I bought my wife an 02 (non S) for Christmas last year. The car has 80k miles on it and a solid detailed service record on car fax. Never any major problems with the car in the report. As of today I've had more issues with this car than any American car I have ever owned.

To begin with, the belt squeals bad, doesn't do it all the time but when it does its bad. I have had the dealership "fix" it several times but it always comes back. They have replaced the belt and it looks just fine. I notice it most when under a load and turning which tells me its the power steering pump. Does that sound about right?

Next, the passenger side door just suddenly doesn't want to open from the inside. If you work at it for a minute you can get it to finally open. I'm guessing a cable inside is stretching or something??

The switch panel in the dash (that mounts the window / door lock switches etc) its loose and bounces around. No big deal, just need to tighten some screws probably but its annoying.

There is a strange crackling sound that at first I thought was blown speakers, but it really only happens when the windows are down so I think its something rattling but haven't pin pointed it yet.

My wife says she has problems with the drivers side window sometimes but I have yet to replicate the problem.

I don't think the air vents work quite right. I assume they are controlled by vacuum like in my other cars so I am wondering if it has a vac leak, but air ALWAYS comes out of the top vents. It does come out the others as well but its not obvious what going on when you adjust the ****. This is just something I need to look in the manual to verify I guess cause I cant make any sense of what the little icons mean by the ****.

Right when you start the car the engine revs up a little like normal, but then when the RPMs come back down some it stumbles a bit. It also will do this from time to time at idle. No clue why that is yet but maybe if there is a vac leak it would do that. The engine light comes on sometimes, the dealer said it was the O2 sensor but they claim to have replaced it.

Last thing I can think of now is the passenger seat recline mechanism doesn't always work right. Here again I am thinking its a stretched cable or something has come loose.

As you can see its minor things but its all over the place and not consistant with the stories I have heard from most European design / built cars. So I'm gonna stop my rant now and spend the afternoon trying to hash ot all these issues, but if you think you might know whats going on with any of the problems I have listed, please let me know. It would be greatly appriciated!

 

Some of the problems you have identified here are typical mini problems. The cables on the door release require adjustment from time to time. I am not convinced the squeel is a belt problem. The power steering pump is electrical not belt driven.
A few of the other problems may have been caused by the previous owner - switch panel loose and drivers door and crackling - was there an aftermarket stereo in this car - maybe the crossover is still inside the door causing interference with the window mechanism and the rattle when the window is down?
Something to consider.

 

Yeah I just noticed the power steering pump is not belt driven so that pretty much blows that theory. I'll have to pull the belt and see if I have a bad pulley or something.

 

Check the idler pulley and tensioner, see if the bearings are going bad.

 

Tensioner is good, and all pulleys seem to spin pretty well. I am wondering if it is just doing it because of the way it bogs and stumbles at idle.

BTW does anyone know how to get the door panel off? I saw a writeup but said it was '05 on and that 02-04 are different.

 

Bogging and stumbling at idle is fairly common for MINIs, or so I've heard. Mine has done it since new, but a quick blip of the throttle fixes it.


Taking the door panel off is easy. Have the window down when you do this. There are 3 torx bolts to undo. I think they are torx 30 or 40 (if you are going to do any work anywhere on the car, you should get a full set of torx bits that can work with a socket. They use torx all over the car).

One of the torx bolts is under the reflector in the top corner. The trim around the handle and tweeter needs to come off. If you're careful it should pop off without breaking too many tabs. Next, you'll need a pry tool made of plastic. Working from the bottom, stick it between the panel and the door metal.

Then pry it off, you'll hear a pop. Continue around the perimeter, however, along the window there is another style of clips, don't pry these. Soon you'll have the whole door panel off except here. You'll have to pull really hard for these, and it will sound bad, but everything is ok. They will come off.

Putting it back on is pretty much the reverse. If you broke any pop fasteners, replace them. Line up the top of the panel by the window, snap it in. It helps to squeeze with your finger tips on the beltline and your palms on the panel.

Then try to line up the fasteners with their holes and pound it it. Then put the torx back in, just a snug hand tight with a screw driver torx (the socket torx put on a square drive screw driver with size adapters). Put the trim and reflector back and that's that.

I hope that was discriptive enough.

 

Thanks guys, I fixed everything but the squeal and stumble so far. I have a feeling that once the stumble is gone it won't squeal.

 

I've owned many cars, most "pre-owned". Four were BMWs, two MINIs and many other top of the line cars including a 'vette. Sorry to say but after 7 years even the best cars develop problems that you describe, particularly if the previous owners just ignored them because the car was gettting older. They all rattle, squeak, leak, and have other idiosyncrasies of age.

Buying a used car requires some "cleaning up" and "tweaking" time/money, even if the car is warranteed and the dealership/owner goes over it with a fine tooth comb. I always think that if I can spend less than 500 bucks and/or 20 or so man-hours doing the tweaking that it is a good deal.

Relax and enjoy your MINI and take pride in the tweaking you do to make that MINI yours.

Best to you.