Here's the deal. I currently own a 2004 MCS with almost 77,000 miles on it.

If I sell my 2004, I could buy a 2005 MCS with 40,000 miles or less on it for about $5,000 over the selling price of my 04.

Basically, I'd spend $5,000 to get a car with half the miles on it (works out to $.13 paid for each mile not on the 05), plus the benefits of the 05 engine and transmission changes.

The expected maintenance on the 05 between 40,000 and 80,000 miles is pretty minimal compared to the expected maintenance between 80,000 and 120,000 miles on my 04, so I feel like the $5,000 would be well spent.

The downside: I'm buying a used car that may or may not have been cared for properly, whereas I know my 04 has been treated right from day 1. Nevertheless, I expect there will be a lot to repair or replace over the next 2-3 years.

Whatcha think?

 

I dunno man, thats a tough call, depending on the colors hahaha. If you want to keep a mini for your next car, i would say do it, 37,000 miles is a couple years of life on a car so. Is your mini stock, it would kinda suck having to swap all the parts if you have em. What the hell if u wan to rock a mini for another run go for it, do it.

 

Yep tough call. If you wanted to buy a Mini right now assuming you didn't already own the 04, which car has the most features and looks the best to you? Boths cars will eventually need some work regardless. $5k can get you alot of repairs on your 04. You drive a stick i'm hoping? My mechanic drives a 05, modded, driven pretty hard and has over 120k miles on it with the stock clutch and SC.

 

That's the real kicker. It certainly isn't a bad idea in theory, but making sure it was well cared for makes all the difference. You could end up paying more in maintenance if it wasn't.

 

I did just that back in the day. When the 2005s first came out, my 2004 MCS was not even a year old. Went for a test drive and much preferred all the improvements MINI had done to the '05 S. Kept the car a little longer and in January 2005 I placed my order for my new '05 R53 S and meanwhile sold the 2004 S.

Best decision I ever made. To me the 2005+ R53 S is how the factory should have made these cars from the get go.

 

And still repairing/replacing and general maintenance beats a new monthly car note or the total purchase price of a new MINI

 

Wow - that is a tough decision. There were significant cosmetic and mechanical changes from '04 to '05, (including much nicer gear ratios on the 6-speed), plus you're essentially "rolling back" the odometer by 35k miles. Depending on the build date of the '05 you're considering, it may even still have some of the factory warranty left.

It sounds like a pretty good deal, but as others have said, try to find out as much about the '05 as you can. Fortunately, it just got out of the free maintenance period, and the only services it's probably come due for are an oil change and "Inspection I", along with brake/coolant flushes. Find out what services have been performed and run a CARFAX report. Give the car a thorough going-over, and then I guess you just have to go with your gut.

 

If the '05 you are looking at was built after January 2005, you may have the following improvements:

1) Weight sensing next gen dual airbags

2) Possibility that the car was ordered with the factory LSD.

3) Improved power steering pump.


Also, you may want to look at used '06s

 

Pay for a professional mechanical inspection. Put the car on a lift and let a mechanic go over it with a fine tooth comb.

Money well spent for peace of mind.

 

1) How happy are you with your present MINI?
2) How much do like the 2005? Is it the "one" you always wanted?
3) Does it have the options you want?
4) Are there any compromises?
5) The list goes on and on... or are you like me... always looking for the next car?

 

The gear ratios in the 05-06 cars are slightly shorter overall and WIDER 1-2-3. Once you mod a bit and get towards 200whp, then the earlier transmission is arguably better. You can always take the overall gearing down a notch with smaller diameter rubber, but you can't make the gear-to-gear ratios closer.

With just under 200whp, my 04 tranny (with 95k miles) feels perfect to me...

 

All good points Tazio.

 

Thanks everybody - I'll try to cover some ground answering freez3's questions:

1) How happy are you with your present MINI?
Very happy with it. To answer a question someone had, it isn't modded other than a Whalen ****, auto-up circuit and short antenna, all easy to switch out. I planned on keeping it for several more years, but yesterday I had a brainstorm about buying a less-used Mini. Essentially I'd be buying a lower odometer.

