"Practical" is the operative word. Talk is cheap and lots of folks say they're going to drive a car "forever" until they get presented with their first big repair bill for about half what the car is worth. Then that cheap talk is tested. Very few are willing to average $2K a year in maintenance on a car worth $4K, but except for classic cars that start appreciating, this is what the economics eventually degrade to.

- Mark

 

With this kind of cars, if you don't wrench on it yourself, keeping it forever is a bit costly. I've been thru most of the firs gens issues and then some in five years:

- Leaky crank sensor seal.
- Power steering pump and fan.
- Control arm bushings.
- Leaky upper motor mount.
- Belt tensioner.
- Blown out cylinder one plug and installed a TimeSert.
- Alternator eating his bearing
- Disconnected sunroof drain that flooded the passenger side carpet
- Leaky steering rack

And I'm probably forgetting some... Do I care? Nop, not at all. I still love the car and have more plans for it.

 

I've decided I'm married to this car. One of us will get to the point of "cannot be resuscitated" before I give up on her.

I went in for a pre-MOTD oil change two weeks ago, and my wrench found that the small oil spatter he saw 5000 miles ago had grown, so a $60 oil change turned into $500 for an oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, and a few other rubber pieces.

Two hours later he called back and said the water pump was leaking, and while the supercharger is off, let's do a SC service too. Add a thermostat and replace the coolant reservoir tank (plus a few odds & ends bits)... Total bill: $1019

What's more, I mentioned that I felt some sporadic resistance shifting into 1st & 3rd ("sticky shifter", I called it). After the post-repair test drive, my mechanic confirmed that my clutch is starting to go. I don't plan to wait 'til it starts slipping, so she goes in for a new clutch + a RMW street cam in two weeks. ~$1500 for that work.

Bottom line: these cars ain't cheap, but IMO it's worth the price of admission. If you wanna drive a Euro car that lives on the performance end of the spectrum, this is just the cost of ownership, full stop.

I could buy a new car with a warranty, but it wouldn't be as much fun as my R53. And I figure with what I've spent for repairs (not maintenance like oil, brake pads, tires, and upgrades), it's still WAY cheaper than being saddled with a car payment for 60 months or more.

 

I had until she was totaled an 04 PW MCS, that I had planned to keep forever. I bought Lucy new, and put over 200k on the clock, I never had any of the major problems that seem so common on this site. Just brakes, tires, belts every 50k, clutch replaced at 135k, she still ran strong with that many miles.

We purchased a new 09 MCS and I was not impressed, all the maint was done under warranty thank goodness,several tows to the dealer 75 miles away, Decoking valve twice, replace the turbo,Timing chain problems. I traded in after 2 years,while it still had a warranty, and went back to driving Lucy.

When she was totaled,by a Tahoe. I decided to find another R53, it took me 5 weeks to find another that wasn't all ratted out. I must have looked at 1000's on the net, and I put 3500 miles on the rental car going all over the 3 states around Ohio, test drove 45 or 50 R53's. I was on my way to fly to RI to look at an R53 that looked really good. The day before I left I stopped by the local BMW dealer and saw Morris sitting in there used car lot.they had taken him in on trade the day before. He's a Jet Black 04 MCS, he had 36k on the clock, and had all the options I was looking for, clean, no rust on the door sills, maint done by a MINI dealer, the owners manual had the stamps from the dealers, MAG and Cincy MINI, no fluid leaks. The only thing that had been replaced were the brakes. I couldn't adopt right then because it was to close to closing. I was there the next morning cash in hand he came home. I hope he lasts as long as Lucy, funny thing the were both built the same day according to the VIN decoder, Oct 27 03 was a good day for MINI's.

 

Might have been a good period in general - my Electric Blue 2004 R53 was built 11/11/2003. I've owned since new and it has been a very good car overall.

- Mark

 

I am planning on keeping my 05 MCSa until death do us part. Hers or mine.

 

Just hit a minor milestone.

Took the plunge and went for both new clutch and tranny at this mileage:


1/8th Million! by jimmy_racoon, on Flickr

Still looking factory new-in spite of 9 Minnesota winters as daily driver:


9 Minnesota Winters-still a beauty! by jimmy_racoon, on Flickr

 

The First vehicle I was infatuated with was a 67 VW bus- I loved "Optimus". When I bought "LIL MIN" in 2006, I felt the same twinge, the same bond. I think I'll drive her till the end.

