Hello

I am new here and considering an Mini Cooper S as a daily driver. I am coming from the M-car world and I admit I am nervous about FWD, understeer, etc.

I have heard that the mini got much more reliable post 2005 and that the 2005-2007 first generation are more fun to drive even with less power than the second generation.

So my questions are:

Is there truly any reliability difference pre-2005 vs post 2005?
Is JCW or GP worth the premium on price or can I get to the same place with some basic tuning?
I want to track the car some, what are the known issues with tracking these cars? What are the common failure points?

Any other advise or knwn good cars in the DC/Baltimore/PA/NJ/VA/NC basically anywhere within 300 miles of DC would be a great tip.

Cheers,

Carl

 

The reliability difference between the pre-facelift and post-facelift version isn't as huge as some websites would suggest. I would probably avoid the 02's as they had some teething issues being more or less the first year of a brand new model (doesnt make em all bad though). The difference in reliability between an 04 and 05 if the have been treated similarly isnt going to be huge. Now there are other differences between an 04 and 05 besides perceived reliability, but that can information is easy to find and is what you really should be your decision around if you ask me (hint: motoringfile.com has an excellent guide for each year's ups and downs).

Your second question. Given that it seems like you dont mind doing some things youself then the answer is most definitely no. The GP is going to be much more expensive because it is a limited edition, so dont lump that in with the JCW's. The parts that make power on the JCW's (pulley, exhaust, inatke, injectors, tune) can be had for maybe a grand or so on the aftermarket and will work just as well. The JCW package is by no means bad, it is nice knowing that you have the extra power and that was at one point guaranteed (suggesting quality), however it is not worth an extra 3 grand if you are used car shopping an you are willing to do some mods. (my opinion)

Third question. Not to my knowledge, but I am an autocross junkie, not a track junky. One commonality though would be wearing out the outside edge of your front tires as these cars have very little stock camber. I highly recommend picking up a set of camber plates if you plan to track your car more a bunch. This will help you front tires wear more evenly and remove a lot of understeer.

Hope that helps.

 

There is a ton of information on that site. Feel free to give me your $0.02 on the key differences are that should influence a purchase.

I am leaving the M-car world for a short time and don't want a project or reliability issues.

Cheers and thanks for the help.

Carl