2) How much do like the 2005? Is it the "one" you always wanted?
I'm not looking at a specific car yet. The nice thing is I could cover the entire purchase out of savings, and then sell my 04 to reimburse myself. That way I can look for an 05 (or an 06 as someone mentioned) for as long as I need to in order to get it just right.

3) Does it have the options you want?
See #2 above. My current car doesn't have the MFSW, which is my one regret. The "new" one certainly would. As someone pointed out, I would try to find one with an LSD, but that isn't a deal breaker.

4) Are there any compromises?
The only compromise is taking $5000 out of the bank all at once to get a "new" one, rather than a couple grand here (for a new clutch, say) and few hundred there, etc. on the current one.

5) The list goes on and on... or are you like me... always looking for the next car?
Not really. I'll be happy with my Mini or another Mini for a few more years. There's nothing else out there that really interests me, at least not that I can afford (I really thought used Elises would be cheaper by now!).

I'll have to drag myself up to Brecht Mini to drive an 05 or 06 to see how different it feels than my 04. If I like it a lot better, it will be easier to make the decision! I'll also work on some more math...

 

Good luck Bee1000n. I think you have your work cut out.

 

I'll be curious to hear what you think after the test drive(s). I have some friends that have both a pre-'05 JCW and an '06 MCS. According to them, the revised (lowered) gear ratios in the later car gives it as much or more "pep" and acceleration as their JCW.

 

Some items you will notice about the 2005 or 2006s:

Clock moved from the headliner to the LED odometer reading in the speedo.

Now you have front map lights (In addition to the rears as part of the interior light dome)

Key lockable glove box door

3 piece dashboard instead of the old 5 piece trim setup.

3 spoker steering wheel

Re-designed door armrests. The armrests are a little beefier and stick out more.

redesigned headlights and tailights.

Back up reverse light moves from the lower center of the rear bumper cover to the rear tailight assembly.

Radio has a bigger power/volume **** and it now can play MP3 home made discs

Interior rear view mirror is bigger.

Driver's side sunshade in addition to the front mounted shade

front passenger "Oh ****!" handle

Flood lights installed underneath each front door

Redesigned lower center console where the tire pressure monitor reset button is located and the emergency brake handle

lighted interior door handle pulls

"Cascade" orange LED center console ambient night lighting

Revised exterior cowl vents

3 button BMW key that automatically recharges in the ignition. No longer you will have the need to buy watch batteries for it.

The key allows you to open the rear hatch separately without having to open up the rest of the car.

In the Cooper S models, power went up from 163HP to 168HP (But actually it feels more like an extra 15-20HP)

As noted before, shorter/revised gear ratios

Revised ECU programming

Revised Intake

Revised gen II Eaton M45 JCW grade supercharger with coated splines

Revised exhaust with "Burble" noises

Hope this helps.

 

Yep that was my impression as well.

After driving a 2003 MCS with the original 200HP JCW kit and a bone stock 2005 MCS, the '05 felt as fast or faster than the '03 JCW car right off the bat.

But probably, due to the lower gearing, the JCW '03 will still have a faster top speed rating.

 

I'd get the '05 and tune it. One thing that hasn't been mentioned were the potential car fires on pre-'05 MINIs..that's in another thread of course.

My '05 with all the mods is pushing close to 250hp at the crank or 220 at the wheels and it's a beast. Aside from the torn engine mount that Danny said I get the prize for the most destroyed mount...it's a blast to drive and I just rolled over 100,000 miles this morning.

Richard

 

Go for the '05! COMPLETELY BIASED OPINION (of course)

 

Thanks - I think I knew about most of those items when the 05 came out, but certainly couldn't have listed them all out today!

The 2nd visor is probably the one I'll notice most often, and I'd rather have a 2-spoke MFSW than 3-spoke, but I'll take the 3-spoke MFSW than a 2-spoke single-function steering wheel. None of the changes sway me one way or the other. In fact, I'd be considering a newer used Mini even if the 05 and 06 were exactly the same as the 04. Any positive changes are a bonus, and negative changes (mainly giving up the original model styling) aren't a big deal.

[Many thanks to whoever edited my thread title to say "and" instead of "a"!]