore on our last road trip, so I'm wondering what random part is next.
I had the timing chain issue resolved from the dealer back in 2011 or so, but knowing that could easily fail again is not very confidence inspiring.

Had an oil leak from the turbos recently, so doing the Detroit Tuned line kit w/ extras. After seeing how the oil filter housing is attached (replacing the gasket) to the block as a cantilever essentially with only 4 bolts, it doesn't strike any sense of future reliability in me :( Also seeing how the gaskets Mini put on were ABSOLUTE GARBAGE, I'm wondering when every other seal in the engine will deteriorate and fail. I also notice a leak from the valve cover, so need to replace that gasket too.

Within the past 10k miles or so, I've noticed some random squeaks and rattles from inside the cabin...I believed one to be coming from inside the trunk door, so I took off the cover and didn't see anything that might be causing this...and of course, still going on. The drivers side door also has something rattling around at times, and the instrument cluster will attain a rattle at certain speeds on the freeway.

There's a constant smell of old water that won't go away, even after replacing the filters on a routine basis. Last time I washed the car I noticed the sunroof allowed a small bit of some water into the cabin, and haven't seen it since that 1 time, so I'm wondering if water is getting in the car from somewhere else somehow. We dont get a lot of rain in SoCal, and I've never had this issue with any other cars I've owned, so it's a bit of a mystery.

The sunroof is starting to act strange at times while closing, it will act like something is blocking the path and then re-open again. Of course, there is nothing there and I need to put my hand on the glass when outside to add pressure so that it will close itself properly with the valet key.

Lastly, the front rubber seal around the windshield has deteriorated and flaked off..I have about 50% left. The rubber on the antenna is also cracked and falling off now as well. This car was only able garaged from 2009-2012.5, so it's had to fare the outdoors in socal for a handful of years. But I've owned cars that ONLY saw outdoor parking for 5-10 years and never experiences such drastic deterioration...just a small crack or flake here and there. I'm seeing prices of over $300 just for that damned windshield trim...most likely made of that same garbage rubber they used in the first place.

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I'm in the process of getting the rest of the parts needed for 100k service (need to do S-belt, flush all fluids, suspension checks etc), but I'm getting sad about all the work that will probably need done soon after and I will never truly feel confident taking it on 1k mile roadtrips like we used to do.

It's almost like owning an old dog...I would never get rid of an old dog for the sake of not wanting to bother with him or her, but I do need a vehicle I can depend on and after seeing all the SUB PAR engineering on some of these parts Mini used on these cars...I just don't know! If I had my way (and the money), I would just strip out everything and replace it all because I love this car so much, but that's just not very smart. ha! In addition to the old dog analogy, I feel like the Mini is that young, hot mistress or mister that we all had at one point and still pine for at times, but know that it was a toxic relationship and just had to move on.

what to do, what to do

 

Keep it, fix it up as you can, buy another car for a daily (maybe even another R56 )

 

I like this idea!

At the end of the day, I'm still hesitant to take this car for a long distance journey (even after doing all this maintenance) now...which is why I bought this car to begin with. That was the biggest sell for me: awesomely capable in basically any condition, super fun and easy to park literally anywhere.

Also, resale value is abysmal, so selling it doesn't really make much sense...but I'm not sure keeping it does either

 

Much of what you list is the same that all these cars require, and with this board and parts support - most of this is doable by YOU!

1.Valve cover and tensioner are east swaps
2.Oil line kit from Detroit is the best!
3.water leak from sunroof is most likely plugged drains. Some patience and compressed air will clear those out.
4. Oil cooler leaks are unfortunate, but I have never heard of someone having to do those twice. Worth the investment.
5. Other water leaks - most likely through pollen filter by battery. Look inside that cavity and clear out leaves and debris.
6. There is a SIM article about sunroof adjustments. In a nut shell it lists adjustments in MM to have the rear of the glass slightly higher than the front of the glass. When the sunroof gets heated up in direct sunlight it will bind. With cleaning and lubing the channels and following the panel adjustments you will be set. Even the brand new replacement assemblies suffer the same thing.

Plan 1 repair a month and you will be ready to rock this spring.

 

[QUOTE=R56devotion;4329219]Much of what you list is the same that all these cars require, and with this board and parts support - most of this is doable by YOU!

I understand where you're coming from, but I know of some much cheaper cars that have better engineering in the engine area. It just sucks I don't trust the car as I once did...as I mentioned before, there are so many phantom rattles and such that I feel like it will drive me nuts eventually. I've owned cars with 250k+ (one was an old 80's honda, and other was an early 90's jeep grand cherokee) miles and never experienced so much rattling and rubber degradation...those two were ALWAYS parked outside too!

Thanks for the encouragement though

 

So heres another way to look at:

If the car were perfect in every way, and none of the above things needed repair - would you keep it? If none of the above things needed repair, but the car needed a clutch - would you do that?
The JCW is a bitchin' car, but if the romance is fading - any future repair could sway you. Do you want a " repair free" car, or just need to get over this phase of nagging repairs so that you can get back to enjoying it?