 

Jimmy Racoon-
Great looking Mini and a fine collection of photos too! I followed you Flickr link. My Mini has six Michigan winters, so I know the challenges involved.

 

Mine has 12 New England winters under her belt....not as bad as Michigan but she handled last winter like a champ. Plus if she ever gets stuck her big brother behind her will come to the rescue.....lol.

 

planning on "forever," but I've had it only for a month so far. Took me 4 years to find the right one, though, and I am loving it more than I thought I would. I doubt mine will see any winter action, as I have two trucks to cover those months here in the salty Midwest.


Winter will be the time the Mini gets upgrades and major open heart surgery, and all those other things you don't want to tackle during the months when driving is actually fun.


My to-do list is so long (and expensive), I will have to keep it forever to get through those items :-)

 

I've had my'04 MCS since November and have done nearly 8k miles on her. . I've just put a Borla race cat back on and next is probably pulley reduction and CAI. OR Headers and vibratechnics engine mounts.

 

Car still looks fantastic...fast question why NEW tranny? Was the clutch slipping or were you just being pre-emotive?

 

Unfortunately, tranny was spitting metal shavings some due to slipping clutch and too much engine braking into corners...live and learn, but still tons of fun!

thanks for the kind words! Michigan winters are in the same ballpark for conditions...I'd be more worried about the roads themselves! Been through a few times and learned to keep an eye our for pot holes big enough to swallow my poor MINI!

 

need to find something to drive in the winter. Jeep or truck maybe. don't want my 03' mcs dealing with ohio potholes and snow anymore

 

R53. Collecter I have 02 mcs 170,000 miles on it . Gonna keep it forever too!

 

My girlfriend just picked up a one owner 2004 MCS with only 69k on the odometer. Been babied and cared for its entire life. We decided after about a week that this will be in our garage in perpetuity. It will be her daily for a couple years but we will keep it around as a toy after that.

Funny thing is I'd never driven a mini before, had a few Porsche 944's, 951, and a few 911's and a 928. The mini is as enjoyable as any of those, now I want one for myself!

 

As long as I can..... I love my mini, and my 06' R53 I believe was the best one they made. The tritech block in the R53 is a tuning beast, and will handle all the power you can throw at it, why do you think RMW spends all their time on R53 mods, and pretty much ignores the R56. I have a friend who's been running over 350hp on his R53 for years without grinding the motor, and while I'm no where near that high in HP, I'm still nearly 100hp over stock. Sadly, I won't touch an R56 with a 20 foot pole, (yeah more power stock, but that's the most you'll ever get since they can't handle any tuning, not to mention walnut blasting the valves every 40k since the carb buildup is asinine from the direct injection system. The third gen has a whole new power plant, but is still a turbo, which I'm no fan of, and I personally think it's ugly as sin, and not the typical mini charming kinda ugly, but the plain old butt ugly. Still, I'm curious to see what the tuners do with it after the warranty wears off. Sadly since it's gonna be a commonly used BMW power plant, I can only guess the MINI tuner companies will close up shop, since they won't be able to compete with the already vast Bimmer tuner market.

 

My contribution is the nightmare that's in my garage.... realized the other week that my supercharger was grinding away and needing a rebuild so, placing an order tonight for about 1400$ in parts to bring my cooper back to life, and with a reduction pulley this time and practically a new drivetrain, CANT WAIT TO SCREAM DOWN SOME S TURNS THIS WEEKEND!

 

My 2003 R50 Cooper just had a Midlands failure last month.
I now have a 6-speed Getrag in it as well as a Quaife LSD
and a Milltek header (+ already had the Milltek cat back from earlier).

I'm planning on at least another 11 years if possible.

 

Well, to help our cause of keeping these cars forever, this might help:
http://www.condorspeedshop.com/colle...teering-delete

 

$50 for mini coopers and $25~39 for BMW?

If they can sell that less i'm in when my pump/fan goes bad.

 

Condor did us a huge favor doing 1 for the gen1 community. Volume, demand, development costs dictate pricing. $50 over new pump, hoses, fan minus all the worries? Your call. It's a no brainer. I'm just keeping mine til I need it.

 

what am i missing.. why would you want to delete the power steering?!?!?

 

In case you can't afford to fix a dead pump. I tried my own delete before Condor made the kit and it's not for everyone. You lose too much of the go-kart feeling in my opinion, the extra effort wasn't for me. I do take my car to the track from time to time and I don't think I'd enjoy my car as much.