Anyone fixing Mini's in Albuquerque
 

So I just paid out $800 for my 2005 Mini Cooper S after bringing it into a local automotive repair shop. The car has 28,000 miles and I brought it in for an oil change, alignment (previous owner clipped a curb) and brake pads as the brakes just started to squeak.

Well I was told the rotors needed replacing as it was almost in the red and not safe so that cost me $498 :eek: oil change $80 and alignment $130. If I was a bloke i would know more about these things but it not my area of expertise. Although I've been reasearching this stuff a bit more as they wanted to charge me $90 for the air filter and $90 for the cabin filter which I think I can do myself. I've ordered the factory filters and think I'm going to have a go.

They also said the thermostat is starting to leak and power steering line res to rack and res to pump leaking so $500 a pop for each of those and the air boot is torn wide open so whatever the hell that means :confused: I'm going to pop the bonnet and see what it looks like but I would have thought they would have replaced it or asked to replace that. I just bought new windshield wipers front and back but they've notated that they're average. I'm holding off for now to get a second option.

At this point I need a second option or if there is someone that understands all this jargon and can do the work let me know. For a car that only has 28,000 miles to me this is a substantial bill!

Sounds like a lot of common issues with the 1st gens, but the prices are high. Some of these things might be due to age and not necessarily mileage. My passenger side engine mount started leaking at only 17k, but the car was about 8 years old. I also had an issue with the thermostat housing and coolant tank around this time.

The power steering lines are known to leak. Sometimes it's just the clamp, but often times not. Depending on the manufacturing date of your 2005, the power steering pump might be eligible for a recall and the lines can be done at the same time. Since this would be done at the dealer the price for the lines might not be too different as they don't consider the lines as part of the recall, but at least it's being done all at once and they should know what they're doing. Unfortunately, even if your lines aren't leaking, some dealers insist the lines be replaced when doing the recall just to get some extra $$.:roll:

Some Common issues for 1st gens are the thermostat housing leaking, coolant tank splitting at the seam, lower control arm bushings, strut tower mounts mushrooming, oil drain plug getting stuck, dipstick breaking in the tube, crank position sensor leaking, belt tensioner failing, crank pulley failing/breaking in two pieces, and the sunroof drain tubes slipping off and causing water damage to the BCM that controls most of the car.

Issues related to a 2005 are the passenger motor mount leaking and the passenger seat sensor failing. I think there's a recall on the seat sensor.

A lot of info on these issues and the best ways to fix them can be found by searching here on NAM. :thumbsup:

I wonder if the air boot is the intercooler boot... is your MINI down on power? They're fairly simple to replace if that's the issue.

What's your experience level of car repair? Many of these things aren't too hard and there are some great tutorials on the Internet. ModMini has a series of YouTube videos and Pelican Parts has a bunch of technical articles various repairs, along with a bunch of helpful info right here on NAM.

I thought maybe the air intake boot but as my knowledge of cars pretty much only goes to topping up the oil and adding windshield wiper fluid takes about as far as it goes. I am going g to have a go at the Cabin filter And also the air filter. I watched a few YouTube videos and think I can probably hack those things but that might be as far as it goes.

I suppose if you own a mini the two best things to do is either keep a few grand in the bank or start dating one of the blokes that service minis. Lol. I wish I knew about cars but sadly was born female so was never really interested. Maybe I should start learning after reading all the things that can and/or are going to be going wrong w my Cooper.

Sorry, I realized I didn't reply to your question, no he's not down on power and I really haven't had any issue except for the 3 things I brought him in for. It's extremely hot here and the only thing is when he's parked it sounds like his fan is working overtime. When I leave I will look and see when he was made but I think it was around sept/oct 2005. I'll also have a look at the intake boot and see if it's torn maybe that would effect the fan, I don't know really.

The intercooler boots are probably ok if your not down on power, but the cooling fan is another common issue with the 1st gens. The low speed fan resistor burns out and only the high speed fan works. This can cause issues since the car waits until it's hotter to turn on the high speed fan. Here's a link to some info here on the forum with a few different solutions. In short, you can add a new, heavier duty, resistor to the circuit to get things working again, replace the fan assembly with an aftermarket that the poster says has a better resistor, or replace the fan with an oem and probably end up with the same issue again in a few years.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-solution.html

Regarding the engine air filter, the clamp on the hose and the location of the filter can make it tricky to change. It's tucked back into the engine compartment and the engine CPU is attached to the cover. The cover takes some fiddling with to remove and replacing to make sure it's seated correctly before screwing back down. Replacing the factory clamp with a regular screw clamp should make it easier to re-attach the hose to the cover.

Thank you for all this. I've purchased the two filters and will look for a regular screw clamp to reattach the hose to the cover. I think I'll start simple with the cabin air filter and watch the YouTube video a few times before attempting to do the air filter to make sure I have it down before attempting it.

I never realized the minis had so many issues but did know that the R53 2005 model was a good model which was why I purchased it. There is no warranty with mine though as I purchased it from an older woman who didn't drive it a ton so any issues I have with it are out of pocket. I'll have to see what recalls it has had and maybe I can get some of that stuff fixed.

So I had a look and he was made July 05 so I'm going o go online and check for any recalls. Also it's the intake snorkle that has the year in it. If I have to get the thermostat done they need to remove the snorkle to do the thermostat work right so I guess I will leave it. Would that affect the fan at all or if there was a tear in the intake snorkle what should be going wrong with the mini. Is it so,etching that can wait until I deal w the thermostat issue? I'm ass omg the whole thermomstat needs to be replaced etc...