The current Road and Track Magazine has a very complimentary write-up on the first gen Mini's as a used car purchase. They also list some gotcha's to look for before buying. Good piece. I couldn't find a link to the article, though. (I accidentally posted this to the Cabrio section. Sorry for the duplicate posting, but I didn't know how to move it.)

 

I saw that. They listed prices for major repairs and things to look for when buying one. I think they even mention either NAM or some NAM vendors don't they? They have it listed on the site but no link to it.

 

yea, they mentioned NAM, Helix, Minimania, and maybe a couple of others, it was a good article

 

Definitely a good article. It seemed like they got the majority of their info from mini forums. But they state that the 05+ mcs come with a better/different supercharger. Is that true? I don't recall hearing anything about that.

 

The article was perfect for anyone who is not a regular on this board or listener to WRR. I liked it because they used my mechanic Andres from Bay Bridge Motors. I use them for all maintaince except the the free stuff i have remaining for six months of my 3 year 36,000 mile crappy BMW/MINI free maintaince. I like how both mechanics recommended oil changes before 7500 miles and pay attention to the cooling system that plays havic with BMW's. As a side note, I read Bimmer magazine a great read. They focus on BMW's and talk about the various problems with the BMW's they have experienced or as we MINI owners call quirks. It's amazing that some of the cooling ,brake , steering rack problems and maintaince problems in the 3 5, 7 seris seem to show up in the MINI. Gee wonder why Bimmer recommends servicing your BMW more frequently than BMW's free maintaince. Because as they say any car can make it 7 yrs 100,000 miles on BMW life time fluids and scheduled oil changes, but if you want to last past 100,000 you got to spend money on maintaince.

 

05+ MCS superchargers come with coated vanes, which were only previously available on JCW MCS prior to 05 model year.

 

 

Ahh, thanks for the clarification.

 

I would love to see the article if anyone has a link.

 

Can you tell us more, please? What is the coating and why is it an improvement? Thanks!

 

I think the coating was to improve the seal between the vanes and the inside wall. It improves efficiency.(and lets the s/c make more boost)?

 

Ah, OK, thanks!

 

Coatings like that are usually done to improve life and prevent (or at least slow) the aging of the unit and possible loss of boost pressure in an older blower.